Placement Report at Abacus Business Advisors, Ltd - Essay Example

Placement Report at Abacus Business Advisors, Ltd. Introduction As a majoring in accounting and finance, I was given the chance to do 40 weeks placement at an accountancy firm last year. The firm, Abacus Business Advisors, Ltd. was chosen by me, not from the university. It was more convenient and was more suitable for my circumstances. This firm is not very big; it has three partners and altogether, they employed six personnel to work on various accounting projects. Abacus is a chartered accountancy firm located in Leeds. The aims of this placement report therefore are as follows: (1) to provide details on the placement job that was pursued; (2) to expound on the learning experience; and (3) to present the skills used, as well as those that were honed and developed during the process. The report would be presented by initially providing a brief company overview and background of Abacus Business Advisors, Ltd. Subsequent sections would discuss the placement job details, the learning experience and the skills section, prior to providing the concluding remarks, as required. Company Overview Historical Background and Incorporators Abacus Business Advisors, Ltd. (Abacus) was reportedly incorporated on March 17, 2010. Just two years in operation, this corporation is classified as private company with three partners: Ishtiaq Mahmood Farooqui, the Director and Accountant with expertise in accountancy, book-keeping and transactions involving tax consultancy; Ejaz Farooqui, also the Director and Accountant share the same expertise with Ishtiaq Mahmood Farooqui; finally, Yomtov Eliezer Jacobs, was the Director whose expertise was in company formation. As such, his directorship was already classified as inactive at current times. Location and Contact Numbers Abacus is currently located at 9 Norville Terrace, Headingley Lane, Leeds in the United Kingdom. It is classified as a private organization that offers accounting and auditing services; as well as tax consultancy services. Its contact number is 0113 225 2026 and 0113 274 5508. It currently advertises its services through online sites such as the SeekAccountant.co.uk, TouchLocal.com, among others. Placement Job Details Major Accounts and Responsibilities In my first week, the first few days were spent in orientation of the organization’s accounting system. I had to be familiarized with their system to enable facilitation of filing, encoding, and working on basis accounting responsibilities: book-keeping, bank reconciliation, among others. I was made to start off with sorting out bank reconciliation in the first few weeks. I worked through the organization’s general ledger accounts that contained records of their cash and check transactions. Likewise, I worked through bank statements to reconcile and counter check that the cash and check transactions during the period under study to perfectly reconcile with the balances shown in both the general ledger and the bank statements. It was initially a difficult task given the details that one needs to check and countercheck these balances (bank versus book). Likewise, adjustments had to be made in terms of deposits in transit, any outstanding checks issued but not yet recorded by the bank, and the occurrence of some bank errors (as it normally happens). In addition, I had to adjust the balance in the company’s books in terms of the need to deduct bank service charges, NSF check fees and fees for the issuance of checks. I also noted the need to add interests earned and any notes receivable, as identified. After comparing the accuracy of the balances, I finally had to prepare journal entries to record any adjustments noted to the book balance. As I got to do this particular task in the first few weeks, I eventually learned it by heart. Account for a Market Trader For the second month, I worked on an account for a market trader. The basic tasks and duties that were done were sorting out receipts and purchases. I logged everything in order along with his expense and created his final accounts. After which, I did his bank reconciliation, a task I am now most familiar with. Still, I sought regular and frequent assistance with my supervisor to ensure that I am doing the right thing and to avoid mistakes. Later, all my accomplishments, general ledger accounts, and journal accounts were checked by senior boss. He was very impressed with the quality of my output. Account for a Fashion Model On the third month, I got to work on the account of a fashion model which was just very exciting. It made me realize that a model’s account was so much different than other self-employed account. The composition of her expense account and her purchases were significantly different. So I realized that a significant nature of the items this model spends could not be seen in other self-employed accounts. I just was surprised at the amounts of purchases for designers’ clothes, accessories, shoes, and other personal items spent on enhancing one’s beauty. Account for a Taxi Driver On my fourth month, I focused on working with the account for taxi driver. This is also a different account since I had to check the record of his mileage at the start and end of each day’s shift, the fuel costs and the income expected from his daily work. The expenses details are also different to include fuel costs, repairs and maintenance, motor insurance, road tax, and other elements. I got to appreciate the differences in expenses and purchases of different accounts by the end of my fourth month. Data Base Task By the fifth month, management was extremely happy with my work and with the commitment and dedication that I exert in every task and responsibilities that was assigned to me. They challenged me with a new mission. They asked me to design a new data base for their company: a data system for all their clients and to contain all relevant and confidential information. This task took me few weeks because I first asked my boss some relevant questions of what the type of data base system he wants. Then, I designed a few plans and came up with several ideas; but my boss was very structured and was difficult to please. After several weeks of hard work, he approved my proposed database system and got to select one from those that I carefully designed for the organization. The database that I designed included important and confidential information such as clients contact data, deadlines, documents and scope of work done for specific clients; recording of financial highlights and statements, among others. This is where I got to practice using pivot tables that enabled me to quickly summarize and appropriately evaluate large amounts of data as they were presented in lists or tables. This option available through Excel helped me with integrating various information needed to review clients’ accounts in a summarized and concise detail. On the seventh month, we got to use the database that I designed to add all information about the clients as well as all important data on the organization’s profile and financial performance. The experience was exciting as I got to orient other personnel on using the database that I designed. Along the way, these various personnel contributed more information that they believe should be part of the database system; therefore, it is a month of adjusting, revising, editing, and applying what was designed, so far. Other Accounting Tasks For the rest of the placement period, Abacus assigned me on tasks that gave me the chance to enhance my knowledge, abilities and skills in the areas where accountants’ jobs primarily focus on: the financial statements. I got to work slowly on the following accounts: payroll, accounts payable and receivable, preparation of financial reports, and preparation of income tax returns, among others. Rather than focusing on clients’ accounts, my supervisor asked my assistance in being directly involved in the preparation, recording, and entries of Abacus’ financial records. I found preparation of the payroll as the most exciting since it clearly involves determining how much each employee earns given the number of hours rendered over a specified time frame. Likewise, I learned that there are deductions to be made to allot for taxes and other standard deductions. Likewise, there are pay periods that are given premiums especially when the particular day was declared a holiday and some employees reported to work for specifically defined responsibilities. Also, the concepts of accounts payable and accounts receivable in accrual accounting was likewise explained as it was deemed the most frequent accounting transaction that is commonly practiced in contemporary business organizations. Aside from teaching me the debit and credit entries and the specific accounts involved, the preparation of subsidiary ledgers were also learned. I realized that the secret to maintain an efficient and accurate recording of these figures is to be focused and be careful in recording and posting the detailed transactions to specific ledgers, as required. The preparation of income tax returns were also learned initially from the experience of preparing the payroll, where the employees’ taxes due were computed. Likewise, the taxes to be paid by the organization also follow a definite format and computation where intricate details need to be incorporated and much focus in ensuring the accuracy of the figures should be applied. Finally, preparation of financial statements was also noted to be exciting especially when one realizes and recognizes that the organization has generated a defined profit over the period under study. It is as if the bottom-line proves that all the efforts, strategies and performance put in the job has been effectively rewarded. Since Abacus is still a relatively new organization, the financial elements and historical figures are fairly limited; making the preparation relatively simple and straightforward. Learning Experience The various staff and colleagues were very helpful, accommodating and friendly. They helped me in every step of my placement. It was a voluntary work and I never got any financial remuneration or aid; but it was worth every moment. I learned so much from working with them. Initially, as I presented, I learned the following tasks and steps in greater depth and in detail as applied in actual organizational settings: bank reconciliation with adjusting entries to both bank records and to balance the books; purchase and receipts recording for various accounts (market trader, fashion model and a taxi driver) database for the clients for the organization and to include important and confidential information of the company’s various transactions and financial performance; use and application of accounting theories on business entity; and the concepts of duality, periodicity, realization, objectivity, consistency; as these apply in real life situations through the transactions from various accounts; use and application of pivot table within the Microsoft Excel program, especially in learning how to determine the use of formulas and settings to make the presentation of clients’ files and information accurate and easy to update; other accounting tasks such as payroll system, accounts payable and accounts receivable recording, financial statements preparation, income tax preparation for both employees’ or individual income tax and the organization’s income tax returns. Aside from all these concepts and applications, I learned that to be able to do all these tasks, it is important to assume professionalism in the work place through exemplifying individual behavior that conforms to ethical, moral, and legal codes of conduct. I learned to be honest and to maintain an open line of communication by asking if I could not understand what needs to be done. I also learned to use the concepts learned from the years of studying accounting and finance in the tasks being required. I realized the need for relevant feedback to determine if I am on the right track and to ensure that no mistakes would be done through the tasks asked of me. There is always the need to observe conformity to business ethics in manner, in speech, and in actions by observing the rules, policies and procedures within the organization. Skills Used and Developed From among the identifies skills that were used, the following were most noteworthy: skills of applying the theories learned from the course, skills of introspection or the ability to understand one’s position and role in the organization and to conform to the policies that govern their actions; peer skills or the ability to establish and maintain congenial interpersonal relationships with the employees and superiors according to their chain of command; and resource generation and allocation skills which required one’s innate abilities to gather relevant information (by asking, seeking professional advice, or through secondary research) on the responsibilities and tasks expected to be performed by me. During the course of the 40-week placement period, the skills that were ultimately developed or improved are as follows: knowledge and abilities to apply various accounting concepts in the work setting; application of the Excel program to specific client’s records and documentation requirements; applying different formulas, in arranging the columns to fit the needed spaces for headings and for the financial figures; skills in the design and preparation of the database system that required analytical skills in determining the type, scope, and variety of information to be included; use of the pivot tables that made the users to view the data on a more summarized and integrated format; decision-making skills where there is a need to select the most appropriate course of action given a set of alternatives (this was realized during the phase where the database system was being designed and developed); entrepreneurial skills or the ability to take sensible risks and to implement creative and innovative strategies (also experienced during the database development phase); conflict resolution skills or the skills needed to be applied in terms of conflicts with peers and colleagues in the work setting (although I was not directly involved in any conflict, my experiencing the conflicts of other employees and how they resolved them, my knowledge and skills were likewise enhanced); information-processing skills or my ability to design networks (database experience) and to extract and integrate crucial information and disseminate these information to other colleagues within the work setting effectively; unstructured decision making skills where one effectively found solutions to simple and work-related problems when alternatives, courses of action, information, and other inputs need to be clearly established at the onset; communication and negotiation skills were also enhanced and developed through constant and regular communication with people across the organizational hierarchy, from the simple rank and file, to the owners of the organization; also communication skills were improved through the database system implementation where the organization required me to relate application of the system to all personnel so that they can effectively use the database after my 40-week placement period. These skills would have not been aptly developed where it not for the opportunities provided by the owners and colleagues at Abacus Business Advisors, Ltd. Their friendliness, accommodation, assistance and professionalism enabled me to learn where both personal and professional growths were made possible. Conclusion Through the course of the 40-week placement at Abacus Business Advisors, Ltd. one realized that learning is a continuous process. The theoretical knowledge was recognized to have been gained through the past years of studying at the university. However, the learning that is given through actual on the job training within an organizational setting is likewise challenging, encouraging and rewarding. As noted, the purpose of this placement report was actually successfully achieved: (1) it provided details on the placement job that was pursued; (2) it expounded on the learning experience through the tasks, responsibilities and accounts that were pursued and delved into; and (3) it presented the skills used, as well as those that were improved and developed during the process. `Through the placement experience, one realized that management, through the supervisors, creates the proper work atmosphere for the articulation of policies, guidelines, and goals that need to be accomplished. Duties, responsibilities, roles and functions are important components of positions that are structured under authority. As one’s experience and journey has generated improved knowledge, skills and abilities, I came to understand that like people, organizations also go through the development process. At Abacus Business Advisors, Ltd. I got to experience working in a small private organization where accounting principles and applications are actually simpler that one would anticipate in large and complex organizations. However, it effectively provided the best experience to apply the theories and concepts learned in accounting and finance through the organization’s different transactions and with the various clients it contracts business with. It just effectively proves that theories are best appreciated and applied in actual real life settings where one would be exposed in different scenarios and situations that would enable learners to apply the knowledge, abilities and skills gained during the course. I would therefore be forever grateful to the incorporators and partners of Abacus: Ishtiaq Mahmood Farooqui and Ejaz Farooqui, for their patience and their strong belief that I could provide them with the most appropriate service expected of my role and position as a volunteer student learning in an actual work setting. The staff and colleagues all provided invaluable and unselfish support that has been very much contributory to the success of my 40-week placement. I would forever be grateful to them. Finally, as I look into my last year in the university to complete my accounting and finance degree, I would always remember the experience I had working as a volunteer and student trainee as Abacus Business Advisors, Ltd. With this, I strongly believe that I am more equipped, competent and qualified to pursue other opportunities in other contemporary and global organizations that I look forward to serving in the near future. Read More