Interviewing Tips

1. Dress the part. Accounting firms are rule-bound institutions (especially the Big Four); conservative attire is a must for the interview.

2. Take time to prepare for the interview. Research the firm – online, for instance, or by attending campus information sessions. Know what makes it different from its competitors and what makes you a perfect fit.

3. Don’t lie. If a recruiter asks for experience you don’t have, don’t make something up. In the long run, your honesty will do more for you than even the cleverest lie (especially given the greater emphasis placed on ethics in accounting these days).

4. Listen carefully to the questions the interviewer asks, and make sure you’re responding to the questions asked.

5. Know (and be able to communicate) why you would make a good accountant.

6. Think through your experience; you should have at hand the ready stories that display attributes like your

- Analytical ability.

- Teamwork skills.

- Leadership skills.

- Communication skills.

- Problem-solving skills.

- Ability to work independently.

- Integrity.

- Proficiency with technology.ng Hired

7. Have questions prepared to ask your interviewer – preferably questions whose answers you’d truly like to know. Some areas around which to frame your questions include:

- Training opportunities

- Interaction between the lower ranks and senior managers and partners

- The overall firm culture, as well as possible cultural differences between different offices

- What actions the firm takes to retain and motivate employees

- How much of a say you’ll have over which assignments you’ll get

- Differences between the firm and its competitors

- Bigger-picture questions about the state of the industry after the fall of Andersen and the de-linkage of accounting and consulting (which will show your knowledge of and passion for the industry).

8. Be positive. While you may be interested in knowing more about the firm’s recent ethical and business gaffes, it’s probably a better idea to focus on more positive topics in the interview. If you come across as someone who believes that accountants are evil and accounting is not a noble profession, you won’t get hired.

9. Don’t focus on compensation in your interviews. Doing so tells your interviewer that you’re more interested in what you’ll be making than in what you’ll be doing with your life.

10. Don’t whine about previous managers or employers. Doing so can raise questions about your ability to take orders and work as part of a team.

Notes:

dress the part - прилично одеваться соответственно ситуации

Unit 4 Bookkeeping

Bookkeeping

Bookkeeping is the systematic process of analysing, recording, and summarizing the economic transactions of a business or other organization over a given period. Organizations and individuals use bookkeeping because it provides orderly and accurate information about their financial transactions. It gives a picture of the financial position, and records the changes in profit, or loss making, which are taking place.

Bookkeeping is closely related to accounting. Information prepared by a bookkeeper is used by an accountant to prepare accounts. Bookkeeping mainly deals with recording and analysing financial information. Accountants may carry out this work, but they also design and install information systems, perform audits, interpret financial statements, and prepare tax returns. Systems of accounts, which may operate through a computer, are designed by accountants to make bookkeeping easier.

Accounts. Bookkeepers record all economic transactions in accounts. The three basic types of accounts are asset accounts, liability accounts, and equity accounts. There are also income (or revenue) accounts and expenditure accounts.

Assets are the resources used by an organization. An | organization usually owns its assets, which include cash, inventory, supplies, land, buildings, and equipment. Separate accounts are kept for the various types of assets. Liabilities are claims of creditors such as debts owed by an organization. They include accounts payable, wages payable, and mortgages payable, and are generally recorded on separate liability accounts. Equity consists of the claims of owners. Such claims include contributed capital and retained earnings. Income and expenditure accounts are sometimes called nominal accounts. They are considered part of the equity of the organization.

Double-entry bookkeeping. The most commonly used bookkeeping system is called double-entry bookkeeping. In this system, every business transaction is recorded in two entries, and every account has two sides. One side is the debit side, and the other is the credit side. Each side has columns for dates, explanations of |any changes, and the amount of money involved.

For asset accounts, the beginning balance and all in cases are recorded on the debit side. Decreases are recorded on the credit side. This procedure is reversed I for liability and equity accounts. That is, the beginning balances and all increases are shown on the credit side, and any decreases are recorded as debits. Most transactions in income accounts are reflected as credits. Most transactions in expenditure accounts are debits.

The fundamental equation in double-entry bookkeeping is Assets = Liabilities + Equity. A transaction can affect equation in many different ways, But the two sides of the equation must always balance each other − that is, they must be equal.

Bookkeeping and financial statements. At the end of a specified period of time, such as a month or a year, bookkeepers determine the actual balance in each ac-count. They do this by taking each beginning balance, adding increases, and subtracting decreases. The balance in each account is then listed in a record called a trial balance. All debit balances are shown in one column and all credit balances in another. Unless an error has been made, the sum of all debit balances equals the sum of all credit balances.

Accountants use the trial balance to prepare two financial statements − the balance sheet and the statement of income. The balance sheet shows the totals from the various asset, liability, and equity accounts and thus reflects the organization's financial position at a given date. The income statement, based on the totals for incomes and expenses, reflects the organization's profitability over a given time period.

Unit 5 Financial Reporting

Accounting – Its Role Past and Present

By: Michael Russell

To begin with let's examine the old concept of accounting. The age old concept of accounting is that of historical accounting. The accountant recorded the expenses, sales and income at the end of the period. Typically for the historical accounting process only two statements were important. First priority is the Profit or Loss Account statement for ascertaining the profit or loss of a business for the period; usually for a year. Normally if the business was doing well, the incomes would be more than the expenses and the Profit and Loss account statement would show a profit. Secondly the Balance Sheet showed the list of assets owned or monies to be received by the business, which was counterbalanced by a list of liabilities owed by the business. In a profitable business, the total value of assets would be substantially more than the liabilities, and the difference between the assets and liabilities would be shown on the liabilities side as the capital and reserves of the owner of the business.

In order to derive a correct picture of the profit or loss for the current period, the accountant had to ensure that only current period expenses or incomes were taken into the Profit and Loss account. Accounting conventions were gradually developed to apportion future period or past period expenses, and income that was reflected in the Balance Sheet during the current period. Assets purchase for a certain value were considered to have a life of certain number of years. Hence, the value of the asset was shown in the Balance Sheet statement. The total value of the asset divided by the life of the asset would give us the expense value of the asset for a particular year - known as depreciation and shown in the Profit & Loss Account − while at the same time reducing the value of the asset in the Balance Sheet statement. Similarly future period expenses or advance payments had to be shown in the Balance Sheet for the current period and reflected in the Profit and Loss account statement of the relevant period in the future.

But with fast progress and competitive environment in business, accounting has transformed into a more dynamic and management oriented role and historical nature of accounting though necessary has been relegated to secondary role. The Profit and Loss Account and Balance Sheet is now mostly useful from the tax man's and shareholder's perspective. But from a number of ratios derived from these two statements would give the shareholder the pulse of the health of the business as a whole.

In its transformed role, accounting has taken on the task of timely management information for running the business effectively so that analysis of figures, forecasts, projected costs and sales etc. are absolutely necessary for the management to function effectively. A number of statements which provide the important accounting information such as Cash Flow, Sources and Analysis of Funds, Budgeting, Cost Centre analysis, Forecasting etc. are some of the important management information related statements.

A typical business will evaluate many aspects of its business using accounting and economic principles. One area of focus would be the various types of capital and ownership, and types of monetary capital employed in the business specifically. Investment in capital employed would be further bifurcated into fixed assets and their nature, current assets and their nature. Interpretation of accounts using Profit and Loss Account and Balance Sheet ratios for the company as a whole and departmental wise would enable the management to work out added values and long term business trends.

Capital gearing ratios ascertain the proportion of share capital to Loan Capital should help management decide whether one or the other ought to be more or less.

Goal oriented businesses have to determine the profit target say 15% as a return on capital employed and then direct the business to achieve that goal. The goal of course has a limiting factor of production or sales and hence preparation of sales and production targets are also necessary. Eventually if the management finds that the profit margin is insufficient to meet yield on capital employed, then either the sales target has to be enhanced or economies of production have to be effected to meet the profit margin.

To determine and to pursue their goals, detailed budgets must be prepared and management has to keep an eye on deficit and deviations measured to remain alert and repair the damage as soon as possible. In summary, it would be appropriate to say that accounting today has a multi dimensioned role and is primarily focused on meeting the company management's focus on sales and profit. Hence it has both a management accounting and financial accounting perspective for survival and flourishing of the business today.