Being an Accountancy Student: Reflections on the Journey Thus Far
Introduction
Reflecting on my journey as a fourth-year college student in an Accountancy program, I am reminded of the many risks and sacrifices I have made to reach this point. Throughout my college years, I have frequently evaluated my performance and reflected on how I arrived at this point in my life. I believe that reaching our dreams is not easy, and we must make many sacrifices and overcome many hardships to achieve them. It is like an invisible set of guidelines that lead us towards our goals in life. However, there are also many risks that can affect our ability to achieve these goals. Despite the challenges, I remain committed to reaching my goals and inspiring others with my experiences. To highlight the importance of time management and self-evaluation, which are critical skills for being an accountancy student, in this essay, I will act as both the client and the assessor, evaluating my own performance in school and relating my experiences to the audit processes of the accounting world. Through this self-evaluation, I hope to gain a deeper understanding of myself as an accountancy student and inspire others to pursue their goals with passion and determination.
Pre-engagement
Let me start from high school where the idea of becoming a CPA has started lingering back in my mind. Actually I already have the idea when I was younger, elementary days; my parents instilled the idea of becoming a CPA to me without knowing what really that course is. Towards the graduation in high school, a lot of opportunities had come up just like scholarships in each honorable and competent school in the Philippines. Every application requires answering the course I’m going to take and I always put accountancy in that requirement. Fortunately, I passed some exams of these schools and granted me scholarships. But out of all the competent schools I passed in the Philippines, I chose Xavier University. Upon accepting the scholarship granted to me by Xavier University pursuing Accountancy, this become the starting engagement I made with the accountancy program. It is like the first phase of the audit process, the pre-engagement phase in which the acceptance or rejection of engagements happen and includes the agreement of the terms with your client. Now the agreements happened upon taking up accountancy is to try my best to maintain the requirements of the School of Business and Management regarding the accountancy program which need an overall “B-“letter grade of all subjects taken which is equivalent to 2. 5 GPA to proceed and finish a degree of accountancy. Other agreements I made is to maintain the scholarship granted to me by Xavier University by maintaining the required grade and avoid breaching the contract.
The real pre-engagement of this write-up now, is that someone will assess my performance as an accountancy student for four years and the goal of the assessor is to draw reasonable conclusions regarding my performance in school. These assessors is a certain person but cannot be named at this moment. Responsibilities, the term of the agreements like the scope of performance assessed, and many others may be put into an engagement letter in auditing procedure made at the start of the engagement. My responsibility as the client is to give a clear and fair presentation of my performance in school. The assessor’s responsibility to report an opinion regarding my performance and provide reasonable assurance that information I asserted regarding my performance are fairly presented. This report will be used by the intended users who would be identified as the SBM evaluators, scholarship grantors and I. I would be also included as one of the intended users who at the same time the management assessed because it can wake me and notice of what I’m really doing in my life.
Audit Planning
After accepting my fate to become an accounting student in Xavier University, I have already done what I need to do to maintain the required grade and now I already reach 4th year in college still an accounting student. Now the assessor is planning to evaluate my performance to be aware of the things I need to improve that would help me until the finish line which is to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Planning is important because it is considered as one of the key reasons behind goal achievement by execution of plan in our daily life. But what does planning means? Planning is the process of thinking about the activities required to achieve a desired goal. In audit process, audit planning is the next phase to be considered after the pre-engagements. Audit planning involves first the activity of obtaining an understanding of the client and its environment. Knowing my personality, my abilities and the path I’m currently taking, the accountancy program offered by Xavier University, is the first activity considered by the assessor to obtain a good plan in evaluating my performance. I tried to understand my strengths and weaknesses, and also the nature of the course I’m engaged to in school which is the degree of accountancy but there are certain areas about yourself that others cannot recognize or understand by their own. This is where considering the need for an expert comes in.
In Xavier University, every college has their own guidance counselors who could help students assess their personalities to know ourselves better. In fact, first year students are required to have counselling with their guidance counsellor in first semester for a preliminary assessment of ourselves. Obtaining an understanding about accountancy course can also be provided by a professional accountant whom we refer as the expert. Assessing the possible risk is part of the planning activity also. These are risks that may have a material effect in my performance. In audit, these risks pertain to inherent and control risk. Inherent risk involving my performance is the capacity of my body to sustain overload activities from school. Our body has limits and we feel tired and sometimes feel lazy and that would really affect a performance in school. The control risk would be the risk to make actions pertaining to my laziness, there should be proper control built in ourselves to manage shortcomings. If the assessor would assess my control risk, it would be assessed as high. My control of myself is really weak and that’s really my problem I need to overcome. Performing test of analytical procedure has something to do with the examinations done during my first year about my abilities of a certain subjects like English test and math test to be able to know what learning I already have and the section I suit to enroll in. After all the information got about me and my pursued course, development of overall strategy of reaching my goal of assessing my performance and detailed plan on how to assess every specific areas about myself was the next activity the assessor should do. In audit planning, it includes preparations of preliminary audit programs. It pertains to drafting of the planned strategy and detailed audit plan making it into a program in which I think is not necessary but it is still useful for reference afterwards.
Study and Evaluation of Internal Control
After all the planning, it is now time to execute what the assessor has planned in evaluating my performance in school. The goal of the assessor at this point is to evaluate if there is reasonable assurance that I will achieve my goal. The assessor may obtain this understanding through observing me in school. First, obtain an understanding of my internal control. The acting auditor or my assessor must understand how I deal with all the activities happening in school. As internal control means a process of designed and effected by those charged with governance, management, and other personnel to provide reasonable assurance about the achievement of the entity's objectives with regard to reliability of financial reporting, effectiveness and efficiency of operations, and compliance with laws and regulations in auditing. As in charged with governance and management of myself, my internal controls are my method of studying, my way of listening in class and many others that would give me reasonable assurance about my achievement of my goal becoming a CPA. After obtaining understanding, my assessor must make a preliminary assessment of control risk. By doing of test of control, she measures the effectiveness of my internal control. The auditor may do some procedures to confirm that my internal control is implemented as expected. The assessor may do observations if I’m really studying and listening, inquire my parents what I do at home if I do allot time for studying. By those procedures, the assessor will know if it is reasonable to rely or not on me. Although whether there is reliance or no- reliance on the entity, the assessor cannot avoid applying substantive testing, the only difference would be the extent of doing it. Assessing my internal control, the assessor would determine that there is no reliance, thus assessing risk as high. I am not consistent in handling my activities and I’m unpredictable. Because of this, the assessor needs more evidence to accumulate and extensive substantive tests are required. There’s no more need to have a test of control because the internal control is not effective.
Substantive Testing (Evidence- Gathering)
Assuming my assertions now is that for some subjects related to accounting, my standing in class is high while the other subjects are not, specifically Taxation. At this point, the assessor must obtain sufficient appropriate evidence to be able to draw reasonable conclusions on which to base the opinion about my performance. It is the part of substantive testing in audit process or also known as the evidence-gathering part. Evidence-gathering may be used to refer to the acquisition of evidence regarding assertions embodied in my opinion about my standing in every subject related to accounting. By the assessment of my control risk in the preceding process, which is high, the assessor cannot rely asking me rather it is preferable to get evidence to support my assertions externally. Procedures like inquiry, observation, inspection, confirmation, recalculation test, analyses of many types, and analytical review, may be used in gathering evidence. The assessor may inspect some of my exams or ask the people surrounding me like my friends or my teachers in every specific subject. There are two ways to perform the substantive testing, one is test of details and the other is the analytical substantive procedure. In the test of details, it is used by auditors to collect evidence that the balances, disclosures, and underlying transactions associated with a client's financial statements are correct. For example, an auditor could test the prepaid expenses asset account by examining each of the prepaid expenses that comprise the ending prepaid expenses balance. Testing the details in my assertion, the assessor would probably collect each of my subjects’ grades. By having those grades, it serves as evidence that my assertions were correct. For example, I recognized my standing in Advanced Financial Accounting and Reporting subject as high. Through test of details, my assessor would probably check my slmis and look for all the grades or scores of every test I undergone on that subject.
Although not all data were put on the slmis so probably, the assessor may need all the papers comprising my exams on that specific subject to really get a sufficient appropriate evidence to form a reasonable conclusion. The conclusions reached based on the evaluation of audit evidence gathered become the basis for the preparation of the report and the expression of opinion on my performance. Part of evidence gathering is the documentation of every procedure done. In audit, documentation or working papers are the records kept by the auditor of the procedure applied, the tests performed, the information obtained, and the pertinent conclusions reached in the engagement. The assessor may take pictures of evidence gathered by him, or take selfies with those persons he asked about me. As classified, there are permanent files and current files. Permanent files are those not needed by the current assessor to base the evidence like my performance in high school, what is more important are those current files that are incurred during my college years which are needed to be assessed.
Completing the Audit
After all the previous steps have been performed, the assessor performs final analytical procedures and other assessment procedures, such as reading my diaries and obtaining a management letter which supposedly done by me. Regarding reading my diaries, it is somehow private but then if I would not allow the assessor to read it, he might doubt the other evidence he got and might report an assessment as qualified or disclaimer. In this process, the assessor must make final materiality judgements, summarizing of assessment findings, review the working paper and consider subsequent event. These procedures require the exercise of professional judgements and thus are generally performed by a senior assessor of the engagement team. Many reviews would be done at this part to provide a reasonable assurance that the assertions made by me are fairly presented. It is to reduce the risk of detecting material information that may affect the overall assessment. One of the procedures done at this part is to consider subsequent events. What would be my subsequent events right now? The subsequent event in my life now is the current semester that is still on-going. Upon considering this semester, the assessor might obtain findings that are material to the assessment of my performance. A lot of events had happened this semester that changes a lot of things also. The loss of one of the legendary teachers in Xavier University, Mr. Jessie B. Salon, CPA has affected many students, co-workers and others whom he had inspired with his legacy in life. But that is life, there is really ending for everything. Even though someone leave that is important in our lives, we must still go on and accept anything that comes our way that will help us to grow. Going back to the assessment of subsequent events, as the class was still going on and no final results yet are provided, the assessment must limit the engagement timing and put a cutoff. Assessors are not responsible anymore to those events that happened after the cutoff.
Issuance of Audit Report
Finally, with those reviewed findings, the assessor prepares now the report which describes the scope of the assessment, and states the assessor’s conclusion regarding the fairness of my assertions regarding my performance in school. Generally control structures deficiencies noted during the course of assessment is also communicated to me as the management who needs to know about this matter. There are actually two types of report, it’s either unmodified opinion meaning there is a favorable signal about the assertions given; modified which compose of three opinions: qualified, adverse and disclaimer opinions, which happens when there is a limitation and scope of the assessor’s work, there is a disagreement with management regarding the acceptability of the assertions and many others. Qualified opinion are expressed when the assessor concludes that an unqualified opinion cannot be expressed but that the effect of any disagreement with management, or limitation on scope is not so material and pervasive as to require and adverse opinion or a disclaimer of opinion. Adverse opinion is same as qualified but the disagreement is material and pervasive. Disclaimer opinion is expressed when sufficient appropriate evidence is not obtained when it is so material and pervasive.
The report should be in written form to be distributed to the intended users. In audit process, a specific format is to be followed in creating an audit report. There must be a title “Independent Audit Report”, addressee, introductory paragraph, management’s responsibility, auditor’s responsibility, auditor’s opinion, other reporting responsibilities, auditor’s signature and date of the auditor’s report. In the assessment of my performance, it depends upon the assessor if he will make it written or just verbal as long he or she have documentations to provide evidence to all the users of that information. If an opinion is expressed regarding the evidence that an assessor may get if it is I who acts as the assessor of my performance, I think it would be disclaimer of opinion. Knowing myself, It is not in my system to keep and organize well my papers especially exams I have taken and was returned by our professors. The assessor might have the hard time obtaining sufficient appropriate evidence that can support my assertions. To think it in advance, the reported opinion would probably be disclaimer of opinion. Even my assertions may be seen in the slmis, it is not guaranty a true grade because it really depends on the teacher. Some teachers put adjustment to compromise the efforts made by students but it doesn’t really show sometimes the real performance of a student. There are other factors also that may affect in expressing the real performance of a student.
Post-Audit Responsibilities
Debriefing is the phase of the process wherein it involves assessing and evaluating the quality of delivery of the assessment service team. Evaluations and assessment regarding the performance of the assessor in doing his or her responsibilities of assessing me. Debriefing usually involves: considering events during the audit, analyzing the activities within the audit and producing recommendations.
Conclusion
Intended users of my performance in real life do not really need an external assessor for them to believe the grades I pass to them because they really have no time to hire assessors/ auditors to verify the student’s performance. Applying audit process in evaluating real life performance is not really relevant in my opinion. No matter how unqualified is the given opinion by the auditor to your performance assertions; it has no effect in achieving your goal because an unqualified opinion doesn’t always mean good performance. It only affirms that your given assertions are the real thing that exists. It is still our own selves who should evaluate our performance because it is only us who have the power to act in reaching our goals. Others can’t let you move if you really don’t want to move. As to my journey in reaching this point, what is important in life is to not always depend on things that come easily of which you have not exerted effort or hard work. It is okay to fail sometimes as long as you learned something. Learnings are always the most beautiful thing that you can get every experience. We must not stop and be diligent in getting the goals we strive to achieve. I know someday, I can reach it.
