Professional Practice in Accounting

(ACC 275)
Assessment Item 01

Career Research Report

Table of Contents

Executive summary……………………………………………………………………..……02

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….….03

Section 01………………………………………………………………………………….....04

Section 02………………………………………………………………………………….....07

Section 03………………………………………………………………………………….....14

Section 04…………………………………………………………………………………….16

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………18

References……………………………………………………………………………………19

1
Executive Summary

This career research report is completed based on a specific type of an employment in the
accounting industry that the researcher intends to pursue as the future career which is the
position of a junior accountant. The main focuses goes to the nature of work, working
environment, employment outlook, career development, employee benefits as well as skills
and qualifications required for the specific job profile.

In the second section of the report, a specific employer has been chosen which the researcher
is interested of starting the career. World’s number one leading internet service company
Google has been selected as the specific employer. The main features that have been
identified in that section are the nature of the organization, history, size, vision, mission,
values, culture, organization structure, products and services, employee benefits as well as
opportunities for career advancements.

The third section consists of an analysis of a typical career path that should be followed with
the advancement of the career. The entry-level positions and middle to upper level positions
which a junior accountant can achieve are identified and discussed in this section. In addition,
further qualification required to advance in this job profile is also identified.

The final section contains a reflection of all the previous three sections. Here, a self-
reflection has been made on how well the researcher would fit with the chosen employer and
job satisfaction in working in the career field that has been investigated. In addition, a self-
reflection has been done based on the areas which the researcher needs to concentrate in
order to develop skills that are needed for the job is also discussed. Here, the researcher has
discovered that industry experience can make a huge impact on the success of one’s career.

Finally, it can be concluded that by conducting this kind of career research is very much
valuable for individuals in order to identify their self-ambitions regarding future careers and
make necessary plans in order to get better job opportunities in future.

2
Introduction

This career research report will be based on an in depth analysis of a specific area of
employment in the accounting industry that I’m interested in pursuing a career which is the
job profile of a junior accountant. In order to make the research more valuable, a specific
employer will be selected which I’m interested in joining and the job profile of a junior
accountant will be applied to the selected employer by analyzing important aspects of the
employer. The main focuses of this study will be analyzing the nature of the job, work
environment, career development, entry level positions and the required skills and
qualifications for the chosen job. Most importantly, a self-reflection will be presented by
identifying the key areas to be improved in order to be successful in future career.

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Section 01

Job profile

As it is highlighted in the introduction, I’m interested in pursuing my career as a Junior

Accountant as currently I’m gathering the specific qualifications with regard to accounting
profession.

Nature of work

As a junior accountant, the main duties and responsibilities which I need to perform in an
organization include the followings (Mautz, 2017). –Incorrect referance

 Maintain ledger; record and document company financial transactions.

 Oversee bank reconciliations and balance financial records.
 Update vendor information.
 Keep updated budgets; handle monthly payroll disbursements and invoices, and
confirm expense vouchers and purchase orders.
 Check employee timesheets for accuracy.
 Conduct or assist with fixed asset audits.
 Calculate taxes and prepare tax returns in compliance with payment and reporting
regulations.
 Identify and resolve financial discrepancies.
 Utilize database management systems to maintain up-to-date record keeping of
financial documents.
 Provide feedback to supervisors regarding budget forecasts, resource utilization, and
tax strategies.

USED REFERANCE

https://www.ziprecruiter.com/blog/junior-accountant-job-description-sample-template/

4
Environment and working conditions

For this job profile, primarily an office environment will be required. Normally, most of the
junior accountants work in comfortable offices around 40 hours per week. In certain
circumstances, I may have to work late hours to assist my senior supervisors to meet
deadlines. http://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/cw03nzeg4g/Junior-Accountant.html

Educational qualification and industry experience

In order to obtain this job profile initially, a bachelor’s degree will be required from an
accredited institution in accounting, finance or business or a related field. In addition,
Experience and industry knowledge is an essential requirement (Parmenter, 2015). Most
importantly, minimum two or three year working experience in the required field is very
much essential. As per my findings, some companies also require candidates to be qualified
or part-qualified with CA or CPA so that candidates can move successfully with their future
career path. https://www.ziprecruiter.com/blog/junior-accountant-job-description-sample-
template/

Skills
Apart from education qualification, I must possess some required skills in order to succeed in
this job profile. Those skills will include critical thinking, strong written and oral
communication skills, numerical skills, attention to detail, accuracy, team working abilities
and meeting deadlines. Apart from those skills, I need to have a thorough knowledge of
accounting process and accounting software. Proficiency in Microsoft Excel including
Vlookups, pivot tables, QuickBooks and PeachTree or Sage 50 Accounting is very much
important to be succeed in this job profile. https://www.ziprecruiter.com/blog/junior-
accountant-job-description-sample-template/

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Labour market outlook and Career Development

As per my research on the Bureau of Labour Statistics of United States Department of

Labour, between the period of 2008 and 2018 junior accountants jobs are expected to grow
faster than the average for all occupations. The new and changing laws have contributed a lot
to the increased demand of junior accountants which will upsurge the requirement for
accountants in job market. For an example, most of the new private companies will require
accountants. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/accountants-and-auditors.htm

Junior accountants who are specialized and experienced can eventually get promoted to
senior positions like senior accountants, accounting supervisors or auditors. Individuals of
qualified or partly-qualified with CA or CPA with experience have multiple opportunities to
achieve those senior positions or they can move to an Assistant Accountant role of commerce
and industry or Managerial Accounting positions.
https://www.performance.edu.au/blog/accounting-career-path-options

Average Salaries and benefits

Mainly, the salary of a junior accountant depends on several factors such as the location, size
of the company, the tasks, experience and related qualifications. The pay package of a junior
accounting will increase as they gain more experience in the industry. According to my
research, the average salary for the junior accountant is $41,000 per annum. They are able to
enjoy benefits such as paid vacations, pension plans and health and life insurance plans.
http://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/cw03nzeg4g/Junior-Accountant.html

Related positions

The related posts can be identified as staff accountant or junior staff accountant.
http://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/cw03nzeg4g/Junior-Accountant.html

6
Section 02

I have a genuine interest in working at ‘Google’ for the above mentioned Junior Accountant
job profile. I rely on that Google maintains a strong Person- Organization fit by utilizing a
‘customer focused’ strategy and innovative and creative culture across the whole
organization. I strongly believe that Google is one of the best places to work as it promotes
flexible, fun, creative and cool working environment. Therefore, I have conducted an in-
depth detailed analysis regarding the selected employer in the below chapter.

Nature of the organization – NEED TO RE WRITE AGAIN IN OWN WORDS

Google is a multinational corporation which is specialized in internet-related services and

products. It is a multinational internet company which provides digital products and services
such as online search and advertising, cloud computing and software. Google is considered as
the most leading search engine for information on the World Wide Web. Further, the
company is also responsible for Android, Google glasses and various applications that help
make the internet a more user-friendly and fluid space (www.googleofficial.info).
https://www.statista.com/topics/1001/google/

History

The Google story begins in 1995 at Stanford University. It was founded in 1998 by Larry
Page and Sergey Brin. Google was incorporated on 4th September 1998 and the initial public
offering occurred on19th August 2004. After passing successful milestones, now Google has
outgrew the garage and eventually moved to its current headquarters as known as ‘The
Googleplex’ in Mountain View, California. Since the beginning of the company, their main
focus has been to develop services that significantly improve peoples’ lives, not just for some
but for everyone (www.googleofficial.info). https://www.google.com/about/our-story/

7
Vision

The vision statement of Google is “to provide access to the world’s information in one click’’
https://www.google.com/about/our-company/

Mission

The mission statement is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally
accessible and useful” https://www.google.com/about/our-company/

Core Values

Google maintain its own set of core values and those values are shared across the
organization. Some of their values include technology, integrity, constant innovation,
communication, diversity, risk taking, simplicity, honesty, cooperation and so on. Apart from
them, the most important key value that the company focuses is to keep their employees
happy. Somewhat matching reference is needed

Commitments of Google

The main commitment of Google is to create opportunity for everyone. It strongly believes
that everyone deserves the chance to learn, succeed and be heard.
https://www.google.com/about/our-company/

Size of the company

As per the statistics of Google headquarters, currently the company has approximately 85,050
employees in worldwide Google offices in different countries.
https://www.recode.net/2018/4/23/17272502/googl-alphabet-google-q1-earnings-2018-
headcount. Author name can be found in this link.

8
Products and services

Google produces hundreds of products that are used by billions of people every day across
the globe. Among those hundreds of products, some of the most popular Google products can
be identified as Google Search, Mail, Docs, Plus, Drive, Translate, Maps, AdWords, Play
Store, and Google News. However, according to my research, Google is so much beyond
that. https://www.minterest.com/google-products-services-you-probably-dont-know/.
AUTHOR NAME CAN BE FOUND IN THIS LINK

Corporate culture

Google has an innovative, creative and fun culture inside the company that successfully
combines technological innovation with a strong organizational culture. The epic corporate
culture of the company has made Googlers highly satisfied and enjoyable in their work in a
way that employees tend to feel like they are living in their second home. In addition, Google
promotes teamwork, respect, flexibility, transparency, sharing information, uniqueness and
openness through its corporate culture. According to Forbes Technology Council, they have
revealed 13 reasons that Google deserves the "best corporate culture" title. The reasons can
be listed as below. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/02/08/13-reasons-
google-deserves-its-best-company-culture-award/#3db6810b3482

 True flexibility
 Freedom to be creative
 A fun environment
 People and their expertise
 Dog- friendly workplace
 Shared values across the organization
 Constant innovation
 Trust
 Alignment with employee needs and wants
 Growth and improvement mind set
 A clear purpose
 Caring personally
 A dedicated focus on employee happiness

9
Organization structure

Google maintains a ‘flat’ organization structure with minimal middle and upper- level
management. As a result of that, individuals, teams and groups have the opportunity to
directly report to the CEO while bypassing middle management. Some kind of matching
Reference is needed.

Decision making process

The corporate culture of Google reflects in their decision making process as well because
decisions are made within teams. As it has been identified above, team work is highly
appreciated in Google and decisions are not always made by senior people and applied top
down. Autonomy is always encouraged inside the company. Some kind of matching
Reference

10
Branches and subsidiaries

Google headquarters is located in Mountain View, California. It operates more than 70

offices in different 50 countries such as United States, Canada, Europe, Denmark, Latin
America and many other international locations. Unlike other internet companies, Google is
transparent when it comes to contact location information for the company headquarters
http://www.headquartersinfo.com/google-headquarters-information/

Clients and customers

Spanier, the Marketing Director of Google, has declared that everybody on the planet is their
target audience (Bastick, 2015). According to him, Google’s marketing strategy is not bound
within a group of people or within a specific location. Therefore, it has become really
difficult to get a clear idea to whom Google is actually targeting to gain profits and
competitive advantage. http://www.bandt.com.au/marketing/everybody-on-the-planet-is-our-
target-audience-google-marketing-boss

11
Customer profile of Google – I used a previous research done by another student to

write this section. It is attached along with this.

The customer profile of Google can be discussed by using three different categories such as
geographic, demographic and psychographic dimensions.

Geographic dimensions

 Google has highly diverse markets and users as internet is a highly diverse tool in
modern world. But, Google has restricted its access in certain countries and regions
like China, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria due to various reasons.
 Google search results can be conveyed in 80 different languages.

 More than half of the Google search results are delivered outside of the United States.

Demographic dimensions

According to surveys it is found that,

 The most popular user category of Google is under the age of 35.
 Among them, 55% of users are male.
 Majority of Google users belong to middle and upper class income structure.
 Majority Google users are higher educated or technologically competitive users.
Among them, most of the users tend to be business minded professionals.

Psychographic Dimensions

As per the surveys, it has been found that people who are educated and intelligent who need
to access to information anytime quickly from any internet related devices are more Google
users. The main reason is that they mostly have a busy life style. Analyzing data regarding
typical Google users, it can be assumed that typical Google users prefer more innovative and
privacy oriented internet service experience.

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Opportunities for promotions

Google offers numerous opportunities for career growth and development in order to help
employees advance in their careers. It also provides employees a reason to stick around and
work hard. Employee recognition is highly valued at Google. They consider people as their
best assets and employees find themselves challenged and energized from working so closely
with other great mind (Hedden, 2016). https://nxlperformance.com/employee-recognition-
programs-perks-google/

Inside Google, I will be able to gain various growth opportunities as there is the huge scope
of learning new facts which can improve my skills and capabilities under the supervision of
highly specialized experts who has great expertise. Further, I will be able to make use of
knowledge in a feasible manner. In addition to this, on the basis of my work performance, I
will be able to grow up in the career ladder by receiving promotions to the senior managerial
position with the time.

Employee benefits

Google creates an environment where employees feel that their work makes the world a
better place (Hedden, 2016). Google shows consideration towards its employees by providing
different types of benefits packages such as free food, facilities for free health/dental,
entertainment, shower, gym, sports, child care, welfare schemes and many other comforts.
Employees feel highly satisfied and they tend to contribute their maximum with extreme
motivation for the company as they are treated very well as they expected and their needs are
taken care of (Greer, 2014).

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Section 03

Career path

Entry- level positions

Entry level positions can be identified as the positions which an individual does not require
prior experience in the related field. An entry-level job allows an individual to enter into the
workforce. These roles may include some on-site training. Over the time, employees are able
to learn the process of the business and gain valuable experience to increase the potential for
high ranking positions and better pay (Heathfield, 2018).

As per my research regarding the job profile of a junior accountant, entry-level positions may
include an accounting intern, bookkeeper or a trainee junior accountant. The career path can
be chosen according to the alternatives available inside the company. Individuals are able to
choose more than one career path in this industry as a large exposure is available and one can
make maximum efforts in possible ways till success (Hong and Kubik, 2003).

As an individual advances in this career, middle and upper level positions that can be
achieved are identified as below.

From bottom/middle level to top level positions,

 Bookkeeper
 Junior accountant
 Staff accountant
 Senior accountant
 Accounting supervisor
 Accounting manager
 Financial controller
 Chief financial officer (CFO)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accounting_roles

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Required Qualifications

For an entry level position, the main qualification that needed is the some kind of knowledge
regarding the related industry and the qualified education. Apart from these, the working
experience in the similar industry is an added advantage and an essential factor to justify the
allocated roles and responsibilities with related to the specific job. With the advancement of
the career, an individual may need further higher education qualification, professional
qualification like CA or CPA and more years of experience in order to get into senior
positions.

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Section 04
Self-Reflection

After conducting an in-depth research regarding the chosen job profile in accounting
industry, my desire for starting my career as a junior accountant became more confirmed and
realistic. I found that starting my career as a junior accountant will lead me to a successful
end point as I will be able to climb in my career ladder step by step starting from an initial
level. Before conducting this career research, my understanding regarding the job profile and
responsibilities of a junior accountant was quite confused. This research helped me massively
in order to gain a better understanding and improve my knowledge regarding required skills;
personal traits as well as technical characteristics that I should possess to be successful in this
job profile. The conducted study cleared many of my confusions regarding my
responsibilities and assisted me in taking an efficient and appropriate decision.

As per my perspective, Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance will be a sufficient

education qualification for me to start my career initially as a junior accountant. But, this
qualification will not be sufficient for career advancement. As I have identified earlier, some
companies also require candidates to be qualified or part-qualified with CA or CPA so that
candidates can move successfully with their future career path. Therefore, qualifying CA or
CPA will be beneficial and an added advantage for me to build my future career path. In
addition, pursuing a MBA in Accounting or Finance will also help me to move to senior
positions and advance in career with the time.

When talking about the necessary technical skills related to the job profile, currently my
knowledge regarding different types of accounting software is not sufficient. Therefore, it is
very much important that I take immediate steps to be proficient in accounting software like
Vlookups, pivot tables and QuickBooks which are useful in performing my job tasks
efficiently. In addition, I need to concentrate more on enhancing my interpersonal skills to
work with diversified people and improving verbal communication skills which will be an
important factor to be succeeded in my career.

Apart from education and technical qualification, industry qualification is also a must to be
successful in my career. Currently, I do not have any industry experience. Therefore, working
as an intern in a well-known internet service related company will help me in order to gain
industry information and experience.

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How well I fit with the employer? – UNMATCHING REFERANCE WITH
REFERENCE LIST. Matching reference need to add to the list.

Person-Organization fit can be defined as “the compatibility between people and

organizations occurs when an entity provides the needs of employees or they share related
fundamental characteristics or both’’ (Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman and Johnson, 2005).
Employees may fit or misfit towards an entity due to their own reasons
(http://www.ijbssnet.com/journals/Vol_2_No_21_Special_Issue_November_2011/25.pdf.
Author name is in this link.

In modern business world, achieving P-O fit has become an integral factor towards the
success of both employees and entity. Further, it can be identified as a significant predictor of
job satisfaction, employee commitment, job performance and employee turnover. The
fundamental factor that needs to achieve P-O fit is that values, goals, personality and other
characteristics of employees should match with those of the entity (Arthur Jr et al., 2010).
Eventually, a strong person-organization fit affect company bottom line in a favorable way.
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0018726716636945- correct reference is needed

After conducting in depth research regarding Google Company, I undoubtedly believe that I
would fit quite well with the employer due to its corporate culture. In theoretical terms,
organizational culture is defined as “values shared by members of an organization”
(Chatman, 1991). As discussed in the above sections, the culture of Google is fun, innovative
and creative. I believe that I will be able to enjoy a perfect person-organization fit with the
employer as my own values, personality and attitudes are aligned with the shared culture of
the employer. I always respect freedom and I’m a person who enjoys living in a fun and
enjoyable environment since my childhood. I believe that freedom is the path to creativity
same as the belief of the employer. I believe that inside Google, I will be able to gain
opportunity to learn new things under best experts and also I will have the opportunity to
work with diversified people which will be a valuable experience for me to start my career. In
addition, I think that I will be quite fit with the employer because Google is constantly
aligned with the needs and wants of employees as well as the employer has a dedicated focus
of employee happiness.

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Job satisfaction

I believe that working in Google Company will definitely increase my job satisfaction level
due to the unique culture and characteristics of the company as well as its dedication of
keeping employees happy. Further, the amazing perks and benefits packages of Google will
also make me feel highly satisfied towards the company. Working in the job profile of a
junior accountant will be highly satisfied for me as I will get the opportunity to work with
highly talented experts under their supervision. Further, I will not feel over- burdened of
work as the company promotes team work. However, in certain circumstances,
competitiveness may annoy me.

Conclusion

As per the conducted study, it can be identified that the job profile of a junior accountant has
its own duties and responsibilities towards an organization. It is also found that an individual
is able to obtain the job profile of a junior accountant easy if he or she has industry
experience in the related field. Industry experience can be considered as a huge impact on the
success of the job profile. Therefore, I will join an internship program in order to gain
industry and work experience. Further, qualifications like CA or CPA also can make a huge
influence on the job success which has now become one of my goals. On the basis of the
present study, I will work more on enhancing my interpersonal skills apart from the education
qualification and industry knowledge. I believe that adapting the above mentioned
approaches will add more value to my resume and make it more attractive for employers.

18
References

Actually, I realized that I have used not related references in this list. They need
to be deleted and as per the lecturer’s comments in text reference need to be
matched with this list. In this report, I have used most of the website links
which have no authors and dates. As there are no author names in those links, I
used some researches made by some students which are uploaded in Google.
Therefore, I really had no idea of referencing them correctly. Please consider.

DeZube, D. (2017). Accounting career path options, Retrieved from

https://www.performance.edu.au/blog/accounting-career-path-options – mentioned nowhere

Thompson, A. (2015). Google’s vision & mission statement. Retrieved from

https://www.google.com.au/about/company/ -Not relevant reference

From the garage to the Googleplex, Retrieved from https://www.google.com/about/our-

company/ - Used to search history of Google

The FY18/19 Hays Salary Guide, Retrieved from HAYS Recruiting experts worldwide- Did
not use anywhere

Occupational Outlook Handbook. (2018). Bureau of Labour Statistics, United States

Department of Labour, Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-
financial/accountants-and-auditors.htm

Arthur Jr., Bell, W., Villado, A. J., & Doverspike, D. (2006). The use of person-organization
fit in employment decision making: An assessment of its criterion-related validity, Journal of
Applied Psychology, 91(4), 786-801. DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.91.4.786 Mentioned in in text
for one paragraph. Please check whether it is relevant or not.

Silverthorne, C. (2004). The impact of organizational culture and person‐organization fit on

organizational commitment and job satisfaction in Taiwan, Leadership & Organization
Development Journal, 25(7), 592 – 599. DOI: 10.1108/01437730410561477 – Not relevant.
Nowhere mentioned in intext

19
(Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman and Johnson, 2005). – This should be in the reference list. Link
is stated above.

The following three references are taken from the attached document of the research done by
another student just to have some referance. Did not care whether they are relevant or not.
Therefore, I think these are not relevant.

Schwartz, E. (2014, October 24). Who’s really winning the search war. Search Engine land.

Retrieved from ‘http://searchengineland.com/whos-really-winning-search-war-204651’

Bastick, J. (2015, March 12). Everybody on the planet is our target audience. Retrieved from

‘http://www.bandt.com.au/marketing/everybody-on-the-planet-is-our-target-audience-google-

marketing-boss’

Softline Solutions. (2009, March 13). Search engine demographics-why it matters to your

business. Retrieved from ‘http://www.softlinesolutions.com/search-engine-demographics-

why-it-matters-to-your-business/’

Gallagher, F. (2015). How many users does Google+ really have’. Tech times. Retrieved

from’http://www.techtimes.com/articles/51205/20150506/many-users-google-really.html

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