End of a Two Week Audit

It's currently Thursday of week two of the audit for the Dallas Division location. Usually over the two week audit we test both financial and operational processes at the division. We have exposure to the president and all of the other executives at a certain division. It's nice to talk to these people because they are the ones that run the company and have really intesting backgrounds as to how they ended up at Pulte. It also gives you contacts for later in your career. A really good perk of this job, is that I am constantly making contacts in all parts of the country. Nice for when I decide to move out of Michigan.

I think that these internal audits are a lot different and better than anything I did in Public. For one, we work for the same company as the division we are visiting, thus, it's more of a team atmosphere. It's nice that the divisions like when audit comes as it gives them a fresh perspective to their business. Our group is very respected in the company and the divisions really value our opinions. That's a satisfaction that I never had in public accounting. In the job I am in now, I can see the results of what I suggest and know that I have an impact on the company.

Starting Out

For my first post, I thought I should take a little time to write how I started my career. I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do when I graduated, however, I did well in accounting classes so I thought I would start there. I really liked Deloitte & Touche as a company and I had heard that having your CPA helps later in your career, so I started there in September 2003. I didn't want to do a Master's of Accounting and Deloitte was really good at allowing me to take classes and sit for the exam while I worked. Thus, I took summer classes before I started, sat for the exam in November 2003 and then took classes at Wayne State for the next year to fulfill my 150 credit hours needed to become licensed in the State of Michigan.

After a while of working at Deloitte, I decided that I did not want to be an auditor anymore and I found that the hours did not allow me to have the personal life I needed. Public accounting is a great way to start a career, but the hours are long and there is a lot expected of you at such a young age. I decided that after 2.5 years, it was no longer a career path I wanted to take. I wanted a job that would allow me to do finance, but also be involved in the operations of the business. That's how I found Pulte.

I currently work for the Corporate Audit group at Pulte Homes. Yes, it's still auditing, but it's a rotational program that will allow me to transfer to an operational role at a later date. Basically, you come into the Corporate Audit group, and for a couple years travel around the country doing audits of the different divisions. Then, at the end of the rotation, you have the chance to become a controller/assistant controller at one of the divisions. This job allows me to travel the country, learn about an industry that is of interest to me and will allow me to take on that operational role that I wanted after I left public.