Intern Update: Clare Lorsung

Clare Lorsung

Accounting, College of Business, Influence, and Information Analysis

CliftonLarsonAllen - Tax/Audit Intern

At CliftonLarsonAllen I have been primarily doing individual taxes. I honestly don’t think I like it very much. I can see the appeal that it may have to some people. It can be pretty neat when people get a refund rather than hit with money owed, but I don’t find it that interesting. It is a lot of going through people’s paperwork and finding what you need and don’t need along with playing a guessing game off last year’s tax returns for what they may be missing this year.

Recently however, I got to go to Tom’s Town Distillery and help with the book keeping. It was actually a lot more fun than I would have believed it to be. It started out with a small tour of the distillery and an explanation of the business structure. Afterwards we worked in QuickBooks, basically following what the original owners had set up and simply making sure that it was done correctly.

I got to see what it was like to be on the more frontward facing side of accounting. The side that interacts with clients much more than tax and audit. Everyone there knew Katie, whom I was working for, and it was comfortable there. It makes me start to wonder if public accounting is really where I want to be. I’m not finding the work very satisfying to be honest, but I guess that’s why we take internships and try it out. I am looking for a career that I can see myself doing for longer than a couple of months and in all reality I don’t see myself staying in public accounting for very long. I feel like wherever I end up will need work that is more than sitting at the same desk doing the same thing every day.