Over the past semester, I’ve had the opportunity to work as an intern at Rounds and Brooks CPAs, gaining hands-on experience in payroll, taxes, and accounting software. It has been a learning curve, but it’s been rewarding to see how much I’ve improved since I started. Each task I worked on, whether payroll or reconciling accounts, helped me understand the field and practice skills I’ll need in the future.

Every day started with Terri, my supervisor, giving me a to-do list, which often included payroll processing, reconciliations, or entering bills into QuickBooks. Tasks like labeling scanned folders or filing documents were straightforward, while reconciling bank statements or handling payroll with new elements required more problem-solving and attention to detail. No matter the task, I aimed to learn something new and improve my skills. As I gained more experience, I needed less supervision and gained confidence in taking on more challenging projects. Working independently became one of my favorite parts of the internship.

In the beginning, I shadowed Terri while she worked on payroll. At first, it was hard to follow everything she did, but she explained things well. After watching her for a few days, I tried payroll on my own, which was a great way to test what I’d learned. I enjoyed payroll because it’s organized, with less room for mistakes—plus, someone else reviewed it before finalization, which helped eliminate the pressure of messing up. After spending time on more simple payrolls, I began working on payrolls involving tips or bonuses. The tips gave me problems initially, but the more I practiced, the less mistakes I made. Another element of payrolls is the constant changing of staff. Many businesses are gaining and losing employees constantly, and every time this happened it required the payroll software to be changed. When the software gets changed there are usually mistakes that are easy to miss the first time. 

Learning QuickBooks, both desktop and online versions, was a significant part of this internship. At first, reconciling credit card statements and identifying errors was overwhelming, but with Terri’s support, I improved. Each successful reconciliation took time and was very rewarding. I also worked extensively in Excel, especially setting up payroll schedules for 2025. Initially, my lack of Excel skills slowed me down, but the repetitive tasks helped me improve. Between QuickBooks and Excel, I saw how essential these tools are for staying organized and accurate.

Shadowing Holly on a tax return project gave me insight into the complexities of taxes, particularly Colorado’s confusing laws. While I didn’t handle many tax tasks myself, I learned a lot from observing how Holly resolved client issues. Next semester I plan on working for Rounds and Brooks CPAs, and I will be mainly dealing with taxes. I am looking forward to developing my knowledge and gaining experience in that side of accounting.

One of the most challenging experiences was reconciling a company’s bank account with numerous discrepancies. I had done many bank reconciliations up to point, but this account was really messed up. There were many transactions not consistent with the bank statement that required drilling down to figure out why. This project required me to ask a lot of questions, but completing this task was very rewarding. 

As the internship progressed, I had more opportunities to work independently, managing payrolls and reconciliations on my own. I appreciated the freedom to figure things out and enjoyed the variety of tasks, like entering bills one day and reconciling accounts the next. It kept the work interesting and gave me a clearer sense of what accounting entails. Terri doesn’t work on Tuesday’s, so that was always one of my opportunities to try work on my own. Although I made occasional mistakes, like using the wrong pay rate or missing minor details in a reconciliation, these errors helped me learn. Each correction improved my skills and made me more confident in handling responsibilities.

Reflecting on my experiences, I’m proud of how much I’ve grown. I started with little to no knowledge of accounting, but now I can confidently pursue and complete tasks in this field. I’ve also learned to stay organized and double-check my work, as small mistakes can derail an entire project. My advice to future interns is to listen and learn all that you can. Being open to feedback and guidance will make the experience much more rewarding. This internship has been a valuable first step in my accounting career, and I’m excited to continue learning from Terri and the rest of the accountants at Rounds and Brooks CPAs.

My internship experience has given me the opportunity to see if accounting is a good fit for me. With college right around the corner, I look forward to refining my skills in accounting and one day pursuing a career in this field. Terri’s support was invaluable to my future and development as an accountant. Without her, I would be looking at a different career. I hope to apply the skills I have learned to become successful in my future as an accountant.