Winter 2015 Co-OP Work Term Report Namecourse Date Report Example

Executive Summary

Introduction
I have completed my first co-op work term in a charted accountants firm called A&J LLP as a staff accountant. This experience has enhanced my financial and accounting skills, developed as an undergraduate student. As a staff accountant, some of my responsibilities included preparing data and information to make reports, preparing individual tax returns, processing daily and monthly transactions within the accounting system and reconciling bank statements.
My co-op experience has enabled me to apply the theories I learned throughout my undergraduate studies in a real workplace. I have gained more confidence in myself by enhancing different skills, such using a computer, writing, budgeting, reporting and being a more detail-oriented person. I have learned how to apply my school studies at work and feel confident about enhancing them in future studies or career opportunities. Also, this experience has helped me to overcome challenges, such as working under pressure, meeting project deadlines, adapting to a firm system in a short time, working in a fast-paced environment and working with new and different software. Overcoming these challenges has taught me to create a system and plan to achieve them successfully, which in turn makes me stronger and more knowledgeable about the financial industry. I have learned many lessons that will helped me in my career, such as how to be result-oriented, solve problems, manage time, be more confident, plan and organize, work independently and be a team player.
In conclusion, the entire experience as a co-op student has added a lot of value in me personally, academically and professionally in all aspects. Now I look forward to developing more skills to get a better career in my next co-op work term.

Organizational Context

I have completed my co-op work term report at A&J LLP. A&J LLP is a charted accountants firm that serves different businesses and entrepreneurs. The firm provides assurance, tax and advisory services to small and midsize businesses. One of A&J LLP’s main values is to provide high-quality, creative and innovative business solutions and professional accounting and financial advisory services so that their business clients survive.
The firm is highly committed to the Canadian economy and the world’s evolving markets by providing creative, practical and effective business solutions and managing the practice of financial success and development for various businesses.
A&J LLP always looks forward to helping its business clients take their companies to the next level of profitability and competiveness. Another main advantage of A&J LLP is that most of their staff members are CPAs, so that they are very professional and provide high-quality and outstanding result-oriented accounting and financial advisory professional services.

Job Description and Role

My position at A&J LLP for my first co-op work term was Staff Accountant. My position was not restricted to accounting-related responsibilities but also involved business law and finance. My primary role was to prepare reconciliation reports and enter various business financial data, such as invoices, receipts, checks and bank statements, into different accounting software, such as QuickBooks.
Another major responsibility was to maintain office files, folders and documents by organizing and sorting all our clients’ financial data on an ongoing basis, which has resulted in a very efficient and effective filing system in the office. Additionally, I prepared different research papers related to chartable organizations and reviving businesses, and prepared different payroll reports using Excel in order to determine how much our business clients had to pay their employees for overtime, holidays and vacations. I also collected and compiled client financial data, entered information into QuickBooks and assigned appropriate journal entries for accurate accounting of income, expenses and taxes. Also, I analyzed and presented financial statements on schedules, spreadsheets, returns and PowerPoint presentations to various businesses.
Lastly, I assisted my colleague in filling out the Statement of Remuneration Paid, or T4, forms for our business clients in order to determine how much employment income the employers were paid during the tax year and the amount of income tax deducted. Also, I assisted in filling out personal income tax return, or T1, forms for our clients using Profile Software and filing them to the CRA.

Co-op Experience Related to Academic Studies

Most of the courses I studied in university have given me confidence, knowledge and support to do a better job. Such courses include Financial Accounting (BUSI1004), Managerial Accounting (BUSI1005), Business Law (BUSI2601), FINANCE I (BUSI2504) and Finance II (BUSI2505). These courses have helped me do my job faster, so that I do not spend time searching for answers or tips, or asking a lot of questions. For example, the accounting and financing projects that I did in school were so helpful in allowing me to do tasks at work easily and successfully. It triggered information that I needed to apply it in work tasks.
Being enrolled for three years and completing more than half of the required courses has helped me gain an in-depth understanding of accounting procedures and practices. This has also helped me make informed decisions about my education and career path so they make a successful transition into my job market.
The co-op has given me the chance to apply the theories I learned in the classroom to the workplace. Furthermore, the work experience I have gained has given me a better understanding of my studies and the importance and purpose of my program. My experience at work was such that I could not forget what I had learned in my courses.

Learning Experience

Breaking into the financial industry has really enhanced my financial and accounting background to be grounded in mind. Real life learning experiences such as meeting work projects deadlines, planning and organizing time for work, family and fun made me stronger and more confident to perform and plan for job duties easily. In addition, working under pressure and dealing with huge amount of paperwork has helped me adapt to the firm environment and polices. Finally, researching and resolving any out of balances and preparing reports related to taxes, reconciliation and payroll has given me a clear picture of how personal and real life can be run and had taught me personally how to save money and plan better for the future. Personal Development Activities

How to be a detailed-oriented person

Learning fast
Application of different techniques when others failed
Enhanced financial and accounting skills
Improved MS Office skills (Excel, PowerPoint, Word)
Use of software such as QuickBooks and Profile
How to search and find solutions rather than complaining and asking
Confidence in working independently
Teamwork
Job Experience in Future Studies
My experience with A&J LLP has made me a new person in a number of ways. I have gained a lot of skills, knowledge and information that can definitely make my future academic performance better. This work experience has helped me to better understand the financial industry, economy and the types of courses that I should focus on more than others. Therefore, I have decided to invest the skills and knowledge I have gained into filling my elective credits with some advanced accounting courses, such as Intermediate Accounting I (BUSIXXXX) and Intermediate Accounting II (BUSIXXXX). I also recognize that computer skills are one of most important skills in the financial industry. As such, I want to take courses such as Data and Information Management and System Analysis and Design to greater enhance my computer skills in order to perform future projects faster and easier.
Likewise, I will invest the skills, knowledge and information I have gained into the classroom and share my experiences with the classmates and professors. I believe this experience will have a huge impact on my academic performance at Carleton. This experience has also helped me know the importance of completing a bachelor’s degree. Thus, I will work very hard with confidence in order to be able to complete a master’s degree in accounting or finance.

Challenges and Accomplishments

My first co-op work term took place during the tax season. This is a very important season for accounting firms because everyone can get the money they earned during the year. I met a lot of challenges, such as meeting project deadlines, knowing the firm’s policies and philosophy, adapting the firm’s system and techniques, dealing with multiple tasks and learning in a fast-paced environment in a very short period of time. All that produced stress and confusion, but in time I started seeing the big picture behind each and every task. I started creating a vision and understanding before performing and implementing my duties. This vision made everything easy for me, since I started looking at the end result and how to achieve it in a right and fast way.
Beside creating a vision and using different techniques to overcome challenges, I would create a detailed schedule of my daily, weekly and monthly tasks. It helped me organize my thoughts and avoid confusion. Planning and organizing my duties/tasks was the number one key to succeeding in the firm without asking many questions. It created for me a default standard to follow, which helped me work faster.
Moreover, using new software, such as QuickBooks and Profile, for the first time in my life was also a challenge. The way I overcame this challenge was by researching and implementing videos I watched online in order to learn more about the software. I also trained myself well to know more than I should in case I needed to prove my creativity and efficiency to my manager. My colleagues were a great help and support by answering my questions and comforting me when needed.
One more challenge was filling some paperwork, such as the T1 and T4 forms for the first time. The way I overcame this challenge was by learning more about these forms by browsing them in the Canadian Revenue Agency website and watching colleagues closely filling them out.
Another challenge I faced was working in various projects related to business law. For example, one time my employer asked me to do a detailed research paper about chartable organizations, how their taxes should be done and the requirement they should follow in order to maintain their chartable status. The way I did this was by doing continuous research about this project in various governmental websites for a whole week. It was a challenge for me, since there were a lot of legal provincial and federal laws that had to be included in the paper, and such information has to be free of error. Also, some legal keywords needed to be used, while I do not have much knowledge about law. Thus, taking business law in school was a good thing, as I was able to apply what I learned to the task.
Lastly, working under pressure was another challenge. The way I would deal with it was by prioritizing my work and planning ahead of time. Exercising and listening to my favorite music was helpful too.

Lessons Learned

Nothing is impossible, and creating and changing techniques are the key to doing anything
Not to get discouraged if I felt I did not know or understand something or
Flexibility based on strategy that can accommodate an end result successfully
How to apply my school studies at work and feel confident about enhancing them for future studies or career opportunities
Improvements and Suggestions
Create a vision to make it easier to achieve results
Analyze data and track the requirements for each course or duties at work
Balance simplicity and complexity by time taking
Create a different solution when one fails
Be more confident about achieving tasks
Work in a fast-paced environment
One of the biggest suggestions I will follow in the future is that nothing is right or wrong