Accounting is one widest business related disciplines that we have in most college curriculums nowadays. I have personally majored in accounting and this being my final semester in college; it is only fair that I give a brief reflection of the various things that I have learnt in my four years in college.
When I first decided to major in accounting, I was not entirely sure of the course content but I have to state that so far, I have not been disappointed. I have a variety of things beyond my initial imagination and it is therefore quite clear that I made the right choice when I chose to venture into this discipline.
The accounting program is one that is designed to prepare learners to be able to effectively and efficiently practice the accounting profession and to also engage in business related functions and perform them well (Weygandt 2003).
There has been a common notion in most learning circles that the accounting discipline basically revolves the balancing and addition of numbers. I would however like to disapprove this notion since it is highly inaccurate and untrue. There is certainly more that is involved in accounting than just numbers.
During the first few semesters of majoring in this course, I learnt about some of the basic and fundamental principles of accounting. The main thing learnt from this was the importance of accounting to the business institution. I learnt about the various ways of representing the accounting information including balance sheets and financial statements. I also learnt about the various functions and uses of financial information and it s application in various business circles. The underlying theories of accounting were also comprehensively covered and explained by my college’s distinguished professors.
As I proceeded with major, I continued learning about more concepts of accounting. I received instructions in financial and cost accounting .In these I learnt about the role of costs in different enterprises together with ways of minimizing costs. The concepts of marginal and absorption costing were also taught effectively and I therefore understood instances or situations where the two are applicable. More over, I learnt about their various advantages and disadvantages. I also learnt of the various ways of relating costs to production, volume, output or revenue.
The application of the break even point was particularly vey interesting as it taught me of how to adjust production and costs to ensure to ensure that profits are realized since the above stated variables are related through linear functions. This particular vice can particularly be practically applied in any business institution that seeks to increase or realize profits. In addition, the various ways of apportioning costs and overheads to different cost drivers were also learnt and the application of this in real business was also very visible.
Another aspect of accounting that I have learnt in the course of my college education was management accounting. This particular aspect is particularly very important to me as I have high dreams of being an established business manager one day. In this discipline I learnt about the role of accounting in management and also clear distinctions from financial accounting were made to enable the better understanding of the two disciplines separately. In management accounting, I also learnt about the capital budgeting techniques that are adopted by various business firms. This is another aspect that is hugely practical in every business firm since the budget is the essential tool on which every business learns I learnt that the preparation of budgets, particularly the master budget is of grave importance to a business as it helps it to make an effective plan and review of its finance related issues (Horngren 2005).
Other aspects covered in the course of my accounting major include principles of tax accounting. The practical application of this aspect is particularly very prevalent due to the fact that taxes characterize almost every type of business dealings. It is therefore imperative that every accountant be equipped with the various skills of accounting for taxes be it government taxes or other types of taxes.
The various legal issues involved in accounting are also something else that I have learnt in the course of my accounting classes. I learnt about the generally accepted accounting principles that have been formulated by accounting bodies such as The American Institute of Certified Accountants. The understanding of legal issues in the accounting field is very important as it enables one to practice accounting in ways and methods that are generally accepted by law (Weygandt 2003).
Another very important aspect of accounting that I have learnt is auditing. Auditing involves conducting financial evaluation or examination of an organization’s or an individual’s accounts. I learnt the various ways of auditing accounts to detect any form of mistakes that could have been made by the original accounting. I particularly applied this aspect during a summer holiday when I was asked to audit the accounts of a high school near my home and indeed found some mistakes.
Some of the major things that I have learnt in the course of my accounting classes include; research methods of accounting; systems of business information; consulting; planning; statement analysis; procedure of reporting; analysis of fixed assets; professional standards and ethics amongst others.
The accounting major has been very enjoyable particularly due to the fact that we are few in number. T6hsis has enabled to bond effectively and exchange ideas with fellow students who are majoring in accounting and has also opened our scopes of thinking. The classes have done more than just bring out principle based and intellectual teaching and passing of the knowledge of accounting but has also made be start thinking and challenging myself about the application of accounting information in the real world and how different things are perceived in varying workplace environments.
As I stated earlier on of the aspects of accounting that I learnt about concerns ethics. I must state that the accounting profession has recently witnessed massive instances of irregularities and this has made me question and reflect my own philosophical ethics when it comes to this discipline.
Ethics is a personal issue and therefore must be formulated on one’s own terms (Paley 2007).
In all fields of life, the purpose of formulating the philosophical ethics is to sensitize one on potential situations that may encountered in the course of fulfilling one’s professional duties.
My personal ethics philosophy is based on some personal rules that I have formulated. I make use of basic reasoning skills to determine these rules that I follow to ensure that the activities that I engage in exhibit justice and fairness in the community through the use of autonomy, equality and rationality. My golden rule is that I only do to other what I would want them to do to me.
As I seek to fulfill my duties, I try to incorporate restraint individual balance to attain pleasure and ensure that benefits are realized for all. I try to apply the universal rule of fairness to all so as to attain ethical outcomes and results.
However as stated earlier, there are very many ethical dilemmas prevalent in the world today and I have therefore been forced to formulate ways of recognizing and dealing with them.
Before deciding on whether a particular issue is an ethical dilemma, I ask myself questions like; whether logic can solve the particular issue; whether the issue is solvable under emotional aspects; whether the issue can really be described as ethical, that is whether is based on a conflict of ethics. These questions help me to identify various ethical dilemmas and solve them amicably.
I have found that the best ways that I can personally deal with ethics is through discussion with others, analytical problem solving not based on assumptions and effective decision making (Williams 2000). In resolving the ethical dilemmas, I take a humbled approach because I realize that I cannot always be right and must therefore develop or create space for other’s input. I also make use of thinking skills that i have acquired in life together with negotiation and interpersonal skills to solve various ethical dilemmas.
I believe that this approach in my ethics philosophy will be of great importance especially in this field of and will benefit not only myself but also others as I continue with my accounting endeavors.
In the future I intent to explore widely in the career on the global overview. This is to enable me to be technically competent to perform the accounting duties in the most efficient way. This is because the accounting qualification opens huge variety of business careers. This will make me to be more, potentially fit and virtually in any field relating to the profession. This is because in the economical and ethical overview the accounting professional provides the long term job opportunities that are that ensures job security and at the same overview helps and individual to have the quest for the job satisfied.
For instance the in the field of financial accounting that is one of the priorities in my field, it will enable me to provide formal reports in the form that the people such as the investors, will be in the best position in conjunction with the government and other creditors to understand on the investment programs. Other open duties to the accountant such as auditing will puddle me to the pinnacle of my career in the form of provision ,of the independent examination of the various financial documents which will further attract the investors and at the same time help the government in the tax collection from the firms.
This career will help me in the concept of corporate restructuring. This is in the instances of the acquisition of new mergers or in the instance of reconstructing the various business entities. The career goals of my profession will further widely extend to the concept of budgeting and planning of the various budgets in the business entities.
In conclusion my accounting career will be on the global overview in the milieu that I will reach to the pinnacle of my career in the exploitation of the many diverse careers in the same field. In addition, providing the required services to all people.
References
Weygandt, J. J. (2003). Accounting principles. New York: Wiley. Select
Horngren, C. T. (2005). Introduction to management accounting. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice Hall.
Paley, W. (2007). The principles of moral and political philosophy. Indianapolis, Ind: Liberty Fund.
Williams, B. A. O. (2000). Ethics and the limits of philosophy. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
Rosenberg, M. H. (2009). Opportunities in accounting careers. Lincolnwood, Ill., USA: VGM Career Horizons.
Rosenthal, L. (2005). Exploring careers in accounting. New York: Rosen Pub. Group.
