Essay on The Industrial Training Experience
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Lawrence Wong & Co. was established in 1986
before the Malaysian economic recession in 1987. It has established itself as a
recognized Management Consultancy Firm specializing in all kinds of management
and consultancy services, including corporate secretarial, administrative,
bookkeeping, auditing, taxation, business or financial planning and other
management allied services.
The company was founded by Mimi Gian Guek Poh
and Lawrence Wong Fook Heng, both are Chartered Accountants from Australia. The
business started as a sole proprietor on 6th August 1965 as an employment
agency and was converted into a private limited company on 16th February 1986.
As an associate member of the CPA Australia, the Malaysia Institute of
Accountants, and The Institute of Secretaries and Administrators, Mimi Gian, my
company supervisor, draws on more than 25 years of audit, management,
secretarial, taxation, information system and corporate advisory experience in
international and multinational corporations in Australia, Singapore, and
Malaysia.
Lawrence Wong & Co's success today depends
heavily on the confidence and trust their clientele have with them and also due
to their dedicated workforce who has been continuously contributing their
efforts to the overall success of the firm’s nearly 20 years of services. The
company hopes to continue to expand its business by providing quality and
reliable services in Malaysia as well as internationally.
1.2 Industrial Training Experience
Industrial Training is one of the compulsory
subjects in all Faculty of Business and Finance Programmes’ course structures.
It is compulsory for every final year undergraduate to undergo industrial
training for the duration of three months before completing their courses. With
the combination of knowledge and work experience during the three months
training, students are required to produce a written report.
The objective of industrial training is to
provide an opportunity for students to observe real life practices and develop
their understanding of methods and applications of the accounting theoretical
and conceptual framework in a real working environment. Additionally, the
training program also provides an opportunity for the industry to identify
potential employees from the industrial trainees.
I joined Lawrence Wong & Co on 1st October
until 31st December 2012. During these three months of industrial training I
was involved in bookkeeping, auditing, taxation and the company's secretarial
function. This was a good opportunity for me to learn more about the business .
Because of this, I can now apply my accounting knowledge to the real world,
such as accounts entry, auditing and so on.
At first my company supervisor discussed with
our colleagues my tasks , after that only my colleagues assigned tasks to me.
My company supervisor only gave me tasks after I had completed the work that
was assigned by my colleagues. When I faced some problems that I have never
encountered before, I discussed with my company supervisor and colleagues
together to solve the problems. Luckily they treated me well and taught me with
patience. Therefore, I increased my knowledge of accounting, auditing, and taxation
from my company supervisor and colleagues.
CHAPTER 2
SCOPE OF TRAINING
2.1 Statutory audit
When I arrived on my first day, my first task
was to do a statutory audit. Statutory audit is part of an in-house audit.
Whilst I was doing this, I needed to get information from the company secretary
file, such as annual return, minutes of meeting, and SSM forms. My colleagues
told me that use of some of the SSM forms needed recording, such as Form 24,
44, 49, 32A, and so on. If one of these forms are used, the auditor report
needs to disclose the information, as well as statutory audit. For example,
form 49 which is the form of return for directors, managers and secretaries. If
this form is used, it means that the company has appointed a new director or an
existing director has resigned or is deceased. Therefore, this kind of
information must be included in an audit report and statutory audit.
2.2 Accounting data entry
During this internship, I did a lot of
accounting data entry, such as receipt and payment entries. In order to have a
better understanding of the basis of accounting, my company supervisor assigned
me to a lot of the company's account entry, using UBS Accounting System and
Microsoft Excel. This was a test for me, whether my double entry transactions were
posted correctly. I posted the entries in accordance with bank statements,
payment vouchers, cheque books, and receipt books. After I had done, I printed
out the general ledger, bank reconciliation statement, income statement, and
balance sheet to give to my colleagues and company supervisor to review.
2.3 Bank Reconciliation
Bank reconciliation statements are the important
documents that need to be prepared every month. Bank reconciliation is the
process which prepares a statement accounting for the differences between the
cash balances in a company’s cash account and the cash balance according to its
bank statement (Roshayani Arshad, 2007). During my training period, I prepared
this by using UBS Accounting System and Microsoft Excel. Some clients prepared
bank reconciliation statements by themselves. Therefore, I needed to check
whether the bank reconciliation statements that were prepared by clients were
the same as my results.
Useful links you may be read :
Accounting Ratios - Introduction to Ratio Analysis
2.4 Auditing
During these three months, I not only did a lot
of accounting data entry, I was also involved in auditing work. Firstly, I
prepared statutory audits because this was the easier part. Next, I started to
do audits working on paper, such as accounting journal entries, income
statements, balance sheets, variances, tax computations, and other working
papers including information related to assets, liabilities, taxation, revenue,
and expenses. In addition, I had learnt how to prepare every detail of the
working paper. After that, I prepared an audit report, confirmation letter,
letter of representation (which is a summary of all accounts), and an audit
memorandum planning. Once I had done this, my colleagues reviewed my work and
asked me to amend errors, before it was passed to my company supervisor to
review. Lastly, I filled in the Form C & R after my company supervisor
reviewed and confirmed that all working papers were correct.
2.5 Others tasks
My company supervisor had asked me to make some
payments, such as telephone bills, water and electricity bills, EPF, SOCSO,
client’s income tax payments, as well as banking some cheques. Before my
company supervisor issued the cheques, I needed to prepare the payment vouchers
and attach them with the invoice, delivery order, and other related statements.
I also had to call the suppliers to collect the cheques. After the payments
were made, I filed all of the documents in the payment voucher file.
Other than that, my company supervisor also
assigned me to prepare client company’s stock list and check list. Stock list
is a detailed list of the stocks available of a company while check list is
prepared for checking the stocks.
In addition, I had filed some documents and
letters received from Inland Revenue Borad (IRB) into the client's files. I
also sent out documents to clients, such as tax refund from IRB, audit reports
and others documents.
Furthermore, I had updated the client company
tax control list. For this task, I had to record the date received for the Form
C & R 2012, financial year end, the latest audit report that had already
been submitted, and the date of CP 204 to IRB. After I completed this, I
prepared a latest list of client company and IRB’s schedule of payment code.
CHAPTER 3
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS APPLIED AND GAINED
3.1 Knowledge and Skills Applied
3.1.1 UBS Accounting System
These accounting entries, which are receipt and
payment entries, I had been taught during my studies how to complete using the
UBS Accounting System. So, I had no problem when I posted these accounting
entries into UBS Accounting System because it is same as what I have done
before. For example, for the pay for travelling expenses, the entry is debit in
travelling expenses and credit in bank or cash account, so this is called a
double entry. Before I passed my work to the company supervisor to review, I
double checked the entries.
3.1.2 Financial Accounting
Financial Accounting Framework I and II are the
compulsory subjects for accounting students. These two subjects teach us how to
prepare the financial statements such as income statements, balances sheets,
cash flow statements, and statements of changes in equity. These subjects were
very useful for me to apply to my work. By using the knowledge that I learnt, I
had completed my tasks with minor errors.
3.1.3 Taxation
Taxation is another important subject for
accounting students. I took this subject in Year 2 Trimester 3. During my
training, I had to prepare tax computation for companies and individuals.
Mostly I prepared tax computation for companies, because when I was doing
client companies’ audit, I needed to prepare it as well. This subject was very
useful to me because I could apply the knowledge that I learnt to prepare the
tax computation, making it easier for me to complete the tasks.
3.2 Knowledge and Skills Gained
3.2.1 Auditing
During my studies I found that auditing was a
totally theoretical subject that is different from accounting and taxation
subjects because it is not included in any calculation matter. I had the
opportunity to complete audits on client companies during the three months of
training. I completed many tasks relating to audits, such as audit working
papers, statutory audit, audit report, and many more.
3.2.2 Information Technology
Lawrence Wong & Co. accounting software
includes Microsoft Excel and UBS Accounting System. With the UBS Accounting
System, I learnt how to key in double entry transactions and look through the
financial statements during my study. I also learnt how to prepare the bank
reconciliation statements by using this system, and to do year end processing,
which is to close the current accounting year and switch to a new accounting year
(Sage UBS Range of Software, 1991). Before I performed year end processing, I
needed to ensure that all transactions were up to the last period, back up all
of the data files, update all stock values, print all reports, and check that
there was only one retained earnings account. After I completed this, the
system would generate an all balance brought forward account and accumulated
profit would be transferred to the retained earnings account. All transactions
from period 1 to 12 will be removed.
Furthermore, Lawrence Wong & Co. used
Microsoft Excel to prepare audit works. This was an advantage for me when I was
doing the audit working papers as I could key in the amount and generate the
formula fast, then the software would automatically calculate the final amount
for me. I had also learnt how to adjust the paper margin and make it neat
before I printed the working papers.
Other than that, I learnt how to use new
software, which was the UBS Inventory and Billing System. This system is a real
time system that updates the stock immediately after entry. It also performs as
an invoicing system whereby you can print out the invoice, credit note, debit
note, and many more (Sage UBS Range of Software, 1991). During my training, I
had prepared a list of every client company’s secretarial and filing fee in
Excel form. My colleague taught me how to check the latest invoices inside the
UBS Inventory and Billing System. Therefore, I could check the invoices easily
and key in the information quickly.
CHAPTER 4
WEAKNESSES AND STRENGTHS
4.1 Weaknesses
During the three months of industrial training,
I faced a lot of problems that I had never encountered before as they were
problems that I could not learn from books. This made me feel weak because
sometimes I did not know which methods should be applied to solve the problems.
At the beginning, I had spent most of time
finishing the audit works because what I had learnt in university was theory,
but the training was more focused on practical tasks. These tasks were quite
different from what I had studied in text books and from lecture notes, so I
was a bit confused when I prepared the audit works.
I also faced problems when I was doing account
entries. Before I started to key in receipts and payments into UBS Accounting
System, I spent a lot time trying to understand the company’s business
transactions and concepts, because different companies may have different
versions of these. After I keyed in all the transactions, I printed the general
ledger, income statement, and balance sheet to give to my company supervisor to
review. Unfortunately, my works were rejected by her because I did not key in
the transactions and descriptions properly. Moreover, some of the clients did
not provide enough financial information, such as details of income received,
so I did not know exactly what those incomes were.
In addition, I had difficulty in using my
English language because the company mostly has English speaking clients.
Sometimes the clients did not understand what I said, so I had to use Chinese
language or Malay language to communicate with them.
4.2 Strengths
During this internship, I learnt a lot and
practiced my knowledge and concepts relating to accounting, auditing, and
taxation. I have come across many new things and gained knowledge from my
company supervisor and colleagues.
I was able to use other languages to communicate
with clients, such as Hokkien, Cantonese, and Malay. The reason for this is
that some of the clients cannot speak English, they only know to speak their
own language. Therefore, I was able to use these languages to communicate or
discuss some matters with clients.
I felt lucky that my company supervisor gave me
the opportunity to practice my knowledge in her company. She always motivated
me and taught me many new skills as a trainee, and also helped me to acquire
new knowledge. Furthermore, she was also a very patient person. When I did not
understand how to do the tasks that she has assigned, she was very patient in explaining
to me the steps. Another strength was that my colleagues were willing to help
me whenever I encountered problems.
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION
Through this training program, I have gained so
much new knowledge and experience , improved my communication and computer
skills, as well as learning how to adapt to working life quickly in a new
atmosphere. It also prepared me to be more responsible for my actions and tasks
in the future working life.
Furthermore, I have covered knowledge of
auditing, accounting, and taxation during my time spent inside the company. For
the auditing part, I learnt how to prepare the audit program, confirmation
letter, auditing working papers, and others. I also learnt how to key in the
account entries properly by using UBS Accounting System and Microsoft Excel.
For the taxation part, I learnt about how to prepare tax computation. All of
the learning made me feel interested and challenged although it was stressful
at times .
I can conclude that the industrial training was
well organized. My company supervisor and colleagues were caring and willing to
teach me all of the working steps and concepts. With their guidance, I was able
to do my tasks properly and apply the accounting knowledge that I had learnt in
university into real working life.
In conclusion, I have been trained to be
prepared in facing the real working environment in the future and gained some
ideas about the work flow of a company. I am pleased that I did my industrial
training in Lawrence Wong & Co. and thank my company supervisor and all
colleagues for caring and giving me a chance to learn all of the work involved.
I hope I can use my experience and knowledge that I gained further in my
education.
ACC 302 Advanced Accounting
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