My makeshift file trolley
Monday and Tuesday were public holidays but I still worked on Monday to finish up the vouching work by the end of the week. It was quite stressful because I feared I could not complete the work allocated to me before the deadline because there were a lot of documents to search through. I was determined to leave with all my work done. I wanted to give my team the impression that I was a hard worker so I learned to effectively allocate my time by setting small goals to hit by the end of the day like vouching a certain amount of samples by 5.30 pm. It was also important to allocate my time because alongside the vouching I also had to do other small tasks like asking for certain documents from the client on behalf of my team. Hence, this also taught me to be more organized in multitasking my work. In the end, I had impressed my team with just how well I could cope with the pressure of the large workload and also the time constraints. Plus, it had improved my time management.
Thursday
L-R: Melissa & Ming Ju
It was my last day working for IPDecor and I found it quite difficult to part ways with Melissa and Ming Ju because they were not only excellent teachers but they treated me like I was their friend and little sister. Working with them was a great example of proper team collaboration as they would constantly keep the morale high even when there was so much to do and everyone was drained. Another thing I learned from observing their work ethics is that accepting ownership and responsibility when a mistake has been made is important as it shows integrity. I hope to apply this in whatever I do.
Friday
Completed my work at IPDecor so I joined the Kawasaki (MMG) team for a day before my next engagement commenced. I mostly just looked through files for specific documents that the team needed for their part of the work. It is always important to refer to original documents to support the work done. However, photocopied documents can also be accepted but they do require more scrutiny on my part. This thought me to be more independent and apply critical thinking instead of bothering the team every time I was faced with a problem. For example, when I could not find the original copy of an important supporting document, I would myself look for the client in charge of that specific file for further enquiries. I believe that it also shows a good working attitude and an important quality for auditors to have so I wanted to sharpen this skill early on.
Monday
Taisho's eerie workspace
It was my first day with my next assigned engagement namely Taisho Pharmaceuticals or better known for their energy drinks called Livita. Taisho's office is right above its factory so everyday I would go there and smell an incredible sweet scent. Unfortunately, I had missed the factory tour during the planning week as I was still on my IPDecor job so my new senior in charge Selene, a Senior Manager, had briefed me about Taisho's current performance. For a better understanding, I learned that I needed to take my own initiative instead of always relying on my seniors to help me out. I think the difference between a good intern and an excellent intern is that the excellent intern does things without having to be told, is always prepared and looks for opportunities to shine. This became my new mantra for the rest of the internship. Henceforth, I decided to look through previous external files as well as Google the company's background. From this I discovered that Red Bull, their closest competitor, had just engaged Livita in a price war and it was all quite interesting to read about.
Tuesday - Friday
It was time to apply the mantra into my work habits. Whenever the Associates gave me instructions I would always come prepared with a note pad and pen. These were important tools to have because sometimes their instructions were of things I was unfamiliar with so writing them down ensured that I did not miss out anything important. Plus, writing things down allowed me to later Google the terms I do not understand and through this I did not have to waste any time asking my team. On the other hand, I would also be prepared to write down any new things my team would teach me as reference for my future engagements. Even now in my Audit class in Semester 5 I can refer to some of my notes for a better understanding because the way my seniors explained things to me are much easier to comprehend compared to the text book's style of writing.
An auditor in its natural habitat
A lot of the week's work was vouching sales invoices because many of the debtors did not respond to the confirmations sent out. Hence, I wrote down the important areas to observe and document down in a sales invoice as an Associate, Nabilah, had taught me. This made it easier for me to vouch them without missing out anything important. Whenever I finished my work earlier than expected, I would ask another Associate, Sin Yee, if I could help her out with anything because I saw this as a great chance to learn something new instead of just routine vouching work. Sin Yee let me help her out with something I had never done before which was checking the stock listing to make sure the client had recorded their inventory accurately. Any inaccuracy could lead to the audited financial statements being far from true and fair as lawfully required by the accounting standards. As a result of taking that initiative I obtained new knowledge and experience.
Another new experience I obtained was contacting Taisho's debtors through the phone. I had actually paid attention when Ming Ju from IPDecor was calling debtors so I knew the questions I had to ask and whom I had to ask them to. It was great practice for improving my communication and people skills too.
No comments:
Post a Comment