CANTHO UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS ENGLISH FOR FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING CANTHO 2021 (For internal circulation only) CONTENTS Accounting and Finance in A Changing World Unit 1: Developing Global Professionals Page 2 Unit 2: International Financial Reporting Standards 7 Reporting on Performance Unit 3: Annual Financial Statements 12 Unit 4: Accounting for Banks 18 Finance and Investment Unit 5: Overseas Investment 24 Unit 6: Project Finance 29 Risk Management and Failure Unit 7: Investment Credit Rating 34 Unit 8: Banking - A Risky Business 39 Auditing Unit 9: A Clean Report 45 Writing File 53 References 58 Tape Scripts 59 Glossary 71 1 UNIT 1: DEVELOPING GLOBAL PROFESSIONALS This unit looks at the broad range of work skills that the modern accountant needs. BEFORE YOU READ Discuss these questions. In your country, what process do you have to go through in order to be able to work as an accountant? 2. Briefly describe any national accountancy qualifications which exist in your country.
Understanding the main points Read the article on the opposite page and say whether these statements are true (T) or false (F). Identify the part of the article that gives this information. Correct the false ones. Most accountants work for accountancy firms.
There are a number of different specialist areas in accounting. Accountancy firms only operate in their domestic market. Accountancy training is mainly organised locally. With a recognised accountancy qualification, you are sufficiently trained for the rest of your working career.
IFAC does not expect accountants to get any further training once they have obtained their initial accountancy qualification. Giving its accountants business-skills training can have a serious impact on a firms' success. Understanding details Read the article again and answer these questions. Which phrase in paragraph F has the same meaning as the edge in the title? 2.
What are the three main advantages of an employee who holds a recognized accountancy qualification? 3. Why do accountants generally train in their own country? 4. How does IFAC describe itself? 5. Which two broad sets of skills do large accountancy firms value as much as the purely technical accounting skills? 6.
What does KPMG see as being the most important asset in its accountants? 7. Which major barrier to this does KPMG's Senior Training Manager mention? 8. Which markets would currently benefit from having more accountants trained to a high level? 9. Which attributes do employers need their internationally mobile employees to share? 10.
What sort of economic benefits would a stronger accountancy profession bring to developing countries, according to ACCA's Chief Executive? 2 3 VOCABULARY A. Definitions Paragraph A lists four accountancy specialisms. Match these words and phrases from the article (1-4) with their meanings (a-d). when a company's financial records are officially checked because illegal activity is suspected b.
an accountant working in this area acts 2. Tax accounting for a person or company that is no longer able to pay their debts or a company whose liabilities exceed its assets c. preparing a person's or company's 3. Insolvency financial information in order to calculate the proportion of their profit which they must pay to their government d.
checking an organisation's activities or 4. Forensic accounting performance or examining a person's or organisation's accounts to make sure that they are true and honest B. Word search Read paragraphs G and H again and match each of these nouns or noun phrases with either PwC or KPMG. business adviser concept PwC 2.
values and behaviours 4. team-management skills 5. Sentence completion Use words and phrases from Exercises A and B to complete these sentences. Due to a sharp drop in sales, the company was not able to pay its creditors and eventually entered into ………………………… 2.
Accountants need to deal with clients, so it is important for them to have ………………………… skills as well as technical ones. It is important to have ………………………… skills if you are going to be responsible for groups of employees. Accountants involved in ………………………… check that their clients' financial statements present a true and honest picture of the company. The company was suspected of being dishonest in its financial reporting, so the ………………………… accountants were called in to investigate its dealings.
Accountants need to develop ………………………… skills in order to give appropriate feedback to the teams they manage. Word partnerships Match the sentence halves to make sentences similar to ones in the article. Global accounting practices serve a. a wide range of education 2.
A recognised qualification programmes. a significant difference to competitive 3. Accountancy bodies that oversee advantage. challenges to consistency and quality.
Good training can make e. Emerging markets face f. the needs of their domestic market. Find five words or phrases in the article which express contrast or similarity.
Identify the sentences in which they appear and state which idea they express. Ex: Anybody can call themselves an accountant, but a recognised qualification generally guarantees proper training experience and professional standards. (Iines 1-5) 'But’ expresses contrast. Write five sentences of your own, using the linking words and phrases you found in Exercise 1.
Understanding expressions Choose the best explanation for each phrase from the article. not just about the initial qualification. occurring at the end b. occurring at the beginning 2.
have huge financial implications. ‘There is an inexhaustible demand. enormous OVER TO YOU 1. Do an Internet search of the accountancy firms mentioned in the article! Which areas of professional training do they provide, and which firm looks the most interesting to work for? Explain your ideas in a short presentation.
Vocabulary Exercise B lists several non-technical aspects of accountancy work. Explain what they might involve and whether you think they make the job more interesting. Which of the accountancy specialisms mentioned in the article do you think would be the most interesting to work in? Explain your ideas in a short presentation. Make a list of all the different types of jobs you know about in accounting.
Which one would you like to work in? Write a covering letter to apply for that job. Michael Rogers, a CPA from the US is meeting Paul Martens, the CFO of a company in Belgium. Listen to Michael’s conversation with Mr. Are there any jobs mentioned which are not included in the activities on the previous page? (TRACK 1) B.
Listen to the meeting. What is the reason for the meeting? (TRACK 2) C. Listen again and take notes all phrases used to greet people and to offer hospitality. (TRACK 2) 6 UNIT 2: INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS This unit looks at the set of international accounting and reporting rules which is being adopted by a large number of countries.
BEFORE YOU READ Discuss these questions. Has your country adopted the International Financial Reporting Standards, or is it in the process of doing so? Briefly describe the main aim of this set of standards. For companies which have made the change to the new set of standards, how easy do you think that process was? Can you think of any difficulties they might have encountered? Explain your ideas. Understanding the main points Read the article on the opposite page and say whether these statements are true (T) or false (F).
Correct the false ones. Identify the part of the article that gives this information. The European changeover to International Financial Reporting Standards went as expected. CEOs need to fully understand how these accounting and reporting changes could affect the way their financial results look to outsiders.
The changeover to IFRS only involved changing a few numbers in the accounts of the companies concerned. Once companies had understood which accounting policies they had to change, the major problems were over. The changeover experience was the same for each of the companies involved. Many European countries' old reporting standards had been designed mainly with their respective tax authorities in mind.
Understanding details Read the article again and answer these questions. There is a pun in the title. Can you explain it? 2. Which expression describes a negative effect on the final accounting report which can occur if a company does not make the necessary changes throughout the whole organisation? 3.
How did senior executives at Tomkins have to handle these changes in terms of the outside world? 4. Shortly after the changeover to IFRS, what evidence was there that analysts and investors might not have fully understood the new method of reporting and reacted negatively? 5. Find the phrase in paragraph E which shows that the changes had simply been regarded as a minor technical accounting change. Who was the new reporting system aimed at? 7 7.
In Europe, which type of company generally found the changeover process more difficult? 8 VOCABULARY A. Word search Find words or phrases in the article which fit these meanings. the title of the manager with the greatest authority in the normal everyday management of a company (paragraph B): C. people who make an official record of all the money paid into and paid out of businesses (paragraph B): b.
person who is in charge of the way a company reports its accounts to the outside world (paragraph D): D. a synonym for profitability (paragraph B): f. the documents that are produced for investors at the end of the accounting process (paragraph C) a. a synonym for the 'main methods of accounting' (paragraph C): k.
things which do not 'fit' in a company's accounts (paragraph C): a. rules which force companies to publish a specific piece of information in their accounts (paragraph D): d. companies can get extra funds by selling shares here (paragraph G): c. Word families Complete the chart with different words and expressions to describe change.
Verb Noun adjust 1. alteration change change Change over 3. Sentence completion Use words and phrases from Exercises A and B to complete these sentences. The ………………………… to the new set of accounting rules by many European companies was much more complicated than they originally thought it would be.
Companies had to assess how they would have to ………………………… their accounting and reporting processes. They had to start by adjusting their ………………………… 4. The ………………………… of ………………………… has responsibility for how the company presents its accounts to the public. The public will use the ………………………… to get a picture of the company's financial performance.
Companies need to fulfill all of the ………………………… in their reported accounts in order to comply with IFRS. They must be careful not to publish any ………………………… in their accounts. Vocabulary development Use the verbs and verb phrases given to complete the description of some of the steps involved in the process of changing over to IFRS. adjust alter change educate prepare keep up to date with produce retrain understand CEOs have to … 1.
ongoing developments in IFRS. the impact of IFRS on the view of the company's performance from the outside world. Companies have to. data-collection systems.
key accounting policies. Directors of External Reporting have to. the new style of accounts. CEOs have to.
the market about the new style of reporting. analysts and investors for any significant changes. Understanding expressions Choose the best explanation for each phrase from the article. has forced many Chief Executive Officers to roll up their sleeves.
work very hard 2. when they have reached the first milestone. put in place the main parts of the new reporting system b. experienced their first problems with the new reporting system 3.
but that is, in fact, a big deal. a big business contract 4. the extent of the change depends on the complexity of the company. cost OVER TO YOU 1.
Go to www.uk for an update on accounting standards changes around the world. Discuss how they might affect your country. Make a list of the advantages to companies around the world of sharing a common set of accounting and reporting standards. Go to www.