Articuling now & then

A CA is a CA is a CA, right? Earning the designation in 2000 couldn't be that different from earning it in 1955, right? Wrong.

The life of an articling Chartered Accountant student was very different in the 1950s. And while both time periods have produced some of the best business professionals in Canada, the articling process itself has changed dramatically.

David Rolfe, FCA, managing partner of the mid-sized Vancouver firm Rolfe Benson, Chartered Accountants, says articling students in the 1950s were under less pressure than students are today.

"I'm not saying it was better, just different," he points out. "There were three of us who began our articles together at Frederick Field & Company, Chartered Accountants (today part of Grant Thornton) in 1950. We came in at 8:30 in the morning and tried to find a place to sit down. There were no desks, just a few old chairs in a bullpen setting. Then we were almost immediately fired out the door onto an audit job. We worked on each job for months."

ARTICLING AT AGE 16

Rolfe remembers the senior students supervised the juniors and since he began his articling at age 16, this meant his "supervisor" was often a third-year student of 18.

"We went out to places like the Austin Dealership or Cunningham Drugs or one of the many credit unions we audited and we did everything manually" he says. "We added things, we checked and 'vouched' things against invoices, using big ledgers for everything. We didn't have adding machines except for the two back at the office, one of which had a hand-crank and tape a mile long.

"We worked with green ink the color of audits - and initialed and stamped everything we worked on so it was clear to the partner in charge who worked on what," he explains. "On each job, there were usually four or five students at various levels. During the evenings we studied for our yearly exams - first, third and fifth year exams were particularly critical - and every Monday evening we had our CA classes at King George High School in downtown Vancouver."

Rolfe recalls being paid the princely sum of $50 per month ("no deductions"), with a Christmas bonus of another $50. Second year articling students earned $75, third years got $100, fourth years got $125, and fifth year students were paid $150.

$50 ALL AT ONCE

"Once you got your CA designation, your pay jumped up to $250 per month," Rolfe says. "That was a lot of money then and I was quite pleased. I was living at home, taking the bus everywhere and before I signed on with my articles - and my parents had to sign, too - I had never had $50 all at once before."

The partners of the day would often send students to fetch cigarettes or to do some domestic errands, Rolfe says, and "there was lots of fooling around."

"It was a much more relaxed life than a CA student has today," he says. "We played lots of harmless pranks like phoning the phone booth on the corner and saying something inane if someone passing by answered it. We set fires in waste paper baskets, and had a great time going out to clients together."

According to Rolfe, in the CA office of the 1950s there were manual typewriters, stenos, part-time bookkeepers, and later "wet" photocopiers.

"We bound financial statements with ribbon and wax seals," he says. 'And if anything went haywire with the statements, it was awful because everything would have to be totally re-done."

The attire was suits or blazers and ties at all times, though the office was nothing spectacular with its old oak furniture, filing cabinet counters and green walls, Rolfe, a native of Vancouver and a 1950 graduate of St. George's School, says.

FEWER BUSINESS PRESSURES

"The biggest difference between my articling days and now is that we were not involved in the pressures of the business," he explains. "We did time sheets, but who knows what happened to them? They weren't ever referred to after we handed them in. It was not the sophisticated training that CA students receive today, but it turned out well-rounded people with excellent problem-solving skills and finetuned judgment. We were involved much earlier in big jobs - I remember supervising very large audits at the age of 18 - and I think that contributed enormously to our growth and capabilities.'

Today, Rolfe's firm, which was established in 1959, has eight partners and over 30 staff. He specializes in estate planning and personal financial planning and says he "has learned with great difficulty" to use cell phones, computers and email. He still finds time for his passions of boating traveling, rugby and tennis.

A DIFFERENT WORLD TODAY

It was indeed a different world for CA Christine Reilly when she began her articling with Deloitte & Touche, Chartered Accountants in 1997.

A 1990 graduate of Victoria's St. Michael's University School, Reilly did an undergraduate degree in English Literature at McGill University in 1994 and then worked for a software company in Richmond before joining Deloitte's. She obtained her CA designation last June and works in the audit department as a high-tech specialist.

"My day starts with an early morning run, then I'm at the office by about 7:30 a.m., checking my email, voice mail and synchronizing my personal digital assistant with my Outlook schedule," Reilly explains. "Between 8 and 9 a.m., I meet with the partner who heads up the hightech department and then all morning, I focus on my client work which often involves research on the Internet."

LOTS OF INTERNET RESEARCH

Reilly says the clients she works with are mostly large public companies and many are U.S. "filers," meaning she must assist them in filing documents with the Securities Exchange Commission, as well as look at their key competitors and at other companies in similar industries.

Lunch is a quick half-hour with colleagues, usually a sandwich or salad from the food court at the downtown office tower where she works.

"If I'm out at a client's, I usually bring a lunch so I can keep working through the day," she points out. "It's typical for me to be out at clients almost every day from October through May, and the typical day is 10 to to 12 hours long."

Reilly's work is all done on a laptop, using Deloitte's own proprietary audit software. She also carries a cell phone at all times and is in touch with the office and other clients via email.

"I usually focus on one client at a time and I get working papers electronically from most clients now," Reilly says. "Of course, I have lots of questions for the clients, so I spend a lot of time face-to-face with them during the audit, too."

MOST AUDITS ONLY A FEW WEEKS

There may be two or three students from the firm coming out to an audit job today, Reilly says. "But a huge public company audit can usually be handled in three weeks or even less if there is a deadline restriction," she says. "We often work late from January through April those are very busy months - and we can be at the office or with the client until 8 p.m.

"However, although we work long hours for most of the year, the firm recognizes the need for a balance between 'work' and 'life'," Christine points out. "There is flexibility with days off and long holidays to balance out the busy times.'

Reilly says now that she's earned her CA, she can relax and read "good books" when she gets home, but during her recent student days it was studying time.

"We work a lot of weekends, too, but that's often a personal choice so that the work week is less hectic," she points out. 'And I have to say the best part of articling is how much I've learned. After only three years, I'm running audits. I also love the diversity of our clientele. Working with the clients is great."

Reilly, who is getting married this fall and planning a three-week honeymoon to Bali, also enjoys going to marketing events on behalf of the firm. She attends programs offered by the Wired Women Society and the Vancouver Enterprise Forum.

Copyright Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia Oct 2000
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