The Sherlock Holmes of Auditing

The time has come to give a shout out to the Angel of Auditing, that Sherlock Holmes of Equity, my unofficial semi-mentor and he who will be considered my true manager for many months hence: Brad (but not Bradley!)

A few months ago I actually wrote about Brad on this blog – I called him my angel, because he was literally the answer to a prayer. Now, I am very free with where I give God credit for answering prayers, and I doubt he would hold it against me (I mean, if God gets the credit, he gets the praise and thanks, too), and better to overdo it than underdo it. However, it’s the people who can get skeptical sometimes, so I’m just going to reiterate the fact, and hope people believe me.

So I’ll continue the story – I thought Brad was an answer to a prayer because he gave me work to do. But it was so much more than that! Until I met him, I hadn’t really been assigned to a “team.” I was working on the A/P search with a senior, but she was very busy, and we were always waiting on the client, so it wasn’t really a full time task.

With Brad, it was different. I thought at first that, as a manager, he was concerned with making sure employees actually worked while on the clock. What a concept! And thus, he was very good about making sure I had work. However, as time passed, I came to realize that I was part of a team. His team.

See, it was like this. Brad, Ryan, and I were sitting in facilities. Three people thrown together by forces beyond our control. (OK, Brad and Ryan actually knew they were working together, and I’m beginning to assume that it was at that point that some higher-up “assigned” me to Brad as his associate). As Ryan was leaving, Brad found himself giving me more and more tasks – trying to keep them within my level.

That’s how I ended up working on quarters. Everyone told me how hard they were and that they were “senior” stuff. I’m sure a real senior would have knocked them out much faster, and they came back with lots of comments and questions. But that’s what training’s about!

Anyway, I saw Brad through three consecutive seniors, and I almost saw the third leave! However, life is cruel, and it was actually I who had to leave the Equity team first. But enough about my little story – this is a tribute to Brad.

Why do I call him the Sherlock Holmes of auditing? Well, it used to be because he was smart. I mean, auditing in general is like solving a mystery – you look at the clues and piece the puzzle together. But Sherlock Holmes had this uncanny ability to see things others didn’t – House is another good example. I mean, I’m talking about brilliant people here! My manager was constantly asking the “right” question – so right that it seemed he was very lucky in uncovering many audit issues.

He had this ability to go to anyone – me, the client, partners – and explain why a certain accounting issue didn’t work. I saw him break down accounting back to the basics over and over again. He knew the audit process. He applied logic in a way that made it easy for him to adapt to a different environment.

Now Brad also had attitude – and I liked that about him. Yeah, he cussed like a sailor and had the accent of a mobster. In fact, if I was going to cast him in a movie, I would probably pick Danny DeVito (only because I don’t know a lot of movie star names, but if I ever find a better example, I’ll pick him).

He was, however, very kind to me. I think that he was slightly afraid I’d quit on him, too. However, I also think that, as with partners, managers realize that they are two levels up, and therefore, there’s a buffer. I mean, everyone makes mistakes, and at the associate level, there’s so much more to learn that it’s not worth harping on every little mistake. Sometimes he needed to rant – not at me – but I suppose my level with the firm kind of always made me a captive audience to it. J

Finally, our last encounter solidified him as that Sherlock Holmes. There was something I had forgotten about my role model, and Brad reminded me of it. I was less than thrilled at the prospect of leaving Chicago and the audit. Further, I really did enjoy working on the Equity team. Hoping that demand for “resources” from other offices would continue, I asked him if he had any other jobs that needed people. His answer did not surprise me – no, it was too expensive to bring in out-of-towners. But the next statement did. “I can’t allow myself to get emotionally involved.”

And there it was. The analogy was complete. This manager was as stoic as the great detective himself. And it was ironic that the last-ish words I heard from my mentor would be so useful to me. Little did I know at the time just how right he was – that my emotional involvement with this client contributed to my inability to accept my new client and move on.

And that’s the point – in auditing things change so quickly. We can’t be normal accountants – we have to fight against every cell in our bodies that are screaming out to leave well enough alone. I loved everything about that client – my coworkers, the building, making fun of the security guard, the learning experience, the city. But in the end, a piece of my soul was left behind, and there’s no one left to catch it anymore!

And so, here’s to my manager – the Sherlock Holmes of auditing – who started me on the path of auditing inspiration and reminded me of who I am.