Accounting

Accounting

Our first workshop in the business incubator was accounting. The workshop’s aim was to teach the business enterprise students how to do business accounting. The workshop focused on some of the main areas of accounting:

Different company structures were expounded and how these should be registered
Why we need to keep records (this was important to know so that we can avoid getting into trouble legislation wise e.g. being charged for not paying the right amount of tax
Basic records
VAT
Income tax rates
Key dates

I have some understanding of business accounts from my previous qualifications and felt that this workshop refreshed my knowledge and heightened my understanding further.
With the help of the workshop notes, I feel I have learnt a lot through independent research building on top of the basics which I learnt from the workshop. Handouts were very useful, we could look back at these when needed. However, the session could have been better organised because personally I think the structure and teaching style was not too good.
I think the subject could have been covered better:

· If the workshop was led by examples of company accounts, this would give me a better learning experience because I learn better through visual learning
· Some exercises to do which would help us ensure we are on the right track and would also give us an idea of how to create accounts for our own company, so if we made any mistakes the accountant could have corrected them and there would be no unanswered questions left

“Tell me and I’ll remember for an hour, show me and I’ll remember for a day but let me do it and I’ll remember forever”.

· A list of accounting stages could have been provided with the workshop notes so we would know each stage we have to go through when working on accounts in our own business this makes learning easier and teaches us better practical skills to start with
· The accountant went through a lot of information; this was not relevant for beginners. It would have been better if there were secessions for beginners and developers so beginners don’t get confused with what they need to know and what they need to do. The accountant should have known a bit about each business student so he knows at what business stage they are at and what kind of information and help is required by them.
· The presenters tone was low and dull; he did not change it throughout the workshop. This was a bad learning experience; it put me to sleep and did not motivate me at all, therefore this workshop was different from the marketing and sales workshops because they were more practical. However, the accounting notes were good and I believe the workshop could have been improved with a bit of humour
· Different teaching styles could have been used for this workshop. Auditory teaching is getting too boring as it is too common. I am a visual learner and believe information could be learnt better through this technique

Visual/Spatial Intelligence
‘Ability to perceive the visual. These learners tend to think in pictures and need to create vivid mental images to retain information. They enjoy looking at maps, charts, pictures, videos, and movies.’
(Liz Bogod. 1998. Ldpride, learninf styles.
Available at: http://www.ldpride.net/learningstyles.MI.htm#Visual%20Learners.
(Accessed 17th April 2008)


The workshop has taught me some new things and has helped me develop to some potential. I was provided with a good opportunity to develop my knowledge further; it also provided a point from which to set off. The knowledge is helping me to contribute to my personal and professional development; I have also used my previous skills and knowledge to put things into practice by doing some independent research and used the workshop notes to produce some rough estimates for my own business. (See slides above). Starting up the accounts for my business was not too difficult because it is at a start up stage and they are only estimates, so I think I managed this task quite well at this stage. It was a good practise for the future as I will have to manage the accounts myself to keep a track of my business.
I think the lecturer went through a lot of detail explaining the advantages and disadvantages of each company structure and the law for these; this was pretty useful as it helps decide which company structure will be the best to opt for my company and what kind of books I have to keep for the records e.g. sales day book. This makes it easier to keep a track of what goes on in the finance section of the business.
I do not have natural accounting skills but do wish to improve these in the future, and I believe they come with practise. However, I have some basic accounting skills and I can build these over time. I have good research skills so I could do some research and practise to build my accounting skills. The workshop did not teach me any new skills but just heightened my knowledge.
In the mean time I believe I have the ability to handle my business accounts quite easily because it is only at the start up stage.