Since we wouldn't want you all going through GC DTs over the weekend, we're implementing a Saturday Open Thread. You are welcome to hijack the thread with your own concerns such as salary issues, work-life balance or the lack thereof, disconcerting March Madness rules at your firm, your colleagues' unfortunate wardrobe choices or the bizarre and possibly offensive color scheme of this website.
To kick things off, here's something to discuss. A recent Francine McKenna article over at American Banker questions the ability of the current crop of accounting students to pull their heads out of their respective asses and turn this ship around. Whether you agree with her overall statement or not, you have to admit she's got a point (any salary discussion on this website is proof):
Most accounting students and young auditors look at me like I'm an alien — not Sigourney Weaver but something green from another planet — when I talk about the auditors "public duty." I have to remind them, and some of their professors, that the external auditor's true client is the shareholder, not the company's executives.
"But the CFO pays the bill," they respond. "We have to make the CEO and CFO happy or we'll lose the engagement. How will I ever get promoted to partner if I follow your advice and make everyone look bad by raising objections and pointing out errors? Are you a communist? Audit partners are entrepreneurs investing capital in their business. Why are you against them making a profit?"
With future business leaders like these, the next bubble is inevitable.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
