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How often does a completely new dimension get added to a corporate organization? I mean - come on! - this is opportunity banging at the door, here. Most projects seem to be equal parts pain and frustration, with the upside of long hours and considerable rework. It doesn't tick and tie, the guidance continues to be refined, and most people have really only been into this work for 6 - 36 months unless they were specialized in controls at a Big Four or have been working in an Internal Audit function. But the upside is enormous. ENORMOUS. This is sure to be the new must-have skill on resumes for future executives walking the finance halls. This is like knowing the t-charts, GAAP, or discounted cash flows - this is a new fundamental. Being competent is no longer sufficent: how do you know (and I mean, really, really know) that you got the right number? Process controls. With your CEO and CFO keeping a close eye on progress, this is a great place to get noticed. (And my continued freedom depended on your good work, you can bet that I would have a keen interest in ensuring that you are crossing your t's and dotting your i's. And while most folks are fixated on the monitoring and testing attributes of the work (assuming that they've swam the lengths of documentation, probably 3 or 4 laps worth), what about the little-herald upside of the process improvement and system implementation projects? Hello - special projects guarantee special visibility to key decision makers. What else are you working so hard for? If you want to get noticed, step up. If you want to clock a cool 40 and be home in time every night for Jeopardy, step back.
When you need a break from it all, but don't have time for a real break - http://www.sticky.tv/game/cyrkam_airtos/index.html I intentionally decided against getting my undergraduate degree in accounting, specifically because I found the topic dry, too fixated on hard numbers, and littered with far more rules than I was interested in following. Such the rebel, and clearly without a cause. Now, I find myself (the non-CPA) neck deep in risk and control assessments, process documentation, control design, and assertion determination. Somewhere in the midst of the confusion and finger-pointing, a process reengineer/ business manager slipped through the backdoor of this mad festival. Not that I'm always glad I'm here mind you, but, one does have to admit that the work stays new. Day to day. Sometimes, hour to hour. But like most things, the opportunity seems to be getting in on the front end. Not quite a multi-level marketing gambit, this monster isn't going away anytime soon, and all firms continue to hire newbies on - we are documenting a bizillion controls after all that will require care and watering, documentation updates and testing. So - to any potential students considering which direction to plot your course , consider this: you can indeed get paid to argue and philosophize without spending the next three years in law school, or sitting through Spinoza. I'm not saying that you need an accounting degree (I opted finance and have since stapled an mba to my tagline), but consider an elective in business controls, process design, or risk managment. All these disciplines are rapidly converging toward making the organization a more reflective and transparent creation.
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