Internship in Accounting Internship Guide Effective from 2013 Internship programme of the Department of Accountancy (IDeA) Faculty of Commerce & Management studies University of Kelaniya 1
Contents Introduction... 3 Internship Program Overview... 4 Benefits of Internship Programme... 4 Internship Guidelines and Agreements... 6 Accounting Internship Requirements... 8 Internship Placement Areas... 9 Internship Guidelines for students... 10 Internship Guidelines for Academic Supervisor... 11 Internship Guidelines for Internship coordinators... 11 Internship Guidelines for Employers/Training Supervisors... 11 Abuse and Harassment of Interns... 12 Internship Evaluation... 13 Internship Completion... 15 Facilities for the Interns... 15 Ethics of DoA Interns... 16 2
Introduction An internship is a learning process in a business environment providing opportunities for an undergraduate to apply theoretical classroom learning into the world of work. Internship in Accounting is arranged by the Department of Accountancy (DoA) for its undergraduates. Employers view student internship participation as a very valuable and necessary value added qualification for undergraduates to be considered for full-time positions upon graduation. Similarly DoA considers internship experiences to be an important credential for a graduate. Because of this, the Department of Accountancy has embedded an internship in accounting course to its degree programme since 1999. The purpose of this Internship Guide is to provide students, faculty members and employers with general information about the internship program at DoA and to assist them in their role. Interns, employers and academic supervisor roles; which are central to an academically sound internship programme, are described in the following pages. If you have any further clarifications, please do not hesitate to contact Internship Coordinator, Mrs.U.A.H.A. Rathnasiri (e-mail: hashika@kln.ac.lk Tel : 071-4407418) Postal Address: Internship in Accounting Center Department of Accountancy, Faculty of Commerce & Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Kelaniya. Telephone (Office): 0112-903566 3
Internship Program Overview The Department of Accoutnacy, University of Kelaniya offers an active, well established Internship program to its undergraduates. Students are successfully complete over 1000 hours of experience each year in reputed audit and non-audit sector organizations. Successful internships provide students with an unparalleled opportunity to apply their classroom learning to the workplace. Internships also provide host organizations with high achieving workers who bring fresh perspectives and ideas. Objectives of Internship in Accounting An internship is a pre-professional learning experience that offers meaningful, practical work experience related to a student s field of study or career interest. Internship programme allows the students to apply principles and theory learned in the classroom in a professional environment. Through an internship, students are provided an opportunity for career exploration and development as well as an opportunity to learn new skills. Accordingly, Internship in Accountancy programme provides an opportunity to develop following avenues for the interns. a) Application of technical knowledge Ability to relate the knowledge gained from accounting, taxation, auditing, regulatory requirements and financial management to business functions and activities. b) Development of professional values, ethics and attitudes Developing appropriate professional values, ethics and attitudes in practical, real life situations. c) Inculcate professional responsibility Opportunity to work at different levels of management tiers, understand authority delegation and responsibilities of the position d) Business awareness Acquainted with the environment in which services are provided 4
e) Professional skills To enhance intellectual, interpersonal, communication and business management skills f) Information technology (IT) To apply information technology to evolve an integrated structure to achieve learning outcomes. Characteristics of an Internship include: Time period: one year to one an half years Generally at one employer site at a time Usually part-time; may be paid or unpaid Learning activities common to most internships include learning objectives, observation, reflection, evaluation and assessment Benefits of Internship Programs For Employers A cost effective opportunity to evaluate and identify potential future employee. Access to students with necessary skills and/or knowledge. A way to gain short term talent to assist current employees. Enthusiastic, innovative workers who can contribute new ideas based on their academic learning. Fulfilling the corporate social responsibility. Enhanced visibility for your organization within the university structure. For Students Provides a full and realistic view of the world-of-work. Integrates academic preparation with practical application and skill development in the workplace. Acquire hands-on work experience. 5
An opportunity to network with professionals in one s field of interest. A chance to explore career options and develop transferable skills. Develop professional contacts Learn directly from experienced professionals Gain experience in a real world situation, including interviewing, working with others, communication skills and culture of various work environments Internship Guidelines and Agreements Internships are a wonderful way for undergraduates to make connections between their course work and the world where their knowledge, skills and abilities will be applied upon graduation. Following are the general guidelines; Internship Guidelines Internship in Accounting of the DoA is a compulsory course unit for Bachelor of Business Management (Special) Degree in Accountancy Programme that consists of six credits. The student should complete minimum of one thousand (1000) hours of practical training in year IV. Students are allowed to engage in the practical training from second semester in year III; however the effective date of the practical training will be semester I in the year IV. An internship may continue for two semesters, but student can continue for a longer period if he/she wishes. Internship has a pre-defined commencement and end date. No credit is granted for work that a student has already been performed. An internship must convey a completely new assignment. Students are called upon for monthly meetings to discuss the progress and the issues encountered during their internship. Participation for meetings is compulsory. Date and 6
the time for each meeting will be announced via Learning Management System (LMS) and email. All interns should update their training location. Information sheet is available in the DoA LMS. Students are expected to cover following experience areas and categories and complete the required minimum hours of training from each category. Sub areas of each experience category are mentioned in the training Record Book. Auditing / Financial Accounting 650 Management Accounting 100 Financial Management 100 Taxation 100 Company Secretarial Practice 50 *Use of Information Technology **Other specified categories Total 1000 * Use of Information Technology need to be clearly mentioned in the record book (under the computer based work) the minimum computer processing engagement would be 100 hours. * Special work done other than the main five (5) categories should be mentioned under this section. The DoA reserves the right to terminate students from the Internship programme if the agreement is breached. If the student does not adhering into internship timelines, he/she will not earn credit for the internship. 7
Internship Agreement The commencement of the period of training will be the date on which the trainee and the supervising member enter into a training agreement subject to the effective date of the training period. Student should collect the training agreement from the DoA or download from the LMS of Internship in Accounting. Training agreement is available in triplicate (copy of DoA, training organization and the student). Student should submit the completed training agreement to the DoA at the commencement of the Training. If a trainee has to change the Internship organization due to some reason, fresh agreement should be signed with the incumbent training organization. Accounting Internship Requirements: Interns must meet the following specific requirements:. The internship agreement shall be approved in advance by the Internship coordinator. The employing firm shall provide a significant accounting related work experience with adequate training and supervision of the work completed by the student. The employing firm shall provide an evaluation of the student at the conclusion of the internship; provide a copy of the documentation to the faculty coordinator and the student. The student shall keep a diary containing a chronological list of all work experiences gained in the internship. The students and/or academic supervisor shall provide evidence of all items upon request by the board. Intern should maintain their Record book and should strictly comply following requirements. Complete the information sheets of the training record book at the end of each working day accurately. Any further explanations can be written in the blank pages provided in the record book which are titled as Notes For the evaluation purpose, the maximum working hours per day would be 8 hours. The weekends and public holidays are not allowed as working days for evaluation. 8
Record books that signed by the assigned academic supervisor, should be date stamped from the DoA at the end of the each quarters. (dates will be announced through the LMS and e-mails) Fill the Quarter summaries and Master summary accurately. Incomplete record books or altered summaries will not be accepted. Student should submit the completed record book to the Internship office of DoA at the given date for evaluation and student will receive it back at the interview. Students need to submit only the DoA training record book. Maintain the training record book neatly. Intern is required to submit a Case study report. The intern should submit a separate case study report based on the issues encountered in Accounting/ Auditing/ Finance / Management during the training period. The report should be prepared by Intern and it should be signed by the Academic Supervisor. Interns are encouraged to get it signed by the Training Supervisor. The report consists of introduction, issues, implications, recommendations and conclusion etc. You are strongly advised to adhere to the guidelines separately given for the case study report. Internship Placement Areas Students are allowed to select any training organization approved by DoA. Public Practice Organizations (Audit Sector) Any Firms of Chartered Accountants and the Auditor General s Department Non-public Practice Organizations (Non Audit Sector) All organizations other than firms of Chartered Accountants and Auditor Generals Department will be recognized if the following criteria are satisfied. Student who can work in Audit/Accounting/Finance departments/section of 9
Any listed company/ or Any other organization Students should be attached to the above mentioned departments/section which has a professionally qualified Accountant or a Degree holder in Accountancy/Finance from any recognized University. DoA grants the approval for non-public practice organizations by considering following factors into consideration. - Number of employees - Annual turnover - Qualification of the supervising member Note: Students are strongly advised not to change their training organization since it disturb achieving set objectives and smooth functioning of the programme. However due to some reasons student is allowed to change the training organization, if only DoA accepts it as reasonable and with the approval from the training organization. In the event of changing training organisation, student is required to inform the coordinator of Internship in Accounting in writing and required to obtain prior approval for such a change. Internship Guidelines for students Initially, the student is to ensure that they have met all the Internship prerequisites before seeking and obtaining an internship. Once the student has secured an internship, he or she must contact the internship coordinator of DoA to obtain approval and complete the proper paperwork for the internship. The students must keep and submit record book monthly comprising a chronological list of work experience gained in the internship and must provide a copy to the academic coordinator. Accordingly, students need to meet their academic supervisor at least once a month to clarify expectations and responsibilities. Student should communicate with the academic supervisor for any issue regarding the internship. In addition, the intern is required to maintain high standards of professionalism while at the internship site. Students are required to get the authentication by the training supervisor for the works done. Further they should get signed his/ her record book by the assigned academic supervisor at the end of each quarter. Duly completed 10
and authenticated record book should be submitted to the Internship office on the date prescribed by the DoA for review and evaluation. Internship Guidelines for Academic Supervisor Academic supervisor should maintain close rapport with the assigned interns throughout the internship period. Supervisor needs to ensure that the student is engaged in experience categories defined in Internship Guide. Supervisor should review the progress of interns at the end of each month and place his or her signature on the Progress report of Internship in Accounting. Further, Academic supervisor should sign the record book at the end of each quarter only for the interns who meet regularly at the end of each month. Academic supervisor needs to contact training supervisors and obtain their quarterly feedback. Academic supervisor is required to provide feedback about the assigned interns on request of the Internship Coordinators. Internship Guidelines for Internship coordinators Coordinators are responsible for informing the participants in the internship of their roles and responsibilities and maintaining regular communication with the student during the internship. Once the student finds an internship, coordinators are responsible for approving individual internship placement and ensuring that all parties involved sign the agreements prior to the commencement of the internship. The coordinators address questions and, if necessary, mediate problems and issues among the participants in the experience. Coordinators are also responsible for organizing the final evaluation of the internship. Further, they should get feedback from training supervisors and conduct site visits to the places where students are engaging in training to ensure that the students will obtain authentic training. Internship Guidelines for Employers/ Training Supervisors Training supervisor should be professionally qualified (FCA, ACA, ACMA, ACCA, CFA) or Degree holder in Accounting / Finance from a recognized university. Training supervisors are responsible for orienting interns to the organization, supervising, directing, and evaluating their 11
work. Supervisor needs to assess the student s performance by completing two evaluations at the first quarter and the second quarter. In addition, he/she should authenticate the work done by the intern by placing his signature on each page of the record book. Further, he/she should verify the accuracy of the Quarterly summary and the Master summary of the record book. Criteria to consider when evaluating an intern include: Progress towards or accomplishment of learning objectives as stated in the learning agreement Skill development or job knowledge gained over the course of the internship Overall contribution to the mission of the organization Dependability, punctuality, attendance Relations with others, overall attitude Potential in the field Further, training supervisor is required to provide feedback about the intern upon request of the DoA. Ending the Internship An internship should have a clearly stated end date that is identified before the internship begins. Completing a formal evaluation process such as the one described above can help both the organization and the intern to put closure on the experience. If you are considering hiring the intern for a full time or part time position, it is important to make this transition. Employers can recruit Interns via Posting your internship to internship office. Attending a Career Fair or Career Event organized by the DoA or University Career Guidance unit Abuse and Harassment of Interns Sexual abuse and/or harassment can take many forms ranging from unwelcome sexual advances to other verbal or physical behavior. Such behavior can create uncomfortable (i.e., embarrassing, intimidating, hostile or offensive) work and learning environment. Sexual abuse and/or harassment of any form should definitely not be tolerated. Often, 12
miscommunication and misunderstanding can be resolved if identified and addressed early. If early intervention is unsuccessful, further steps will be taken. If an intern feels that they are being sexually harassed during the internship experience, the student should contact the academic supervisor for assistance. If academic supervisor suspect that the student is experiencing sexual abuse or harassment you are encouraged to consult the Internship Coordinator immediately so that a coordinated strategy can be developed for addressing the problem. Internship Evaluation Student evaluation is done by the evaluation committee of the DoA and students are evaluated as follows: Record book - 40% Viva-Voce Examination - 60% Record Book: Student record book is evaluated by the internship evaluation committee of the DoA. Students are strongly advised to fulfill all the requirements. If students don t complete the requirements specialized by the last day of the training period, the student will be given a grade of incomplete or fail for the internship. In certain cases, this may cause graduation to be delayed. It is student s responsibility to ensure that the Internship coordinator receives all the documentation in a timely fashion and in acceptable condition. Viva-Voce Examination- At the end of the training period, students are invited for a Viva-Voce Examination and evaluated by the internship evaluation committee of DoA. The DoA will announce the Date, time and venue in advance. Students are required to adhere to the following. a) Student should bring examination admission card issued by Faculty of Commerce & Management Studies, (Admission issue date will be announced) and it is mandatory to provide it at the Viva-Voce Examination. b) Student should submit all certificates (academic, professional exams, sports and other extra curriculum activities) at the Viva-Voce Examination. 13
c) Students are asked to make oral presentation at the Vice-Voce examination. Training and evaluation board will raise questions whenever necessary. At the Viva-Voce examination, assessments will be done based on the followings. 1. Content of the presentation 2. Case Study report in Auditing/Accounting/Finance/Management 3. Skill development report 4. Presentation skills 5. Time management 6. Lecture participation. 7. Academic performance 8. Professional qualifications 9. Extracurricular activities (ASAK activities, Sports etc.) 10. Compilations with guidelines Academic Honesty and Plagiarism: While this internship will be unlike a traditional class, it will still adhere to university policies on academic honesty and plagiarism: Academic Honesty: Academic integrity is a fundamental value at the DoA, University of Kelaniya. It must be at the heart of all our endeavors and must guide our actions every day as students and as members of the faculty, administration, and staff. Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and deception and is an educational objective of this institution. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarizing, fabricating of information or citations, facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, having unauthorized possession of examinations, submitting work of another person or work previously used without informing the instructor, or tampering with the academic work of other students. Plagiarism: If a student presents the ideas or words of someone else as you own. You are responsible for understanding the definitions of plagiarism and academic dishonesty. Keep in mind that plagiarism is a serious violation of the student academic honor code and university by-laws related to assessment and examination matters. 14
Internship Completion The Department of Accountancy annually organizes an event IDeA Night, to award the students those who have completed successfully and for the best performers of Internship in Accounting. The objective of IDeA Night is to emerge a platform to meet Accountancy students, academia with corporate sector representative. It will provide an opportunity to recognize and attract best recruits for their organizations. This event greatly enhanced the networking among all stakeholders. Eventually the IDeA night will become a talent show for students and it will be able to present and show their skills to industry partners. Award of certificates and special awards for best performances Students who have successfully completed the Internship in accounting course will be awarded a certificate of achievement at the IDeA night. Special award for the best performer is given for a student who scores the highest marks (Grade A or above) for Internship in Accounting Course Unit. Facilities for the Interns Learning Management System (LMS) All communication of Internship in Accounting will be done through LMS. Automatically the LMS notice will also email to individual student. Therefore students are advised to check their mails and access LMS through www.doa.kln.ac.lk regularly. Students are required to comply with, Complete the student data base in the LMS and update the student record in the data base whenever necessary. (When changing the student information) Student should provide a valid e-mail address since DoA will communicate with the interns through e-mails. Student will be given an enrollment key to access LMS for Internship in Accounting. Students are required to keep continuous dialog with the DoA through LMS and e- mail. 15
Transport DoA provides transport facilities (52 seater Ashok Leyland Motor Coach) for the interns throughout their internship period. The Motor Coach leaves from the university premises at 6.45 a.m via Peliyagoda, Borella, Petta, to Bambalapitiya. From the Bambalapitiya it starts return journey to the university at 4.30 p.m following the same route. Students are advised to use the transport facility as much as possible. Students are required to obtain a monthly season ticket from the DoA. For monthly season ticket, student should deposit Rs 500/= in Peoples Bank, Account No 055100180669229 in favour of the University of Kelaniya and submit the deposit slip to the DoA. Ethics of DoA Interns Development of the ethics and attitudes plays a major role in the process of producing quality graduates. The DoA expects an ethical behavior from the students. This will enhance the image of the DoA as well as the University of Kelaniya. Some of the ethical considerations are mentioned below. Providing authentic training records. Meeting deadlines. Safeguarding and avoid misuse of organizational resources. Avoid from any activity that will discredit the training organization, DoA and the University of Kelaniya. 16