My Passion to Studying Accountancy and Finance

It was when my father taught me the game of “Cashflow 101” by Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, that I developed a keen interest in the world of finance. Through the game, I was able to better understand the management of assets and liabilities, and financial independence. It dawned upon me that with a thorough understanding of accounting principles and the financial world, I am able to pursue a career in the finance industry. Hence, this has sparked my interest to want to delve deeper into the studies of Accountancy.

As someone who likes to undertake responsibility and be a leader, I see myself as a potential business-owner in the future. Personally, I feel that accountancy is the language of the business world, as it signals key information to decision-makers. I believe that studying accountancy will teach me how to obtain valuable data and equip me with the technical skills to interpret and use such information in decision-making. As I want to become my own boss in the future, I reckon that pursuing this degree will allow me to understand the business world better and be one step closer to launching my own business.

My sister has been one of my major influencers to study this course. As she is currently specializing in Corporate Tax in one of the Big Four firms, her stories from work have inspired me to pursue Accountancy. She made me realise that a nation’s wealth is in its abilities to collect taxes in its diverse form and enabled me to draw better links between a firm’s decision and government revenue. Thus, her experience has piqued my curiosity to learn more about accountancy at a higher level and hopefully, be able to experience it for myself.

My A-level subjects have aided me in understanding more about my desired course. Economics has provided the foundation for my learning of key financial concepts. For example, while learning how to interpret a country’s balance of payments, I realised that this is similar to a firm’s balance sheet, except that the latter is on a micro level. This helps to facilitate my profound understanding of real-world accounting cases. As I have a strong inclination towards numbers, Mathematics enhanced my passion for problem-solving. It has also improved my efficiency in using various arithmetic variables, which is applicable to the analytical nature of this course.

Being an avid reader of The Economist and newspapers, I have kept up with the financial news. I feel that such readings helped me gain deeper insights of the going-ons in the financial world, which are otherwise not elaborated upon in school. For instance, the infamous Enron scandal and the more recent Toshiba Corporation fraud are notable examples of firms who “cook the books”; they falsified financial reports and overstated profits for years. To me, fraud is similar to stealing and an injustice to the trust and faith people have invested in you. Once this trust is shattered, shareholders, investors, employees and clients not only lose faith in the management but also the entire system the foundation of the business is built upon. The mismanagement of such huge corporations will have significant impact on the economy and possibly devastate the lives of many. Hence, I believe very strongly in a fair and upright system where corporate governance should be in place to protect the interests of stakeholders involved.

As a firm believer of honesty and integrity, I am especially drawn to accountancy as its values of impartiality and transparency aligns with my personal beliefs. It is important for accounting professionals to remain unbiased in the preparation and review of financial statements. In my opinion, studying this course will help me stay true to my beliefs and allow me to see how it translates in real-world accounting.

In a nutshell, I look forward to studying Accountancy and Finance as I am passionate about this field and I believe that this will allow me to achieve my ambition of being my own boss.

Works Cited

1. American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. (2019). Code of Professional Conduct.
2. Brigham, E. F., & Houston, J. F. (2018). Fundamentals of Financial Management (15th ed.). Cengage Learning.
3. Elliott, B., & Elliott, J. (2020). Financial Accounting and Reporting (18th ed.). Pearson Education Limited.
4. Friedlan, J. M., & Fess, P. E. (2021). Financial Accounting: A Critical Approach (6th ed.). Cengage Learning.
5. Kiyosaki, R. T. (2000). Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Warner Business Books.
6. Kimmel, P. D., Weygandt, J. J., & Kieso, D. E. (2019). Accounting: Tools for Business Decision Making (7th ed.). Wiley.
7. Nobes, C., & Parker, R. H. (2018). Comparative International Accounting (14th ed.). Pearson Education Limited.
8. Porter, G. A., & Norton, C. L. (2021). Financial Accounting: The Impact on Decision Makers (10th ed.). Cengage Learning.
9. Spiceland, J. D., Thomas, W., & Herrmann, D. (2021). Financial Accounting (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
10. Weygandt, J. J., Kimmel, P. D., & Kieso, D. E. (2020). Managerial Accounting: Tools for Business Decision Making (9th ed.). Wiley.