Sector Analysis (academic, referenced)
An academic piece of writing that analyses the sector that you intend to be working in. You will be expected to explore your area of work and to be critical in your evaluation of the sector and your place in it. (700 words)
Sector analysis-Accounting profession
Accountants in the present fast growing economy are normally on a very high demand. They are not only employed to due to their passion only but with the passion and willingness to go an extra mile in this profession. The accountants normally specialize on different areas of accounting from taxation, accounts receivable, accounts payable et ceterea. These areas make an accountant to be a professional on the areas they perfect most and this is after a certification with by the certifying authority in that country. Accounting profession doesn’t have any gender bias as any gender can fit well in the profession provided that they show a lot of commitment and honesty in handling very all around complex computations of the businesses and other organizations (Trevino, 2016). This complex computation regarding the financial status of the organizations comes with additional knowledge of the accountant to have studied the accounting application set of packages. The packages normally help the professional in executing his duties in a timely, effective and efficient way (Dunbar, 2016).For an individual to be able to stand the pressure in the accounting profession, she must demonstrate that she can be able to do the comparison and analysis of all the accounting data. The other area that needs the perfection of the accountants is that the professionals in this area need to have an outstanding communication and negotiation skills (Yanto, 2018).This is because the accountant needs to present the accountant data to her employer on a monthly or as may be the policy of the company (Hoggett, 2018). This financial information that is presented by the accountant is what runs the business. These reports that are generated and prepared by the accountants may be used wrongly to show the financial status of the organization, but on the other side they can be used to show and present the correct financial status of the company as at a particular period. These financial reports always give a red alert when the business is not doing well and necessary measures are taken to bring the business back to its good profitable or break even status.
An individual who decides to pursue accounting and take that path in their professional career requires taking a different route. The paths that an accountant may choose are always dependent on the operations of the company (Kotabe, 2016).This means that an accountant who chooses to advance more on taxation may require working on the revenue collection areas like in government institutions or other private entities dealing with the taxation. These many different paths are evident because of even the direct reports the professionals report to (Ratnatunga,, 2016)For example an accountant who takes a route in pursuing further interests of accounts in the pubic sector especially working with the government, may be providing accounting services to the companies. In most countries you will find that there are firms like auditing and financial reporting. These firms provide other companies with the financial services like in auditing where a specific team checks on the taxation area of the client. The other section may be looking on the inventory and so on.
After passing all the procedures that are required to be a certified public accountant which are almost similar in all the world accountants, taxation as a different unit is studied if you choose to do accounting of a foreign company as the taxation differs from one country to the other (Utamu, 2017). This is because it would be important for the accountant when doing his reports like during the auditing and assurance can advise if the timelines and deadlines were met during the payments of taxes and if yes if there were some penalties and how to avert that (Hamidi, 2016).
Other than the accountants looking for employment in the government institutions which may be limited, they can also choose to be self employed and start their own accounting services as a source of income (Lewin, 2018). On the same note, an accountant may be working in public office but at the same time may be offering some private services to their clients of choice at their prices of choice.
Reflective statement on skills development. You will be expected to reflect on your current skill level and critically reflect using one of the cycles (Gibbs, etc), on your own strengths and areas for improvement in a personal and professional context. (Approx. 700 words)
Before the start of the accounting profession, the individual needs to be proficient in all matters of calculation of complex sums and have a sharp memory. This breaks the assumption by some of other professionals in other areas that the accountant is not just a perfect with numbers and book keeping. Accountant comes with other additional skills which may not be necessarily be learned or acquired through the units they cover from the class but from the general application. During my early years I was taught on the integrity that i should always do what is right even if no one is watching at me (Babbitt, 2018). The same applies to the accounting profession that an accountant will deliver and execute his duties in due diligence and honesty even if the owner of the company may not be able to detect any misleading data in finance reports.
The curriculum that i used in my journey into this wonderful profession was tailored to be able to incorporate and meet all the demands of the global business world today. This means after my study of CPA in Australia would also be considered as a certified accountant in other countries provided i pass their taxation examinations. When starting my career journey, it was important to have the general knowledge of what an accountant is expected to do. This is because, as the global business world continues to expand, the roles and responsibilities of the accountants still keeps on growing and expanding each day (Koester, 2016).This complex journey just like many other professions requires the accountant to be better place with her realistic and smart objectives. The accountant also needs to have a clear vision on where she wants to be in future so that she can be able to advance on his career through continuous improvement which may e done through furthering studies or featuring in different specialities in finance in both positions and type s of organizations.
An accountant needs to have leadership behaviours and features. During my internship at ABC Company was the team leader of the accounting interns just because I was an ambitious person and an accountant who come up with new insights and strategies in the duties and areas we were allocated to. An accountant needs to come with fresh ideas for the company to be able to recognize her presence (Cooper, 2017).With all these skills both learned and others obtained from the general knowledge, the accountant is able to know what the customer’s needs and what the organization needs to do in terms of their operations to maximise the profits and revenues.
As mentioned earlier on, when an accountant is able to handle the pressure that comes with the position, she will be able to communicate well and professionally to the clients despite the stress at the workplace.
Action plan (GANNT chart) this is a project management tool which you will construct to show how you plan to develop your skills and employability over the module. Full guidance on how to produce this will be given in class. This should be done in Excel or MS Project. An example is provided, which can be removed before submission
An action plan is the best tool that every professional accountant should put in place to ensure that he meets the threshold of a certified accountant (Schroeder, 2019).This means that an accountant will away work on ensuring that his career has continuous improvement every now and then.
| Description of task | Jan-20 | Feb-20 | Mar-20 | Apr-20 | ||||||
| Refreshment course in excel | ||||||||||
| Refresh most used accounting package | ||||||||||
| Study other accounts packages | ||||||||||
| Renewal of Public accountant certification | ||||||||||
| Further the studies with shot accounting courses | ||||||||||
| Get certificates all short courses | ||||||||||
| Have an active membership | ||||||||||
| Send applications to target organizations | ||||||||||
| Get employed |
CV (applied to a job role). You will produce full curriculum vitae, tailored to a specific job role in your sector. Please state the job role you are applying to. The GANNT chart and CV should not total more than 600 words and the CV should not be more than 2 sides of A4.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Name:XXXX
Physical address:xxxxx
Marital status:xxxxxx
E-mail:xxxxxxxxx
Age: xxxxxxxxxxx
Phone: xxxxxxx
Personal statement
- A fast learner, accurate with figures, good in problem solving skills.
- Excellent analytical, planning and organizational skills with a very proactive approach to achieving results.
- An all rounded and diligent team player who can work harmoniously in fast paced, diverse and complex contexts well.
POSITIONING STATEMENT
Am an all rounded senior accountant with over seven years working experience having other key strengths which include pursuing my Masters of Science in Finance degree having successfully completed Bachelors of Business Administration (Finance and Banking Option),An ACCA finalist and also computer literate with proficiency in Microsoft office applications, accounting and statistical packages.
ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
University of Australia
Masters of Science in Finance (Finance and Investments Option), December 2019
Oxford University, UK
Bachelors of Business Administration (Finance and Banking Option), July 2016
PROFFESIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
Vision Professionals College, Australia
CPA Finalist
COMPUTER APPLICATION SOFTWARE KNOWLEDGE
Microsoft Project, Tally, Quick books, Sage, Pastel, Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), International Computer Driving License (ICDL) Certificate.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Abc Company ltd
Senior Accountant July 2017 up to date
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Preparing management accounts monthly, quarterly and yearly.
- Maintaining the cashbook.
- Updating, filing and submitting statutory returns.
- Preparing the payroll monthly.
- Petty cash analysis and reconciliation.
- Coordinate the monthly stock take exercise.
- Preparing and analyzing various company projects and their profitability.
- Cost accounting.
- Preparing and maintaining all information and documents required for both internal and external audits.
- Financial projections.
- Budget variance analysis.
- Ensuring that all company properties have up to date insurance cover.
- Maintaining accounting controls by preparing and recommending policies and procedures.
- Supplier’s analysis and reconciliation.
- Bank liaison and agency function.
- Revenue and expenditure variance analysis.
Achievements
- Established the (ROI) that is the Results, Objectives and Issues work schedule system for daily reporting.
- Established the weekly cash flow projections system and forwarding the same to directors for decision making like payment of suppliers.
- Introduced Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the organisation.
Xyz company ltd
Accountant April 2016 June 2017
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Prepairing management accounts monthly.
- Prepairing the payroll monthly..
- Controlling credit and chasing debt.
- Prepairing the daily budget.
- Petty cash analysis and reconciliation.
- Preparing bank reconciliations monthly.
- Paying suppliers.
- Daily banking and receipting.
- Filing accounting records.
Achievements
- Reduced turnover loss by three percent monthly.
- Reduced petty cash daily expenditure by five percent.
- Established the marketer’s monthly sales tracking sheet.
- Reduced the level of employee absenteeism especially on weekends by twenty percent.
OTHER SKILLS
- Clean Driving License.
- Occupational First Aid Certificate
AFILIATIONS
- Associate Member- (ACCA)
REFEREES
Available on request
References and sources of information
Babbitt, S., 2018. Impossible dreams: Rationality, integrity and moral imagination. Routledge.
Cooper, D.J., Ezzamel, M. and Qu, S.Q., 2017. Popularizing a management accounting idea: The case of the balanced scorecard. Contemporary Accounting Research, 34(2), pp.991-1025.
Dunbar, K., Laing, G. and Wynder, M., 2016. A Content Analysis of Accounting Job Advertisements: Skill Requirements for Graduates. e-Journal of Business Education and Scholarship of Teaching, 10(1), pp.58-72.
Hamidi, G. and Rasouli, H., 2016. Evaluation of the Relationship between Accounting Variables and Timelines of Annual Reports of Accepted Companies in Tehran Stock Exchange. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 7(4 S2), p.117.
Hoggett, J., Medlin, J., Chalmers, K., Beattie, C., Hellmann, A. and Maxfield, J., 2018. Accounting. Wiley.
Koester, E., 2016. Green entrepreneur handbook: the guide to building and growing a green and clean business. CRC Press.
Kotabe, M. and Kothari, T., 2016. Emerging market multinational companies’ evolutionary paths to building a competitive advantage from emerging markets to developed countries. Journal of World Business, 51(5), pp.729-743.
Lewin, J.M., 2018. EMBRACING THE NEW WORLD OF WORK: Five trends are transforming the work of accountants and are presenting new challenges and opportunities for those who can adapt. Strategic Finance, 99(12), pp.32-38.
Ratnatunga, J., 2016. The Accounting Delusion: Faith and Trust in IFRS Reports. Journal of Applied Management Accounting Research, 14(1), p.1.
Schroeder, R.G., Clark, M.W. and Cathey, J.M., 2019. Financial accounting theory and analysis: text and cases. John Wiley & Sons.
Trevino, L.K. and Nelson, K.A., 2016. Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right. John Wiley & Sons.
Utami, W., Priantara, D. and Manshur, T., 2017. Professional accounting education in Indonesia: Evidence on competence and professional commitment. Asian Journal of Business and Accounting, 4(2).
Yanto, H., Fam, S.F., Baroroh, N. and Jati, K.W., 2018. GRADUATES’ACCOUNTING COMPETENCIES IN GLOBAL BUSINESS: PERCEPTIONS OF INDONESIAN PRACTITIONERS AND ACADEMICS. Academy of Accounting and Financial Studies Journal, 22(3), pp.1-17.
