COLLEGEOF BUSINESS, HOSPITALITY AND

TOURISM STUDIES

Industrial Attachment Project

2020

Student Name: Avishy Ashneel Prasad

Student ID: 2017139816
Programmed of Study: Trade Diploma In Accounting
Attachment Organization: Om’s Medical Centre
Date: 14/09/20
1.0 Introduction
Industrial attachment is a requirement by Fiji National University where the student is
supposed to spend six months at an organization. Industrial attachment is a prescribed of
hands on work experience. The industrial attachment is supposed to enhance a student’s
practical expertise and make them appreciate their field of work before they completely
employed.

I have completed Trade Diploma In Accounting from Fiji National University; it is a

complete three-year course, which offers a comprehensive course in the theory and
applications of Accounting. This course offers a wider understanding of financial
instruments, institution, market and system. One gets to learn financial decision making
under uncertainty and this applied to many fields of employment and business strategies,
such as banking, stockbroking, financial consulting and many more.

The purpose of the project is to understand the role of the accounts payable officer and
the importance for an organization. The employees were really cooperative and helpful in
making the task easy. Therefore, while compiling the project one could realize that there
was rotation of duties yet task completed in teams if it would be time consuming.
2.0 Acknowledgement
I am thankful to OM’S Medical Center for providing me an opportunity to work in the
organization as an employee.

I would also like to acknowledge the following people who took out their time, to help me in
compiling my graduation assignment.

 Firstly, my Co-workers
 Secondly family and friends
 Thirdly the accounts department of Oms medical centre
3.0 Declaration
I Avishy Ashneel Prasad, herein declare that this project is my own compilation and
opinions express in this report are, based on my personal work experience, view
observations and finding.

Name …………………….
Sign…………………….
Date……………………
4.1 Job Description

During my work experience the job that I was allocated to do was:

 Receiving and recording vouchers, cash and cheques

 Data entry of patients into computer software linked to [FRCS]
 Balancing of cash daily
 File invoices according to date and verify with the statement provided by the
vendor for payment
 Reconciling of receivables and payables
 Entering personal details of customers visiting for the first time at medical Centre
[ Om’s Medical Centre]
4.2 Research Analysis on Accounts Payable Officer
The accounts payable process or function is immensely important since it involves nearly all
of a company's payments outside of payroll. An accounts payable department in a large
corporation might carry out the accounts payable process, by a small staff in a medium-sized
company, or by a bookkeeper or perhaps the owner in a small business. Regardless of the
company's size, the mission of accounts payable is to pay only the company's bills and
invoices that are legitimate and accurate. This means that before a vendor's invoice entered
into the accounting records and scheduled for payment, the invoice must reflect:

o what the company had ordered

o what the company has received
o The proper unit costs, calculations, totals, terms, etc.

To safeguard a company's cash and other assets, the accounts payable process should
have internal controls. A few reasons for internal controls are to:

o prevent paying a fraudulent invoice

o prevent paying an inaccurate invoice

o prevent paying a vendor invoice twice

o be certain that all vendor invoices are accounted for

The accounts payable process must also be efficient and accurate in order for the company's
financial statements to be accurate and complete. Because of double entry, accounting an
omission of a vendor invoice will actually cause two accounts to report incorrect amounts.
For example, if a repair expense not recorded in a timely manner:

1. the liability will be omitted from the balance sheet, and

2. The repair expense omitted from the income statement.

If the vendor invoice for a repair recorded twice, there will be two problems as well:

1. The liabilities will be overstated, and

2. Repairs expense will be overstated.

A receiving report is a company's documentation of the goods it has received. The receiving
report may be a paper form or it may be a computer entry. The quantity and description of the
goods shown on the receiving report should be compared to the information on the company's
purchase order. This is the delivery note.

After the receiving report and purchase order information are reconciled, they are compared
to the vendor invoice. Hence, the receiving report is the second of the three documents in the
three-way match.

The supplier or vendor will send an invoice to the company that had received the goods
and/or services on credit. When the invoice or bill received, the customer will refer to it as a
vendor invoice. Each vendor invoice routed to accounts payable for processing. After the
invoice verified and approved, the amount be credited to the company's Accounts Payable
account and will be debited to another account (often as an expense or asset).

When the vendor invoice is paid, the voucher and its attachments (including a copy of the
check that issued) will be stored in a paid voucher/invoice file. If paper documents are
involved, an office machine could perforate the word "PAID" through the voucher and its
attachments. This done to assure that a duplicate payment will not occur. The unpaid invoices
and vouchers held in an open file.

Creditors often send statements to their customers to indicate the amounts (listed by invoice
number) that remain unpaid. When a statement received, the details on the statement would
be compared to the company's records.

The fact that a company can be receiving both invoices and statements from a creditor means
there is the potential of a duplicate payment. In order to avoid making a duplicate payment,
companies often establish the following rule: Pay only from supplier invoices; never pay
from statements.
4.3 SWOT Analysis on Accounts Payable Officers Job
Description

Strength

 All data entry is done in the company system Linked to FRSC to avoid analytical
errors.
 The Financial Controller is responsible official approves important documents such as
hires, termination and wages.
 The Financial Controller approves all payments prior to payment.

Weaknesses

 Purchasing agent prepares purchase order, matches documents, and records entries.
 Payment not done on time.
 Not all invoices recorded in voucher register.
 Debit distribution on vouchers not reviewed.
 Unmatched invoices, receiving reports, and open purchase orders are not reviewed
periodically

Opportunities

 Time consumption reduction, effort and resources used to track and correct errors
 Can reduce Accounts Payable errors with automated processing

Threat

 Loss of profits and customers if unsatisfied

 Tarnished reputation in sector due to payment issues

5.0 Conclusion

To begin with, the purpose of this project is to analyze the role of the Accounts Payable,
which involves providing financial, administrative and clerical support to the organization.
Their role is to complete payments and control expenses by receiving payments, plus
processing, verifying and reconciling invoices.

Moreover, excellent software skills are another expectation of an accounts payable officer.

One need to be a pro in the art of communication, for interacting with coworkers from other
departments. It is also important that the officer is organized and very good at keeping track
of the information for which the officer is responsible. Discretion is vital because much of
that information will be confidential or sensitive. The ability to think critically and solve
problems can help one to figure out why ledgers and statements are not reconciling. Finally,
one need to be comfortable both working independently and as part of a team.

Furthermore, the accounts payable of an organization is an important working capital

account. Effective payables management can enhance a company’s short-term cash flow
position through the design of optimal timing of payments to suppliers. However, important
considerations should be given to excessive financing, as that has a direct impact on the credit
risk of the company and its short-term liquidity.

Finally, whether it is a career goal to become an accounts payable officer, or hope to move on
to another position one day, it is important to continue education. Take advantage of courses,
seminars or other training opportunities that an organization may offer. Along with adding
knowledge base, demonstrate to employers a continuing interest in a profession.
6.0 Recommendation

 Rotation of duties can be done in yearly basis to avoid any fraud being done.
 Avoid giving credits.
 More doctors can be hired.
Reference

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AccountingCoach.com. (2020). Accounts Payable Process | AccountingCoach. [online]

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