Tate & Tryon Careers in Public Accounting – An Intern’s Perspective

My First Two Weeks as an Intern

Prior to this internship, I was very nervous and I did not know what to expect from this job. I was anticipating that the majority of our work was going to be paper scanning, copying, filing, etc. I thought that this job would be boring and that the employees would not be very much fun.

On the first day, the firm held a meeting for the audit department and introduced all of the summer interns. We were assigned two mentors each. We got the opportunity to meet everyone in the office and spent the remainder of the day going over company policies.

During the first week as an intern, we spent the first four days familiarizing ourselves with the computer software and learning how to prepare a 990 tax return.  I began to prepare my first 990 at the end of the week and things were beginning to make a lot more sense. I finished it on the following Monday and then learned how to prepare a state tax return.

The next day I was not assigned to complete a 990 form. The tax department needed a Personal Property Tax Return completed by the end of the week and assigned me to do it. I was concerned because we had spent so much time learning about the 990’s and not any other forms. The form was very confusing at first but a manager sat down with me and answered a lot of questions that I had.

I was also assigned to be in charge of a ballot count for the National Association for The Specialty Food Trade, Inc. Every two years new officers and directors are elected. We have been receiving ballots via mail and E-mail. I have been organizing all of the ballots and entering the information into a spreadsheet. When the election ends, we will be meeting with the NAFST to present to them the results of the election.

This past Monday I had the opportunity to spend all day shadowing one of my mentors. He was preparing the financial statements for a client. However, the person who did the bookkeeping for the client had not done a very good job. There were several things that were unaccounted for and apparently the bookkeeper had misplaced several checks. We met with the manager and another staff auditor that day to talk about how we were going to go about solving the issue. It turned out to be a very interesting day and a great learning experience.

This past week I have been working on two more 990,s. They were more complicated than the first 990 that I completed, but the overall picture made a lot more sense to me. I understood where all of the numbers were coming from and the logic behind it.

Next month I am scheduled to go on my first audit and I am very excited. We had a planning meeting for it last Thursday and completed the risk assessment for the audit. I am also looking forward to shadowing one of the partners of the firm next month.

The people at this firm are the exact opposite of what I had initially expected. They are some of the most helpful and encouraging people that I have met. It seems that the people at this firm have a well balanced life between work and fun. They all seem to really love their job. Even though I have only been working here for two weeks, I could picture myself as a future employee of this firm.

-Ross Fielding

Appalachian State University

From ACCT-101 to Accounting Services: An Intern's Perspective

On my first day at Tate & Tryon I was treated to a sumptuous lunch at Georgia Brown’s. I could not help but think if my first day was so cushy, then I will love this internship! Sadly, I soon realized Georgia Brown’s delectable Louisiana Deviled Shrimp and peach iced tea would soon be replaced by a brown bag lunch each day. Though my lunch prospects waned, my interest in the job was on the rise each and every day. I still remember learning how to use Microsoft Great Plains and realizing how the basic accounting principles I had just learned in Accounting 101 were implemented in the real world. Though I have had a few troubles with the GP software, I have had tons of “Ah-hah!” moments when I finally understood what my Accounting 101 professor was talking about (Thanks Professor Tang!). Working in Accounting Services at T&T has veritably given me an appreciation as well as a greater understanding of the entire business cycle. From entering cash receipts to check requests and even to making journal entries to reclass accounts, I am able to apply what I learn in the classroom to real world applications. As I write this, my three month anniversary with T&T quickly approaches. I am still amazed at how much I continue to learn. Not only am I enjoying interacting with the great staff but I am gaining pertinent work experience. My resume is spruced up, I have a few more suits and more dress attire and my professionalism has undoubtedly been polished. Though I am only a sophomore, and I have much to learn, I do feel I have matured, even if just a bit, from my time at T&T. Though not everything has been as riveting as a summer blockbuster, I do enjoy entering invoices and cutting checks. It really is not that bad. Another thing of note, the Audit interns and I were treated to a lunch at Georgia Brown’s a couple weeks back.  I had the Louisiana Deviled Shrimp and peach iced tea; I gave my brown bag lunch a day off.

Jonathan Smith

Georgetown University