Reflection 1A PDF

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Reflection 1A...

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Accounting Profession Reflection 1 – Part A 1) When you think of the accounting profession what comes to your mind? When I think of the accounting profession what comes to my mind is the language of all businesses. Accountants are vital to the operation of all kinds of businesses and allow them to continue to operate profitably in good times and to recover in times of economic hardship. This gives me hope in terms of my employment options upon graduation as the majority of businesses will require accountants and I can choose between various employers to provide me with the most suitable workplace. 2) What contextual factors do you think could influence the accounting profession? The accounting profession is continually changing due to the influence of various external contextual factors, such as politics, economics and globalisation. I believe one of the most influential contextual factors on the accounting profession will be the increasing role played by technology. Digital disruption will increase competition through the rise in tech-driven upstarts that are able to offer services at cheaper prices. This will mean that accountants, particularly those in management accounting and consulting roles, will increasingly be relied upon to guide businesses through potential financial challenges. 3. Describe the people you expect to interact with as an accountant. I predominantly expect to interact with co-workers, managers and clients. Managers will assign me work and track my progress. Some of my co-workers and most of my clients will likely have a non-accounting background so I will need to be able to communicate accounting concepts in plain English. I may also be called upon to interact with external agencies at some points. This was my experience in a previous internship where I was required to call the Australian Taxation Office to notify them that the accounting firm I was interning at had changed their address, and that they should direct their correspondence to there from now on. More generally, I expect to work with people from a diverse range of ethnicities, sexualities, genders and nationalities. As such, I will need to remain open and respectful to people from different backgrounds to myself. 4. What role do you think you should play in contributing to your community as an accountant?

I could contribute to the community by working as an accountant in a not-for-profit organisation. More broadly, I could work in organisations that possess a strong sense of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Here, I would engage in corporate accounting which would help businesses integrate both financial and non-financial information. Through my understanding of the complex interconnection between economic activity and environmental and social issues that I have gained in accounting courses at Macquarie University, I will be able to communicate to businesses what financial numbers mean in terms of non-financial corporate social responsibility disclosures. This will ultimately enable me to both detect instances of poor practice and prevent the wrongdoing from happening in the first place, which will ultimately have a positive effect on the community and the world they inhabit. 5. What might the clients and fellow employees expect of you as an accountant? Clients and fellow employees will first and foremost expect that I complete my work to a high standard of accuracy and timeliness. However, in order to maintain strong workplace relations and customer service outcomes, it will also be important that I am able to treat others respectfully and maintain rapport. Fellow employees in particular will expect that I possess good teamwork

k, flexibility and leadership skills. This is particularly the case

due to the rise in globalisation which might mean I have to manage co-workers from around the world who need to be quickly mobilised into a team to complete particular projects. In terms of clients, I will have to be able to communicate with clients in a warm, professional manner. In doing so, not only will I need to be able to solve a business problem but I will have to be able to translate that solution in a meaningful way to laypersons of a nonaccounting background. 6. What skills do you think you should possess to be a successful accountant? Because of digital disruption, successful accountants will increasingly need to develop transferrable soft skills such as communication, teamwork and leadership which are unique to humans. As traditional areas like tax and auditing are increasingly automated, accountants will have to gain expertise in areas that involve greater elements of human problem-solving like management accounting and consulting. The emergence of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain may also lead to a demand for greater proficiency in technology....