RSM Richter Chamberland Summer Interns

Anna Bakierska: 3 weeks in the Wealth Management department

Two words to describe my experience so far: exceptional and rewarding!

I spent three amazing weeks in the Wealth Management department. During the first two weeks, I completed various tasks ranging from researching multiple tax information to preparing databases. And on the third week, I touched the human side of wealth management. As the personnel of the department work extensively with families, it must be able to give financial advice as well as personal advice. So I was assigned, with another trainee, to a research project on "family council", which I had the opportunity to present to a partner, a CFA who supervised me, and a senior manager who acts as financial advisor to high net worth individuals. After the presentation, I was very proud of what I had accomplished!

During the following two weeks, I was assigned to an external internship in a manufacturing company, in which I was helping a CGA, who was the VP Finance of the company. As my internship ranged over a two week period, I saw much of the business operations and accounting connected to it. I learned a lot and was able to cover different areas of accounting. It allowed me to see the other side of the coin, e.g. preparing the documents audited by auditors.

Every person I met at RSM Richter Chamberland so far has been very warm, patient and willing to help me. They were all very grateful for the work I did for them. I feel like every day I learn something more, and the environment in which I work is very motivating and allows me to challenge myself.

Jessica Daigneault: What a great experience!

 

After two weeks of training on the 19^th floor, we were all a bit nervous to go out into the offices and start real work! When I noticed I was scheduled to work for Team 5 (Assurance), I didn’t know what to expect. Now, several weeks into the internship I am still working with this team and loving it! I feel as though I am the luckiest summer student. I have numerous different projects lined up for me and have been very busy since day one.

My days go by extremely fast and every assignment is new and exciting! Everyone on the team is extremely helpful and even with the simplest tasks I am always given an explanation behind everything I am doing. This has allowed me to gain a better understanding of the team, its clients as well as a better overall perspective of the firm.

 Once I go on my first audit I will have gained a lot of hands-on experience working with numerous client files in several different software applications. My work with this team has been an incredible learning experience thus far! I can’t wait to see what’s next!

Véronique Alary: Discovering Transfer Pricing!

When I received my assignment, I saw in Prostaff: “TAXTAX - "Transfer Pricing."” I then told myself that TAXTAX would surely mean that I would work in the Tax department, but what did "Transfer Pricing" mean? I made a little research to try to find a definition, but I was still  not sure what it was. So I showed up in Irina Oks’s, Ihor Soroka’s and Linda Argalgi’s office with several questions in mind and all the nervousness that comes with my new employee status!

Ihor graciously took one hour of his time to explain what transfer pricing is, and this, in a clear and simple way (Thanks, Ihor, that was no small feat!). In recent weeks, I have had the opportunity to meet many others who work in the Tax department and who are taking part in the project I was assigned to. Each of these meetings has been very rewarding, and they allowed me to broaden my horizons. The people I met helped me learn a lot about myself, the firm, the profession, other specialties and the business world in general. I can’t wait to see what the next few weeks have in store for me! ;)

Valérie Villeneuve: Butterflies in the stomach

After spending two weeks taking courses and getting to know the other summer students, it was time for us to get going and find out what would happen in the remaining ten weeks of our internship. Excited, I had imagined many scenarios: not understanding the task assigned to me, asking too many questions and, ultimately, being alone at my workstation simply not knowing where to start!

So on my first day, I showed up with a seemingly calm front and butterflies in my stomach, because unlike other students, I did not yet know what tasks would be assigned to me. I arrived early to settle down quietly at my workstation, and I sent a message to some colleagues to offer my help while I was waiting for news from the coordinator. Then I received a message telling me to go to see one of my managers.

When I arrived in her office, she explained to me what I should do and answered all my questions. They were not many since I had not started the job. Back at my workstation, the stress had vanished: now I had to concentrate on my work. At first, I was a little lost, but by taking my time, by going through the work performed previously regarding the file and, above all, by asking relevant questions to my manager, I could do the job properly. I made some mistakes, but I was unfazed, since I had never done this type of task before in my life! The next day, I came back more confident and ready to ask questions. After all, practice makes perfect!

Anthony Colonna: My surprising internal stage in the marketing department

When I first logged into Pro-Staff (the firm’s Time entry system), I noticed that I had been scheduled to spend 2 weeks in the Marketing Department as part of my internship. Initially I was a little confused as to how working in the Marketing Department would be related to accounting and tried to find possible links to benefits for the accounting profession. Maybe I would learn how to market myself? However, I was very surprised, when I stepped into Tanja Gehring’s office, from the marketing department, to hear that I was given the responsibility to start up an entirely new project which would be of great importance to RSM Richter Chamberland when completed and very much accounting related. I learnt that the firm gets client referrals from banks and law firms, and vice versa. The outcome of my project would allow the firm to better understand their clients and their relationships with banks in particular. 

My project consisted of going through the financial statements of the firm’s clients and analyze their liabilities and to determine which banks they are doing business with. I would be building a database with this information. I was provided with the names of 4 audit managers who would be available to answer my questions, as many of the files were complex. They repeatedly answered my questions, gave me feedback and helped me ensure I was on the right track.

My time in the marketing department was a great experience and it gave me a strong base to learn the software essential for audits as well as being able to get to know some of RSM Richter Chamberland’s clients. Ultimately, what really made the experience interesting was that I was given the opportunity to be the first one to tackle the project and the firm trusted me to develop my system.

Laurent Brunet-Schmidt: Week one in Wealth Management

My first workweek at the firm consisted of an internship in the Wealth Management department, which has seen its staff grow from 3 employees to 10 in 10 years, representing a 10% annual growth!

The team offers strategic services to high-net wort individuals and their families.  Under the supervision of a CFA, we prepared account statements and fine-tuned the database to include various tax information, like maximum contributions to an RRSP and allowable capital losses, in order to facilitate clients’ tax planning processes. This research gave me the opportunity to familiarize myself with audit files and tax forms.

I find it interesting to familiarize myself with a new area related to accounting. I can’t wait to begin week 2!

Sandra Judge : Funny stories and familiar faces

Deciding to come to RSM Richter Chamberland for my summer internship was easy. Even though I was nervous on my first day, RSM Richter Chamberland really made the transition from school a smooth one. After weeks of studying for final exams it was such a relief to finally put on a suit and apply all of the endless theory taught in class.

The first two weeks on the job were designed to get us up to speed in the firm and functioning as a team. The training offered here is extensive and bilingual. You meet people from the firm who teach topics such as ethics, IT, audit and tax. The trainers tell funny stories about their personal experiences and keep things interesting. I really appreciated this approach because by the end of the training you have already met so many people from the firm, that when you walk around the office you see a lot of familiar faces.

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.

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!