My Experience with ACCG315

ACCG315 is the brainchild of Rahat Munir and took 1-2 years for him to create. I found this unit fun (not synonymous with laid back) and it was definitely a different experience compared to my other units. At first, I was a little intimidated by the fact that we had weekly assessment tasks and that we were given the opportunity to network with the industry partners at the end of each seminar. As the unit progressed and we became more familiar with the structure of things, it was manageable.

The weekly assessment tasks came in the form of 'reflections'. We were given a couple of questions based on the previous seminar and we were to answer them in relation to our expectations, opinions and what we had learnt. The reflections really did get me to reflect. I was prompted to think about the ways I was and wasn't prepared for the profession and what actions I could take to improve. I will most likely share them on this blog. For all my reflections, I was graded 4/5. Was hoping for maybe at least a 4.5 but not going to complain.

I was also surprised to find that there were no lectures, practicals or tutorials but instead, 3 hour seminars. I really enjoyed the seminars. For me, the most memorable presentations (in no particular order) were given by Anthony Matis, James Solomons, Lyndal York, Joycelyn Teh, Lynn Morrisson and Chris Mamarelis. The industry partners talked about their journey, what their industry was like and skills that were needed to do well and stand out. This was really beneficial to me since I did not know much about the day to day life of an accountant or much about the profession at all really.

After all the presentations, I have taken a liking towards advisory services, small to medium enterprises and not for profit organisations. I think it's the fact that it can be more rewarding and that the hours are much more sensible, which is a big plus for me.

30 percent of this subject was assessed on a 3000 word case study on the downfall of Enron, which is pretty much any accounting lecturer's favourite story. I managed to get a 24 out of 30 which I am very happy with as I was not confident about it. The group work also totalled to a 20% of our grade. Our group scored roughly over 75% in the report and we were awarded the "Best Presentation Award" which I was thrilled about. Watching the other groups' presentations also helped highlight issues accountants could face in their profession and what we could do to avoid or deal with them.

Although this unit was designed for third year accounting students, I am glad I took this in my second year as it made me aware of how difficult it is to land an internship and that we need to be persistent. If I had not taken this subject, I would probably have put off gaining any experience, creating a Linked In profile and writing a resume until after graduation. I think overall, this subject was really useful and neatly planned.


My takeaway from this unit is;

• The accounting profession is changing, and this is being driven by mainly technological, global and regulatory factors
• We need to be resilient and be able to not only adapt but even take advantage of these changes
• Accounting is not about numbers as much as it is about people
• Soft skills are just as important as being technically proficient
• You are allowed to have a personality
• First impressions are crucial
• Networking is not as daunting as you make it out to be
• Don't give up, get started early

(Our group with our awards and Lyndal, Joyce, Kamlee and a nice man who decided to join us in the back)