How to Write a Self-Assessment for Your Finance Job
Right up there with root canals and small dogs that won’t stop barking is the unparalleled joy that comes with writing a self-assessment for your finance job. At first glance the task of writing a self-assessment seems daunting. What do you downplay? If you feel like you’ve hit
Top Leadership Skills for New Finance Mangers
The CPA Competency Map is fascinating (ok fascinating might be bit of a stretch, but it is revealing). While technical skills such as finance and taxation are listed, so too are skills such as ethical behaviour and leadership. For new finance managers, who are just getting their leadership legs underneath
The Yeti and Other Myths (Including Some About Accountants)
The Yeti, or Sasquatch is actually a story originating from ancient Himalayan mythology (fun fact that you can use to impress your friends). Whether or not the Abominable Snowman actually exists is up for discussion in forums, coffee houses and random YouTube clips of guys in the woods running around
Why You Still Need to Excel at Excel
No doubt about it, as a finance and accounting professional, you still need to excel at Excel. Even with end-to-end financial suites like SAP and Oracle, people still do financial analysis by extracting data from those back-end systems and entering it in to Excel spreadsheets. Excel is used in marketing,
How to End Your Finance Interview with a Bang
Here’s the thing – people (and this includes your prospective employer who’s interviewing you in three days) remember the highlights of a conversation/interview. They’re also influenced by how the interview ends. In fact, here’s a fancy formula for an award winning interview: peak moments + strong ending =
Peaking in Your Accounting Interview
Great athletes plan their peak to coincide with a major competition. It takes discipline, focus and a whole lot of advance preparation. And while you’re not going to increase your protein intake, or run three sets of stairs to get ready for your accounting interview, there are strategies you
What Not to Say in a Finance Interview
You’re all dressed up in your best clothes. You enter the interview room, offer a firm handshake and your best professional smile. You are, in other words, off to a fantastic start in your finance interview.
There’s only one problem. You haven’t done a lot of company
When is Hiring 2 Accountants for the Price of 1 a Good Idea?
Who doesn’t love a deal, especially when it’s two for the price of one? Ok, maybe we really didn’t need two alpaca blankets in deep purple, but really – it’s a deal and who can resist a bargain?
So this raises an interesting question – is there ever a time when it
Is Your Finance Team on Fire – and Not in a Good Way?
When we talk about people being “on fire” there are positive connotations – whether it’s the point guard who is on a hot streak, or the finance team member who can be trusted to deliver. But what about teams that are burning from the inside out?
Dressed to Kill: The Finance Interview
According to Business Insider you only have 7 seconds to make a first impression. Whoa! Hold your horses (and other western metaphors we can’t call to mind right at this moment). Did you say “7 seconds?” If that’s the case, a firm handshake, professional smile and the right clothes are
Hello Neo: Technology and Accounting in the GTA
In the sci-fi thriller The Matrix, Keanu Reeves delivers a flurry of literal and metaphorical jabs at a technologically driven race that has taken over planet earth. It’s good fun and let’s be honest, not everyone can wear a trench coat with such incredible panache. But is technology
When Should You Leave a Big 4 Accounting Firm? – An Auditor’s Dilemma Blog PART 2
Leaving a Big 4 Accounting Firm
You’ve just survived another busy season and are staring listlessly out the window. Empty fast food containers litter your desk and you swear that you forgot to feed your cat when you left the house this morning – again. Maybe it’s time to
