Allison Luedecke is a senior internal audit consultant in Protiviti's Houston office. We asked her the following questions to get an idea of what her day to day responsibilities are as a internal audit professional. Below you will find her responses and advice if you are thinking about entering into this profession.
1. What was your college and your major?
I graduated from Texas A&M University with a finance degree.
2. What courses did you find the most helpful to prepare you for your current position? What advice do you have for students about choosing a major and choosing courses?
My accounting courses were the most helpful for this position. I primarily work on SOX projects and throughout the documentation phase, we consider the risk associated with certain processes. When designing a risk assessment for a client, the first thing you consider is materiality. The numbers reported on the 10K are used to determine the materiality of the account which helps set the threshold for the year. Once the risk assessment is complete, the process documentation begins. A basic understanding of accounting helps when discussing and documenting financial processes. SOX is focused on the accuracy around financial reporting, therefore the accounting related processes are usually always in scope. During the testing phase, it is very helpful to have a basic understanding of accounting in order to check journal entries and reconciliations for accuracy.
My advice to students would be to major in accounting or finance. If you major in finance, I would recommend taking additional accounting classes to fulfill elective hours. This will also help fulfill the accounting hour requirement on the CPA exam if you choose to become certified later in your career.
3. What are your primary work activities on a day to day basis?
As a Senior Consultant, my daily activities include meeting with the project sponsor to provide updates on the progress of the project, meeting with process owners to discuss documentation / testing, performing testing, reviewing testing performed by consultants, providing updates on the progress of the project to Protiviti project management, updating status documents, providing consultants with steps/goals for the next week, and answering questions raised by external auditors and the client.
4. What industries have you worked in?
I have worked in energy and manufacturing.
5. What do you enjoy most about your profession?
I enjoy the constant change on internal audit projects. You never end up doing the same task over and over again. The projects change, the people working on projects change, and new projects begin. Even if you are assigned to a long SOX engagement for an entire year, the project will undoubtedly change. The client might change their mind on a certain piece of the project or the client might request additional work in an area. The people on your project might change from quarter to quarter, which allows you to develop relationships with new people and learn from others. At the end of the project, you know you will work on a completely new, project/client. I think it is so enjoyable not doing the exact same thing day in and day out.
The other wonderful thing about this job is the people. As mentioned before, you work with different people and the groups change frequently. I find it very beneficial to work with new people and learn their styles and approaches on different situations. The teamwork environment truly leads to a creative thought process, and learning different approaches from others helps to mold you into a well rounded individual.
With constant changes from the client things happen that you are not prepared for. For example, I started a project that required two weeks of travel in the beginning. The client decided, after the project began, to leave their accounting department in the out-of-town city instead of moving to Houston. The two weeks of travel I signed up for turned into a full year of travel. In the end, the project turned into the best project I have ever worked on. You have to prepare yourself for the unknown and realize that things can change quickly. But if you are willing to be flexible and positive as projects change, you will likely be rewarded in the end for your efforts.
6. What advice would you give to students interested in the internal audit/risk consulting business? Anything you would do different or change? Any success strategies to share?
My advice would be to intern for an Internal Audit/Risk Consulting firm. Internships give students a taste of the different type of projects, the team structure, and the interaction level with the client. I think an internship would really help a student determine if this is the right fit for them. It also helps students to meet with the company’s other employees, which is very helpful once they start and are placed on new projects.
Also, focus on accounting skills and take any auditing classes your college offers. These courses would be very helpful for students to understand the internal auditing business and will be viewed as a positive during recruiting events.