Throughout our class time together LinkedIn has posted some very interesting links on their page. The one that stood out to me was a link they posted about a scholarship. The headline on the article is “PCAOB Announces 332 scholarships for the 2018-2019 Academic Year.” I found it pretty rewarding that the PCAOB will award one student at 332 colleges in the country. It shows they are interested in our youth and want them to succeed. The next generation needs a push and incentive when receiving a scholarship. I know I wish I would of won that scholarship. This scholarship has started for eight years now. Auditors can learn from LinkedIn regarding scholarship opportunities for those college students studying for their bachelors or masters in accounting. They will learn the scholarship requirements that the PCAOB has in place for those scholarship winners. It can also be a very good conversation starter if a new auditor meets new coworkers. It would be exciting to meet someone that won that scholarship reward and ask what they wrote about. As an aspiring accountant, being rewarded for work that you want to put into is very satisfying. There is no greater satisfaction than hard work.
Another thing Auditors can learn from the PCAOB’s Twitter page is its most recent report. They put a link on their twitter page about inspection reports that were conducted in 2017. These reports are all on public companies. The inspection report starts off by talking about the company they have audited. It then starts the breakdown of that company (PCAOB Posts 9 New Inspection Reports). The company size, the lead partners of the company, the number of audit work performed by the Firm, etc. They then get into the audit engagements, quality control system, and review of audit work. This is important not only to auditors but aspiring auditors because instead of reading scenarios out of the textbook, they get to see the real life audit reports and expectations when you are an auditor. Auditors can learn from multiple reports to see how they can conduct a cleaner audit on the next client that they perform an audit on.
Auditors can go on YouTube and listen to videos regarding the PCAOB meetings. The videos are really lengthy but Auditors will gain knowledge of what is to come in these meetings. Also there is a seven part video series answering common questions on becoming a PCAOB inspector (10/21/15 How are the Pay and Benefits at the PCAOB?). They answer the questions of compensation, travel, work life, and benefits. Every person when applying to a new job secretly wants to know how much they will be compensated. Listening to these videos will excite aspiring PCAOB inspectors or auditors for the PCAOB to come join the team.
Throughout our class period together, the PCAOB has been going back and forth on how to decide disciplinary actions for those auditors who do not follow the rules and standards. Not only are these announcements have been posted all throughout Facebook, it has been posted on the PCAOB websites. If a person follows the PCAOB Facebook page, they will see a link that follows with the saying “Settled Disciplinary Actions” (Settled Disciplinary Orders). Once they click on the link, they will be brought to the PCAOB website where there will be a list of people on file. A person can scroll through and click on each person that is listed on the website and download their PDF file. In the file they will find what the person did, how much they were fined, and any other additional punishments that have been added to that person. Auditors can find this information very useful because they can determine key names and have discussions with other fellow auditors of what happened. Also they can learn from that person’s mistake. They will also be informed on what type of punishment has been aligned with the specific offense of breaking the accounting standards. Also breaking the code of ethics as an accountant not only will give you punishments from the PCAOB but will lead to a bad public image in the future.
Auditors can subscribe to PCAOB email updates to learn about information and current updates regarding the PCAOB. Maybe an auditor doesn’t have the time to scroll thru social media to view information of what is going on. The best way to relay information for those who do not have time is having them on this email list. This will save time and they will receive an email alert every time a newsletter or update happens right on their phone.
Auditors can use Flickr to put names to faces when it comes to the PCAOB. They will gain some sort of feeling as if they are in the office with them. Flickr does not use any words but picture. Auditors can benefit from this when they recognize one of the board members in a casual setting. They can engage conversation with them and you never know, they might even offer a job interview to you. Putting names to faces is always a good thing to do before you actually meet the person. Also if an auditor has an interview with a PCAOB board member, they won’t be as shocked when they come to meet the person face to face.
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