Meet Jenna Wiessner: Two-time RSM Intern

Jenna Wiessner | Future Tax Associate | Baltimore

We sat down with Jenna Wiessner, a two-time intern in our Baltimore office, to learn more about her, including her experience at RSM and what makes her unique.

Tell us about yourself!

• Hometown: Fallston, Maryland
• College: Salisbury University in Salisbury, Maryland
• Graduation: December 2017 
• RSM Office: Baltimore
• Favorite place in the world: the beach 

What are three things that no one at RSM knows about you?

• I am a HUGE Dave Matthews Band fan. I have seen them in concert 10 times and have even traveled the world to see them perform!
• I played rugby for Salisbury University for two years, and after too many concussions, I decided to enter into early retirement from my rugby career.
• I was initially a finance major, and one of my accounting professors spent an entire year trying to persuade me to switch my major to accounting. I ultimately caved, which was the best decision that I ever made, but I have maintained a double major in both accounting and finance. 

You initially were an audit intern in the summer of 2016, and you then returned as a tax intern this past summer. How did you go about making that change and why?

Making the change was incredibly easy. After completing my audit internship in 2016, RSM gave me an offer to return for a second internship in audit in 2017. That said, when I later realized that I wanted to shift from audit to tax, I simply spoke with my campus recruiter to see if it was even a possibility. Within a week, I was re-extended an offer as a tax intern!

Deciding to make the change from audit to tax was a natural decision. After wrapping up my audit internship at RSM, I went back to Salisbury and took my first tax class. That same semester, I also completed an elective tax internship through Salisbury University. Through both my first tax class and the elective tax internship, I came to the realization that tax was a natural fit for me. My experience this past summer as a tax intern definitely reaffirmed my decision.

What did you enjoy the most about your audit internship? What did you enjoy the most about your tax internship?

My favorite aspect of my audit internship was the valuable experience that I gained while on site at the client and having direct interaction with the client. I had the opportunity to tour some really cool clients with state-of-the-art facilities and sit in on some interesting meetings.

My favorite aspect of my tax internship was the natural challenge I faced on a day-to-day basis. The tax work really required me to problem solve and be creative by leveraging a variety of resources, which I so enjoyed. Even a tax senior associate on my team was pleasantly surprised when she saw how quickly I was able to grasp some challenging concepts!

Although both internships were quite different, they each gave me really unique experiences, which helped to better understand what path I wanted to take following graduation.

What drew you back to RSM for a second internship?

At the end of last summer, I really felt that RSM was a good fit for me. Everyone in the office truly embraces the culture and the firm’s brand promise “The Power of Being Understood,” and that really resonated with me. On top of that, I felt that RSM would be a great long-term fit given the size of the firm, the middle market focus, and the long-term opportunities that I would be provided when starting full-time.

Tell us your favorite memory from the last two summers. What stands out in your mind?

I can’t exactly pick one specific memory, but in general, the people definitely standout. Last summer, I had the opportunity to meet so many great people all in different positions and lines of business. Returning this past summer, it was amazing to see so many familiar faces, while continuing to forge new relationships. It really is who you work with that matters the most.

What advice would you give to future RSM interns?

Have fun! To be the best version of yourself, you must be confident AND have fun. The whole point of an internship with RSM is to see if you are a good fit for RSM, and if RSM is a good fit for you, and the best way to do that is to be yourself, work hard, and enjoy yourself all at the same time.

Consumer Products: Audits for everyday items

Alison Cannon | Assurance Manager | Baltimore

We caught up with Alison Cannon audit manager in the Baltimore office, to learn more about what it’s like to work in RSM’s consumer products practice. Consumer products, including food and beverage, restaurants, retail, and fashion and home furnishings, is one of many industries in which RSM focuses.

RSM: What types of companies are considered consumer products clients?

Alison: Consumer products encompasses anything the end-user consumes. Think about things you buy everyday—food in grocery stores, clothes online, furniture in a store. All of the companies that sell those products to you are considered consumer products.

What challenges do you face working in the consumer products space?
The products consumers want and how they want to get those products is always changing. Think about how you shop today versus how we shopped 10 years ago. We want companies to be “omnichannel”—meaning we want different ways to buy things—online, in the store, on an app, etc. Companies really have to innovate to be able to keep up with today’s consumer. As auditors, we have to keep up with how companies are changing their business and making sure we know how to audit and account for any changes.

What’s the make-up of a typical client team?

This all depends on the size of the client. Our small to mid-sized companies will typically have 4-5 core team members consisting of 1-2 associates, 1 senior associate (the “in-charge”), 1 manager, and 1 partner. This team is usually on site for about 2-3 weeks. Larger clients could have more team members and will be on site for a longer period of time. Depending on the client, there could also be a RSM tax team or IT team that helps that audit team.

Can you describe a typical consumer product client engagement?

Typically the team will go to a client a few months before the client’s year-end. During this time, the team is focused on planning the audit. They will calculate materiality, determine what accounts need to be tested, identify any risks (including fraud risks) at the client, and may even start some testing. They will also obtain an understanding of all of the key processes at the business. For consumer products, this usually consists of cash, accounts payable, accounts receivable, inventory, fixed assets, sales, and payroll. After an understanding has been obtained from those in the accounting department, the associate or senior associate will sit down with all of the process owners (accounts payable clerk, assistant controller, controller, CFO, etc.) and will perform a “walkthrough” of the process. This is where we pick an example and have the client show us exactly how the transaction works from beginning to end. This is a great way for us to interact with the client and to make sure we really understand the business. It can also help us identify any other risks that may exist in the business, especially around internal controls.

Right around year-end the team usually performs inventory observations. Most consumer products clients have inventory on their balance sheet since this is what they sell to the end user. To make sure that inventory exists as stated, we will go out and count a sample of the inventory. Sometimes this is the most interesting part of the audit—imagine going to count clothes at your favorite clothing store, or counting frozen food in a huge freezer!

After year-end, the team will go back out to the client to begin testing. During this time we get schedules from the client, select samples, and have the client pull information for us. We spend a lot of time testing the samples, performing analytics, talking to the client, and obtaining additional documents to support what the client is saying.

What experience do you need to work on consumer product engagements?

Ensuring the team has experience in the consumer products industry is very important. Normally, that industry expertise come from the manager and partner on the client team. But new associates can jump right in to this type of audit with appropriate guidance from the manager and partner and begin to develop their own industry knowledge All of our employees, including new associates, take continuing professional education classes throughout the year, including industry-specific courses, so everyone gets the training they need to work on these audits.