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

Internship Last Day

The past 8 weeks have gone by so quickly it’s hard to believe that the summer is almost over.   I spent over two weeks out at audits, where I learned how to audit cash, accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets and more.  I finally feel like I know what auditors do, and I really enjoy the work.  I like that you get to travel to clients throughout the year and that each audit process is different.  I also spent two weeks in the accounting department of YWCA, where I helped them prepare for their audit.  They showed me how to roll documents forward like fixed asset depreciation schedules and taught me about budgets.  Finally, I shadowed people in OAS where I learned about month closing processes and about different accounting software programs like PeachTree.

This has been a great experience.  I have really enjoyed the work and most especially the people at T&T.

Cara

My second summer interning at T & T

Why is it that the sequel to a movie is always worse than the original? What is it the movie makers can’t seem to understand the second time around? Steven Spielberg may not know the answers, but the partners at Tate & Tryon do. This is my second year going through the internship program at Tate and Tryon and my experience was even better than last year. One event that stood out for me this year was being able to sit down with both Charlie Tate and Mike Tryon for lunch. The insight you get talking to the people who started the firm is extremely helpful. You get a sense here that people care about your future and not just the work you produce, and that’s the sense that I get from Charlie Tate and Mike Tryon especially.

Something else that changed up from last year is the amount of time spend at the office. Last year my time was spent getting used to the work that is done in the office, mostly related to epace, the audit filing software. That was extremely helpful, and this year got I got to take a taste of being at many different places such as the tech department of T & T known as T3 Information Systems. My degree at Virginia Tech is in accounting and information systems, so it was a great experience for me to see that part of the firm. T3 at the 1919 Penn. Building and was a nice change up. They work with Microsoft Dynamics GP and I pretty much became an expert at one of the program futures, Microsoft FRx. FRx is a software program that creates financial report catalogs. It was very gratifying to become proficient in software like that in a matter of weeks, and I enjoyed the time I spent out there. You could say I really got the T3 ball rolling at the end.

The great opportunities that I had on several engagements this year is something that I will keep forever. I will not only value the many technical skills I picked up on audits, but also the professional skills I learned from client interaction. The technical skills are what keep the standards board happy, but the professional skills are what keep a firm growing. I feel so much more confident in an audit setting now, and I would like to thank everyone and T & T for it.

 

Tim Tishman

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

 

Tate & Tryon Summer Internship: The End

The summer couldn’t have gone by any faster while interning at Tate & Tryon.  I have learned so much during the past two and a half months, it’s hard to believe.  After experiencing it, I will say that the T&T summer internship is a very well structured and diverse program. The summer included; lunches with Charlie Tate and Mike Tryon, a week in the OAS department, and audit fun day at Blackfinn just to name a few.  I went to several audits and got to experience what auditing entails.  T&T gave the interns the opportunity to actually sit down and work on the different parts of the audit, as opposed to doing meaningless tasks.  It also didn’t hurt that everyone at T&T was extremely helpful whenever we had a question.  Not only would they answer your question, but they explained the reasoning and purpose behind what you were doing.  I couldn't have asked for more out of my T&T internship.  I am headed to the beach with my family for a week to cap off this great summer, however I can truly say that the great employees at T&T made this internship a rewarding opportunity. 

-Chase Livengood

The Pennsylvania State University

Last Day at T&T

Today is the last day of my internship at Tate & Tryon. I can’t believe how fast the summer went. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting in this same chair with no idea what an auditor actually does. I learned so much during the internship because we were treated like staff auditors doing real work for the company. During the past couple weeks I got to experience different divisions of T&T including the consulting department and T3 Information Systems, the company’s subsidiary tech company. It really helped me to gain an understanding of all the different aspects of T&T.

 

The thing that really stood out to me at T&T was the people. Everyone from the staff auditors to the partners took the time to teach me something new throughout my experience. Hopefully next year back at school I’ll be well-prepared for my audit and other accounting courses. Overall, the internship was a great experience and I appreciate the opportunity I was given.

 

Michael Mylan

 

University of Virginia 2011

The End

I can't believe it's over! This summer and the internship have flown by, but I've had a really great experience and am so happy I was able to do this. I've learned so much about auditing, accounting and business in general - it's been a very well spent summer.

I went on three audits over the past 8 weeks and during each of them I audited cash, prepaid expenses, fixed assets, accounts payable, and expenses. It was really cool to actually be responsible for the completeness and accuracy of the balances. I enjoyed learning about each of the organizations and seeing the way each one handled their accounts and controls. The biggest problem I had, however, was ignoring discrepancies which were under materiality. I had to be told multiple times by Jamie and Stephanie that $500 or $1,000 is not material, even though it would make a big difference to my bank account.

I also spent two weeks at the most interesting and complex homeless shelter, doing miscellaneous accounting work and helping out wherever I could. I even got to attend a going away "tea time" at which many of the shelter's patrons said emotional and touching goodbyes to their own summer staff.

Overall, it was an amazing experience. I loved getting to see how the Tate & Tryon employees interact with each other as well as observe their relationship with their clients. I am sad to go, although I won't miss waking up early and taking the traveling disaster that is the red line. Thanks to everyone at T&T for making my experience so pleasant and rewarding!

Claire Holtzmuller

University of Virginia