Accounting in Vet Med: You Can “Count” on Me

October 11, 2022

I work at the corporate office of Ethos. So, to be completely upfront, this isn’t a story of quick thinking or adrenaline rushes. In fact, this isn’t even really a singular story, but I think it should be shared.

I came to Ethos after spending more time than I should have at 2 other accounting jobs. At both of these jobs, I knew the company did not value me past my job description. I was a cog in the machine and nothing more.

With Ethos, even before I was hired, I had good feelings about the company. I had great interviews with the folks who would become my team. I was even asked how I maintain a work-life balance, something that I value, but was not valued by my previous employers. Not only that, but when I was offered my position, I was offered fair compensation right from the start.

Once I started, I felt true commitment from my team to making sure I was getting proper training. My team met me in the office for trainings, provided a few lunches, and made sure I was comfortable before transitioning to any work from home days. I also noticed that when myself or others made mistakes, it was never a question of ability, but rather a statement of fact that more training may be needed to ensure full understanding of the processes.

As time went on and I settled more into my roll, I was actually acknowledged for my work. I received direct and specific praise from my managers. For example, during our yearly audit, I took some extra time to make sure the formatting of requested items was easy to follow. This meant adding things like extra notes and labels on each document requested. Even though I wasn’t part of the conversations with the auditors, my manager made sure to let me know how helpful it was and how much the auditors appreciated my extra effort.

Lastly, and most recently, the finance team at Ethos has had to transition to closing out each month’s financials a full two days sooner than usual. Rather than being told to “make it happen” or something of the like, we had a big meeting. We met in the office and everyone involved sat together and had a long, productive discussion.

We talked about bottle necks in the normal process and how the team could help fix them. We talked about issues with the timing of certain tasks and how we could shift them around. We talked about a lot and everyone left with a plan.

When it came down to do the first shortened month-end close, we did it. Did we run into problems? We sure did. Did most folks have to put in extra hours to get it done? We sure did.

But were we acknowledged for the extra efforts we made and for getting through all tasks in a tough timeline? Absolutely.

So which one is the most memorable? Well, all of these are. There are many more as well. For me, each time I see myself and others being valued by my team and by Ethos as a whole, it is memorable. What makes it more memorable, is that I see it happen often.

So, to put it plainly, my most memorable moment at Ethos is just all of my moments at Ethos.

Written by: Mae Sorensen, Staff Accountant