Andrew McCue, Strong and Steady in Audit Since 2013

Andrew McCue, a Manager in Weiss’s Assurance department, has worked at the firm since he was selected for an internship during his senior year at Northern Illinois University. He liked the atmosphere at Weiss, although he noted “the firm was much smaller back in 2013.”

What stood out for him was “there are good, normal people here. People communicate well, and they’re fun. You don’t mind being stuck with them in a conference room for two weeks on an audit assignment. Plus, there is an open-door policy at the highest level of the firm. You know you can walk into anyone’s office and ask a question or get help if you need it. From the very beginning, I was made to feel like one of the team. And even though the firm is larger now, that feeling is still true today,” he said.

Andrew grew up in the Chicago suburbs, primarily Buffalo Grove. He was inspired to pursue accounting by some mentoring advice an uncle of his offered when he was applying to colleges.

His uncle said, “If you get an accounting degree, you can do anything with it. Of course you could pursue accounting. There will always be a need for accountants. But it’s a great foundation to pursue any other kind of business, too.”

Andrew was applying to university in 2009, the peak of the Great Recession. There was a lot of financial anxiety and uncertainty in the air, and the prospect of going to an expensive private college and piling on debt just didn’t make sense to him. He opted to attend NIU and major in accounting. Looking back on his college experience, Andrew said he had a great time, learned a lot, and has no regrets about his choice.

He started at Weiss in January 2014 and plunged in doing a mix of tax and audit, depending on what was needed. He was also studying for his CPA exams in the evenings. After a few years of juggling both tax and audit, he realized he needed to choose one to really develop an expertise.

He preferred audit. Andrew said, “It’s a better fit for my personality. I like the interaction with clients, talking with the team about the client’s situation, and figuring out the strategy to help them achieve their goals. I think audit has helped me develop sharper instincts and think on my feet more. There is a thing in our profession called ‘auditor’s judgement.’ It is professional skepticism where you just know you need to dig a little deeper and ask more questions. It takes into account your client, knowing what kind of person they are, and knowing their business. I like all of that, which is why audit is a good fit for me.”

Andrew passed his CPA in 2018. Each year his busy season starts the second week in January and lasts through mid-April where he typically will be working 50-60-hour weeks. The days are long, but the work is steady.

Most of Andrew’s clients hire Weiss for their demonstrated expertise in audit and assurance.

Andrew enjoys the diversity of his clients’ businesses. They include manufacturing, investment companies, nonprofit organizations, and others. The variety presents new situations to him and his team, so he is constantly learning and feeling challenged.

He’s also done a lot of work with employee benefit plans audits for ESOPs and 401Ks. ESOPs allow employees to own part of a company. They are frequently used in succession planning if an owner is looking to sell his or her shares and transition out of the business.

When Andrew is not working, he likes hanging out at home (“I’m a homebody.”) He met his wife Samantha at the bus stop when they were in high school. They dated all through high school and college, bought a house together, and married a few years ago. She is a registered nurse who specializes in caring for pediatric intensive care patients.

He enjoys brewing beer and planting and maintaining a vegetable garden. He regularly donates platelets, a 3-hour process, which gives him a chance to catch up on reading for pleasure. He also dotes on his two dogs, Layla, a nine-year old, 80-pound shepherd mix, and Josie, a 5-year-old, 55-pound hound mutt.

The last few years the couple have taken hiking vacations in Europe. They’ve visited Spain, Switzerland, Ireland, and Scotland. Scotland included a number of distillery tours. They love being outdoors and traveling in the off season when there aren’t a lot of other tourists. No surprise, they usually vacation in late April.