Financial Accounting Reflection: Skills and Career Pathways

This report presents a student's reflection on their learning experience in a financial accounting course. It covers the application of professional knowledge and skills in the workplace, comparing manual and computerized accounting systems and highlighting the importance of communication and coordination. The reflection explores potential career pathways such as Chartered Accountancy (CA) and Certified Public Accountant (CPA), along with alternative options like Company Secretary. A SWOT analysis identifies personal strengths and weaknesses relevant to pursuing a CA course. A case study addresses ethical considerations in financial reporting. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of continuous learning and adaptation in the accounting profession, encouraging practitioners to update their knowledge and skills to effectively serve organizations and stakeholders. Desklib provides this document and other solved assignments for students.

19 September 2018
Financial Accounting
Student Number: ______
Student name: __________

REFLECTION 1
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Application of professional knowledge and skills in the workplace..........................................2
Career pathways.........................................................................................................................3
Variety of professional roles......................................................................................................4
Strengths and weaknesses in relation to Chartered Accountant Course....................................5
Case Study..................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................7

REFLECTION 2
Introduction
Self-reflection is defined as a process of careful evaluation of one’s own thoughts, beliefs,
and behaviour (Brown, Dillard & Hopper, 2015). In terms of the studying subjects like
financial accounting, it would help me in assessing my already existing skills and the scope
for improvement in the same. I believe reflection based writing is an important exercise,
because it will let me develop the new skills and review the effectiveness of the same. Thus,
the three chief benefits of reflection can be listed as follows.
 Strengthening Emotional Intelligence
 Acting With Integrity
 Being More Confident
The profession of accountancy is all pervasive and ever changing. The profession has
become a major subject of scrutiny in these days, because of the involvement of the range of
stakeholders and resources globally (Schön, 2017). In addition, scrutiny has been placed on
the behaviour of the accounting firms, the usefulness of the accounting information produced
and the overall professional development.
This report is the reflection about the learnings I have gained during the financial
accounting course and the effect of the same on my emotional wellness and personality. The
report would cover the SWOT matrix in terms of the learning of the course.
Application of professional knowledge and skills in the workplace
The course has enabled me to understand the basics of the accounting. With the help
of the knowledge gained, I can say that manual accounting process refers to the set of the
processes used to keep the record by hand instead of using the computer-automated systems
for the same. According to me, there are a number of factors, which contribute towards the
effectiveness of the manual processed accounting records and the overall management of the
entities. These factors are explained as follows.
The first factor that is crucial for the efficient preparation of the manual accounting
processed records is the coordination and the communication between the team members of
an enterprise. This is useful not just to carry the routine tasks, but also to the tasks that are
incident to the accounting department such as drafting of the emails, letters, and preparation
of reports, interpretations, and communications internally and externally. I feel, the

REFLECTION 3
interpersonal skills such as the perusal skills, decision-making, management review and the
overall coordination with the various departments are other key factors for the smooth flow of
information and the operations of finance of an enterprise. In addition, the management of the
teams is essential. The leaders of the accounting department must communicate the vision
and the goals to the team members and in return must incorporate the feedbacks received
from them in the policies.
According to me, the manual accounting systems are most suitable and must be
commonly used by the small sized business, where the number of transactions to be entered is
lesser . Further, manual systems yield better control and authority when the owner intends not
to delegate the operations and responsibility among many individuals (Simkin, Norman &
Rose, 2014). Another chief benefit of the manual accounting system is that the errors can be
readily identified and corrected because of the double entry system. The double entry system
as developed by Luca Pacioli involves a credit entry for the every debit entry made, and thus
facilitates the reconciliation of the accounts (Lee, Bishop & Parker, 2014). While the
computerised data suffer the vulnerabilities of digital data spoofing, cyber security threats,
loss of the backup, delegation of the authorities and misuse of the same, the manual records
are easy to access and maintain (Schaltegger & Burritt, 2017).
However, the manual accounting processes suffers certain disadvantages as well.
According to me, the significant factor that makes the manual accounts complex is the
necessity of possessing the required expertise to manage the same (Arcega et. al, 2015).
While in modern computerised entry system, the software are such advanced that the errors
are detected the moment an entry is passed, the same is not possible in the manual accounting
system. In addition, I find making the manual entries is a tedious and a consuming task as
compared to doing the same through the aid of computers, where there relevant credit or debit
is automatically posted. In addition, I feel that the computerised system has an edge in terms
of accuracy of the calculation and the computations.
Career pathways
The course has exposed me to the world of the numbers and the finance, and
certainly, I have developed a likeness for calculations, which was earlier absent. The course
has inclined me so much to the world of accountancy that I intend to pursue the Chartered
Accountant course from hereon. The CA course would take my understanding of the concepts
and procedures of the accountancy and the related subjects like auditing, taxation, law and

REFLECTION 4
more, to another level. I feel an overall understanding of the world of finance and
accountancy can only be gained by the knowledge of the related laws and legislations, and
the knowledge about the taxation regimes of a particular region. I am more inclined towards
the CA course than the CPA course, because the subjects and the time duration involved in
CA would give me a more comprehensive structured learning. I understand that while a CA
enjoys the membership of the Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand
(Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, 2018), a CPA enjoys the membership of
CPA Australia, which is one of the world's largest accounting body (CPA Australia, 2018).
Personally I feel once an individual is exposed wider scope of knowledge like that in CA
course, it is easy to study the comparatively less complex course, i.e. CPA.
On lines of the above, my immediate plans are to pursue CA course from Chartered
Accountants of Australia and New Zealand .Though the course structure is complex and
covers a range of subjects from taxation laws of Australia, to corporate laws, to financial
management and more, it would be interesting to gain practical and theoretical knowledge of
the same. The course would open for me a range of the job opportunities and the business
opportunities as well.
As mentioned above, the financial accounting course has provided me with the
enough knowledge and understanding of the major subjects of accountancy and financial
management that I can easily apply for a financial planning adviser or an accountant’s job in
an entity, if not pursuing CA or CPA. Not only this, I can also opt for the share trading and
the side income lines as such. Once, the basics of the accounting an finance are clear, I feel
one can start any personal business of his or her, and manage the same effectively.
Variety of professional roles
One significant option that is available to me other than that of a CA or CPA is that of
Company Secretaries, the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, in Australia,
governs the same. The course of Company Secretaries opens up the professional roles of
governance advisers, risk managers, compliance managers and more. The course also
involves a combination of the practical exposure and the theoretical learning and thus is a
good option. There exist a number of opportunities in the corporate sectors for the persons
having a background knowledge of the accounting, finance, and laws.

REFLECTION 5
Internal Factors
Strengths Weaknesses
 Fluency in English
 Good at theoritical subjects
 Good memory power makes it easy for me to
memorie the theoritical subjects consistenly.
 I am good at learnig thing practically an dthat
would aid me during the internship period od
the said course.
 I have a good set of communication and
pursuation skills, I feel these are most
important while working with a number of
individuals from different educational
backgrounds and cultures.
 Love to work under stress.
 Not much interested in the numerical, which
makes it difficult for me to understand the
numerical subjects.
 Personality wise, high temperament can
certainly back fire in stressful situations.
 At times, the pursuance for perfection in the
work makes the pace of my working slow.
External Factors
Opportunities Threats
 Good communication skills give me an ability
to manage different individuals in a team and
thus, I can be a good administrator.
 I can flip to Company Secretary Course or can
go for MBA degree, if the CA course does not
works.
 The profession of the finance and
accountancy is ever evolving and ever
changing.
 High level of competition
Strengths and weaknesses in relation to Chartered Accountant Course
Apart from studying the CA course, I can also opt for learning and pursuing the
course governing the laws and regulations. As I mentioned earlier, I am good at theoretical
subjects, so I can easily manage the legal studies side by side. An exposure to legal studies
would any day an add on to the finance and the accounting background.
Case Study
In the event of the given situation, firstly I will speak to the manager himself about
the incorrect treatment that he has made. I will communicate with him the further possible
consequences on making the insufficient compliance in light of the laws and regulations. It is
the duty of the practitioner to present the true and fair view of the transactions taken place in

REFLECTION 6
the entity, If he fails to dos do, he may even lose his widely credible professional degree. No
matter, the entity would incur the loss of $500,000, on this type of expenditure as per the
requirements of AASB 138 Intangible Assets. However, this is necessary to disclose the
same. We will disclose the information in the light of the requirements of the accounting
standards along with the necessary disclosures wherever necessary.
Conclusion
From the discussion held in the previous parts it could be concluded that seeing the
wide possibilities and the scrutiny by which the accountants of the twenty first century are
covered, it is important to reflect on the ones capabilities and the limitations. The reflection
not only aids in the review of the existing capabilities but also aid the accountant to
incorporate the changes and the developments in the field of the accounting and the
compliance procedures. Further to add, it is the responsibility of the practitioners to update
their knowledge and skills to serve the organisations and the stakeholders on the best manner
possible.

REFLECTION 7
References
Arcega, C. K., Datinguinoo, E., Guerra, J., Guno, C., Mayuga, H. J., Villamena, E., &
Manongsong, J. L. (2015). Computerized vs. Non-computerized Accounting System
of Small and Medium Enterprises in Lipa City, Philipines: A Comparative Analysis.
Asia Pacific Journal of Academic Research in Business Administration, 1(1).
Brown, J., Dillard, J., & Hopper, T. (2015). Accounting, accountants and accountability
regimes in pluralistic societies: taking multiple perspectives seriously. Accounting,
Auditing & Accountability Journal, 28(5), 626-650.
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. (2018). Become a Chartered Accountant.
Retrieved from:
https://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/become-a-member/memberships/
chartered-accountant
CPA Australia. (2018). Become a CPA, apply today. Be heard tomorrow. Retrieved from:
https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/
Lee, T. A., Bishop, A., & Parker, R. H. (2014). Accounting history from the Renaissance to
the present: A remembrance of Luca Pacioli. Oxon: Routledge.
Schaltegger, S., & Burritt, R. (2017). Contemporary environmental accounting: issues,
concepts and practice. Oxon: Routledge.
Schön, D. A. (2017). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Oxon:
Routledge.
Simkin, M. G., Norman, C. S., & Rose, J. M. (2014). Core concepts of accounting
information systems. UK: John Wiley & Sons.