Well guys this is it, my final blog! These few months have gone by very fast, I have learned so much since I have been at Dwellworks. It feels like last week I was here for orientation! When I first began I was introduced quickly to the company’s core values; integrity, teamwork, performance, fun and innovation. Everyone here truly puts the core values to heart. Since I have been here everyone has integrity in their work ethics and quality. For teamwork everyone has pitched in to help support fellow employees raise money to the philanthropy committee and rely on each other for their work that intertwines. Dwellworks is known for its performance especially being one of the top relocation companies in the world. The third value is Fun; Dwellworks provides fun to the employees every day, whether it’s throwing a 5th year birthday party or give out a simple surprise of ice cream treats on a hot summer day. The last value is innovation. Here at Dwellworks, the company is always finding a way to improve and think outside the box, to be the next step ahead; with that, comes with creative thinking and innovation. Throughout my time here I was involved with the Philanthropy and Fun committee. Through the summer the committees planned a bake sale and a fun Hawaiian shirt day to help support employees to be a part of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure coming up in September.
Throughout this internship I was in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Dwellworks busy season. What I like about this internship is that it rotated my time here to train with in different accounting sectors as opposed to a larger accounting firm that will only stick you in just one section. I jumped on board starting out with shadowing and learning about Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Cash, and the General Ledger sections in the Accounting Department. I was kept busy with many projects throughout each week. A few of the bigger accounting project were to edit and create step-by-step accounting procedures, organize over 2,000 W-9 forms, reconcile an account for one of our major clients, and figure out statics about our International Destination Services Revenue Analysis research project for the years. Another great part of the internship was that I was able work hands on with the accounting software and experience problems and learn how to fix them as opposed to just learning from a textbook at school.
My favorite part of the internship would have to be shadowing Accounts Receivable. I was highly involved when one client was bought out by another client. Just about every day I worked on something different. I also was able to attend all the AR meetings which are interesting to be a part of. One meeting that I found very interesting was an AR Collections meeting. Another meeting that I got to sit in on was about what to change to the accounting system to make it easier for the AR side. That week I had the most fun and was constantly kept on my toes!
Overall, Dwellworks Accounting Internship Program has been such an amazing experience, I could not ask for anything more! The program has provided me the feel for corporate accounting. I have learned more about time management, balancing projects, professionalism, and the responsibility and trust one most have with his or her team, I will definitely apply these skills to my MBA career at school. I cannot thank my co-workers enough that they made my internship even more enjoyable. Dwellworks may be a top relocation company in the world, but it is also a close family that welcomes everyone they meet with open arms. My co-workers have made my summer let alone my internship unforgettable.
Thank You Everyone!
<3 Ally
Where has the summer gone? It seems just days ago we were getting pictures taken for our Dwellworks IDs. Looking back on this summer, I can only thank all of the people who have helped guide me through a lot of learning curves, laughs, and achievements.
Throughout the summer, I was kept busy with numerous projects ranging from Destination Services Revenue Analysis Project to making a Billy Madison-esque poster. The internship started with 5 to 6 weeks of shadowing where I was quickly immersed into the language and nature of Dwellworks. I learned what DS (Destination Services), PM (Property Management), RS/VS (Residential/Valuation Services), check run, RMI, and all of the other terms used around the office meant. After shadowing and getting an understanding of all of the different aspects of the office, I began more independent work. I applied cash receipts when one colleague was on vacation and completed reconciliation for one of our accounts. Also, I worked with the other interns to create videos and posters to use for the office. Outside of daily work, I became involved in the Philanthropy committee where we planned and organized several fundraisers including a Hawaiian shirt day, a bake sale, a sucker sale and numerous other events to support the Race for the Cure.
My favorite thing to be involved in this summer was the reconciliation and the DS Revenue project because I was able to see direct results from my actions. I also enjoyed the analysis of large amounts of data in order to help improve the company in whatever way possible. Through these two projects I also learned the importance of attention to detail and professionalism. A simple negative sign instead of a positive sign can throw a whole recon off and a sloppy chart, graph or analysis goes a long way when working with a group. I learned to pay more attention to my presentation and work in order to be proud of the work I provided
Throughout this internship, I learned about corporate accounting, working in a business setting and balancing numerous projects at once. I could not have experienced and learned the things I did if I was making copies or retrieving coffee all day. I enjoyed my experience this summer because of the trust and responsibility that my team and manager placed on me to provide quality work. I appreciate all the support and trust I received this summer and cannot wait to apply what I learned this summer in the classroom.
Have a great year,
Pete
Hey everyone, I hope you all enjoyed this amazing summer week! Today we spent our lunchtime outside in the sunshine. At the Playhouse Square Plaza there was a soul band broadcasting live on one of the radio stations. This made lunchtime really fun; the atmosphere was filled with Temptations music, laughter, and people dancing; quite entertaining! Also this week I was involved with the Philanthropy’s group Bake Sale to help with the Susan G Komen race for the cure coming up in September. The bake sale so far has been a huge success in raising money. I even made 80 oatmeal raisin cookies, and 50 chocolate suckers. As for my accounting work, I finished up with shadowing Luci, and now helping out with organizing the W-9’s and making sure everything is in order, there are over 2,000 of them, what a big job it has been! Another project I have been working on is the revenue analysis research project for 2011. My responsibility is to find the trends for July through September, the third quarter. The financial information research is actually pretty interesting! I have a meeting later on today about what everyone has found in their research and begin to collaborate on what the company can do to improve. I will keep you all updated next week. J
Have a great weekend!
<3 Ally
Thursday, July 12, 2012
I am touching in today because I am off to Milwaukee tonight for the weekend. I got quite the travel plans as I will get into Chicago tonight at 11, leave for Milwaukee Friday, then leave Chicago Sunday night at 11 and get back into Cleveland at 7 am on Monday morning just in time to come to work. Monday will be a looooooooooooooooooong day.
Outside of work, we held a back sale today to help raise money for our philanthropy, Race for the Cure. We haven’t tallied all the money we raised, but I will let you know as soon as I find out. We also have a sucker drive and tab collection going to help raise money.
See you all next week,
Pete
Friday, July 6, 2012
Hey guys,
This week flew by especially with having July 4th off! Our office celebrated the holiday on Tuesday with taking a citizen’s exam and eating pizza, pasta, salad and desserts, yum! In addition there is a scavenger hunt going on today throughout the office in search of Uncle Sam and bald eagle stickers. This week I shadowed Luci again learning more about check postings, sorting bank lockboxes, pulling bank statements, refunds, and running manual credit cards. In addition to the shadowing, Pete and I had finally finished up our W-9 form updating project, PHEW! More updates to come next week about our other accounting projects.
Happy 4th of July weekend!
<3 Ally
Hope everyone had a great 4th of July. We enjoyed the day (or two) off as well as some fun events throughout the office this week. The week started off with a civics test, which was fun to trigger some of the knowledge I learned in high school. Do you know how many representatives are in the House of Representatives? Also, we had a nice pizza party Tuesday and popsicles on Thursday. Nothing says America like pizza. It feels like a Monday today with the past two days off, but I am not complaining knowing that it is Friday.
As for work in the office, we completed month end as well as our W-9 project. Ally and I made a huge push this week on the W-9 project to get it done, which is nice to finally have completed. Also, I helped last Friday and Monday applying cash receipts for Property Management. It was very interesting to have full responsibility for four days of a company’s cash receipts to account for. I had to split the lockboxes, find invoices for all the checks, wires and ACHs, and then apply all the cash to the invoices. It was a very unique and rewarding learning experience to do seemingly the whole process on my own.
I hope everyone has a great Friday and God Bless America.
Pete
Really? Well, we will see what happens.
Back at Dwellworks, we had another busy week. We welcomed back Ally after an extended break, and we began preparation for month end closing. It doesn’t help that the fourth is on a Wednesday, so we will try and do our whole month end in two days compared to the usual three.
I kept myself busy this week with numerous projects while I learned the month end preparations. I got a nice head start on our DS Revenue project by scrubbing all the international data and doing an analysis of the customers and their programs. Also, I began work with the other interns on our Business Process Improvement (BPI) project. Let’s just say we have the quite the artistic bunch here. Plus, I never thought I would be recreating posters similar to ones seen in Billy Madison. Hey, you learn something new every day.
I hope everyone has a great 4th of July.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Hey guys!!! So I know it has been awhile (1 month) since I have kept you all informed on my opportunities here at Dwellworks. I actually had my appendix rupture over Memorial Day weekendL. To make a long story short, I am okay and now ready to get back to crunching numbers at work! My first week back has been a lot of catching up. This week I shadowed Luci learning about check postings, sorting bank lockboxes, pulling bank statements, refunds, and running manual credit cards. In addition to the shadowing, Pete and I also have a W-9 form updating project to work on, along with a revenue analysis research project for the years 2010 through 2011. All of this alone has kept me very busy as well as updating and creating procedures and flowcharts for what I have learned from my shadowing. Thursday I attended an all day meeting that teaches you about different situations and interactions between customers and co-workers. This meeting was pretty fun, it provides different perspectives to how people perceive situations differently than you, this meeting helps you understand where customers are coming from plus how to relate to them; snacks and games also added to the entertainment to make the all day event go by quickly. I will have more to talk about next week as a dive into more work.
Have a great weekend!
<3 Ally
Friday, June 22, 2012
The new Dwellworks sign downtown
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Big things happened here at Dwellworks this week. We found out early in the week that we were ranked as the 30th best place to work in northeast Ohio by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and our new Dwellworks sign went up outside. In the office, I continued my shadow rotation splitting my week between cash and A/R. On the cash side, I continued to run integrations in the morning and learned how to reconcile our bank accounts as well as creating the daily cash file, which goes out to all of the big names in the company. With A/R, I learned how we bill some of our biggest clients as well as accounting for management fees we receive.
Yesterday, I participated in MAGIC, which stands for Make a Great Impression on the Customer. The other interns and I spent the day learning about customer service including who the customer is, how to communicate with the customers and handling bad news or upset customers.
Next, week I look forward to learning more about month end reporting and preparing for the chaos of month end. Also, we look forward to return of the other accounting intern who has been out for the last few weeks with “illness.”
See you all next week.
Hello again,
Members of Dwellworks IT team enjoying a free lunch
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Well, we have become regulars at the CSU lunchtime buffet where we were treated a delicious lunch while learning new fun games such as the Apple Game (ask Addison Carbone for how to play). Also, we were able to get a free lunch on Wednesday outside on the plaza sponsored by some of the local radio stations. There is something new happening at the plaza every day whether it’s concerts, yoga or free lunch.
At work, I continued my shadow this week as I split the week between AR and Cash. With AR, I learned how to bill our largest clients as well as bill our homeowners for monthly management fees. With Cash, I continued to run the daily integrations as well as learned how to reconcile our bank statements in GP and create the daily cash report. Also, I learned how to code expense reports for the company. Outside of the shadowing, I continue to work on a revenue analysis project which I enjoy because of being able to dig through tons of data to find trends and circumstances that allow us to analyze to improve the company. In addition, I began a W-9 project that will require a lot of my time because I am checking all of the vendors to make sure they have a W-9 and are accurate.
Finally, I had my 30-day evaluation yesterday, which was weird to think I have already been here a month. I have learned so much in just 30 days and gotten to know so many new people that I just hope my next 30 days are as good as these past 30.
That’s enough for this week,
Go Thunder
Friday, May 25, 2012
Hey guys, I am back and have a lot to catch you up on! First off, I owe you all some pictures around the office so you can envision Dwellworks headquarters a little easier. Last week was Dwellworks 5th year birthday and of course we celebrated with a birthday party for the office. This consisted of a scavenger hunt around downtown, Guess Who? 5 years old picture contest, great food, Toy Story 2, cake, and a piñata! Naturally I knocked that piñata all the way to “Jacob’s” Field, home of the Cleveland Indians.
To get even more involved with the company a fun way to do this is to select a committee to be on. The choices are Fun, Philanthropy, Sustainability, and Wellness. Well I tend to be indecisive to just choose one committee so I choose two, the Fun and Philanthropy committee. My first Philanthropy meeting is today. I am excited to see which charity we will choose to represent as a whole company, and which charity to represent locally.
This week I sat with Letha the Accounts Receivable accountant. Just about every day I worked on something different. I am fortunate enough to be a part of the hustle and bustle of what happens when one client buys out another client. That tosses in a true change up to the normal ins and outs of a typical AR day. But besides that I have gone over account reconciliation, agent payments, aging, Residential/Management Fee/Property Advisor billings, billing adjustments & invoicing, check requests, client set ups, collections, and payment research. I also get to attend all the AR meetings which are interesting to be a part of. One of the meetings that I got to sit in on was about what to change to the accounting system to make it easier for the AR side.
As the accounting interns Pete and I also get to work on a project together to help out the accounting department. Our responsibility is to edit and/or create procedures for each task in each accounting sector. We also get to create flow charts to help make the procedures more user-friendly. This is our biggest project to tackle, I will definitely keep you all updated.
Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!
<3 Ally
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Hey again everyone. Well, one week down and we are already getting involved in the office. We all just chose our committees to join, and here is why I joined the Philanthropy committee.
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Last year, we raised $1,801,207.20.
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One of the most amazing moments of my life thus far occurred my freshman year of college. Standing among thousands of other students, I saw the number $1,602,713.20. At that moment, I knew IU Dance Marathon was something special. IUDM started 21 years ago in memory of Ryan White and to date has risen over $12 million for the Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis. Today, we remember not only Ryan White, but Ashley Crouse, who served on the IUDM executive council before passing away in 2005. On all IUDM apparel and work, we remember these two people with their initials: RW and ALC. In addition we have adopted the phrase “For the Kids” or FTK, which also appears on clothing and literature. IUDM is a year-long fundraising event which culminates in a 36-hour marathon in the fall. Over 500 committee members work year around while there are over 850 dancers who do not stop standing for 36 straight hours. I danced my freshman year and was inspired by countless stories of strength and triumph from Riley kids who have gone through more than I could ever imagine. Last year, I served on the Operations committee and currently serve on the same committee as the Logistics Chair. The love and friendship I receive through IUDM made joining the Philanthropy committee at Dwellworks an easy decision.
Operations Committee 2011
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While on the committee, I hope to bring new volunteer opportunities to the office such as volunteering one day to work lunch at a nearby soup kitchen. Also, I would like to look for note-worthy organizations, like IUDM, to provide corporate donations and show the support Dwellworks has for the communities it serves.
I’ll keep you posted as we have committee meetings and feel free to shoot me any ideas for volunteer opportunities or donations. Also, if you want more info about IUDM check out the website at iudm.org.
FTK ALC RW
Friday, May 18, 2012
Hey guys, I am Ally Smith and I am one of the new interns at Dwellworks for this summer. I am participating in the Accounting program that allows me to learn exciting new accounting procedures, and meet new people. To begin my blog I will tell you all a little bit about me. I attend Baldwin Wallace University and will be a senior this fall semester. I chose BW because they have an excellent 3/2 accounting program, which will set me up to graduate with my MBA in Accounting at the end of the fifth year. I get many people why I choose accounting as my major in accounting in the first place. Well to be honest I am the type of person that loves to do projects, solve problems, and enjoy tedious tasks… I know I am a nerd.
So what is Dwellworks?! This company is a company in the relocation, real estate, and mortgage lending industry throughout North America. The company is divided up into three different services; Destination Services, Property Management, and Valuation Services. Dwellworks lives and breathes its five core values; integrity, teamwork, performance, fun and innovation.
From this internship at Dwellworks I hope learn what corporate accounting is like suppose to private accounting firms. What is nice about this internship is that it rotates the time here to train with in different accounting departments suppose to a larger accounting firm that will only stick you in just tax or auditing. Such as my first week I will be training with Saaid in the Cash-General Ledger section, followed by shadowing Luci in the rest of the Cash section and then I will dive into Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable etc. later on in the summer. Another great part of the internship is that you work with accounting software and have the experience of real life problems and learn how to fix them instead of learning from a textbook or simulations like at school. This internship is also a convenient Monday through Friday 8:30am-5:30pm job, located at the corporate headquarters in good ole downtown Cleveland, OH.
From this internship at Dwellworks I hope learn what corporate accounting is like suppose to private accounting firms. What is nice about this internship is that it rotates the time here to train with in different accounting departments suppose to a larger accounting firm that will only stick you in just tax or auditing. Such as my first week I will be training with Saaid in the Cash-General Ledger section, followed by shadowing Luci in the rest of the Cash section and then I will dive into Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable etc. later on in the summer. Another great part of the internship is that you work with accounting software and have the experience of real life problems and learn how to fix them instead of learning from a textbook or simulations like at school. This internship is also a convenient Monday through Friday 8:30am-5:30pm job, located at the corporate headquarters in good ole downtown Cleveland, OH.
Some other fun facts about me, I am on the track team for BW, my favorite color is lime green, enjoy long walks on the beach, sunsets, and I have traveled to Iceland before.
Adios Amigos,
<3 Ally
Hey guys,
My name is Pete Krusing, and I am the new Dwellworks Accounting Intern. I am so excited to have finally started my internship with such a fun and exciting company. I just finished my sophomore year at Indiana University-Bloomington where I am studying Accounting and Finance with a minor in Math. I chose accounting because it always excited me throughout high school and college. I enjoyed the logic behind posting, adjusting and reconciling accounts while also the constant use of numbers.
Now, the reason I chose IU was because I wanted to go to a large university, away from home and with a true college feel. Not only does IU have over 32,000 undergraduates, but it also has one of the top ranked business schools in the country and last time I checked, the preseason number one men’s basketball team (If you haven’t seen the IU beating Kentucky videos on YouTube from last year, check them out to see the passion we have for our basketball team). We also have one of the greatest college weekends with the running of the Little 500. The race consists of 200 laps with over 30 4-man teams representing different fraternities or bike clubs. Little 5 takes over the campus in the spring with numerous events leading up to the race including Quals, ITT’s, Team Pursuit and Little 50. Two years ago, President Barack Obama made it to the women’s race to see what Little 5 was about. Even with how much I love IU, my greater love is the University of Wisconsin. You can see the flag hanging from my cubicle already. I receive a lot of grief at school when IU plays UW, but I am a Badger at heart and always will be.
Through this internship I am hoping to develop a thorough understanding of corporate accounting. Learning about posting entries, closing and adjusting entries and all the rules to accounting in the classroom is one thing, but having the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills learned in the classroom is unmatched. I hope to gain a thorough knowledge of the various accounts through shadows of the numerous accountants here at Dwellworks. I have already learned a lot in just a few days whether it is bank reconciliation, checking cash files, or preparing 90-day notice letters for outstanding checks. Every day is something new and interesting to learn.
Outside of Dwellworks, I spend a lot of time with my family. My parents recently moved to the area from Kirkwood, MO to get closer to family. I have four uncles who live within 30 minutes of me and I spend a lot of time with them and my cousins. I particularly enjoy relaxing on the beach or going boating. I try to go perch fishing two or three times a month with one big walleye fishing trip mixed in. Also, I love basketball and tennis, which I try to play as much as I can.
I’ll keep you guys updated on what is going on here at Dwellworks throughout the summer, so be sure to check in every Friday.
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