Part I – The Story / Experience

One Friday morning our division supervisor informed me that I had been allocated to assist an audit team in completing their work. This temporary assignment was to start the next Monday. At that time, I worked in the department that was responsible for maintaining accounting records for, mainly, small businesses and trusts and estates. I was extremely excited, elated even and, the weekend flew by. Surely this was the sign for me to revive my dream of being a Chartered Accountant. Why else would I of all people be chosen for this assignment? So, I bought a new notebook to take notes in my first meeting. I learned the train routes to the client. I was ready!

On Monday morning, I was at the client, bright and early. I had been informed that the first order of the day would be a kick-off meeting with the team. At the meeting I would be given instructions regarding the kind of assistance the audit team required.

The Kick-Off Meeting

The meeting started and the team leader spoke. He chose not to conduct the meeting in English. Everyone in the boardroom, except me, understood this language because it was their home language. South Africa has eleven official languages, therefore, where you have people of different backgrounds, English is the most appropriate and accommodating language to use; after all it is the accepted business language in South Africa. In this meeting I was the only person of a different race, gender, and background. To make matters worse, the client representative also joined the meeting and continued in the same language.

English is the most appropriate and accommodating language to use; after all it is the accepted business language in South Africa.

All around me the people in the meeting were – jovial, asking questions, laughing at jokes. More importantly, they are taking copious amounts of notes. What about my brand-new notebook? It was blank! I sat quietly at the far-left corner of the boardroom table. I was in a state of absolute panic, discombobulation even. I was the most junior, new to the team and hoped someone would say something and point out the problem and not pretend not to see. The previous Friday I had been told; audit was a fast-paced world. I needed to understand what was to be done on the first day. But I was also told not to worry because I would be guided and given instructions.  But no one mentioned that those instructions might be in a language I didn’t understand.

During the meeting, someone – a trainee- stands up, goes to the white board, writes something, and then I see “ZM – Cash & Bank |Sundry Debtors.” I realise it’s the work allocation so hopefully now the meeting will be in English. I was too hopeful. The meeting continues in the same language.

After what seems like eternity; a door opens, and in walks a man. He greets and speaks the same language, with even a heavier accent. Now I’m in sheer panic. I’m done for. All hope is lost. He looks at the white board, looks irritated, and then looks at me. I panic even further and think, what now; is he not happy that I am allocated this work? Does he want me off the client or did he notice that I have not taken any notes? I start mentally listing some companies and jobs I could apply for. Surely, I was not destined to be a CA. That dream is dead! But wait, to my surprise he addresses the meeting in English: “So I see that the work has already been allocated. “He looks at me and gives me a reassuring smile and says, “don’t worry, I am the Supervisor, and I will set you up on your work.” Phew! The dream is back on.

After the meeting and over the next weeks

The client was not ready, the trial balance numbers not yet final. It was decided that the team should go back to the office. The Supervisor offers me a lift to the office, asks me if I had a car – again I panicked – yet another impediment. I answered “no – but it is easy to get here using the trains.”  To my surprise and relief, he says – “even in our department, some trainees do not have cars. They can’t afford cars as they are from disadvantaged backgrounds, it’s nothing you should be worried about.” He offers to drop me off at a train station closer to where I lived with my older sister. This, he says, is so that I can avoid taking train routes I was not familiar with in the evenings as that would be unsafe.

For the next three weeks, I get a lift from him. He not only sets me up on the sections allocated to me, but he made sure to come with me on any initial encounters with the client to request evidence. This was to make sure that I was given instructions in English. When he learnt of my dream of being a CA, he gave me a high-level view of what audit was all about. From planning an audit to finalisation and reporting.

I worked harder, put in longer hours.  I became confident in my abilities. I came to understand the auditing environment, what it might have in store for me, and how I might successfully navigate it. I felt empowered, acknowledged and confident. My dream of being a CA was now re-ignited. I undertook to kick-start the process to transition into audit and move to Johannesburg. This experience taught me life changing lessons. What were those? This will be answered in my next article.