Management Accounting Internship Report, Curtin University, 2019

This report details an accounting internship undertaken at Platinum Professional Training (PPT) in Australia. The internship aimed to provide practical skills and experience to accounting graduates, focusing on the use of MYOB accounting software. The report covers the industry overview, the organization's structure and objectives, and a literature review of relevant business theories, including Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). It outlines the methodology, findings, and outcomes of the internship, including the development and enhancement of balance statements. The report includes a critical analysis of the project, recommendations for the organization, and a reflection on the overall experience. The internship provided valuable insights into the application of accounting practices and their impact on financial reporting and career development. The report highlights the role of teamwork, communication, and collaboration in achieving organizational goals within the accounting industry.

MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING
Name
Course
Date

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Executive Summary
The report was formulated basing on the internship project that was undertaken at the Platinum
Professional Training (PPT) organization of Australia. The organization was established to
address incidences of lack of practical skills and experience in accounting among fresh
graduates. The approach is aimed at boosting the career goals of graduates and widening their
understanding of how accounting practices are used to promote an organization's financial
strength. Graduates who are enrolled at PPT for various accounting programs like assistant
accountant have the opportunity to gain practical skills through the use of Mind Your Own
Business (MYOB) system of accounting to manage accounts.
Moreover, it is the effective management of accounts that leads to the presentation of accurate
and reliable financial reports for an organization. The above is facilitated through experience and
knowledge gained during internship projects whereby aspects of prepayments, bank and credit
card reconciliations, inventory processing among others are advanced to the students. However,
accounting also requires an accountant to exhibit teamwork, effective communication, and
collaboration skills to effectively execute accounting processes to meet the goals of an
organization. Therefore, PPT is playing a pivotal role in preparing accounting graduates for the
job market and career development, which is significantly boosting accounting practices in
Australia.

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Contents
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................2
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Summary of industry...................................................................................................................................4
Summary of the organization.......................................................................................................................6
Literature review of the appropriate business theories and concepts...........................................................8
Methodology...............................................................................................................................................9
Main outcomes, findings, and results related to my experience.................................................................10
A critical analysis of how balance statements were developed and enhanced...........................................11
A comprehensive evaluation of the project................................................................................................12
Recommendations to the organization as an outcome of the project.........................................................14
Analysis of the role that I undertook as part of the project........................................................................16
Description of the impact of the project and your involvement on/for the organization............................16
Reflection of the experience overall..........................................................................................................17
Any other information relevant to your project.........................................................................................18
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................19
Bibliography..............................................................................................................................................20
Appendix...................................................................................................................................................23

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Introduction
The report is centered on the experiences during my internship program as an assistant
accounting internee at Platinum Professional Training organization in Australia. The internship
program was essential in enhancing my career in financial accounting because the program
intends to equip learners with practical skills and experience needs for employment after
University. Internship program always covers three months during which internees can gain
understanding about businesses and adjust to the changes that may take place in the business
atmosphere1. In the due processes of internship, internees are equipped with robust learning
approaches, which helps them to act like training employees while deals with changes in the
business environment through accounting2. As such, experience that is attained by internees
during the three months internship period helps to transform and shape their professional values
as a way of enabling them to compete favorably for future job opportunities3. I started my
internship program at Platinum Professional Training in March and now in the closing stages of
the program, which is expected to end in June 2019.
Most importantly, the program of an assistant accountant is designed to empower internees with
comprehensive technical abilities and experiences to facilitate the execution of corporate
accounting practices. As such, an assistant accountant internee has higher prospects of attaining a
job in the field of accounting due to much experience and skills achieved through internship
1 Stout, Cost Management, 234
2 Quinn, Management Accounting,198
3 Curt. Why Project Accounting,? 25–29.

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programs4. The following were the aims and objectives of the undertaking internship program at
the Platinum Professional Training firm in Australia.
i. To enhance my understanding of how accounting practices and doctrines can be
implemented at an organization to maintain its financial resources.
ii. To boost my career in accounting and finance through gaining more experience in
accounting practices.
iii. To improve my practical skills in the use of accounting practices to get ready to utilize
any future job opportunities in the field of accounting.
Summary of the industry
Platinum Professional Training falls under the Accounting Industry of Australia. The
sector is made up of firms that offer accounting, bookkeeping, auditing services to ensure that
organizations Astrid Ayala and Giancarlo Ibárgüen effectively utilize5. The above services that
are offered by accounting firms in Australia cover elements of auditing, financial reporting, as
well as taxation. Majority of the firms that dominate Australia's accounting industry are of small
size in that their structure, projects as well as financial resources are still small in magnitude.
Besides, establishments that are non-employing have a proportion of about 50% of the
enterprises of Australia's accounting industry6. EY, KPMG, PwC, and Deloitte are the leading
big four firms of accounting in the above industry and hold about 30% of the market share. Most
significantly, those mentioned above big four accounting firms do not offer any competition
4 Altintas, Nalan. "The Accounting Profession," 932–950
5 Accounting practices and doctrines, A Market Proposal for Auditing the Financial Statements of Public
Companies, 41
6 Afpbb.com.au, The Australian Accounting Industry.

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threats to medium and small size accounting entities. The above is to the fact that these big four
accounting firms only cater to distinct markets that medium and small size accounting entities
cannot sustain. In regards to employment, accounting industry of Australia employs about
108,177 persons in its various undertakings and projects7. The above element is because many
more small and medium accounting firms are always joining the accounting industry of
Australia, whereby more employment opportunities are being created for various accounting
professionals. The accounting industry has experienced recent developments in the form of many
of its accounting firms have adopted strategies of widening their services as a supplement to the
commonly known traditional services. These firms are aiming at attracting new and potential
clients to make use of their advanced accounting practices and standards to enhance the safety of
the financial resources8. Most significantly, the majority of the businesses in Australia are
becoming more analytical and, which has created a high demand for accounting services by
persons and entities. For example, several economists and engineers are joining the accounting
industry with their graduates who only have traditional knowledge about the operation of
businesses. The main goal of joining the industry by economists and engineers is to utilize the
widened up to date services that are being offered by accounting firms9. Besides, legal services,
professional services as well as management consulting are the main competitors to the
accounting industry of Australia. However, the level consistency in the utilization of accounting
practices, doctrines, and innovation strategies by accounting firms with Australia's accounting
industry makes it so unique from other sectors10. The above element has helped to maintain
7 Anton, Presentation at IMA's annual conference
8 Clinton and Matuszewski, Escaping Professional Dominance?
9 Jessica, What You Know About Project Accounting:
10 Edward, Publishing in the majors, p. 223–255

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steady growth in the revenues over the past decade, which has not been the case with other
industries like health or transport.
Summary of the organization
Platinum Professional Training usually abbreviated as PPT is a training instituting for
accounting that was established in 2008 by Coco Hou, who is currently its Chief Executive
Officer. PPT has headquarters in Sydney, Australia with a multiple of other branch offices in
Perth, Melbourne, and Brisbane. The institute was established to utilize unique programs aimed
at helping individuals who always found it hard to acquire jobs in the accounting field. PPT's
vision is to transform how accounting graduate prepares themselves for success at job11. The
primary focus of PPT is to equip the learners with relevant practical skills by enabling them to
work in accounting atmosphere before making applications for accounting jobs. Also, PPT
empowers learners with a high degree of confidence to succeed in their attempts to hit career
goals. As such, the life of students and their careers are the significant reasons why PPT was
established in 200812. Evidentially, a multiple of former students at PPT, has been able to
flourish at their accounting jobs across various countries in the world. Currently, PPT is the most
effective and most significant private institution that is engaging in accounting training for
graduate and immigrants who are pursuing accounting careers. The total number of graduates
and migrants who are enrolled at PPT is more than 8,000 who are living as evidence that
education is useful when it is centered on strategies for job success13. PPT's organization
structure is composed of the CEO, Qualified employees, and Certified Professional Accountants
(CPA) managers. CEO who happens to be the founder is responsible for managing all operations
11 Myskills.gov.au. Platinum Professional Training Pty Ltd.
12 Ibid 11
13 Cooper, Accounting by Women.

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and activities that take place at PPT day in day out. Qualified employees are composed of
professional accounting trainers who advance knowledge and practical accounting skills to the
learners. On the other hand, CPA managers are responsible for ensuring that all projects and
activities are accounted for according to generally accepted accounting standards14.
Literature review of the appropriate business theories and concepts
Financial accounting theory is a business theory that enables leaders at an organization to
identify better strategies for executing accounting practices in a way that fulfills the objectives of
the organization. Because accounting practices are generally performed according to set
accounting standards, then the above theory will utilize the concept of Generally Acceptable
Accounting Doctrines (GAAP) to inform the project. GAAP refers to a set of common practices,
doctrine, and standards that firms plus their accountants should always follow while compiling
their financial statements. GAAP helps to shapes ways in which accounting information is
recorded and reported which eliminated any prospects of communication gaps while sharing
accounting information15. Also, GAAP is aimed at ensuring that financial statements of firms are
executed with a minimum degree of consistency so that investors can be in a position to extract
and analyze relevant accounting information. In due course, GAAP help to ease comparisons
between two or more companies or industries basing on their financial information. All entities
are required to follow GAAP while disseminating their financial information to interest groups
that are located outside the company such as investors or auditors16. Recognition of revenue,
14 Joshua and Wood. Accounting Program Research Rankings by Topical Area and Methodology, 631–654.
15 Kenton, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
16 David and Alisdair: Themes in the history of bookkeeping, p. 96

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balance sheets, income statements as well as bank reconciliation statement is part of a firm’s
financial information element that should be executed according to GAAP.
Some of the doctrines of GAAP include; the doctrine of regularity, consistency,
periodicity, and prudence, among others. The doctrine of uniformity requires an accounting
professional always to follow GAAP rules as a standard for compiling financial information of
an entity. Besides, the doctrine of consistency requires accountants to apply similar standards
throughout the process of financial reporting still to eliminate errors in financial statements and
reports. Also, the doctrine of periodicity requires accounting professionals to distribute entries
into financial statements according to specified periods17. Also, the doctrine of prudence requires
accounting professionals to ensure that financial data is always fact-based to reduce of
incidences of speculation about financial reports or statements. The above-discussed GAAP
doctrines are essential in providing that all financial reports and statements are accurate and
reliable for use by investors, government, or auditors. In regards to the project, GAAP was
viewed as a concept that would help to inform the project about the essence of maintaining
accounting standards in financial reporting. As such, accounting graduates at PPT could also be
equipped with knowledge about the use of GAAP in ensuring that financial information is
reliable and accurately reported when they attain employment at various firms in the future18.
Therefore, the GAAP concept acted as an element for informing the project about accounting
standards that are used by firms while making financial reports so that graduates can be fully
equipped with such essential before making job applications.
17 Albrecht. On the curious historical coincidence of algebra and double-entry bookkeeping, p. 11.
18 Stewart. Financial Accounting Theory, 342

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Methodology
During the three months internship period, I was able to work as an assistant accountant
under the department of account, which helped me to acquire significant experience in activities
that take place in this department. Working under this department provided me with an
opportunity to gain access to vast volumes of information in form credit card reconciliation, bank
reconciliation, accounts payable and accounts receivable, inventory and business activity
statement of PPT institute19. More so, I was in a position to relate academic knowledge to the
information that was indicated in the above financial information tools. It is from this point of
view that I gladly assert that staff that was working under the department of account
management was generally informative. The above is attributed to the fact that they always
professional and exhaustively responded to any questions that I asked them regarding
challenging information about the information which was revealed by the company's financial
tools. Most importantly, I continue to utilize course materials to relate and put in practice the
theoretical knowledge that had been accumulated from the university20. Therefore, the above-
outlined approaches helped to ensure a balance between theoretical knowledge and practical
knowledge about accounting practices.
Primary outcomes, findings, and results related to my experience
Accounting practices mainly involved the use of Mind Your Own Business (MYOB)
system of accounting, which resulted in significant outcomes, findings, and results as far as my
experience was concerned. I found out how MYOB systems software is used by accountants to
manage banking events, payables, and purchases, inventory, report, and sales, among other
19 Dina and Lourdes. Why your finance team might cut your project budget?
20 Ian. "New set of accounting principles can help drive sustainable success."

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elements. In the due process, I was able to learn and utilize the MYOB system of accounting to
manage credit card reconciliation, bank reconciliation, accounts payable and accounts receivable
and processed the inventory21. The main result was that the MYOB system easy the process of
recording, analyzing, and making of financial reports to the management. For example, MYOB
facilitated entry of details of the company, recording of clients' information and reconciliation of
accounts basing on the bank statements. I also found out that transactions that are recorded in the
suspense accounts require making inquiries from the clients concerning information about the
sale so that proper records can be undertaken. When the reconciliation process is done, an
accountant is required to send an email to a professional who is responsible for accounting at the
department to complete the process22. The above finding widened my understanding of the
processes of double entry in accounting. Primarily, I got informed that any transaction that
contains incomplete details is recorded in the suspense account. Therefore, the effective
utilization of the MYOB system of accounting in executing accounting practices was the primary
outcome for my experience during the internship period at PTT.
A critical analysis of how balance statements were developed and enhanced
Business statements help to guide a firm or an individual to formulate practices aimed at
achieving a given goal. In this regard, the goal was to have an adequate representation of
liabilities and assets in the balance sheet as a way of depicting reliable and accurate information
of the business. As such, a distinction was made between accounts payable and accounted
receivable while making the balance sheets for the company. In most cases, accountants fail to
make a distinction between these two accounts while making financial recordings in the financial
21 Myobaccountingsystem.com. MYOB Accounting System.
22 Anneli. MYOB founder's latest venture, no dinosaur.

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statements like balance sheets23. Accounts payable is a representation of the debts that an entity
owes the creditors or suppliers, and it is treated as a liability while making records of financial
statements. On the contrary, accounts receivable refers to amounts of money that clients of the
company are yet to pay for the services that they have already utilized. As such, accounts
receivable are recorded as assets in a company’s financial statements24. The above differentiation
between accounts payable and accounts receivable helped to ensure that accurate financial
information was developed and enhanced on the balance sheet of the business.
A comprehensive evaluation of the project
The project as an assistant accountant internee primarily involved working with the
management team of accounts whereby my role was to assist the senior accounts manager.
During the opening days of the project, I was not so much engaged in the activities at the
department due to lack of prior knowledge about how accounts and financial statements are
managed. As such, I only kept on observing how the senior accounts were executing their duties
in managing accounts of the clients mainly using MYOB system of accounting25. In due course, I
was instructed to learn by staying and communicating with the senior accountant team at the
department of accounts management. During the initial month of the internship, my work was to
learn how to utilize MYOB system software for accounting to maintain and manage accounts of
clients at PPT. Such a process helped me to practically engage in maintenance and management
of account with the management team for accounts. During the initial stages of the project, I
23 Timo and Sami. Evaluating publications across business disciplines, 220–232
24 Lanen. Fundamentals of Cost Accounting, 256
25 Belverd and Marian. Principles of Financial Accounting ,89