Writer's Memo - Summative Essay

Learning About Your Field

             It has not been long since I chose a field that I want to continue learning about. The only reasons for choosing to become an accountant were stable and high wage, and its prestige. However, as I started the Disciplinary Literacies Digital Portfolio, I learned that there is still a lot to learn about accounting. As I researched and blogged about the field, one fact that I learned about accounting is that it requires high level of ethics.

             Integrity is one of the most important and basic ethics of accounting. Of course, there is almost no job that requires people to be dishonest. However, the consequence of being dishonest in the accounting field is severe. For example, Arthur Anderson, a firm that was once a member of the Big 5, was convicted of allowing the Enron Corporation to shred documents that were related to the corporation’s accounting. As a result, Arthur Anderson, a “prestigious Chicago auditing firm” ("The Fall of Andersen"), lost its reputation and bankrupted within several months. Even a huge firm like Arthur Andersen failed to rise again after being involved in a scandal. I learned how significant integrity on the job is, and how I need to be honest in order to keep myself in a desired position. Also, a senior member of MSU Accounting Club for Asians (MACA) said in her presentation about internships that interviewers of corporations look closely at the candidate’s confidence since candidates who are honest should be confident with their answers.

             Another ethic of accounting is responsibility. Accountants have to be responsible for their works which means that they should not overwhelm themselves. According to “eNotes”, “[a]ccounting professionals should only undertake tasks that they can complete with professional competence, and they must carry out their responsibilities with sufficient care and diligence” ("Ethics in Accounting"). Accountants’ work can cause huge impacts in economics of not only the country, but also the world if done wrong. If a company’s financial statement has higher profit than the actual profit due to a mistake or dishonesty of accountants, people who believed the financial statement and invested in that company can lose their money. I could see how accounting professionals are responsible for their work when I heard from Scott Bronson, an accounting professor at Michigan State University. He told me that he goes through 8 steps to write one paper. Since I am a spontaneous writer, who plans as I write, I might not be good material for accounting yet. However, after I came to the university, my writing style has changed. I do not procrastinate when writing a paper and proofread it at least twice before handing in. The high responsibility in accountant’s tasks gives the job high authority, and that is why a lot of people want to become accountants.

             The obligations of accountants are not appeals to pathos, but only appeals to ethos. Even though many corporations do not like accountants since they do not have flexibility and are not helpful for corporations’ profits, without accountants, businesses will not be healthy, and companies will not be able “to make sound business decisions” ("Why Do We Need Accounting?").

Learning about my Research/Writing

             Until I came to Michigan State University, I was having hard time choosing between marketing and accounting, and I had almost decided to go into marketing since it had more diverse paths that I can take. However, after coming to the university and thinking about which field more suits my personality, I decided to become an accounting major. Thus, it has not been long since I decided to take this path of life, which gave me very little time to get to know what accounting is all about. As a result, by recording what I learned about my field in my blog, I gained better sense of my field. In the beginning, I was thinking of becoming an accountant of a corporation or a company, but as I started researching about my field, I decided to become an auditor.

             When I became a part of the MSU Accounting Club for Asians, I was surprised that actually almost all of the members wanted to be employed by auditing firms. There were about five regular meetings with topics that are helpful for accounting majors. The topics were about accounting courses at MSU, and about internship at auditing firms. However, there was no topic about accounting at corporations.

             The reason why I decided to work for audit firms is that accountants who work for corporations do not have that much authority. According to the article, “Starbucks, Amazon and Google accused of being 'immoral'" (Ebrahimi), accountants were criticized for letting these huge companies to cheat on paying taxes. Even though their actions were not illegal, they were a violation of ethics. I realized that some of accountants who work for companies other than audit firms can violate the code of ethics if they are ordered by their superiors. However, auditors could remain objective since, if they do not, they will lose their title as an auditor.

             This blogging experience gave me a goal. One senior in MACA suggested that I prepare and try for a leadership program because I am young and have more time than other members. After learning about the existence and advantage of leadership programs offered by Big 4 audit firms, I decided to prepare myself for the leadership programs. I am going to start on writing a resume and keep my GPA high, so that I can be a capable candidate.

             The blogging experience, also, gave me chances to have a talk with a current accounting professor vis-à-vis. He taught me new term, “Journal.” When he was answering to what he normally writes, he said that he writes research papers, memos, letters, and journals. Then he asked me if I know what journal is, and I could not answer. He told me that it is a record of transactions, also called, “account.”  According to Professor Bronson, he realized that he has natural talent in accounting which made me wondering. Since I was 20 minutes late to the interview with him, I could not ask personal questions such as how he knew that he had natural talent. If I do well in accounting classes, does that mean that I have “natural talent” in accounting? Or if I enjoy the classes and learning about accounting, does that mean that I have “natural talent”? Also, what actually is “natural talent” in accounting? I want to know when and how a person can realize his/her giftedness in this field. I believe more experience and learning will give me solution to these questions.

Work Cited

"Why Do We Need Accounting?" Why Important to Business, Study, Financial, Managerial, Basics. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Sept. 2012. <http://www.moneyinstructor.com/art/needaccounting.asp>.

"The Fall of Andersen." Chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune, 1 Sept. 2002. Web. 03 Nov. 2012. <http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-0209010315sep01,0,538751.story>.

"Ethics in Accounting." Enotes.com. Enotes.com, n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2012. <http://www.enotes.com/ethics-accounting-reference/ethics-accounting>.

Ebrahimi, Helia. "Starbucks, Amazon and Google Accused of Being 'immoral'" The Telegraph. N.p., 12 Nov. 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/tax/9673358/Starbucks-Amazon-and-Google-accused-of-being-immoral.html>.