Welcome to florianaccounting.blog.com
Florian Accounting is a franchisee of Aussie Tax Time Holdings, a registered tax agent and CPA practice. We also offer training and internship services to people who would like to kickstart their accounting career.
Our goal is to help you with your accounting career and job hunting and we have some interview tips. We will also answer any questions you may have for job interviews.
Please visit us at www.aussietaxtime.com for accounting and tax related services.
Please visit us at www.floriancorp.com.au or call us on 02 88894111 for training and internships
Hello
I have questions for you regarding excel skills. I have been told that the interviewer will ask me more questions on excel. Please advise me for the same.Thanks
My question to you please help me to know when and why did i use Vlook up and Pivot tables
What error one can make if they don’t do Vlook up properly and some insights in Excel questions
(like what reports i use to produce on excel and why and how they were useful.
Thanks for your question Rajal.
We have another question about Excel skills and when to use vlookup and pivot tables as well as what mistakes can occur when using them.
Excel is very relevant in todays workplace. Everyone, especially accountants should know how to use this reasonably well. A basic function is vlookup. Here, you would use vlookup as a code matching exercise. If you want to fill in a column of data with some other data based on a set of common lookup values. This can be really useful and save a lot of time. So, use it when there is a lot of data you need to match going down the column. Its called “V” lookup because its vertical. There is also a “H” lookup which is horizontal.
Pivot tables are useful as a summary tables. If you have a lot of data going down a page, you may be able to summarise it into a pivot table. Its basically a table with an automatic SUMIF and COUNTIF function. You can easily display lots of data into one small table. Furthermore, it lets you cut the data by any variable as you can select which data you want to analyse.
Common problems with vlookup and pivot tables?
Vlookup, some people dont lock the table array with $A$1 so the table array moves down the page. Better yet, select the column heading as the table array such as A:B.
Pivot tables, sometimes pivots wont work when you headings are not givenfor a set of data. A pivot table needs a column heading to work.
Did you ever have a situation where you had to analyse the Balance Sheet?
Thanks for the question Kate
Usually you will only need to analyse the P&L and reconcile the balance sheet. When you analyse the Balance Sheet, it is more for an approach to assess the financial health of the company. These are high level checks such as ratios like Interest Cover (how much cash on hand does a company have to cover its interest payments) or profitability ratios.
As an example, if there is too much cash, it might mean the company is being conservative, and they may need to invest those earnings. Also if the company has too much in retained earnings, withholding it without distributing it to shareholders, this may be an indication of tax avoidance of the key investors who want to postpone receiving a dividend.
Hi Florian team,
I was asked this question quite a few times during the interview:
What is your biggest achievement in the last 6 months? What shall I say to impress the interviewer?
Thanks.
Thanks Jessica
This is a good question and it looks at a number of things. It considers whether you are a type who excels in your professional life or other aspects of your life. It considers when your greatest achievement was (hopefully not too long ago). It also considers how you perceive yourself which can tell a lot about one’s personality.
This type of question can be practiced, and you should have an achievement ready in your preparation. You should demonstrate how proud you are of the achievement and how meaningful it was to you. You can always say that you are looking forward to greater achievements in the future.
Hi Florian
I got a call from a company for an Interview for the position of Reconciliation Officer. I am wondering what are the potential questions for that particular position?
If they ask me ” why should we hire you?” then what is the best answer? It is very funny ask this question to you but seriously i am very confuse.Just wanna know best answer.
Thank you for your great help.
Hi Anju
Thanks for your question. The potential questions for a Recs Officer would be “What software does your current company use to do reconciliations?”, “If you see a discrepancy between your books and bank statement, describe the steps taken to resolve the discrepancy?”, “How often do you do bank reconciliations?”, “Whats the daily volume of your bank transactions?”.
To the question, why should I hire you, please highlight your strengths that your friends might say about you. You also need to sell yourself well. This is much harder than you think because most people tend to be shy or dont like to show off, but in interviews, you need to take on a much bolder personality.
Good luck
Hi Florian,
I went for an interview last week for a payroll officer role, but i was having trouble trying to explain to them how the payroll is processed in a large company.
i was telling them how to do it in myob, and they were not satisfied with my answer.
can you please give me some detailed steps, as we only covered payroll in a small company.
Hi Sammy
Thanks for your question.
Youre right, in our level 1 training, we only covered payroll functions in companies where MYOB is used, usually small and medium. Large companies will use SAP, Oracle, Micropay and Peoplesoft. You usually wont have this experience unless you have worked for large listed organisations. If you didnt have this experience, its going to be very hard for you to get the job if thats what they require. And you need to be honest and not exaggerate your experience. However, you still should focus on the principles and procedures of the general payroll process to impress your employer with your technical skills. Sometimes, if the employer is looking for something quite specific which you dont have, then you need to be able to walk away from the role and focus your energy on the roles that you can perform well in.
Good luck
Hi Florian,
Can you please clarify or explain the following doubts about Accruals:
The very definition of Accruals is considering the expenses and revenues for the P&L period. The way we do at Florian Actual (YTD) v Budget (YTD) results in variance and rounding the Amount to closest $10 and Accrue them accordingly.
Doubts:
1. How can we accrue the actual expenses and revenues for the P & L period without the budget.
2. If you can explain me with a invoice dated 15thof the month for 2 months for $2000.
3. Explain where services provided and payment received $1500 but income unearned.
Thank you and appreciate your help.
HI John
In answer to your questions:
1. If you dont have a budget, the best way is to use the prior month bill as an indication of the monthly spend.
2. Your question is not written clearly. If you wanted to enter this, if you recvd the invoice in the middle of the month, which is after you finalise the financials, if you under-accrued, you cannot go back to change the figure. However most companies would factor in this $2000 in their budget which would allow you to accrue to this level.
3. Your question is not clear, please be clearer in what you would like explained.
Good luck
Florian
Hi Florian,
I would like to know, how are invoices filed in a large company?
Also, when it comes to paying off credit card liability for each period, who will decide how much is to be paid back to credit card company?
Thanks for your help.
Thanks for your question, Sammy.
In large organisations, invoices are usually filed by batches. Different AP clerks will look after different letters. All invoices should be processed in FIFO order, unless it is really urgent. The processed invoices will be batched up and uploaded in the system. Each batch, say 100 invoices, will be assigned one batch no. That is the key for you to relocate the original tax invoice for later days.
When the company is in the positive healthy cash position, credit card debt should be paid in full to avoid interest charges. Once all charges have been approved by the managers who supervise all card holders, payment should be transfered to the credit card company by accounts payable. It is like the invoice companies have to pay. But the Financial controller usually has the ultimate authority to approve the payment online.
Florian
Hi Florian,
1)
I am doing fixed asset register, On mannual step 1 is ENTER PURCHASE OF 5 DESIGNER CHAIRS (1/1/10)
[ AP procedures]
My question is where to find this information ( price of chairs etc).
2) I did prepayments last saturday. But at the end Prepayment bal on B/S is not matching with total remaining b/c om prep. SS 31/1/11.
I tried to find my mistake but I couldn’t. How can I go through with this problem? Please help.
Thanks for support.
Hi Jas,
Thanks for your question.
• Fixed Assets Register – The manual simply tells you what to do when you receive fixed asset tax invoices as an AP clerk. Once the company purchases new assets, the items should be updated on the company’s Fixed Assets Register;
• If your Prepayment ending on the balance on Balance Sheet does not match the total assets level on the Fixed Asset Register. It could be due to one of the below causes:
1. Firstly, you might have forgotten to update the newly purchased item;
2. Secondly, you probably didn’t update the formula contained in the FAR excel sheet correctly for the remaining balance and expense/month;
3. Finally, you probably didn’t transfer the exact amounts from FAR to MYOB. Make sure you use your attention to detail.
If you still have any queries when you perform Month End tasks, please feel free to approach your accountant or team leader for assistance.
Hi Coco,
Thanks for your reply to my questions.
I do have a few more questions to ask you, as I have been studying tax:
1. Is the Medicare levy only applicable to individuals?
2. Do wine retailers charge the WET tax as well? Are those who charge the WET able to claim it back from the ATO? Is GST charged on top of the WET?
3. Are donations taxable?
4. Can we include any sales of capital assets in our installment income on the BAS when we are working out our PAYG Instalment?
5. How do we reconcile our payroll accounts?
Thank you for your reply.
Thanks for the question. Please find the responses:
1. Is the Medicare levy only applicable to individuals? – Yes, being 1.5% of taxpayer’s taxable income. Please note that certain tax payers are entitled to the exemption.
2. Do wine retailers charge the WET tax as well? Are those who charge the WET able to claim it back from the ATO? Is GST charged on top of the WET? – Wine equalisation tax (WET) is a value based tax which generally applies on the last wholesale sale of wine, usually between the wholesaler and the retailer. For retailers, WET forms part of the cost when they purchase the stock. In general, only the wine manufactures are entitled to the WET rebate (29%). According to ATO: ‘Only WET producer of that wine – that is, you must manufacture the wine from grapes, other fruit, vegetables or honey you produce or purchase, or provide the grapes, other fruit, vegetables or honey to a contract winemaker to be made into wine on your behalf’ can claim the WET rebate. GST is separate from WET. The Retailer usually will factor WET into the sales price. GST is just charged on top of that.
3. Are donations taxable? – Donations above $2.00 to Deductible Gift Recipients (DGR) is deductible for tax payers; So make sure they have DGR status. The tax is exempted for DGR.
4. Can we include any sales of capital assets in our installment income on the BAS when we are working out our PAYG Instalment? – There is no need to include the company’s capital gain on the BAS. The PAYG instalment on the BAS is mainly related to Income Tax and PAYG tax withheld from employees’ wages and salaries.
5. How do we reconcile our payroll accounts? – Your total Super liabilities and PAYG shown on the Balance Sheet will have to match the sum of those liabilities owed to each individual employees.
I started a career in accounting using MYOB , I have three years of audit experience overseas though. My question is how to master the tax stuff ?
Hi Amer,
Thanks for your enquiry.
To step into the taxation area, you need to work under an accountant who is practising as a tax agent and provide taxation services to public. If you have the CPA qualification, you only need to practice in a public accounting firm for a year in the taxation area before you can apply for the tax agent license. When you process company tax returns at the year end, you will need to utilise your MYOB skills to analyse clients’ financial info. When you perform an audit for clients, you will be able to utilise your audit knowledge. In general, audit knowledge is quite transferable. So if you would like to step into taxation area, you should divert your job hunting focus towards the public accounting sector.
Florian Accounting
Hi, I have come across an interview question with which I would like to get some help. The question is:
There are many different division within this company and within the finance teams – financial accounting, management accounting, capital accounting, analytics etc. Which area excites you most and why?
Choosing a division of my interest and answering is not a problem. But I would be grateful if you could suggest me something specific that an employer would like to hear in the answer. What should I focus on more?
Thanks in advance.
Hi Sudip,
I think the principle should be showing that you have the flexibility to take on any roles that are potentially available for you. Do not be picky and choosy. But meanwhile, you should also feel free to let your future employers know that you are quite determined and not afraid to show who you really are and what you are really interested in.
Hence, I would mention that I wouldn’t mind stepping into any area if there is opportunity available. But management accounting so far always stimulates my interest as I’ve been working in that area for a while.
Hi Coco,
I wanted to know how often is A/P reconciled in a small to medium sized firm? For example, how many reconciliations would you do during a month?
Hi Sammy,
As shown in the internship, Accounts Payable reconciliation in Florian is usually done on a monthly basis as we negotiated the payment terms with all our suppliers as 15days EOM. So we will run our payment on a monthly basis. Apart from doing banking reconciliation straight after payment is released, we also have to make sure that the Trade Creditor account balance, AP ageing report grand total and sum of all tax invoices are all reconciled prior to the payment being made.
Thank you and Please continue to keep updating your Blog. I is going to be stopping by each and every time you do .
Really interesting content articles. I enjoyed reading through it.
what is public accounting firm? thanks
Hi Shirley
Good question.
A public accounting firm provides accounting services to the general public. As an accountant, working for a public accounting firm is a career opportunity and you can work with different clients who need accounting work. If you worked here, you might work for many different types of clients across many different industries.
The other area for an accounting career is commercial accounting. This is where you work for only one entity and do the accounting work for that organisation.
There are pros and cons for both.
For public accounting, there is good prestige, especially if you work for a big 4 firm or even a 2nd tier firm as they are large, well known and highly professional. They will look good on your resume because many people know them, eg. PWC, Deloittes, E&Y . The con is that the pay may not be high in the beginning because many people want to enter these firms. They also make you charge time by 6 or 10 minute increments. There is therefore pressure from supervisors who will monitor your ability to produce “chargeable hours” to the client. If you can stay there long enough you might want to try to become a “partner” which is very lucrative, but its very competitive and also you need to be able to bring in clients so your sales skills will need to be strong.
For commercial accounting firms, the benefit is that you may have less constant pressure, but instead have a lot of month end pressure because these tasks revolve around reporting the financial situation to management in month end reports. The con is that people might become bored of the role because its reasonably repetitive for the same “client”.
Good luck in your career
Florian
Accually, this the right advice in accounting topics. Just wanna say thank you and good job.