BKAX4912 PRACTICUM
BACHELOR OF ACCOUNTANCY
BAcct (Hons)
REPORT WRITING GUIDELINE
“To succeed is the ability to know what you want and how to get it”
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 1.0 INTRODUCTION 3 2.0 REPORT 3 3.0 REPORT WRITING GUIDELINES 5 4.0 ASSESSMENT OF PRACTICUM 9
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1.0 INTRODUCTION
Students of BAcct (Hons) program that have pursued practical training are required to write and submit a report. This report is a major vehicle for them to communicate what they have learnt and experienced during the practicum. Students are expected to be able to demonstrate some understanding of the existing knowledge in the subject matters, as well as to analyze and to discuss the subject matters well by relating them to the existing knowledge and interpreting their significance and contributions to the organisations. The aim of this set of guidelines is to provide students with some help towards producing a meaningful report on their practical training. In preparing this report, students are subject to “Akta Dan Peraturan Kecurangan Akademik, Perenggan 12 Akta UUM (Peperiksaan) 1988”.
2.0 REPORT
With the aim to provide flexibility in report preparation, students are given the options to produce any one of the following report types, namely:
1. Specific Issues on Practicum Company
2. Evaluation of the System/Internal Control
3. Evaluation of Specific Accounting Procedure
DESCRIPTION OF REPORT TYPES
1. Specific Issues on Practicum Company
Individuals or organisations can be a good source for developing problem- solving types of study or for writing a unique case study. For this kind of report writing, students need to identify any significant problem(s) faced by the organisation, its employees or its clients.
Some of the possible issues to be examined:
The extent of application of accounting treatments (methods, tools, techniques and concepts). This would allow students to examine whether what they have learnt theoretically in the classroom are being practiced by the organisation, and to find out what the best practices are.
Issues related to employee perception on specific issues e.g. paperless auditing, importance of internal control, computer-based accounting system, users’ satisfaction on computerised system etc.
Types of audit report issued to clients, investigation on the use of computerised audit procedure etc.
Problem(s) encountered while performing audit procedure, preparing
client’s account etc.
2. Evaluation of the System/Internal Control
For this type of report, students are expected to examine any existing organisational procedures (manual or computerised system) e.g. the sales system, expenditure system, fixed assets system, payroll system, loan processing procedure, etc.
Students are expected to be able to document the company’s business processes, to use internal control knowledge to evaluate strength and possible weaknesses of selected procedures. Besides that, students might be able to observe the implementation of internal control procedures in practice.
Specific requirements of this type of report are to:
provide narrative/description of the selected system (by identifying the activities, the person(s) participating in the activities, the documents and records maintained by the company and the control procedures applicable to the system),
prepare the document flowchart or the system flowchart in order to illustrate the process using simplified technique,
evaluate the strengths and the possible weaknesses of the existing system, and
provide recommendation for further improvement (if applicable).
This type of report generally requires a good understanding of the company’s
accounting information systems and its internal control procedures.
3. Evaluation of the Specific Accounting Procedure
This type of report requires students to examine and describe specific procedure. In addition, students are expected to highlight the standards/regulations/acts enforced; to examine the documents, which are related to the process; and to prepare work flow diagram indicating the process flow. Examples of this type of study are the auditing procedures for specialised businesses (e.g. banking, insurance etc); the procedures on company’s liquidation, and the conduct of the annual general meeting / extraordinary general meeting etc.
Specific requirements of this type of report are to:
provide detailed explanation of the procedures, relating them to the acts/standards and documents that are applicable to the chosen procedures,
prepare diagram/workflow diagram in order to summarise the whole procedures for better user understanding,
provide critical discussion/analysis of the findings on the selected procedures, and
provide supplementary materials e.g. a copy of relevant documents.
Note:
· It is advisable for students to get the oral or written consent from the organisation prior to obtaining confidential case materials. Alternatively, students may disguise some aspects of the case material so that neither the subject nor those who know the subject are identifiable.
· Students are advised to consult with their UUM supervisors and get their approval on the topic/case chosen before writing the report.
3.0 REPORT WRITING GUIDELINES
General report guidelines are as follows:
a. Report should be written in English between 30 to 50 printed pages (excluding appendices).
b. Use ‘Times New Roman’ of size 12 for font specifications.
c. Topics and subtopics should be indented consistently throughout the report. Numbering format may also be applied to topics and subtopics in a consistent way.
d. Use 1.5 spacing in the main text.
e. Page numbering begins on introduction page.
f. Use A4 size paper (210 mm x 297 mm or 8.27” x 11.69”).
g. Cover page must be a plain paper (no design) of light blue color.
h. Report should be fixed binding (comb binding is acceptable).
Note:
A soft copy of the report in CD format must be submitted together with the printed report.
A report must be organised in such a way that makes it presentable and readable. The suggested arrangement for this practicum report is as follows:
1. Cover and Topic Page
Cover page
Topic page
( [TOPIC] [NAME OF THE PRACTICUM ORGANISATION] [CITY AND STATE OF THE ORGANISATION] )
2. Acknowledgement
This section should be brief, condensed and may contain the expression of appreciation to all parties, individuals or organisation, who have assisted, financed, contributed or supported you in carrying out the study.
3. Disclaimer
A disclaimer is to be disclosed and signed by students to acknowledge that students will take full responsibility for the content of their reports and that the reports were truly prepared by them. Students are required to include the following disclaimer in the report:
( DISCLAIMER This practicum report is submitted to the Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz School of Accountancy (TISSA-UUM), Universiti Utara Malaysia in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor , Universiti Utara Malaysia. I, the undersigned, shall be responsible for the accuracy of all opinion, technical comment, factual report, data, figure
