RSM Richter Chamberland Summer Interns

James Boucher-Hill: My internship in the Consulting and Forensic accounting groups

My internship which lasted approximately five weeks in the Consulting department was great. The first day I came to the office, I was assigned to the Canadian Consulting division and I went to a client site regarding a bankruptcy case. I never thought my first day would take place with a client, but I could not have asked for a better first experience. Afterwards, I had the chance to work within the U.S. division. I read some reports and accomplished various tasks which helped me learn more about this department.

Then I went back to work for the Canadian Consulting division, where I had the opportunity to work on a project concerning all the assessments, dispute resolution and forensic accounting cases handled over the past five years. This was a large-scale project. I spent over three weeks reading the majority of these files in order to summarize the important information in a specific file. It was very interesting because I gained great insight into the group`s role, while developing new knowledge of the field. As such, my five weeks in Consulting have been very rewarding and appreciated, since they allowed me to meet and collaborate with many people who gave me the inspiration to follow their lead in the years to come.

Yuan Zhang: No ties at my first client

As my internship comes to an end, I have just finished my first mandate for a client.

Before going to the client site, I was both curious and stressed. But the stress melted away as soon as I arrived there.  First, the CFO made us take off our ties so that we would be more at ease. Then he invited us to take a tour of the company to give us an overview of their activities. This is a company which is specialized in the distribution of professional audio and lighting products. When we entered the quality control department, I was amazed by the work the people of this department perform. Some employees’ job is to play guitar to ensure the good quality of the products.

The mandate itself was a review engagement that included preparing notices to readers for some affiliated companies. I now have a general idea of the compilation work after having prepared a notice to readers end-to-end. My supervisor was available to answer all my questions despite his busy schedule.

This three-day mandate was a rewarding experience: it allowed me to put into practice the theories learned at university and to gain a better understanding of some key audit concepts.

Sara Liang: How we took on our fundraising challenge this summer

Besides the mandates and training sessions that are the core of our internship, there is a tradition at RSM Richter Chamberland for all summer students to organize different fundraising activities for a good cause. This year, our mission has been to raise money for the Foundation of Stars. The firm pushed us to be creative and dynamic and as a result, we came up with so many original ideas; so far, we had a club night with our friends, we brought home-made baked goods to sell, we even shined shoes and offered manicures!  We also collected recipes from our colleagues and printed a fun cookbook with over 100 recipes, which was a huge success.

 

We are all working together on our fundraising campaign and are trying to accomplish as much as possible over the course of our summer here.  Not  only have we raised a lot of money, the various events we organized were also a great opportunity to meet  our future coworkers and let them to get to know us as well

Ali Kobeissi: An inventory count in a production plant

My first inventory count was a great experience. I had never seen or participated in an inventory count before so this was new for me and also an opportunity to expand my accounting knowledge. During my visit to the client site, I was surprised to see how complicated managing a plant could be.

 

Once I arrived on site with my supervisor, we received a list of all products in inventory. The plant, which is fairly large, has more than one warehouse to store its products. Since there are several warehouses and each is separated from the other, we had to travel by car to get from one to another. We had to sort the list that we received in order to organize inventory by location. Once the list was sorted, we had to perform some tests. This has been a rewarding and interesting experience especially because I learned a lot. I look forward to the next count.

Paloma Navarrete-Rolls: Flirting with Fraud

As a summer student at RSM Richter Chamberland we have the amazing opportunity to experience different areas of the accounting profession. I was lucky enough to be assigned to a fraud case for a couple of days. I was given a detailed report regarding the case in order to be able to grasp and understand it prior to beginning work. The latter helped put everything into perspective as I realized the importance of my assignment.

 

I was required to prepare a detailed Excel spreadsheet with the transactions from the US and Canadian bank accounts and to highlight any abnormalities or any suspicious transactions. I had to be extremely meticulous in my work as everything that I prepared was to be used in court. This short stint in fraud allowed me to explore another side of accounting that I personally find exceptionally fascinating.

James Papanastasiou : New insight regarding valuation and litigation matters

Shortly after returning from an audit mandate, I was excited to see that I had been scheduled to work in the Consulting division. I was scheduled on an extensive project with my fellow summer student James Boucher-Hill that entailed reviewing past valuation and litigation cases. Although I did not actually help in the preparation of these cases, reading them attentively gave me a basic understanding of how valuation and litigation reports are prepared.

Furthermore, doing this work made me realize all the possibilities we have at RSM Richter Chamberland as we can, during our careers, pursue various interests within the organization. I really enjoyed my experience!

Rebecca Narrea-Normand: A receivership mandate that was anything but ordinary!

This month, I got to work on-site and it was a real thrill to spend 4 days on a receivership mandate. I didn’t know what to expect and it felt a little like I was in a thriller movie —You know, that scene when they seize property?

 

The hardest part was being confronted with people in a situation of crisis. I learned that you have to maintain your composure and try to be as empathetic as possible with everyone involved. Waking-up was also a challenge since I had to be on site at 7 am! J

 

The people with whom I worked on the mandate gave me precious advice and trusted me. Quite simply, I loved my experience and it helped make my internship something special.   

Valérie Durand: Time well-spent with the Consulting Group

In June, I had the opportunity to spend two weeks in the Consulting Group. First, I was assigned to a mandate which had been the subject of a lot of press and television coverage. It was in fact a fraud case like those we’ve been hearing so much about this year.  This piqued my curiosity and gave me a different perspective of the chartered accountant’s role in the business world.

I was then assigned to a second mandate where I had to put in practice some of the knowledge I acquired during my last semester at University. One of the consultants here explained to me in great detail the different types of mandates the Consulting Group executes. Since we our courses at university are most centered on audit matters, I was happy to learn about the other types of mandates to which I could be assigned.

I was also given a practical project, namely to create a pivot table for the Consulting Group in order to know how much time it spends on each type of mandate. This table will help the Group make an informed decision when it plans the hiring of a new employee.

Overall, my consulting experience appealed to my curiosity and my resourcefulness. Also, my colleagues have been patient and open to my comments. My internship has been truly diversified and rewarding!

Marc-Vincent Senécal-Caillé: An internship in Consulting opens new horizons!

Shortly after being introduced into the RSM Richter Chamberland family, I was assigned an internship in the Consulting Services Group. I was pleasantly surprised to hear with whom I would work with for the next two weeks. During the first week, I had the opportunity to work with Ariella Yedid, a restructuring specialist with over 17 years of experience in that Group. With her, I learned a great deal about legal proceedings surrounding the companies filing under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. During the second week, I was assigned to work with Pascale Gaudreault, an experienced member of the team in charge of financial litigation and dispute resolution. She taught me about decorum and work presentation. After a week with her, I can confirm that I am much better prepared to face future challenges.

Jessica Nardelli: Audits for non-profit and private companies provide real-world experience

After completing my first audit, I have to say how happy I was to finally see what I learned in the classroom actually applied in the real world! I got to see how most of the material covered in my Audit class such as “Test of Transactions” was no longer a term I had to learn by heart, but rather one that I could actually put to practical use! I had the opportunity to work with a great and helpful team on both audits, who guided me the whole way through in getting my job done in a timely and efficient manner. My first audit was a non-for- profit organization and my second was for a private company, so I got to see the differences and similarities when testing revenues, expenses, cash and payroll. I’m happy I got the chance to go on two audits during the course of my internship and will definitely take this experience with me as an important building block in my career.