Education & Language- Accounting

 If someone is interested in becoming an accountant, and interested in how it effects our daily lives in the slightest ways, the courses required to major in this field are as follows; 

• Accounting Info. Systems 
• Auditing 
• Computer Info. Systems 
• Cost Accounting 
• Economics 
• Government Accounting
• Finance 
• Management. 

Once a bachelors degree is earned (although not required), those who rather be a CPA over an accountant will most likely go on to earn a masters degree. The next step is to pick a specialty, which there are two general areas, either public accounting or corporate accounting. Of course there are also subsections like environmental accounting, internal auditing, managerial accounting and taxes. The final step is to pass the four part CPA exam. The four parts consist of auditing, financial accounting and reporting, regulation, and business environment and concepts. If all four parts are passes, the CPA can now go on to find a job. 
           
            The language of accounting is very important to understand because the accountant can tell the higher up management what is going on, and from what the accountant says, the management have to make a decision that will be best for the company, or firm. In a constantly changing world, the accountant for obvious reasons cannot report every single change within an organization, but an accountant can take financial statements and make assumptions about the future and help a firm make future decisions. 

Katie Howard
Citations:
Accounting Degrees and Careers 
Accounting Major
Accounting is the Language

Prompt #3 Exploring Communication Within Business

I recently had the chance to talk to my brother who has been working in the field of business since graduating from college with a degree in finance. Because a lot of communication has moved to online methods (instant messaging, email, video calls, etc.), I decided to ask him about his experience with interpersonal communication and skills.

Credit to BCU

Q: What exactly do you write?

A: I write about a couple of different things. The most I write about is the plans for IT based projects to become successful. This would include the status of a project and its future projections. You could say I write about the technical terms of the contracts.

Q: What kind of planning and process goes into the writings?

A: Just like any paper, a draft is the only place to start. Planning out a draft is the best decision to begin with because my draft can go around to others involved in the project. Their feedback is put in and then revisions can be made based on the context of the situation. To some extent, business terms are used when conveying thoughts and ideas. At other times, parameters of business terms need to be explained or t he presence of the terms don't need to be there. That is, there are times when the writings need to have the language of business, and there are times when the writings don't need the language of business. The decision for what kind of language to include depends on who is being presented with the information and what the subject of the writing is.

Q: Is there any specific way that communication begins in a project?

A: Communication for a project with other companies usually starts on the phone or Skype. Face to face interaction happens when the project is in the works. That's when certain people travel for business, and when important negotiations for million-dollar deals is on the line. My first project manager would tell me "if you're focused on what words you're saying rather than what you're saying, then you'll lose the meaning behind what you're trying to accomplish." That's what made him successful, he never worried about what he wanted to say, and that made him more confident.

Q: Are there misconceptions when people think of communication within business?

A: There will always be misconceptions because not everyone witnesses the job firsthand. Speaking in a formal business tone is not used in every scenario. Yes, there are times when formal speech is used, but there is a casual feeling when speaking to others. I feel like people have this idea that a business environment is full of formal people. That is not entirely true. Sometimes it is necessary to be formal, but then there's days when you can have causal interactions with others.

Q: How do you read the room to decide what's the best way to talk and act?

A: When going to a meeting, looking at who is sitting and standing says it all. Those who are sitting are more involved in the project, talk the most, and hold the power. Recognizing the order of power is a big part of the job. I had some control of a project and talked on occasion, but these people had higher titles in the company. 

Q: Do you have any advice for success in business?

A: Your communication with body language has a larger impact at the end of the day. The way you present yourself can either bring down how you conduct business or complement it. The formality of being on time and acting professional is more important for your image and the image of the company. When speaking, no one cares about the words you use if it's not the time and place for them. Formal communication is a key factor business, but the formality of communication is not always necessary. Swearing and using slang has no place in meetings. Sounding robotic is not an effective form of interaction, especially in business. 

Lastly, ask questions. This may seem obvious, but work isn't like school. No one is going to point out what you should do for each step of the process. The project manager may give you a place to start a an outline of what to do, but then you fill in the details. There may be times when asking for help is the only option, but that's okay. Asking for help shows you're willing to reach out and have other people step in to support you rather than messing up when there was an opportunity to get help.

Written by Colin Bergman

Assumptions of Accounting

The Continuity Assumption states that a business will continue to operate for at least 12 months, if not indefinitely. The financial statements are built around the assumption that the business will exist in the future, unless stated differently. If a business will not continue to operate, it would be difficult for someone to figure out the resale value of the products. There is also no guarantee that their products would even be sold.


The Unit-of-Measure Assumption sets up the guideline that a United States business is allowed to use US dollars in their financial statements. This obviously does not just apply to the United States; every country can use their individual currency for their financial statements. 

Source: 

Unit of Measure

The Separate Entity Assumption states that a transaction carried out by an owner, is separate from a transaction carried out by a business. Suppose a business owner bought truck for their own personal use, it would not be considered property of the business.

By Katie Howard
Citations:
Basic Accounting Principles

Separate Entity
Understanding The Basic Principles of Accounting

Prompt #1: Breaking Assumptions

Preconceptions about my field (not exclusively from own views) include the following:

• People most likely sit in an office or cubicle for the majority of the day crunching data and numbers
• People in this field may spend a lot of their time talking to customers on the phone
• People in this field are highly analytical and observant
• People in this field excel in their interpersonal skills
• These people are highly organized
• Individuals in this field have well rounded time management skills
• People in this field probably dislike dealing with troublesome customers and when things do not go their own way when making decisions

"How do you fulfill customer demand in the best possible way? Is it innovation and applications, or operational excellence and responsiveness? The answer is both: Process efficiency and innovation need to evolve together. To succeed, you must operate more effectively and innovate the business concurrently. And, you need to do it across the entire demand-supply chain"

(Hoover, William E.).

Skimming through this book, I was able to find a lot of information on my field that includes what types of skills and characteristics are needed to operate effectively in the supply chain sector. Although I already knew many truths about this field, such as how it takes organizational, interpersonal communication and analytical skills, I learned some as well. Referring to the above quote from the text, one must implement many of these required skills simultaneously to become effective in the supply chain field.

By: Chandler A. Maples

Citations:

Hoover Jr., William E., Eero Eloranta, Jan Holmstrom, and Kati Huttunen. Managing the Demand - Supply Chain. Toronto, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2006.

Prompt #8 Practicing Your Knowledge

When anyone asked me growing up, "What do you want to do when you grow up?" I never really had  one specific job in mind. However I knew it was something that would let me travel the world. Not to be locked up in a cubical pushing buttons all day. I wanted to be always on the move and I was told that I should pursue a International Business degree to help this goal be achieved. 

Normally it is pretty difficult to job shadow or have a hands on experience in this field do to the high cost or inconvenience of traveling. But luckily this summer I shadowed my fathers job on a trip to Brazil, it would be nearly 2 weeks and I was to follow my dad around to meetings basically acting as an company intern. It gave me a whole new perspective on what my view of the International Business was.

When my dad would tell stories or show pictures of his latest trip, I thought it was just a walk in the park. It seemed like all he would do is meet with some of his business buddies from whatever country he was in, go to the beach or some landmark with them and just talk about how business was going. This Didn't seem that taxing and this is probably why I was so intrigued by traveling for work when I was little. But I learned quickly first-hand that this was field is just as difficult and grueling as a normal 9-5 desk job would be.

Here are some of notable things that were way different then I imagined that I learned on this trip.

1. Jet-lag: Obviously people know somewhat about how the time difference will mess up your whole psyche, but when you have to go to important business meetings people have been preparing months for and you are only operation on 4 hours of sleep sitting in a crowded plane, it isn't easy. I thought that sleep was optional on the 8-hour "red-eye" flight and it completely messed me up for the first 3 days.

2. The language barrier: This is probably the most important feature of International Business. The ability to communicate with 8 different people who speak 8 different languages. Luckily for us Americans, the universal language for business is English. So my dads American co-workers didn't have that big of a problem communicating with the Brazilian workers because English was required to learn. The only real need for learning the native language of whatever country you are in would be to read street signs for directions or talking to waiters at restaurants. Other than that it is fairly easy to find people that speak English.

3. The schedule: It is expensive for a company to fly its workers out to other countries and pay for there hotels and food. So as I learned very quickly, there is almost no downtime for relaxing or sightseeing like I picture in my head. Every hour we had to be somewhere, meeting someone, talking about something that I needed to be filled in on. This was probably my biggest misconception about my dads work in the International Business field.

After all of the traveling and meetings we went to, I have learned so much about this field and that its not everything I thought it was. However, I am more sure then before that I want to pursue this career because it is exciting and challenging and rewarding. I probably would never see Rio de Janeiro in my life if it wasn't for this trip and excited to see where else this career will take me in the future.

I took this photo July 27th 2017

Written by Carson Breault

Prompt #9 Recognizing Significance

The article I have found from business.com, gave a list of reasons do decide to expand your business internationally. It explained how after conquering your domestic market the only logical step would be to expand to international markets. All major companies require employees experienced and ready to take on these challenges in the International Business field.

“International markets come teeming with opportunities and benefits that are unavailable domestically.” the article would point out. Almost every major company reaches the point of capturing their piece of the market share and looking for their next move to continue to grow and profit. And with today’s globalized economy, it had never been more important to have an impact on several different parts of the world. So men and women coming out of college with an international business degree, can take a company to the next level using skills like; translation, ethics, advising, and management.

This article went into more depth of which countries or cities would be the best place to get started on making a US business international. These cities include Mumbai India, Belfast U.K., and Johannesburg South Africa. Mumbai is home to India’s financial center and home to several U.S. companies. The market is also so large in India to do the country's enormous population. Belfast is one of the cheaper growing hubs in England that is a portal to the rest of Europe's economy. And Johannesburg is the crown jewel of African business with lots of potential in the region. Jobs are required to link the goals and expectations of the American CEO’s and board members to the factories and stores on the other side of the world.

Written by: Carson Breault

Source: https://www.business.com/articles/low-cost-international-business-hubs/

Objectivity Principle

Source: Objectivity Principle

            Objectivity Principle was set in place to ensure that accounting and financial information are accurate and unbiased. In other words, financial statements need to be based on physical evidence rather than person opinions. Certain decisions do require personal opinion, but with the objectivity principle, the majority of the accountant’s analysis should not be based on opinion.

             If an accountant has a particularly close relationship with a company, the accountant would be unable to perform the financial statement due to the assumption the accountant could be bias and falsify the companies statement.

            It is important for financial statements to be accurate and verifiable because it can be used to predict a company’s future productivity. By having an accurate statement, future, or current investors will be more trusting in the company and more willing to invest further. It is a simple concept, but for one who is starting in the field, or thinking about starting in the field, it is important to remember to stay unbiased in their analysis. If they remain unbiased, and keep everything accurate they will be respected by the firm, which could lead to potentially working for other firms or companies as well. 

            

By Katie Howard

Citations:

What is the Objectivity Principle?

Objectivity Principle