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Former Big 4 Audit Intern Pens Heartbreaking Tribute to Friend Who Died From ‘Overworking’

Posted on by Adrienne Gonzalez

We’ve been heavy on the death and depression around these parts lately, and for that I’m sorry. I guess it’s just the nature of the game sometimes. I’m not that sorry, though, because we’re about to talk about completely preventable death some more.

A Facebook post from a former Big 4 intern went viral recently on the other side of the globe, and for good reason. In it, she pleads with the audit industry to consider the consequences of long hours, poor nutrition, and a general lack of concern for the well-being of associates. Read.

Audit Culture Facebook post

Surely what she describes resonates, at least in some ways, with auditors across this big, fine, flat earth of ours, as well as many across all public accounting service lines. The long hours, the boxed lunches, the constant anxiety over major screw-ups; all of these things are the foundation upon which Going Concern is built. While we make fun of them at every opportunity, it’s not that we think these things are funny, rather that it’s so ludicrous the worldwide economy is guarded by a bunch of malnourished, sleep-deprived accountants that you have no choice but to laugh at it.

Except sometimes it’s no laughing matter. We were unable to find any news stories about a 2 a.m. car crash; however, we did find another tribute written by a classmate for their friend who quite literally died from overworking.

Adam Chan writes:

Good friend passed away yesterday. Reason? Overworked. Left office at 2am in the morning and met an accident while he was traveling back to his comfy bed.

I’m not entirely sure why did he continue staying in the office even though he wanted to go back home early, but from a reliable source(his colleagues who are also my friends) was saying that it’s the culture in Audit department that no one should leave the office before works are completed and before your senior (from the highest hierarchy to the lowest) leave accordingly. Nobody cares if you are tired, have someone waiting for you to go home or any excuses that could delay the work done or affect the overall audit team performance and image.

Sadly, this isn’t the first case of work-related death we’ve ever discussed. There’s the Finnish tax guy who died at his desk and no one noticed, the 25-year-old PwC auditor in Shanghai whose work-related fatigue weakened her immune system to the point of death from acute cerebral meningitis, and of course the manager at PwC Kenya who took his own life earlier this month by throwing himself off the firm’s building. If you want even more, just check out this recent /r/accounting thread about people dying at work.

The saddest part of Hoo Xinyi’s note is not the fact that she lost her friend, but rather that she calls it “audit culture that nobody knows.” People know. Maybe not grocery store cashiers and cable installers, but people in the industry and the people who curate firm culture from the top down know damn well everyone is overworked. Either they don’t care OR they can’t figure out a solution that doesn’t cost them boatloads of money. Sure, firms could institute four day work weeks and or require certain rest periods after long work sessions, kind of like the DOT requires of truck drivers, but those things cost time and money.

Plus the firms are constantly engaged in a race to the middle with one another; it’s sort of like aiming for a 75 on the CPA exam, you only need to do well enough to get it done. They’d probably push you further if they thought it wouldn’t kill a bunch of you off. I imagine if one Big 4 firm suddenly grew the balls to say “you know what, we’ve been doing this wrong this whole time” and start treating their employees better, they would have candidates coming out of the butt. Except they never stick their necks out because they’re only in competition with one another, and then wonder why they have a talent shortage problem.

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PCAOB: We’re Not Saying Perfect Audits, Just Pretty Perfect Audits

Thumbnail image for epic-failure.thumbnail.jpgThe public understanding of what auditors actually do is, to put it mildly, frustrating. If you were ask the average dude on the street what auditors’ responsibilities were, “Find fraud” would probably be the first thing that you would hear.
With all the public outrage against everything remotely related to finance or accounting, politicians feel like they have to do something. This usually amounts to putting pressure on bureaucrats, who in turn make rules to appease said politicians who can then point to accomplishments.


The PCAOB is no exception, and regardless of its potential extinction, has a go-getter attitude that includes potentially making the public’s perception more of a reality.
FEI Financial Reporting Blog:

Although not part of the PCAOB’s formal standard-setting agenda for the upcoming year, some SAG members argued there was a need for the PCAOB to revisit the fundamental fraud standard (SAS 99) as a standalone or ‘foundational’ standard, in much the same way as the PCAOB is in the process of re-proposing its suite of risk assessment standards as ‘foundational’ standards.

You probably know where this is going:

In response to questions, Silvers said, “We should not expect that every audit is a forensic audit… that’s absolutely not what I’m saying.” However, he added, “I think we need to move the dial a little bit so auditors have some greater obligation than is currently embodied in the current fraud standard, to have an obligation to act when there is reasonable suspicion of fraud.”
“This was subject to some extensive discussion in the Treasury committee (Treasury’s Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession or ACAP],” said Silvers, adding, “some people, Lynn [Turner], may feel my approach is not tough enough, some people felt we should move to some absolute liability standard [i.e.] if you don’t find fraud, it’s the auditors fault; but it’s also not my view that looking for fraud is not related to the audit, that doesn’t parse with the public’s [perception] of the audit profession.”

Our emphasis. So not every audit will be a forensic audit, so, just most of them? That’s a relief.
So not only do you need to get way better at auditing fair value, now the brain trust at the PCAOB is considering putting more auditor flesh on the hook when it comes to finding fraud. So not absolute assurance but it’s getting there.
PCAOB Announces Ambitious Agenda; May Be Time to ‘Dial Up’ on Fraud, Silvers Says [FEI Financial Reporting Blog]

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PCAOB Chairman James Doty Is Concerned That Some Auditors Either Don’t Care or Are Completely Ignorant About the Notion of Independence

As you may have heard, PCAOB Chairman Jim Doty gave a speech at the University of Southern California yesterday where he discussed among other things, the possibility of mandatory auditor rotation and changing the standard auditor’s report. The prospect of these two changes aren’t exactly something auditors are stoked about but some people are of the opinion that a) auditors like to get a little too chummy with their clients which leads to b) not taking the “independence” thing too seriously and c) the auditor’s report, in its current form, its pretty much worthless.

You can read Doty’s entire speech over at the PCAOB website where touches on all of these but here’s one example around independence that probably qualifies for, in Doty’s words, “[an] approach [to] the audit with an inappropriate mindset”

[An] audit partner’s self-assessment claimed that he “overcame long-standing barriers against non-audit services at [two audit clients] with a series of well-planned meetings and supporting presentations with the Audit Committee Chair, the full Audit Committee, the CEO and the CFO at both companies.”

In response, his reviewing partner noted that he was –

highly alert to cross service line opportunities and has successfully penetrated both of his accounts where few services had been
provided in the past. The results of these efforts were a number of proposals and wins but the efforts will likely impact FY 11 in [a] more significant way.

Anyway, there are other stories of bad auditor behavior, so check the whole speech if you feel so inclined. And while Chairman Doty admitted that “We don’t see these problems in all the files we look at,” it causes he and others to wonder if “these audit partners are unaware of, or simply unconcerned about, the independence rule that should make such considerations irrelevant to their compensation, and why a firm would allow such unawareness or unconcern to continue unabated.”

So flagrantly bending the rules to the point where they might as well be breaking or stupidity? Neither is too flattering.