Reflective Exercise on Becoming an Accounting Professional

This reflective exercise report analyzes the author's capability to become an accounting professional. It covers various subsections outlining the key characteristics of an accountant and the author's capability with respect to the same. The report also discusses the author's strengths and weaknesses, career pathways, professional roles, and future study options. Additionally, it addresses the ethical and legal responsibilities of an accountant.

Running head: REFLECTIVE EXERCISE
REFLECTIVE EXERCISE
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author note

1REFLECTIVE EXERCISE
Executive Summary
The given report is based on the self-reflection exercise which was given as a reflection and analysis on
my capability to become an accounting professional. There are various subsections which will outline
they key characteristics of an accountant and analyze my capability with respect to the same.

2REFLECTIVE EXERCISE
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................................3
Understand the application of professional knowledge and skills in the workplace.................................3
Identify career pathways associated with current program of study..........................................................4
Identify a variety of professional roles in the workplace and their associated responsibilities.................5
Identify own strengths and weaknesses in relation to particular careers...................................................6
Demonstrates knowledge of future study and professional development options to develop careers-.....7
Understanding of legal and ethical professional responsibilities and standard.........................................7
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................8
References................................................................................................................................................10

3REFLECTIVE EXERCISE
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 (Deegan,
2013).
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 (Warren & Jones, 2018). 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 accounting
subject is such that the statements need to reflect adequate timeliness’s in the statements. Hence, the
given statements need to be managed within the time limits whereby the time management skills may
come in useful. Secondly, the interpersonal skills are also very important as the members from the
different departments will be required to interact with one another.
The manual system may be used in small organizations who do not want to spend a large
amount in purchasing accounting software’s.

4REFLECTIVE EXERCISE
Accounting system Advantages Disadvantages
Manual Lower costs
Easy to maintain
Redundant work
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) (Chartered Accountants Australia & New
Zealand. 2018).
 International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

5REFLECTIVE EXERCISE
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 (May, 2013). 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 (Weil, Schipper & Francis, 2013).
Point of Interest
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 (Beatty & Liao, 2014). 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 (CPA Australia., 2018).
Point of Interest
It interests me because I like debates and brain storming session and the
marketing field will help me in engaging in such activities during product
promotion.

6REFLECTIVE EXERCISE
Identify own strengths and weaknesses in relation to particular careers.
Internal Factors
Strengths Weaknesses
Good interpersonal skills
Good at team work
Unique financial skills
Strong analytical skills
Access to online libraries
Writing skills
Good communication skills
Weak attention skills
Extremely emotional
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) (Henderson et
al., 2015).
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

7REFLECTIVE EXERCISE
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 (Publicaccountants.org.au, 2018). 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

8REFLECTIVE EXERCISE
problems and losses. It is important for the head to have a clear idea about the happenings of the
organization (Williams, 2014). 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 (Edwards, 2013). This shall be distributed in the organization and the message will be
given out to the different customers regarding the same (Schaltegger & Burritt, 2017).
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 (Scott, 2015).
The code of ethics in the Accounting Financials talks about full, fair and adequate disclosure of
all information relevant to the accounting. For this purpose, as an accountant, although the manager
will prefer not to display the Research cost, as a professional it’s important for me to do so.
Furthermore, the ethical aspect of an honest accountant also asks to provide all relevant information to
the users of the statements. Furthermore, as per the Research Phase 54 I will be requiring to add the
Research Cost as and when it is incurred and it cannot be capitalized. Hence, the right solution for this
problem would be to show the research cost as an expenditure and inform about the situation to the
authorities.
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

9REFLECTIVE EXERCISE
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.

10REFLECTIVE EXERCISE
References
Beatty, A., & Liao, S. (2014). Financial accounting in the banking industry: A review of the empirical
literature. Journal of Accounting and Econ
Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/
CPA Australia. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/
Deegan, C. (2013). Financial accounting theory. McGraw-Hill Education Australia.
Edwards, J. R. (2013). A history of financial accounting (RLE Accounting) (Vol. 29). Routledge.
Henderson, S., Peirson, G., Herbohn, K., & Howieson, B. (2015). Issues in financial accounting.
Pearson Higher Education AU.
May, G. O. (2013). Financial accounting. Read Books Ltd.
Publicaccountants.org.au (2018). Retrieved from https://www.publicaccountants.org.au/
Schaltegger, S., & Burritt, R. (2017). Contemporary environmental accounting: issues, concepts and
practice. Routledge.
Scott, W. R. (2015). Financial accounting theory (Vol. 2, No. 0, p. 0). Prentice Hall.
Warren, C. S., & Jones, J. (2018). Corporate financial accounting. Cengage Learning.
Weil, R. L., Schipper, K., & Francis, J. (2013). Financial accounting: an introduction to concepts,
methods and uses. Cengage Learning.
Williams, J., (2014). Financial accounting. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.