REFLECTIVE REPORT
Section 1 – Description Description
Corporate Profile Diosdado C. Bulano, CPA founded Bulano Accounting and Auditing Firm in August 1996. Mr. Bulano is an accredited practitioner by Board of Accountancy (BOA), Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Cooperative Development Authority (CDA). He is a member with good standing of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountant (PICPA). In 2017, the firm employs 20 personnel. It caters to clients in varied industries such as food and restaurant, manufacturing, real estate, construction, retail and wholesale, hardware, entertainment and amusement, hauling and forwarding, professionals, cooperatives, schools, foundations and religious institutions, etc. The Firm offers the following services: A. Bookkeeping Services
Maintenance of books of accounts and records of the company
Preparation and filing of monthly, quarterly and annual tax returns
Preparation and filing of SSS, Pag-ibig and Philhealth remittances.
B. Consultancy Services
Assist in the negotiations with BIR examinations and assessments.
Assist in the negotiations with Business Bureau of Davao City and other regulatory bodies during examinations and assessments
Provide review and recommendations on internal control procedures on the financial operations of the Company
Perform agreed-upon procedures involving review, compilation, verification or certification of financial information of an entity
Assist entities in setting-up manual accounting system
C. Audit Services
Financial Statement audit
Internal Audit
Preparation and filing of annual income tax returns and audited financial statements
D. Processing Services
Assist new entities in the preparation and submission of regulatory requirements and registration of the business with Business Bureau of Davao City, Security and Exchange Commission or Department of Trade and Industry and BIR
Assist entities in obtaining business requirements with Bureau of Davao City, SEC or Department of Trade and Industry and BIR for branching out, change in business information, dividend declarations, increase in authorized share capital and other changes or amendments, etc.
Assist retiring companies in the preparation and submission of regulatory requirements with Business Bureau of Davao City, SEC or Department of Trade and Industry and BIR for the retirement of business.
During my internship, I was assigned in the Auditing Department. This department was responsible for overseeing the procedures and accuracy of recordkeeping and accounting functions of an entity. Further, it creates and implements procedures and
controls in order to ensure that the finances of an entity are managed in accordance with the established principles. It also conducts periodic audits to check the accuracy of recordkeeping and accounting so as to ensure that procedures and controls are working properly. Our main goal was to have findings of Balay Pasilungan Foundation, Inc. In our audit engagement, we were only six interns. Since Balay Pasilungan Foundation, Inc. does not have an accounting system, reviewing and recording the receipts and disbursements was never an easy task. However, as time goes by, I had developed strategies in order to finish my task accurately. I hold the position of an intern trainee assigned in the audit engagements. My job responsibilities are to record the receipts and disbursements of a specific entity, make financial statements, bank reconciliation and proof of cash.
Section 2 – Objectives
An internship is a pre-professional learning experience that offers meaningful, practical work experience related to an accountancy student’s field of study or career interest. The internship program allows the students to apply principles and theories learned in the classroom in a professional environment. Through the internship, students are provided an opportunity for career exploration and development as well as an opportunity to learn new skills. Accordingly, at the end of the internship, an Accountancy student will have developed in the following avenues: a)
Application of technical knowledge Relate the knowledge gained from accounting, taxation, auditing, regulatory requirements and financial management to business functions and activities.
b) Development of professional values, ethics and attitudes Developed and demonstrated appropriate professional values, ethics and attitudes in practical, real life situations. c) Inculcate professional responsibility Worked at different levels of management tiers, understood authority delegation and responsibilities of the position. d) Business awareness Acquainted with the environment in which accounting and or audit services are provided. e) Professional skills Enhanced intellectual, interpersonal, communication and business management skills. f) Information technology Applied information technology learned in school to evolve an integrated structure to achieve learning outcomes in the work environment.
Section 3 – Personal Growth
Putting myself in a real workplace environment was challenging because I needed to apply the theoretical knowledge I gained in school into practice for me to be competitive in my field. The internship program paved the way for me to grow more as an individual mentally, emotionally and physically. It was also fulfilling to know that my supervisor appreciated the things I did and how I performed during my on -the-job training as reflected in my final evaluation.
The internship lasted only for about seven weeks and, within that limited span of time, I managed to accomplish many things at the end of the internship. However, due to some unavoidable circumstances, there were few times that I have things unfulfilled and unexecuted tasks. During my internship, I wanted to become productive in order to learn new things and to prove to myself that I could do more and I could move out from my shell. I have learned the value of time management and how to be efficient and effective with the tasks given to us. The internship has taught me to become time-conscious by reporting to the office promptly. I learned the value of discipline as I performed my tasks reliably. Moreover, meeting different people even professionals has enhanced my inter-relational skills like dealing with them with professionalism and right attitude. Indeed, those efforts and sacrifices have paved the way in the development of my own being and those experiences molded me into a better, matured and responsible worker in the near future.
Section 4 – Relevance of Internship
Setting a career objective was necessary in undertaking an internship program because it served as a path to look forward to and remain focused in achieving the desired common end. As I had set it, unnecessary activities were avoided for these could spoiled my entire internship. It served as a guide of what I wanted to know and what I wanted to gain through my experiences in the firm I was working. Because of these, they helped me to make things easy and comprehensible. The internship that I had, has been considered as a good opportunity for me to know the realities in working in the scope of my field and it also enhanced m y communication skills
to be used instrumentally in talking or communicating with clients in my future career practice. With regards to the organization, I have learned that though the firm is not catering big clients like other firms such as SGV, Punong Bayan & Araullo, and etc., you still need to be hands-on and have effective connections with your staff for without them, a firm would cease to exist and operate. The organization is always unified with the direction in attaining their goal. Lastly, as to myself, I have practiced to become more efficient and effective to the work assigned to me and to be resourceful as possible in undertaking actions to finish the work. I also realized that while I am still in school, I should be serious in and more dedicated to study and to explore my field so that I will not be having a hard time in practicing the work in the future. Finally, being equipped with adequate knowledge and skills will help me in performing my work with sound judgment.
Section 5 – Reflections
If given a chance to make things out from scratch in pursuing my internship again, I would still let our internship coordinator to choose to where I was assigned to do my internship project because I knew that our coordinator kn ows better than I. Being assigned in Bulano, would made me more exposed in the public practice as one of the areas of accountancy. Working in an accounting and auditing firm was really challenging. You needed more patience due to its tedious nature of work as one will deal with figures and on different accounting tasks. Also, it was good opportunity to start with in order to gain meaningful experience which could be a competitive advantage to have a superior performance in the
future. To attain such matters, there are some traits that a person like me should possess like being focused, dedicated, resourceful and other positive attitudes that could help to finish work at an early time. Moreover, my internship was indeed successful having a lot of fun enriched with good experiences and cherished memories both interpersonal and intrapersonal dimensions. These would surely carve me into a remarkable CPA in the future. Lastly, those experiences had given me ideas or insights on how to manage a firm someday, with the Almighty Father’s willing.
Section 6 – Miscellaneous
Actually, when I knew that I will be having m y internship this year, I was so excited that I ran out of words to express what I felt. As the days went by, I felt the exhaustion and tiredness and later on realized that working was not easy and that schooling was more fun compared to the former. Though there are so many hindrances in fulfilling my 200 h ours of internship, I still managed to finish it with a happy heart and there was a feeling of fulfillment after I submitted all the necessary requirements to comply with this internship project. Apparently, I learned to value time and to know my priorities.
WEEKLY JOURNAL
WEEKLY LOG (JOURNAL) Week 1 (April 3 - April 7, 2017)
AREA 1
My first week of my on-the-job training was never easy. I had a lot of adjustments being in the real corporate world applying all the knowledge and skills acquired in the academe. My first week was so challenging yet an interesting one. It was my first time to be in an accounting and auditing firm – one of the fields where Certified Public Accountants perform their expertise. During the entire week, things going on around me were very confusing. There were a lot of things to remember and consider for the audit review. I had plenty of questions even until the end of my first week like how to do my work, why great amounts turned to be like this and that, where were these amounts come from, and more. The instructions were only given once for the audit engagements. As a result, I used to ask my co-intern if we were working and doing things right every now and then. There were idle moments also that I stopped my work and wondered if everything was doing well and proper. In fact, in my first week, I was able to review and to record only one month because there were a lot of transactions (more or less 400 receipts) per month from January 2016 until March 2017. Funny, wasn’t it? Well, that was a sign of progress. I even teased myself for it. Everything can be learned and the rooms for improvement are wide enough for someone who is willing to learn.
AREA 2
We were very fortunate to have an employer who would treat us more than just interns. We felt very at home and comfortable in the office. The owner and our direct supervisor is very approachable and very down to earth. Our direct supervisor, the daughter of the owner, is also very friendly. We could freely approach her to ask questions regarding with our work. They are the kind of employers I would always look up to. With my interpersonal relationship, I could say that it was good. The environment was just very light and warm. As a result, coping up was just easy for me. However, I still felt the awkwardness. I was still in the stage of getting to know them. Conflicts were even arising. The best thing to do was to handle and to deal with it properly. In my case, there were times that my con-interns were busy yet I kept on coming unto them asking for the other files needed for the audit engagements. Dealing with them p rofessionally and politely would be a great help. Last but not the least; one thing that I loved the most was we always start our day in the office with a prayer to the Father Almighty for his unending guidance and blessings.
AREA 3
During the first week, I had observed them how to do audit engagements. In the office, we were very focus on the task given to us. With that first week, it made me realized that my role in the incoming future would not be easy. Thus, on-the-job training itself challenged me to learn more in p reparation for my future career.
AREA 4
For the incoming week, my goal was to accomplish the assigned tasks to me. Hopefully, I could be able to accomplish at least 25% of it. 25% would be a good start after a week of confusion.
May His love and guidance be upon us all always!
WEEKLY LOG (JOURNAL) Week 2 (April 10 – April 14, 2017)
AREA 1
During the second week of my on-the-job training, things went smoothly. The go als I had set for the past week were partly achieved because of some unavoidable circumstances beyond my control, but learning simple yet substantial exposure covered and marked as another achievement for me.
AREA 2
With the two-week of internship experience, I have accustomed myself to the place and the work I am in and to the people whom I am dealing with. With regards to my attendance, I think there was no problem because I made sure that I went out home early with a sufficient time allowance that I arrived earlier than the regular employees of the office even before the prescribed time. Interpersonal relationship with my co-workers was going better considering that we have learned to adjust with each other as we talked and shared some thoughts during coffee break and lunchtime.
AREA 3
For that week, I learned to have a system for the completion of my work. In fact, I spent my whole eight hours last Tuesday encoding the disbursements for the month of March 2016.
With my interpersonal relationship, I learned to separate problems that were not related to the work. Conflicts were everywhere and inevitable. I just have to deal with it professionally all the time. Conflicts may be a destruction, but for me, it was a challenge rather than a hindrance not to go further. Those conflicts made me even more courageous to face life at its brightest side despite everything.
AREA 4
For the upcoming week, I was planning to finish recording at least half of March 2016 transactions. Meanwhile, I was hoping to le arn and explore new things for myself.
WEEKLY LOG (JOURNAL) Week 3 (April 17 - April 21, 2017)
AREA 1
I had a very fulfilling week. I had recorded two months receipts for audit. The system I made last week was really a great help. It improved my efficiency towards my work. Out of the three months receipts I recorded last week, I was able to finish half of it and could have finished more if there were no additional instructions given to us.
AREA 2
With my interpersonal relationship towards my employer, direct supervisor and regular employees, I had no problem about it. We had a very healthy environment inside the company. The only problem that I saw related to my work was that our financial head was too busy that he could no longer entertain us especially when there were lacking files during the recording of transactions. Some of our works had to stop due to inconvenience.
AREA 3
For this week, I learned to be organized. In doing my audit review, I had focused on doing my task. I had finished it as fast as I could, and reviewed as many as I could. With this, I felt fulfilled and satisfied towards my work and myself.
AREA 4
For this week coming, I was planning to finish the remaining receipts so I could record new ones.
WEEKLY LOG (JOURNAL) Week 4 (April 24 - April 29, 2017)
AREA 1
For the past weeks, we did nothing new. We had our usual days – doing the audit for Foundation of Balay Pasilungan, Inc. The only thing that changed was the working hours. We felt more on how it was being in a real world. I saw how others worked and how they were motivated to do things. One thing that I learned to keep in mind was to be flexible with the events beyond my control as my goals might sometimes be interrupted with other unavoidable events.
AREA 2
My interpersonal relationship with my co-workers inside the office was now even deeper. Staying in one room eight hours a day made our bonding even stronger. Those barriers and awkward moments were eliminated and replaced with a good harmonious relationship with one another.
AREA 3
During the audit, I noticed new things I had not encountered the past few weeks. I thought that we already learned the things we needed for the audit but it came another on e. I realized that in real life, there were those things that were not and never been taught to us. Sometimes, you should learn it all by your own. Aside from these, there were those inevitable instances that even if you had already set your goals for the week, there would
be hindrances that would distract you from achieving them. In other words, the best weapon for this would be your flexibility.
AREA 4
I was hoping that for the upcoming week we could finish the assigned task together – to review the work of those employees who were about to resign and those who were on top priorities. I had thought also of working with the things needed to improve myself and for my personal growth.
WEEKLY LOG (JOURNAL) Week 5 (May 2-5, 2017)
AREA 1
My week started and ended greatly! I had my typical paperwork the past few days. We were done recording all the receipts and disbursements. I did not expect that we would be able to finish it. It was really fulfilling on my part that I was able to finish one of my assigned tasks which is recording all the receipts and disbursements. I had finished reviewing the books assigned to me and I was done my encoding as well. I hoped that I have done it right. So great!
AREA 2
I must say that we were very lucky for having a very understanding supervisor. He was very flexible, generous and more. He was an admirable one. Aside from our supervisor, we have also very cheerful co-workers. We interacted and communicated to them freely now without barriers. It was pretty good to know that I worked with people like them, in the course of our OJT we created a very friendly environment.
AREA 3
In the field, it is really an edge that you will be a trustworthy person. For me, it was essential to lay someone’s trust on you. In addition , I learned how to manage my time, how
to be patient, how to be a goal-oriented individual to get things through, and thank God, I made it!
AREA 4
What else should I want to learn more? I was hoping that we would be able to finish auditing the Balay Pasilungan Foundation, Inc.
WEEKLY LOG (JOURNAL) Week 6 (May 8-12, 2017)
Area 1
It was indeed a fulfilling week! For the past few days, it felt like it was another chapter in my life as a trainee. I thought that doing a financial audit would seem to be impossible, but luck paved the way for me to fulfill it. My days became so busy accomplishing this and that. It was kind of challenging knowing that it was my first time to b e exposed in a financial audit. The financial audit might be difficult, but when curiosity came first, difficulty would be no more.
Area 2
Doing the financial audit brought us closer together. It gave us the chance to get to know each other more. There were people that you seemed to see silently yet unknowingly they were only observing. When they got to know you through their observations, you would find that person was talkative and fun to be with every time we get the chance to work together. It was just few of the things I also observed in a working environment.
Area 3
Financial audit was also like team building. It strengthened the bonding and the relationship among the co-workers in the audit team. It felt good to know that you were not
alone working. You found refuge in your colleagues in times of difficulty and sleepless nights. It was also good to note that you were working and sharing ideas together. What we did might be a part and parcel of the whole financial audit of a particular entity, yet the clients were not that big. It made me even wonder how it would be difficult to work in a major auditing companies such SGV & Co., RTC, etc. that caters large companies - how they sacrificed their sleepless nights, how they would do the financial audit, how long did it take for them to finish a single engagement, how many auditors would they employ and many more.
Area 4
This week was the last week of my internship. Before it would end, I would like to experience one more last thing – to go out on a field and visit the entity we were auditing.
WEEKLY LOG (JOURNAL) Week 7 (May 8-12, 2017)
Area 1
At last the final week for the completion of my internship project has arrived. Within the remaining days, I came to realized that there are two most important characteristics of useful information for the accountants namely relevance and reliability. Information is relevant to the extent that it can potentially alter a decision. Relevant information helps improve predictions of future events, confirms the outcome of a previous prediction, and should be available before a decision is made. Reliable information is verifiable, indicatively faithful and neutral. The hallmark of neutrality is its demand that accounting information not to be selected to benefit one class of users to the neglect of others. While accountants recognize a trade-off between relevance and reliability, information that lacks either of these characteristics is considered insufficient for decision making. In addition to being relevant and reliable, accounting information should be comparable and consistent. Comparability refers to the ability to make relevant comparisons between two or more companies in the same industry at a point in time. Consistency refers to the ability to make relevant comparisons within the same company over a period of time.
Area 2
As my internship is coming to an end, I am cherishing the moments I have in the office by getting along with the staff and the other interns. We had a picture taking for we have considered each other as friends despite that we are coming from different schools. With the staff, they have been treating us well by removing the barriers between us. Even if we are still learning they reached out to us by teaching us those things that we are not so familiar with. To our immediate supervisor, he has been a thoughtful one and we can easily talk to him whenever we have some queries and clarifications.
Area 3
As an intern in the Bulano Accounting and Auditing Firm, I observed that I dealt with a lot of responsibilities. There was often a perception that interns are not given proper work, or that they do not get exposure to projects that matter to the firm. In reality, you will quickly find that you are not there exclusively for your own benefit, to learn about the firm and get a bit of experience. Instead, it be came apparent that our work was often greatly needed and that others relied upon you to get information to the clients and to get work off their desks.
Area 4
My area of assignment was busy during my internship and I was involved in meaningful work. Tasks were always fully explained to me and I always felt comfortable asking questions. I was impressed by genuine friendship and also by the open -door policy: people are always happy to lend you their expertise in order to make sure you do well.
Upon leaving on my last day, I knew there will be no other firm I would like to be trained with. The internship was truly an undeniabl y a worthwhile experience.
