Accountancy Flashcards
1
Q
Why dixon wilson?
A
- like the nature of the training contract (audit, tax, accountancy), known for a while want to study accountancy, don’t wan tto rush which area.
- Working here will allow me to make that decision from a more informed perspective which i believe is important.
- I like the balance you offer between large corporate clients and smaller private ones. I look forward to the challenge of solving complex issues for bigger clients, but I value interpersonal relationships and the importance of empathy in the workplace too which is something that i’ll get working with smaller private clients.
- The fact that you have family clients whose business spans multiple generations really impresses me in this regard.
- I also like that you assign responsibility early on. Again, my interest in developing rapport and relations with clients is important to me, and this is clearly something you consider important too.
- I like seeing that you have a low employee turnover rate too. I’m someone who likes to view work as a second family, and clearly lots of your senior partners view the firm in a similar way. Beyond this, having partners who are more invested in the firm means there will likely be more personal feedback.
- Giving and receiving a little from co-workers is so important in preventing burnout.
- Having seen that you are actively involved in squash competitions and do things like christmas activities as an office confirms my feelings about the family vibe.
- I like that you specialise in renewable energy too.
2
Q
what area of accounting do you want to go into?
A
Not sure yet. This is what appeals to me about working at Dixon Wilson. The nature of your training contract with rotations in tax, audit and accountancy will allow me time to actually come to a more informed decision.
- On paper, i believe Tax would be the best fit. Being an analytical person with good problem solving skills, i believe i would be a good fit for it. I also value integrity highly in addition to interpersonal relations, both of which are required in this area.
- i’m also intrigued by audit though given the variety it would bring. It would also demand high levels of people skills which i enjoy utilising. Given that it will be necessary to ask questions about the business to employees, it would be important to do so with tact and politeness to avoid irritating them.
3
Q
Why accountancy?
A
- suits natural tendencies (empathy, analytical, attention to detail)
- will push me to improve in those areas too.
- fortunate to have strong emotional intelligence. believe empathy is vital in work. Especially in accounting. without it you can’t understand your clients needs and motivations properly, and without determining those things, you risk providing inadequate service.
- ## i’m analytical. enjoy working with numbers and problem solving - necessary for accountancy and leads me to believe tax would be the area i’d be best in.
4
Q
can you convey technical information to someone of more and less technical ability?
A
- yep
- ski instructing - less. important to empathise, understand the experience level of the client, try to gauge what type of thinker and learner they are, and how much technical wording they will understand.
- ski instructing - more
- presentations at university - more
5
Q
what are your strengths?
A
i’m emotionally intelligent and resilient. This means that i function well as a compassionate member of a team. I invest a lot of heart into my work. I’m also highly analytical and have strong numerical abilities which lend themselves very well to accountancy.
i have a strong work ethic. even throughout lockdown, without any monetary reason (while furloughed) i worked 8 hour days studying subjects that i wanted to learn more about.
6
Q
What are your weaknesses?
A
- constantly changing.
- previous weaknesses were over-empathising leading to struggles with confrontation - read lots of info about assertiveness which helped mitigate this.
- currently struggling with a 2 part problem. I’ve had a loss of spontaneity from lockdown. This has led to me overworking and suffering burnout.
- The steps i’m taking to improve this are, working with a pomodoro timer to take regular breaks - as well as preventing burnout, this allows me to use my breaks to arrange evening plans or group calls to foster a better balance, and it allows me to return to my work with a fresh pair of eyes.
- Also being more spontaneous by myself while i don’t have people around to do this with. I have been going for walk, i took up golf and boxing and have been practising photography.
- This is something the appeals to me about dixon wilson. Your purportedly strong work-life balance for employees is something i have realised is important to me.
7
Q
When have you helped a team be successful?
A
- whistler wired - lack of communication and empathy between tiers of management.
- within teams, lack of rotation of tasks.
- i spoke to the company managers about the situation, that workers weren’t happy. they initially dug their feet in, however, they came around after some time.
- I also made suggestions to improve the sign in operation as it was a tedious system that wasted manhours.
8
Q
What are the 3 main financial statements?
A
- balance sheet (also called statement of financial position) (assets, liabilities and shareholder equity). shows the financial health of an organisation at a certain period in time. - what company owns, owes and what it’s worth.
- Income statement (also called statement of profit/ loss) (revenues and expenses) - shows the financial health of the organisation over a period. - what a company has earned, what its paid and what the resulting profits/ losses are over a period of time.
- cash flow statement - how much cash company has brought in and how much it has paid out.
9
Q
what do you expect to be doing on a day to day basis?
A
- Assessing accounts and financial statements and providing financial information to clients
- preparing asset and liability entries by analysing account information.
- recommending financial actions after having created and checked reports.
- empathising with clients to ensure their needs are being met, and see if there are additional services they require.
- ensure that companies are operating ethically.
10
Q
what are the different types of business transactions in accounting?
A
- cash transactions - any external transactions that use cash, debit or cheque.
- non-cash transactions - these could be if something is purchase and then returned.
- credit transactions - deferred cash transactions. will show up as accounts receivable. this is the opposite of deferred revenue.
11
Q
what is working capital?
A
- the difference between a company’s current assets (cash, accounts receivable, inventories of raw materials/ goods) and it’s current liabilities (accounts payable).
- it’s a measure of a company’s short term financial health.
- substantial positive working capital would indicate the possibility to invest and grow.
- negative working capital could indicate difficulties paying creditors or even a risk of bankruptcy.
12
Q
what’s the difference between deferred revenue and accounts receivable?
A
- accounts receivable is when you have provided a good or service and are yet to receive payment.
- deferred revenue is essentially the opposite. it’s when you have been paid but haven’t yet provided the good or service. it’s considered a liability as you owe work. it’s also unearned. as it is completed it will become ‘earned’ and can be moved to the income account.
13
Q
how do you maintain accounting accuracy?
A
- keep clients in their own files.
- recheck sums. possibly recheck on paper as transposition errors are harder to spot on screens.
- keep detailed reports of where numbers came from.
- if numbers were added in rows then the sum of the rows added, when checking, add columns and then sum these.
- maintaining a balanced life as stress and tiredness can lead to errors.
- learn from past mistakes.
14
Q
what’s the difference between a trial balance and a balance sheet?
A
- trial balance is a more detailed report used by accountants. it will list all the data.
- balance sheets are used outside of just accounting teams and may aggregate some of the data.
- balance sheet shows the health of an organisation at a certain time.
15
Q
what’s the difference between inactive and dormant accounts?
A
- inactive accounts haven’t been used in some time and aren’t going to be used in the future.
- dormant accounts haven’t been used in some time, but could be used again in the future. as a result it’s important to check these when preparing reports.
