My Job!

So as I sit here at 6:15, still at work, patiently waiting to get the word back on whether or not our files that we are filing with the SEC are OK or not (more on that later), I thought I'd write a little post about my job change I had about 2 months ago.

Around the beginning of March, my boss called me into her office and told me that another guy in my group was going to be moving to a different group within the company, and said that if I didn't have any major objections, I would be taking his position within our group. Of course, I didn't, so I began to set my mind on all the things that I had to learn in the 2 months before I would be taking over.

Later that day, my boss called the 4 people in my group into a conference room and let everyone in on the change. She then let us know about ANOTHER change. A different guy in my group was also going to be leaving the group. He was actually going to be leaving the company and going to South Africa for 27 months in the Peace Corps. So, that quickly, I went from being the least experienced person in my group to the 2nd most experienced, right behind a guy who will be retiring within the next year... Ahhh!

The time between March and May, I did some training for my new job with the person who's place I would be taking, mainly focusing on the duties he performed during month-end closes. It was quite an overwhelming experience, looking at all the new stuff that I had to do. I was just finally feeling like I was getting comfortable in my position, and now it was all getting changed up again!

I made the transition and, for a while, had to do my old duties plus my new ones because there was a new hire right out of college coming in and he wouldn't start until 3 weeks after my predecessor was vacating his position but, I'm glad to say I made it through it!

In my old position, I was what I like to call "The General Ledger Police". During close, I closely watched the entries that were going through and made sure that they were being posted in the correct month and that they were all being posted before we closed the books for the month. I also ran checks to be sure that all of the data for our accounts and cost centers were complete and working correctly, made journal entries for various things, and reconciled certain assigned accounts among other things. Throughout the month I also fielded people's questions about why their entries weren't going through or what was wrong with their accounts and cost centers, I created new cost centers and accounts when needed, and helped people out with our general ledger system when they had questions about what transactions to use for certain things or helped them figure out how to make things work. Overall, I liked my job. I especially liked it when I figured out what I was doing and could be the person to answer the questions rather than having to be the person that was asking all the time!

So now, in my new position, a lot of my duties have shifted to be more concentrated during the month and quarter ends. I still make entries and reconcile some accounts, but I take care of a lot more and bigger accounts now. I also take care of our consolidations at the end of every month, which consists of making entries to make our consolidated financials correct and reflect the correct revenue and expenses between all of our subsidiaries so that it isn't overstated for our intercompany transactions. After all of that stuff is taken care of, I put together our cash flow statement each month. There are 4 different reconciliations that I do with the help of information from people from various parts of the company that help to come up with our cash flow statement. That's the most intimidating thing that I do, in my opinion. Hopefully it is something that I can get my head around as I go through each month.

The biggest undertaking of my new position is being a part of putting together our 10Q each quarter to be filed with the SEC. It's crazy how big of a deal it is, and how much of a hand my group and myself have in putting it all together. That is the reason I am still at work now (now 6:51). We are filing our 10Q tomorrow, and so we have to be sure that everything is good and correct. At this point, it's just basically a waiting game between making changes, making sure the changes are OK, and getting the changes made to the version of our report that gets filed with the SEC tomorrow. We went through the same sort of process with the Earnings Release 8K that we filed this morning. We were here last night until about 8 making sure that everything was prepared and final and ready to go to file. Then, I came in the morning at 6:50, so I could send the email to say OK TO FILE at 7:05 right after our press release hit the news wire. That was pretty cool to see and be a part of! I have to admit, I was actually kind of nervous, sitting here hitting refresh on my yahoo.com every few seconds.

As much as I do like my job, it's nights like this that go on for weeks every quarter, that make me realize that I couldn't do this forever. I don't know how my bosses do this with families and kids at home... My husband of 2 months just told me today that he can't wait until our lives can go back to normal next week. And this is only my first quarter in this position! But things will go back to 'normal' starting tomorrow, right after we file. Until the next week, when it's time for a month close again :) Although, they are pretty tame when we're coming right off of a quarter close.

I do really love the job I have and the company I work for. I am so fortunate to have gotten this job and to be where I am. I am so thankful!

On a side note, semi related... I'm finally starting the process of applying for the CPA Exam and taking the tests. I ordered the study material last night and will be officially applying within the next few weeks. I am anticipating taking my first test in November and the second in February, followed by the third and forth in April and May. That is all depending on how things go with taking the tests and my job and everything. It's hard to try to figure out when to take the tests when I know I will be busy the first month of every quarter as well as pretty much the first 4 months of the year with work, preparing 10Qs and 10Ks and R-1s in the beginning of the year... So we'll see how the first few go and we'll see if I'll think I can handle taking a test in April while also preparing the 10Q... But regardless, it's happening!! In 10 months from now, I could be Kendra Fredericksen, C.P.A. :)

P.S. I'm going home now! YAY! Wish me luck tomorrow! I hope nothing blows up and we get everything filed, no problem!!

Chow!