Anurag @ DHS

The audit journey has taken me from manual accounts to SAP, tobacco manfacturing companies in the Zakaria Streets to exotic Corporate offices.

Thats the beauty of audit. It brings the entire world in front of the green and blue ticks. The more agile you are, the more phenomenal are your Auditing Mantras.

Worked in my uncle's firm - Agarwal Anil Kumar & Co during my B.Com first year (June'03-Jan'04). Conducting statutory audits, internal audits and tax audits of individuals, firms and a few listed companies. Subsequentlyworked for around 2 years at Deloitte. I was providing solutions to clients in the domain of financial reporting and statutory compliance. Major clients: Tata Steel, TCS, Voltas, IHCL, Tata Martrade International Logistics Ltd, Ceratizit India, Landis+Gyr.

I gained a first-hand feel of how large companies functioned. Watching the sheer scale and complexity of the mines, ports and plants in operation, I was filled initially with a sense of awe. I met people (accountants, engineers etc) who were managing this complexity and also had the vision to steer their companies to the next orbit of growth. These managers/leaders in action were just like the principals at my school/college with the missionary zeal or the presidents of our Youth Clubs, bubbling with enthusiasm.  I decided this is the place where I wanted to be and that I would be trying to acquire the requisite skills in order to be a successful here.

 My most memorable moment in audit was in January 2007, when, as a second year intern at Deloitte, I had to informally lead the efforts of a team of six qualified Chartered Accountants during an audit of a manufacturing major. My team members were new joinees, with no prior knowledge of the client or of firm methodology. However, they were senior to me and overall more experienced and thus, I had to avoid ego clashes. So, my inter-personal skills of engaging with seniors in a collaborative manner, segmenting the work, helped me to not only meet the timelines but also raise significant audit observations; one of them resulting in savings of ~ USD 1 mn for the client.

I am sure I would never have cleared my CA Finals had I not undergone this audit journey. Once you see the factories, ports, sales offices etc, you realise that what you are reading in your textbook is just a manifestation of reality. After working on CFS of Tata Steel, you find it fun when you read AS-21 on those books

Thus audit cultivated an ability to listen, think on my feet, defend my thoughts and integrate ideas would allow me to forge fruitful relationships as well as perform well in course of the assignments