Reflective Report on Career Path of an Accountant

The reflective report analyzes the career path of an accountant and helps in self-reflection exercise. It discusses the application of professional knowledge and skills, career pathways, professional roles, strengths and weaknesses, and legal and ethical responsibilities.

Introduction
The given reflective report will elaborate upon the career path of being an accountant and
help me to analyze my future through a self-reflective exercise. The report is a crucial tool which
will help me in the following ways:
First of all the given exercise will help me in the analysis of my future. I have decided to
become a professional accountant and the reflection will analyze my prospects and the different
opportunities which will come in my way in the future.
Secondly, the given practice exercise will also assist in helping me to check my
capability as an accountant and enable me to understand my suitability for the given profession
in the long run based on my personality traits.
Being a reflective practitioner is crucial as it goes a long way in helping an accountant to
analyze his observing’s and pen down what he has learnt in the dynamic field of accounting.
Understand the application of professional knowledge and skills in the workplace.
According to me the manual accounting systems may be used to complete the daily
recordings an activities relating to expenses and incomes in an accounting department. Although
the given system may be deemed to be outdated, it is extremely important to ensure that it is
prevalent in the firm as it fosters an environment of creativity and team work.
Communication has a key role to play in manual accounting as it helps different members
to interact one another while the final statements are being prepared. In the same manner, the
team work plays a crucial role in helping the different team members to come together and
discuss the different issues. Time management has a key role to play as it is reflected in
timeliness of the statements and lastly interpersonal skills come in handy during team work.
The manual system may be used in small organizations who do not want to spend a large
amount in purchasing accounting software’s.
Accounting system Advantages Disadvantages
Manual Lower costs Redundant work

Easy to maintain
Missing books
Computerized Reduces redundancy
Permanent record
Expensive in nature
Software may be complicated
Identify career pathways associated with current program of study.
For my future I would like to pursue the role of a chartered accountant. This is because of
the following reasons:
Working as a chartered accountant goes a long way in opening the doors for various
professions in different fields like that of Retails and Sales, NGOs, Aviation, Financial markets,
Entertainment as well as Sports
Furthermore, by pursuing a Chartered Accountant role I will also be able to work in
different roles which include roles like Sponsorship manager, Financial Controller, Finance
Director, Chief Financial Officer and others.
At the current point of time, it is my aspiration to become successful in the financial
realm of business. I believe that I possess the right kind of financial skills and this will assist me
in becoming a good accountant.
In case I do not possess a CA or a CPA qualification I have the given options:
 Chartered Institute of Management Accounting (CIMA)
 Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
 Certified Financial Planner (CFP)
 Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
 Financial Risk Management (FRM)
 International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

Identify a variety of professional roles in the workplace and their associated
responsibilities.
In a scenario where I do not get a chance to work as a professional in the financial field, I
would like to take up the following roles:
Human Resource Professional
The HR Professional is essentially responsible for maintaining the employee relationships
in an organization and manage their pay packages and grievances. Employees form an essential
aspect of any organization and for this purpose, it becomes essentially important to have a good
HR professional in an organization.
This would be a suitable profession for me as I would be able to interact with different
people in the organization and I believe that I have good interpersonal skills which will assist me
in the given profession.
Marketing Professional
The role of a Marketing professional in an organization is to ensure that the different
activities in a firm are carried on effectively with respect to the public offering. They need to
form the marketing mix of an organization is on the shoulder of a marketing professional. Being
an adamant observer of the different relationships in the consumer market, I would be able to
assist the firm in order to make the correct offering.
Identify own strengths and weaknesses in relation to particular careers.
Internal Factors
Strengths Weaknesses
Good interpersonal skills
Good at team work
Weak attention skills
Extremely emotional

Unique financial skills
Strong analytical skills
Access to online libraries
Writing skills
Good communication skills
Short tempered
Not punctual
External Factors
Opportunities Threats
Opportunity to pursue Masters and higher studies
Opportunity to take up one of the following
courses:
Chartered Institute of Management Accounting
(CIMA)
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
Certified Financial Planner (CFP)
Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
(ACCA)
Financial Risk Management (FRM)
International Financial Reporting Standards
(IFRS)
Limited resources with respect to finances
Short tempered nature might lead to problems
Not being punctual may lead to problems with
respect to maintaining the timeliness of the
statements
Demonstrates knowledge of future study and professional development options to develop
careers-
Along with pursuing the Chartered Accountancy course which I plan to undertake I also
plan to complete my Masters in the field of Financial Accounting. According to me, undertaking
the course would go a long way in assisting me to become successful in the field of accounting.

As I already possess a bachelor’s degree, I believe that engaging in the field of masters in
the dame field would further help me in strengthening my concepts and also a long way in
helping me to become highly acceptable for various job opportunities as well.
Eligible and reputed companies believe that they need to hire individual who have
adequate skills and a degree which shall match up with the standards of their organization in the
long run. Hence, for this purpose, not oils important former ton take up a higher education in the
given scenario.
I also plan to take a temper control class which shall help me to control my anger. As
identified from the analysis previously I have a short temper which contributes towards my poor
performance. Due to this reason, I would like to improve in the given domain in order to be able
to perform well.
Understanding of legal and ethical professional responsibilities and standard
In the given scenario it can be observed that the research costs are required to be added as
the costs of the firm. The other legislations state that any additional expenses shall be recorded as
and when three tend to incur in the give scenario. It was also observed that the in case the
research costs were being present might lead to losses in the current year.
It was also known that in scenario where a profit is not possible then the manager will;
not be receiving incentives and therefore there do exists chances that the manager may try to
remove the costs.
Hence, the following steps are required to be undertaken I order to ensure success:
Step 1
Talking to the head of the firm
The accountant in case of his doubt is required to contact the head of the firm in this
matter and highlight it in an indirect manner that the assumption of the research cost in this

scenario may lead to problems and losses. It is important for the head to have a clear idea about
the happenings of the organization. When provided with the correct idea, he might take actions
Step 2
Preparing a report underlining the importance of the true reaction and faithful
representation of an organization. This shall be distributed in the organization and the message
will be given out to the different customers regarding the same.
Step 3
Involving the manager in a discussion
As a manager, I would engage in conducting a meeting with the managers and the head
where the importance of financial accounting will be highlighted and the scenario of the firm
shall be discussed.
Step 4
Implying ethicality in an organization
Measures shall be taken to ensure that ethicality is maintaining but instilling the vision of
the organization is instilled in all the members.
Conclusion
Therefore from the given analysis it was observed that the field of accounting is very
dynamic and that it needs to be insured that an induvial who wants to excel in thrombin of
finance and accounts needs to have adequate knowledge about the standards and ethical
practices. The report discussed the domain of financial accounting and my personal skills based
on I have chosen this domain. An ethical question was presented related to the ethical practices.
The Reflection assessment helped to understand the various aspects of my future as an
accountant.