Stephen Boncimino (2018) is an Accounting Major, Finance Minor who interned for Grant Thornton, LLP from January 2017 through August 2017.
What department or area did you work with most often?
“Tax Accounting Department – Tax Accounting ; Risk Advisory Services (TARAS) and Partnership Taxation were the two main groups I worked in within tax.”
What was the most positive experience you had at the internship?
“Since I started in the winter during tax busy season, I was thrown immediately into the mix following the one week training. I was with many clients throughout my time with GT, but the one client where I gained the most experience was a partnership called First Quality Enterprises. For this engagement, I was staffed as the associate rather than an intern, so I was given many responsibilities I had never before received. The senior on the engagement team was amazing and there to help me whenever I was stuck on something. It was a great learning experience, and I got to see an entire tax compliance engagement through from start to finish.”
What was the greatest learning experience?
“Like I previously mentioned, working on First Quality was a major learning experience. I learned how to prepare M-Packages (which are what GT prepares prior to preparing the actual return) as well as how to prepare the actual returns in GoSystem, the tax software used at GT.”
Did you learn more about professionalism in the workplace? If so, what part of professionalism stands out?
“Definitely. What stood out most to me was learning how to interact with different groups when staffed on multiple engagements. At first, it took me a long time to complete simple tasks, so it was hard to have everyone’s work done by the end of the day. I learned how to prioritize the work based on which was the most pressing and let each person I was working with know what kind of time table they can expect to receive the completed work.”
What is the biggest take away from your experience?
“My biggest takeaway from my time spent at Grant Thornton was the relationships that I made along the way. Everyone at GT was extremely friendly and always willing to lend a helping hand. It is ever important to engage in conversation with those above you. Communicating frequently with my team’s seniors and managers allowed me to complete my work in a timely fashion, and I never felt nervous to ask for help when I was stuck.”
What skill(s) do you think you enhanced from this internship?
“I think I enhanced a variety of both technical and soft skills. I became very experienced using excel. I also learned many new programs such as GoSystem, M-Packages (specific to GT), and CCH, that I can expect to use when I start my full time job as an associate. Other valuable skills that I have learned were how to craft more professional emails, workplace culture, and time management.”