Witt Mares

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Professional Development

We invest in our most valuable resource—our people! At Witt Mares, PLC you are a team member from the start. We strongly believe in continuing professional education and will support your needs to achieve your career goals. Witt Mares promotes from within the firm's current talent base. Evidence of this core belief can be seen throughout the firm since many of our managers, as well as several members of the firm, advanced through the ranks.

At Witt Mares, you will play a major role in shaping your future in public accounting. As you begin your career with us, your experience will include opportunities to develop and advance your skills in the practice area that interests you the most. This past year, we implemented a new strategy to more fairly divide up our employee's time. This new approach centers around two options for our staff—audit or tax. The goals of this new strategy are to give technical staff the opportunity to specialize in a specific practice, to allow us to more equitably assign time and to address quality of life issues for our staff. In addition, this will allow you to develop experience and knowledge in a specific industry, enabling you to excel in your career goals.

Our commitment to your professional development is designed to enhance individual skills and leadership qualities. To achieve this goal, we work hard to provide our staff the tools needed to achieve their professional goals. Employees receive personal attention from senior staff who supervise, guide and evaluate their work. New hires advance as they demonstrate technical competence and satisfy requirements for the next level of professional responsibility. Our aim is to hire the most qualified people we can find and give them the maximum opportunity to advance. Staff members are expected to demonstrate continued improvement in their work and knowledge. There is no last step.

Continuing Professional Education

Our emphasis on a hands-on approach leads to a wealth of technical knowledge, experience and credibility. Our formal Continuing Professional Education (CPE) program includes formalized classroom instruction and professional seminars. We are committed to assisting you pass the Certified Public Accountant examination and reaching this milestone in your career. In addition, we will help you acquire the necessary credentials to advance your career and increase your client service skills.

Through our affiliation with PKF North American Network, we are able to offer the following core programs to our audit staff:

• Semi-Senior Staff Training is a three-day or five-day program that will help staff solve technical and practice problems encountered on small-to-medium sized engagements. This program covers audits, compilations, and reviews. The desirable staff member is one with at least one year and less than two years of experience who is ready to take on the responsibility of planning and completing compilation and review engagements and major audit sections.
• Beginning In-Charge Staff Training is a four-day program that combines basic tax and audit technique instruction, exposing the participant to the philosophy and basic skills of both disciplines. The program focuses on Audit Strategy Development and Evaluation, providing instructions on effective audit planning and the necessary evaluation of those plans throughout the engagement. In addition, the program discusses management issues and tax awareness during the engagement. The desirable staff member is one with at least two years experience with audits, who should be ready to take on added responsibility.
• Advanced In-Charge Training is a three-day program designed to provide an understanding of the overall engagement management process and to develop more effective writing and time management skills. The desirable staff member is one with a minimum of three years of experience with in-charge responsibility on engagements, and the responsibility of supervising and evaluating the work of others.
• Supervisory Staff Training is a three-day program designed to teach both principles and application of sound management skills, where applicable, to all aspects of the engagement. The purpose of this program is to provide participants with a practical understanding of the management and motivation of professionals. It provides a working knowledge of specific techniques they can use to make their own interpersonal relationships more effective and to help others become more effective. The desirable staff member is one with four to five years of experience and significant supervisory responsibility.
• Working Paper Preparation is designed to introduce newly hired staff accountants to effective working paper documentation illustrated and explained in the Polaris International Practice Manuals and International/PPC system for the experienced accountant.

In addition to courses sponsored through PKF, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants, we also offer numerous in-house programs that encompass all staff specialties and levels of experience, including:

• Technical Software Training: To include, but not limited to, audit, tax, small business and on-line software
• Industry-Specific Classes: Construction, Financial Institutions, Estate & Trust, Government/Not-for-Profit, Hospitality
• General/Update Classes: FASB & SAS Update, Partnerships/LLCs, Risk Based Audit Approach, Tax Update