Better to have strong nerves and enjoy the change

Better to have strong nerves and enjoy the change. In a few years, listeners have lived suffered changes unprecedented in their profession. Sarbannes-Oxley Act in the United States, law on the financial security of France, new book repository, IFRS, 2003, and now... a code of ethics governing strictly their practice. Be hearing today is not really any rest.

For firms, the separation more strictly framed between the certification of accounts, which guarantees a reliable financial information, and the Council on sales, but relied on for years, yet sometimes to be put in place "audit remains a product of appeal to make contractual missions, notes Jean-Louis Mullenbach, Bellot Mullenbach partner and Associates, Parliament is struggling to advance the profession." Firms change their mode of operation in the form, not enough on the bottom.

Result: despite the new regulations, the partners of international firms continue to provide audited groups of services did not directly entering the due diligence related to the mission of the external auditor. "It is true that the pressure made by the firm on his associates to develop the turnover is high," concedes Jean-Louis Mullenbach. However the legal audit is not which brings the most.

"It does not"business model"of the overnight", recognizes a partner of a large firm. However, since the scandals of recent years (Enron and Parmalat, including) the times have changed.

"The time where some believed that it could do everything, from floor to ceiling, for all the world in a total pluridisciplinarity is gone", summarizes Martin Huerre, HRB France at Mazars.

In their organization, audit firms therefore attach to separate more more clearly their branch office accounts and the Council on the figure. With this feature of the trade that the listener is never only auditor, but can also, provided that it is not for the same client, make the Council the following day.

Find the right place

First concern for law firms, sent to find the proper place of their listeners to their clients. "A customer who has signed a contract of partnership in China may apply to the external auditor his opinion on how to handle accounting aspects.". The Auditor can then ask one of the experts of the international or complex financial models, explains Véronique Menard, Director of the strategy of human resources at Ernst & Young. However, we will intervene not on the construction of ad hoc editing when we auditor.

If so it is not in an actual advisory role, the listener does not only at the closing of the accounts, but although upstream, it participates in a phase of reflection and exchange with the client. Because more that previously, it asks the listener to anticipate problems. Especially in this delicate period of change in accounting repository.

"On IFRS, firms were questioned by their customers to validate certain interpretations of standards, still evolving." It then comes to review objectively and critical, but not to write their IFRS accounting procedure manual. "This is the border between do and review it," says Patrick - Hubert Petit, Member of the Board of Directors of KPMG Audit.

A border not always easy to collect, especially when, at the same time, companies that have had themselves strengthen their internal control procedures are more and more demanding with listeners. They wait for him, in an environment both more complex and more risky, more reflection and foresight.

"Team seniorisation".

They accept more of land each year young Commissioners Auditors who need to explain back accounting problems of the company. An expectation that begin to perceive the major firms and that their human resources attached to take into account. "Demand for technology is growing, we therefore believe the future in terms of seniorisation and permanence of the teams. In this context, our effort of training, mentoring and coaching is still growing to maintain our level of excellence, explains Martin Huerre.

Another concern for HR firms: the legal duty to rotation of Auditors teams, is still to ensure their total independence from their clients. A particularly sensitive to requirement in place, because the new accounting standards call for listeners a knowledge of the various sectors in which they operate.

"This poses real questions in terms of human resources, since it must anticipate to ensure the rotation." "We must double teams, this should have the means and the size," admits Véronique Ménard, who explains that Ernst & Young, with 5,000 employees in France, has put in place a dozen of "centres of excellence" in the world that work as sectoral training centres (banking, telecoms, etc.).

Diversify recruitment

Remains the main problem to solve, with all these new requirements, as the turnover very important profession: 17, for example, at Mazars. Listeners are well often in offices only a few years, the time to train before joining a company.

Firms must constantly recruit trying to attract the best to a profession well upside down in recent years. And treat young people hired, prey preference of head hunters.

The task is not always easy, because early in a cabinet appear sometimes austere. Young recruits, all of high potential, to show little enthusiastic to tasks that they feel little rewarding and sometimes cumbersome. Sylvie Bernard-Curie, HRD in KPMG Audit (KPMG France has since his rapprochement with Salustro Reydel nearly 7,000 employees) readily admits: "they are ready to give much, but, in return, the work must be rewarding." The work requires an extreme rigour. To make this more motivating experience, we allow each to choose its sector of activity and professional to quickly advance its areas of responsibility for example incorporating a management dimension.

Another solution: diversify recruitment. Finished the reign almost without sharing of major business schools, law firms opt for more than plurality by opening their doors to engineers and academics. "It's always interesting to have profiles in a same team, this allows to see things in a different way, said Eric Bertier, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.". In addition, this corresponds to an application for business; When you need to check a complicated mechanism of accounting coverage, be trained in mathematics, it helps.

More responsibilities and a rapid progression, a journey abroad is an important asset. Here again, the firms realizes and communicate on their international networks to seduce the Globetrotters in grass.

"We offer the possibility to work in an Office already established abroad, but also to go in a new territory to develop a business." "They can thus become a boss of a country," said Eric Pietrac, HRD group at Mazars.

To more and more many constraints facing the profession of Auditor firms therefore seem determined to work to enhance opportunities to seize. And create many vocations have strong.