New York, Week 6 – Learning a lot

Emma Guilfoyle

I am now working on the audit of a hedge fund which is challenging but I am learning a lot.  The next week is sure to be a busy one with the fast approaching broker dealer deadline.  The two jobs I’ve been working on to date will be finalised by the end of this week.

Last weekend Josh, one of the secondees from South Africa, and I made the most of the nice weather and walked to Central Park where we sat “people watching” from my favourite spot in New York.

New York, Week 6 – Number crunching

Ruairi Feehan

For the past few weeks I have been working on a client’s site and I have been working closely with my manager and the client’s CFO to complete an audit on a Broker Dealership.  Broker Dealers, as they are known, have many regulatory responsibilities to the SEC, FINRA and SIPC to name but a few.  I have enjoyed this aspect of the audit as there is often a lot of number crunching and reconciliations to do.

Without a doubt one of the highlights of my trip to NYC so far was visiting the American Museum of Natural History.  It was fascinating to see the evolution of mankind, the history of the Big Bang and many other attractions the museum has to offer but my favourite part of the museum was the dinosaur fossils.  One of my fellow secondees, Josh from South Africa, and I are standing next to the most famous of all dinosaurs, the Tyrannosaurus Rex!

New York, Week 6 – Chinese New Year

Emer McKenna

It’s been a very busy week having to prepare 58 Partnership extensions for a large fund.  The fund has many different combinations of states and cities so I had to devise a control sheet that helped me track progress.  The office celebrated Chinese New Year by partaking in the Chinese tradition of  handing out red envelopes, which is something I haven’t experienced before.  The color of the envelope symbolizes good luck and is supposed to ward off evil spirits.

This week my fiancé flew over to visit me.  We went exploring around the city visiting all the main sites and attractions including Wall Street (and the bull), Brooklyn Bridge, Queens, Chinatown and SoHo.  We also went shopping to Century 21 for some designer bargains!

New York, Week 5 – Getting busier

Aoife O’Leary

As promised things are starting to get a lot busier in the office.  This week

I’ve had a range of jobs which included preparing e-filing extensions, completing Fin 48 analyses and filing IT 204 LLs.  While the work is demanding, the team here are all very approachable and everyone is more than happy to help!

My family were over to visit so I really enjoyed playing the New York tourist in the evenings.  I also got to enjoy my first broadway show  “Aladdin”!  The highlight of the week had to be the Superbowl party in 230 Fifth which all the secondees attended!

New York, Week 5 – Time is flying

Heather Foley

It’s hard to believe we are already a month here! Work is busy so the time is beginning to go by quickly.  I’ve been assigned to another client, a hedge fund, so I am looking forward to the variety of work.

As work is so busy, we try to make the most of our spare time.  In the past two weeks I’ve managed to squeeze in Brooklyn bridge, the American Museum of Natural History and I went for a walk along the Highline to watch the sunset.  Not forgetting that we take time to catch up every Sunday on our weekly brunches!

New York, Week 5 – Working to deadlines

Sinead Cummins

I’m still working on my two Broker Dealer clients trying working towards a deadline of February 29th which means that I am constantly busy.  The two managers I am working with are both very helpful and I am really enjoying working with them.

Sunday was a sports filled day.  The other Irish secondees and I woke early to watch Ireland play in the six nations rugby game and then we went to a Super Bowl party with all of the other secondees.  The bar we bought tickets for had great views of the city and an excellent atmosphere to watch the game in.

New York, Week 4 – Came out of hiding

Emer McKenna

After the record-breaking winter storm Jonas (also dubbed Snowmageddon!) that struck NYC last weekend, we had to come out of hiding and venture to work on Monday morning. The nine blocks to work is usually a nice ten minute walk, however, snow and ice packed high on the sidewalks forced us to get out the snow boots! During this week, I completed a FIN 48 analysis for a fund where I had to analyse the dividends, capital gains and interest income of the fund for any tax liabilities.

This week, some of our Irish tax colleagues were in NYC on a business development trip. We all met up for lunch with the Tax Partner, Chris Loiacono, and a few others from the financial services team in the lovely Davio’s Steakhouse. We also attended the Audit Friday evening drinks where we met up with all our fellow secondees after another week’s work in NYC.

New York, Week 4 – Audit work

Emma Guilfoyle

This week

I’ve been working on the audit of a second broker dealer.  I’ve been working hard to get both audits done as efficiently as possible due to the tight filing deadline of February 29th.

I took in a lot of sport this weekend.  Sinead Cummins, my fellow secondee from EisnerAmper Ireland, and I won tickets to see the Knicks on Friday night which was great fun.  We finished off the weekend with a Super Bowl party at 230 Fifth, a rooftop bar with great views of Manhattan.

New York, Week 4 – Getting hands on

Ruairi Feehan

Week 4 in New York and busy season is well and truly upon us!  I have been working on broker-dealer entities and I have found the experience to be both challenging and stimulating in equal measures.  I am getting a very hands on approach to the work and learning about an industry which is very fascinating to me.  As noted in my last blog I have a keen interest in the financial markets, therefore the work I’m currently doing has me engaged and I am looking forward to the weeks ahead.

Last Sunday was one of the most beautiful days I have experienced in NYC.  It was restaurant week in NYC and to mark the occasion I went for Sunday lunch with three fellow South African secondees, Amore, Janse and Gareth.  I have really enjoyed getting to know these guys.  Afterwards, we went for a stroll in Little Italy and as it was a glorious day, we decided

to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge.  The views were stunning and it was the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.