October 2018

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After graduating from the high school students try to organize all their thoughts in order to understand what they would like to do in future. The first thing about which students think about is their future career. They try to make a choice in the field of education which they like more than others. Students analyze their likings, knowledge and skills and then they make a choice of their future profession. Then they make a choice of a proper higher educational establishment where they can obtain a good education which will give them a good job in future.

So, if after graduating from high school you understand that you like economics and you would like to obtain a career in the field of accounting, then you can make a decision to enter to a prestige college or university where you can get an Associate’s Degree in Accounting. The obtaining of the associate’s degree in accounting will give you a lot of opportunities in getting a good job in any organization. Taking the associate’s degree program in accounting you will be given a lot of important information in this field. You will gain skills and knowledge that will give you an opportunity to get an entry level position in any organization which deals with accounting field.

If you are a person who would like to develop the successful career in the field of accounting, then first of all it would be better for you to obtain the Associate’s Degree in Accounting. This will give you the starting background of successful future. After that you can continue your education and get the Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting. Obtaining the Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting means that after graduation you will have the stable background of knowledge and skills. This will bring you the knowledge and understanding of different systems in accounting, besides you will have a lot of practice in this field which will definitely bring you success and luck for becoming an accounting professional.

After graduating from the higher educational establishment and receiving the Associate’s Degree in accounting you can find your place in any organization. You can find a position at the entry accounting level in different organizations. After receiving your associate’s degree in accounting you can be sure that you will have a stable background which will be proved by perfect knowledge and experience in accounting. If you have an aptitude for accounting and business, the field of accounting can offer you a variety of job opportunities. One of the potential job options might be positions as a book keeper, or a payroll clerk, an accounts receivable clerk, or an accounts payable clerk. All these positions are very important and necessary positions within different organizations. One of these positions can be a good beginning of your successful career in the field of accounting and also it can serve as an improvement of your knowledge basis and skills in accounting.

To be an accountant, however, you will need a minimum of a four-year bachelor’s (or baccalaureate) degree in accounting. With this bachelor’s degree, you will have more job opportunities open to you and will likely earn twice the salary of a person with an associate degree. The bachelor’s degree in accounting includes about 36 credits of difficult accounting courses as well as another 20 credits in business courses.

If you want to become a certified public accountant, you will need to pass the Uniform CPA Examination, (the “CPA Exam”). Before you are approved to sit for the exam, however, you will need to earn a 150-credit degree as required by your state board of accountancy. You should be aware, however, that this is a challenging goal. Relatively few individuals complete the 150-credit degree program, and, of those who do, less than half pass the CPA Exam.

An Associate’s Degree in Accounting takes two years to complete the degree program in accounting. You can complete this program either by attending full-time courses at the university or college or by taking the online programs using the Internet. During this course you will be given a lot of useful information in very important subjects. Different subjects will be included in the associate’s degree programs in accounting. These programs will include such subjects as basic accounting, cost accounting, financial statement analysis, taxation, and payroll accounting. These subjects are given as a part of the accounting curriculum. There you will improve your knowledge and skills in the field of accounting.

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OBJECTIVES OF WRITING THIS ARTICLE: Forensic accounting(F.A.) has come into limelight due to rapid increase in financial frauds and white-collar crimes. But it is largely untrodden area in India.The integration of accounting, auditing and investigative skills creates the speciality know as F.A.The opportunities for the Forensic Accountants are growing fast;they are being engaged in public practice and are being employed by insurance companies, banks, police forces, government agencies etc.This article seeks to examine the meaning and nature, activities and services rendered, core knowledge and personal skills required for forensic accounting as a specialized field in accountancy profession. Indeed there is a future in F.A. as a separate niche consulting.

The lack of respect and belief in India’s law enforcement agencies and the rate at which white-collar crimes have increased has prompted the development of Forensic Accounting in India. The fraud detecting agencies seems to lack time and devotion needed for detecting and prevention of errors and fraud. According to a large global accounting firm, the market is sufficiently big enough to maintain an unit devoted entirely towards “forensic accounting”. Many large as well as small accounting firms as well as the tiny firms have inculcated or rather developed separate forensic accounting departments.

We were of the belief that detection and prevention of frauds or white-collar crimes is part of conventional accounting function. It was thought that the frauds, both internal as well as external has be to detected by the auditors through their periodic audit. Now it is crystal clear that auditors can only check for the compliance of a company’s books to generally accepted accounting principles, auditing standards and company policies. Hence the need was felt to detect the frauds in companies that are suspected to be engaged in fraudulent transactions. This field of accounting is known as “forensic accounting”.

The litmus test of investigation, first introduced by the ever great Sherlock-Homes(considered by many as the father of Forensic Accounting) is perhaps the first ever application of forensic accounting. Though, the contribution of the other few great historians to the field of forensic accounting cannot be overlooked. They used various tricks to investigate various crimes.

F.A. is a specialized a area of accounting practice that describes engagements which result from actual or anticipated disputes or litigation. The word “forensic” means “suitable for use in court”. The forensic accountants have to keep in mind this statement while they have to work or chalk out their programme. The F.A. work is tailor made according to the situation and need. The gathering of information and evidences is done according to the need and situation. We can say, it is customized according to the situation. The forensic-accountants give expert evidence at the ultimate trial. All the modern medium-sized as well as the large-sized accounting firms have specialized forensic accounting departments. Within these firms there may be specialized forensic accounting departments. Within these groups their may be further sub-specializations. Various sub-specializations include insurance claims, personal injury claims, fraud detection, construction or royalty audits. Nearly 40 percent of the top 100 US accounting firms are expanding their forensic and fraud services, according to Accounting Today. Now if we consider this data as significant then we can say that the total contribution of forensic accounting to the total revenue of the C.A. firms would be highly significant in the years to come. Under rising instances of frauds and litigation and flourishing businesses these services are considered to be very significant as they are rendered at a very competitive price.

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What is an accountant? According to the Australian Accountants Directory they are, “a practitioner of accountancy or accounting, which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources”(“About Accountants”). As you may already know, different areas of the world have different professional bodies of accounting.

For example, not every country uses the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). As the name suggests, that’s only used in the United States. Australia however, has three legally recognized local professional accounting bodies; the institute of public accountants (IPA), CPA Australia (CPA), and the institute of chartered accountants of Australia (ICAA).

The IPA has been around since 1923 and continues to grow in the organization today. After 90 years it currently sits more than 26,000 members and students across 64 countries and is ranked in the top professional accounting bodies in the world (“Institute of Public Accountants”). They acquired a full membership of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) in 2005 as well as the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA) in 2011. They are really working towards building relationships and exchanging knowledge overseas. They are innovative in everything that they do as they already are recognized as one of the top 20 in BRW’s most innovative companies in Australia list for 2012. The IPA has three levels of membership, Associate (AIPA), Member (MIPA), and Fellow (FIPA). An Associate membership requires one to have an Australian Advanced Diploma of Accounting or a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting that can be Australian or equivalent in nature. MIPA membership requires Australian Advanced Diploma of Accounting, two years of pre-IPA program full-time work experience in accounting or related fields and a mentored experience program. A FIPA membership requires 7 years’ MIPA status or equivalent and 10 years’ experience in accounting the last five years have to be at a senior level (“Institute of Public Accountants”).

According to CPA Australia, they are one of the world’s largest accounting bodies with a global membership of more than 150,000 members working in 120 countries around the world, and with more than 25,000 members working in senior leadership positions (“About Us”). They provide education, training, technical support and advocacy. They were an early entrant in the Asian Market, where their involvement began in the early 1950s and aimed at developing and strengthening the accounting profession in the region. As of today almost one-quarter of CPA Australia’s members reside outside of Australia, with over 35,000 in Asia. They currently have nineteen staffed offices across Australia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, New Zealand and the UK. To become a member of this program candidates most hold a postgraduate award that is recognized by CPA Australia, and demonstrate competence in the required knowledge areas and, within a six year period, successfully complete the CPA Program (“About Us”). They must also have three years of professional experience in finance, or accounting for business. To offer public accounting services, CPAs must also complete CPA Australia’s Public Practice program, which involves distance learning and a residential component, and must hold a Public Practice Certificate in accordance with the CPA Australia’s by laws.

The ICAA is the professional body representing Chartered Accountants in Australia. They currently have over 50,000 members and 12,000 students(“News and Updates”). In order to become a member of the institute, one has to complete the Chartered Accountants Program which includes study of Graduate diploma in Chartered Accounting (GradDipCA) and three years of practical experience. Entry is available to anyone who holds an accounting degree; however, those holding non-accounting degrees can also be permitted entry after additional requirements are met. If one does become a Chartered Accountant they must complete a total of 120 hours of Continuing Professional Education every three years. The ICAA is a founding member of the Global Accounting Alliance (GAA). Members of this alliance are part of the international accounting coalition of the world’s premier accounting bodies. Chartered Accountants audit 100 percent of the top ASX-listed companies in Australia. They are recognized by the international accounting bodies of the leading financial centers of the world. As of November 2013, the ICAA merged with the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and are now known as “Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand”(“News and Updates”).

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This guide is primarily aimed at fresh graduates, entry level job hires, professional students, and any individual related to the profession of accountancy (and management accountancy in particular), who wishes to have a quick overview of how a set of management accounts can be produced and what entails in its production, without having to read a 200 page book. Most of the knowledge set out henceforth is from the point of view of working in a service based industry and assumes the reader to have a reasonable knowledge of the fundamental concepts of accounting.

The scope of this guide is to give the readers a sequence of activities that I have followed, in my own experience, to put together a monthly reporting pack for my senior management team. This sequence of activities and the importance that I attach to each activity can be very different for the line of business that you are in. Having said that, I do expect that most of you will develop a more vivid and succinct picture of the production process, which you can then imitate and integrate into your own particular circumstances.

So, let’s begin!

What are we trying to produce?

In most organisations, the board or senior management requires the management accountant/chief accountant to produce a monthly profit and loss account/income statement, so that the organisation’s performance against set budgets (mostly prepared at the beginning of each financial year) and expected forecasts (mostly updated at each month end) can be gauged. A monthly management accounting reporting pack does not only include the monthly income statement, but a range of other useful reports too. However, an income statement does constitute the bulk of the reporting and this is what we will try to produce in this guide.

In a nut shell, through a certain set of activities and for a given period (usually a month), we determine: the revenues generated by the business, the costs incurred in the production of such revenues (commonly known as ‘cost of goods/services sold’) and the costs incurred to provide support to such revenue generation and goods/services production. This cost is sometimes referred to as the central overheads’ costs or support functions’ costs or the service-centre costs.

What you should know before you begin production?

Most businesses will use a “Chart of Accounts” in their accounting systems (may it be: Sage, SAP, Oracle, SUN, Viztopia etc.) to classify and record various types of transactions involving differing kinds of assets, liabilities, capital, revenues, and costs.

A Chart of Accounts or COA, as I like to call it, is a list of all nominal ledger accounts that a business intends to use to record its business transactions. This list of accounts can be in the shape of numbers, alphabets or alpha-numeric values. Due to my own experience, I prefer numbers.

So, to give an example, our full COA might range between the numbers 0001 and 9999 and within this range, we can have multiple ranges, each representing an asset, liability, capital, revenue or costs type. As an example, the range 5000-5999 might only represent different kinds of revenue streams for a business and the range 1000-1999 might only refer to all fixed assets held by the business.

These are just examples of how the COA could be divided. You need to know what range/s of nominal account codes in your business’s COA constitutes the revenues, the cost of goods/services sold, the central overheads, the assets, the liabilities, and the capital.

You will not be able to understand the income statement (which is what you are essentially trying to produce), unless you understand the Chart of Accounts. The income statement is basically reading all data held in the COA range/s relating to revenues and costs for a given month/period.

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DIFA, Diploma of Investigative and Forensic Accounting, is gaining acceptance due to its importance in facing corruptive business practices and financial theft. However, the absence of Forensic Accounting (FA) is still noticed in countries of opaque business practices. Furthermore, only few universities across the world are introducing DIFA, thus a major work has to be done to shed the light on the importance of the diploma in the first place and then offer it as an official diploma with courses relating to FA whether in universities or financial institutions.

The major concern lies in the fact that Forensic Accounting is neither provided in universities as a diploma, nor at financial institutions to detect fraud and make legal court reports. In many universities of Canada and the United States, the DIFA, is being included in the curriculum in order to recruit new students and provide skills set for career advancement through development of a specialized niche. One of the objectives of the Alliance for Excellence in Investigative and Forensic Accounting (Alliance), established by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA), is to develop and manage a specialist certification program. This diploma is designed as a comprehensive program for someone who wishes to practice in this area. CPA, CFA, CIA are examples of certificates granted in Lebanon, however, no diploma is available related to Forensic Accounting. Therefore, it could be a diploma given in educational institutions that grant CPA or any other certification related to auditing or accounting.

Furthermore, the importance of adopting FA in the universities’ accounting curriculum is highlighted especially that its demand for it is increasing gradually. Such adoption has a huge potential to enhance students’ skills and competencies and could be used as a veritable resource from which fraud could be mitigated. Fresh graduates can as well attain the DIFA program that provides a broad range of knowledge and skills to carry out financial investigations. This range includes accounting, audit, income tax knowledge, fraud knowledge, knowledge of law and rules of evidence, an investigative mentality and critical skepticism, understanding of psychology and motivation, and strong communication skills (Stott, 2005).

The program focuses on knowledge and skills that can be best taught and examined in person: such as handling a face-to-face meeting with a client, interviewing skills, and testifying in court as an expert witness. DIFA supports accountants with the knowledge and skills needed to bridge the gap between existing quantification models and principles and different litigation contexts (Stott, 2005).

Based on descriptive statistics of survey results conducted in Lebanon, being a country of opaque business practices, to identify the certificates that a forensic accountant must possess showed that.