To:

From:
Date:
Subject:

Mrs. Ramirez
Natasha Velasquez
January 26, 2015
Prospective Professional Memo

Introduction
I am writing this memo to inform my instructor about my experiences, aspirations and
opportunities in the Accounting field, of which I am currently studying. During my studies at
Galen University, I am equipping myself to become a professional accountant, auditor or maybe
even both, at different points in my life. While attending Galen University, I was given the
opportunity to be the accountant at El Rey Hotel, Darah Travel, Clever N Smart and Central
American Collections. Those are four different businesses owned by the same couple. However,
due to the strains of working a full time job in part time hours and having to maintain a 3.5 GPA
to keep my scholarship at Galen University, I had to resign from the job. On a more positive
note, when I do graduate from Galen, I will not only have a Bachelors degree in Accounting, but
also one years worth of experience as being an Accountant. Not many graduating Accounting
students can attest to the previous fact, in regards to themselves.
Professional Goals and Possibilities
I am also interested in being an auditor at some point in my life, preferably, as soon as I graduate
from Galen University. After gaining enough experience from that career choice, I plan to once
again become an Accountant. I was informed by my Accounting professor, Mr. Hill, during a
class session, that many auditors would do auditing for many years and would then be recruited
by one of the organizations they audited to become their main accountant. Auditors are heavily
desired by organizations to become their accountants, simply because, the auditor is already fully
knowledgeable about the accounting system of the organization and would be able to quickly
adopt in the new working environment. Auditors are also wanted by organizations because they
are aware of the different accounting principles and they should know exactly how to do
accounting without making any errors. I look forward to taking my auditing course at Galen so
that I learn more about this career choice.
There are several auditing firms in Belize that would employ me, namely, Bakertilly Hulse, CSB
and Moore Stephens. Some of those firms have already employed Galen students and have no
problem employing more, once they pass their entrance exams. Almost any business, you might
think of, can potentially hire me, because any successful business needs to have proper
accounting in order to keep their records straight and file proper tax returns. Speaking from
experience, some of the job responsibilities of an accountant are filing, preparing income
statements and balance sheets, filing tax returns for the business and calculating payroll. Those
are only a few of the job requirements I had at my previous accounting job. Due to working at a
small business, my job requirements were vaster than other accountants. However, other main
job responsibilities of accountants are to create table of accounts, do journal entries, create and
maintain budgets and report the financial status of the business to managers (Career Planner,
n.d.). Some accounting and auditing skills, that are needed to be successful at the job, are team
work, communications, innovation and initiative (Admin, 2013).

The Benefits of Studying Accounting

Accounting is a very unique field because it is the backbone of any successful business in the
world. All businesses need to have proper management and records of their financial and
operating transactions. Accounting clearly lets managers know exactly what they need to do in
order to be more profitable. It entails the use of analytical skills in order to remember all the
different accounting principles and keep the various records straight in your mind. As my
accounting career develops in a time frame of approximately ten years, I would probably be
promoted to a higher status, like accounting manager or become a partner at one of the auditing
firms in Belize. My job description would probably change from making entries into the
accounting system, to creating and analysing the final reports and presenting my findings to the
mangers of the business. In ten years, I might also have opened my own business by using the
skills and experience that I have developed and gained from my jobs.
Accounting is a very vast field of study. There are many different types of accountants, namely
tax accountants, financial accountants, managerial accountants, government accountants,
forensic accountants, social accountants and project accountants (Accounting simplified, n.d.).
Every one of those types of accountants, that I listed, has different accounting job descriptions. A
financial accountant will not easily transition into a social accountant, simply because they have
different practices and reporting techniques. These are all different types of opportunities that I
have with the accounting knowledge I am earning at Galen University. I will also be able to
move to the United States and become a tax accountant, because my tax courses at Galen teach
me how to calculate American tax. It depends on which type of accountant you are, however,
accountants generally earn US$46,516 per year in the US (Payscale, n.d).
My Present and Past Accounting Experiences
Galen University is preparing me for the accounting career that I have ahead of me. I am
studying hard and really focusing on my education so that I dont just graduate, but graduate with
very good grades. I believe that the different accounting courses I have and am presently taking
will more than prepare me for when I re-enter the world of work. The experience that I received
from my past accounting job has also greatly benefitted me, in that, I have a taste of what it will
be like to actually be an accountant. I have learned many things in the one year of working at that
job that I did not learn in school. I was also fortunate to have a more experienced accountant,
who is the internal auditor at El Rey Hotel and Darah Travel, to be my mentor. Whenever he
came to do his auditing, he would always show me exactly how he goes about checking the work
that I have done. Through him, I have also learned how to correct different accounting errors. I
believe that my experiences at my previous place of employment, coupled with the knowledge I
am gaining from my studies at Galen, will allow me to be a very professional accountant and
auditor, after getting my bachelors degree.

References
Accounting Simplified (n.d.) Types of Accounting. Retrieved on January 22, 2015 from
http://accounting-simplified.com/financial/types-of-accounting.html
Admin (2013) Skills and Talents Needed for Your Accounting Career. Retrieved on January 22,
2014 from http://daleyaa.com/skills-and-talents-needed-for-your-accounting-career/
Career planner (n.d.) Job Duties and Tasks for: "Accountant". Retrieved on January 22, 2015
from http://job-descriptions.careerplanner.com/accountants.cfm
Payscale (n.d.) Accountant Salary (United States). Retrieved on January 22, 2015 from
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Accountant/Salary