Internship finance (Essay Sample)

Internship Finance
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Contents
TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc382497894 \h 1
History of the contracting company PAGEREF _Toc382497895 \h 2
Services offered by the company PAGEREF _Toc382497896 \h 2
Main costs incurred by Glow PAGEREF _Toc382497897 \h 3
Offices rents and rates PAGEREF _Toc382497898 \h 3
Employee's salaries and wages PAGEREF _Toc382497899 \h 3
Research and other advertising research activities PAGEREF _Toc382497900 \h 4
Information technology and system software maintenance PAGEREF _Toc382497901 \h 4
Reimbursements, petty cash transactions and other daily expenses PAGEREF _Toc382497902 \h 4
External factors that create challenges and opportunities for the company PAGEREF _Toc382497903 \h 4
Government PAGEREF _Toc382497904 \h 5
Competition PAGEREF _Toc382497905 \h 5
Strategies employed by the management to respond to challenges and opportunities PAGEREF _Toc382497906 \h 5
Negotiation with the government officials PAGEREF _Toc382497907 \h 5
Opening talks and forums with the competing firms PAGEREF _Toc382497908 \h 5
The culture of the organization PAGEREF _Toc382497909 \h 6
Budget controlling PAGEREF _Toc382497910 \h 6
Competencies applied or developed at the work environment PAGEREF _Toc382497911 \h 7
1.Finance skills PAGEREF _Toc382497912 \h 7
2.Financial software PAGEREF _Toc382497913 \h 8
3.Tracking budget expenses PAGEREF _Toc382497914 \h 9
4.Analyzing information PAGEREF _Toc382497915 \h 9
My socializing mode in at Glow communications PAGEREF _Toc382497916 \h 10
My responsibilities in the organization PAGEREF _Toc382497917 \h 10
Connections of my coursework with the duties in the organization PAGEREF _Toc382497918 \h 10
Introduction
Advertising is the one of the most crucial activities in the growth of every organization. Advertising is very tedious act and needs high qualified personnel and much dedicated staffs to make the activity successful. There are various complex activities and tricks that need to be taken very serious upon running an advertising agency or a contracting company that undertakes advertising. The funds achieved as revenue from contracting advertising by this companies needs to be planned on well and regulated in the way it is used in order to meet the required needs of the whole period. Paying for the expenses and maintaining the marketers who are highly paid is also a very crucial task that needs experts and much experienced professionals in the field. In maintaining these crucial operations and making them a success the organization needs serious individuals who have vast qualifications and experiences in the finance contexts.
Working with such experienced individuals in an organization as an internship is a very great thing. The processes involved in the advertising company makes one acquire important knowledge in the activities like the petty cash management, reimbursements, working with the SPSS and STATA which are programs used in the cost accounting mathematics calculation. The knowledge of working with the accounting programs like the SAGE, QUICKBOOK and PASTEL helps the intern to know the protocol followed in preparation of financial documents. The finance offices of the Glow communication where I was an intern are occupied by different professionals. These professionals include accountants, auditors, financial and investments analysis, reconciliation accountants, tax analysts and much more. Working with such important individuals in the finance departments all around the companies is a very important issue to a finance student since they are like in a practical field before learning the concepts theoretically. This helps the students to apply the concepts in class and get the gist of the finance field in the class well. The student understands the processes well this helps them to pass the exams due with ease because they apply both theoretically and practically.
History of the contracting company
Glow Communication Company is an advertising company based in Saudi Arabia. The area has been the heart of much development and many businesses are being introduced daily. With much competition growing in the region, and advertising becoming a key issue in every company's management, Glow was introduced. The company started small handling small adverts and handling less cash transactions. In less than one decade, that is from 2003-2013 the company has grown in line with the economy, and got much big tenders and grown in size and operation wise. Initially the company handled retails business adverts and the small scale businesses which are being introduced in the market. Nowadays, the operations of the company have become much busy and the staffs are busy. The company also has introduced the night shift employment programs in order to plan for the increasing activities and to take care of the ever increasing number of clients. Just like its name, the company is growing at a skyrocketing pace and with time they are looking forward to be a multinational company handling business from all over the world and dealing with who are who in the business world.
Services offered by the company
Glow communication offers many services to the clients who are companies both new and those that have established themselves in the market. The advertising agency handles the retailers the communication network companies and the manufacturing companies who have increased rapidly over time. The companies who are offered the advertising services by Glow pay some reasonable huge amount of money but depending on the nature of adverts required by them. Many of these clients are very cooperative as they do not have any knowledge on the advertising field; hence they rely fully on Glow. The ones who established their businesses a while ago are the ones who complain much of the times as they need their adverts done their way which is much difficult and somehow impossible. The cost accountants of the company plan for the adverts of the companies as they are placed and calculated for the costs and add the revenue margin of about 20% to 30%.
Main costs incurred by Glow
Offices rents and rates- these expenses are incurred collectively in all the branches except the main office where the company has its own land and buildings. These costs are incurred every month. They take a reasonable percentage of the overall Glow expenses list and they are compulsory. The company settles this expenses with ease since each branch is required to settle their bills.
Employee's salaries and wages- this comprises of the highest percentage of the company's expenses. These expenses are mixtures of permanently employed staffs and the contract basis staffs. Though the permanently employed take most percentage of the salary docket, the contracts ones also takes a reasonable amount. Of the 100% salary details, the permanent employees take 65% while the rest is for the contract basis adding up the commissions which is based on the numbers of clients one has introduced to the agency. The commission is 5% of the whole amount paid by the client.
Research and other advertising research activities- in order to be updated with the current trends and to add the competitive base of the organization, Glow has employed a research team which takes on the research activities. Though these do not take much of the expenses, they also contribute to the expenses list of the company.
Information technology and system software maintenance- these are incurred on daily basis in order to verify that the systems of the company are updated and functioning well in order to process the transactions as they are required.
Reimbursements, petty cash transactions and other daily expenses- sometimes the employees of the company especially marketers are caught in fix and while in business operations and they use their money. The money used is refunded by the company to them. The daily organizational expenses like the staff tea, some spare parts to maintain the systems daily are purchased. These expenses are paid on daily from the money set aside for petty expenses.
The company keeps ledgers to make sure that every transaction and expenses are recorded on daily and no expenses are paid which have not been genuinely incurred by the company. Glow has about 192 general ledgers in which the transactions are recorded.
External factors that create challenges and opportunities for the company
There are two main external factors that affect Glow and hinder its activities. These factors are;
Government- the government policies are the ones that mostly restricts the operations of the company. The tax increments and legal fees play a greater role in bringing the challenges to the company. In the increasing numbers of advertising agencies in the region, the government of Saudi Arabia has found green pastures by increasing taxes. However, the good environment and free business area is creating some good opportunities for the business.
Competition- much advertising companies are introducing themselves in the arena and wants to get themselves a good portion of the market share. These agencies sometimes offer the services at much reduced prices in order to attract clients. However, the new companies do not have a vast knowledge of the market, and the poor services provided by them makes the clients opt for the Glow services. The intelligence of the staffs of the organization helps the company to be much competitive in the industry.
Strategies employed by the management to respond to challenges and opportunities
Negotiation with the government officials- as a company that has established itself in the market, Glow strategic management has links with the key government officials. The leaders negotiate with the government to reduce the taxes and the legal fees to...