I returned from my externship with Deloitte last Friday. I had a really great time and learned a lot about public accounting life and particularly what it's like to work for Deloitte. We started out our externship with a fun little get-to-know-you bingo game with all the other externs at the event. Then we had a little scavenger hunt around the office so we could get to know the office surroundings and get some bearings. After the scavenger hunt, we had a couple of the professionals from the office come and talk to us about what they call "Drop and Count." It was really interesting. Basically it is an audit procedure for a casino where you observe how they account for all the cash at the slots and gaming tables. We learned a little about all the crazy internal controls surrounding the cash and how it would be pretty impossible to take off with the money. It is true that Oceans 11 is just a movie. After the presentation, we went out to lunch at a place called Grand Lux Cafe. It is a sister store of the Cheesecake Factory. The one we went to was in the Palazzo. It was a really nice place and I think the Grand in Grand Lux Cafe was because of the portion sizes. Holy cow! I ordered the lunch portions and they brought me so much food that I could only eat half of my meal and I was completely stuffed!! But it was really yummy.
After lunch was over, all the externs were put in groups of two and each group got to visit a client site to see the work being done at the engagements. I had the opportunity to visit the corporate headquarters of Harrahs which is incidentally in Caesar's Palace. Apparently, the corporate headquarters just moved to Vegas from Memphis, so the Memphis Deloitte office is in the process of transitioning the client and all the work over to the Vegas Deloitte office. We got to look around the casino a little, go over some audit work papers, and meet with the on site audit manager. It was really good for me to see what the auditors actually do and get to talk with some of the staff on the engagement.
After we were brought back to the office around 5:00, we got ready and drove out to Summerlin where the head partner of audit lives. We had a lovely dinner in his back yard with some of the partners and senior managers of the office. The food was out of this world. AMAZING sushi, hors d'oeuvres, chicken marsala, fish, and beef. It was interesting to get to see the partners as "people" rather than high and mighty and unapproachable.
After the dinner was over, we drove back and checked into our hotel. We stayed at The Platinum which is just off the strip on Flamingo, about 2 minutes from the Deloitte office. It was SOOOO nice! It was a one-bedroom suite with a full kitchen and a HUGE bathroom. I swear, the bathroom was almost as big as the bedroom. All cars are parked with a valet service, which was nice, but kind of annoying when you're only there for a few minutes, and they go park your vehicle and have to just go get it back a little while later. It was really nice to not have to walk through a casino to get to the room and I had a nice balcony just off the living room. I was REALLY impressed. Very nice room!!
Here is a picture of the kitchen, nicer than my kitchen at home, even though it's a little smaller.
Here is the floor plan.
The next morning, we got to take an inventory count. I guess it's really common to go on engagements to take inventory counts in your first year in public accounting. Next, we heard from the tax side of the office. They helped us fill out a simple 1120 (it's like the 1040 for a corporation). After we were finished with that, we ate lunch at Maggiano's, a family style Italian restaurant. The food was fabulous. I tried the calamari and it was really good! Very pricey place, though. It looked like it was $23 per person!
After a delicious lunch, we got to "audit cash." We got to see the work papers we need and learn about the procedures. The example we used I realize was simple, but I thought it was really fun and easy. After we were finished auditing cash, we went out to Red Rock Casino Resort and went bowling. It was a really fun activity, even though I'm bowling challenged. I got to visit with the professionals in a more casual and relaxed atmosphere and have some fun. Although by this point in the trip, I was missing my family very much!!
After bowling, we headed on up the freeway to go home. Some of the externs had the opportunity to stay an additional day to participate in the Deloitte Impact Day where everyone in the office has a chance to get out and do some service in the community. It sounded like it was a fun day, but I needed to get back to my class and my job, so we came home, and boy was it good to get home!!
The two days I spent in Las Vegas with Deloitte has really made me start thinking about my career path. I have a lot of decisions to make, but I'm really glad I had the opportunity to go down so I can make more informed decisions.
