New York, Week 8 – Working on another team

Emma Guilfoyle

I am working on the audit of a private equity and hedge fund.  I have been working with a different manager for the past couple of weeks and it’s great to get the opportunity to work on another team.  My two broker dealers have been finalised and thankfully the financials were filed on time.

We went to see The Harlem Gospel Choir and Jersey Boys last week which were both lots of fun.  It’s hard to believe that we are coming to the end of our secondment – I’m going to miss this view from my apartment.

New York, Week 8 – Challenging and rewarding work

Ruairi Feehan

I am working on a private equity fund that holds investments in start up companies and I am finding the work challenging and rewarding.  I am working closely with my manager to gain an understanding of how the investments are valued and their impact on the financial statements.  The private equity industry is very vibrant in America and I feel working in the sector, even for a short period of time, will benefit me in my career in the years to come.

One of the best aspects of being in America is getting the opportunity to achieve life-time ambitions such as seeing an NBA game and going to Madison Square Garden.  To get the opportunity to achieve both goals in one night was one of the highlights of my time in New York.  The Knicks are not doing so well this year and true to form they were soundly beaten on the night but the defeat did not impact my experience.  Madison Square Garden is an arena that every sports fan should experience at least once.

New York, Week 8 – First US tax return

Emer McKenna

The busy season has finally hit the office and this week I got involved with two new fund groups for which I had to prepare extensions.  I also completed my first US tax return (Federal and State) for review.

On Sunday, Aoife (a fellow secondee) and I booked a bridal appointment with David’s Bridal to try on some wedding dresses.  On the way there we walked through Madison Square Park soaking up some much needed sunny weather.  We had great time trying on the Vera Wang, Zac Posen and Jenny Packham dresses to find the one.  We weren’t successful this time, but we hope to have better luck next time.  To round off the day we treated ourselves to a manicure afterwards!

New York, Week 7 – Learning so much

Sinead Cummins

I have now completed my two broker dealer audits, meeting the final deadline of February 29th with a week to spare.  I have been assigned a new job which I am looking forward to as this time it is the audit of a fund.  I am working directly with my manager which is great as I am learning so much.

A friend from Ireland came to visit this weekend so we all headed out with some American friends to show her around New York.  It was a very fun evening being driven around the city getting a feel for the real New York lifestyle.

New York, Week 7 – Hard work paying off

Heather Foley

My first job is now nearly complete which meant the last week was quite busy, but it’s nice to see the hard work paying off.  I’m looking forward to being able to focus fully on my other client now.

A friend from home came to visit last week, which meant it was time to explore the city again.  Thankfully the weather was beautiful so we walked downtown and took a ferry out to Ellis Island where we saw the Statue of Liberty up close and researched our Irish ancestors at the Immigration Museum.

New York, Week 7 – Preparing State returns

Aoife O’Leary

“Busy Season” has officially hit resulting in late nights and Saturdays in the office.  At this point I am working mainly on 1065 Partnership returns for various funds.  I am now preparing

the State returns along with the Federal returns which adds another layer to the overall process, so it’s very different to tax at home where we file only one return!

I had a few visitors over from the UK and

Ireland so enjoyed catching up with friends.  We made sure to tick off another NYC “must-do” by attending a Knicks

game!

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!