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Intern At The Largest Cpa Firm

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Alicia Sowinski Internship Reflection
This past summer, I had the opportunity to intern at the largest CPA firm in Buffalo, Freed Maxick, CPAs. It was an intense six-week program that exposed me to a variety of work in departments such as tax, audit, EAS, consulting, and healthcare. At Freed Maxick, they wanted the internship to parallel the experience their first-year staff accountants have. We were treated as full-time employees as we had our own cubicles, worked forty-hour weeks, and were designated tasks from upper-level staff pertaining to actual clients. My time at the firm allowed me to gain real world accounting experience and learn not only about the myriad amount of doors that the profession opens, but also aided in my …show more content…

Other software’s we were exposed to included BNA, used to manage client fixed assets, Prostaff, used to schedule staff on engagements and manage their time, and Prosystems, used mostly for tax engagements. After a week of training, the other interns and I worked with the EAS department at Freed. EAS, or Enterprise Advisory Services, is headed by Shawn Frier and works primarily with smaller clients. This department provides both tax and audit services to its clients and performs duties that company accountants would do such as compiling the books and assisting with QuickBooks applications. Some EAS employees are acting CFO’s for smaller companies that just can’t afford employing one full time. During our two weeks with the EAS department, we were able to see how they deal with a client from beginning to start. We treated the company as if it was a real company and imported their trial balances, compiled financial statements, and performed audits and compilations. Throughout the two weeks we were given opportunities to complete “Foot and Proofs” of company financials and reviews. Foot and Proofs involve proofreading financial statements for grammar and formatting errors, tracing numbers throughout the entire document to make sure they match, and verifying that accounts are disclosed properly in the notes. We would use ticks and ties to trace

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