Do you know one of my phobia is towards
the figures? Honestly, I hate and afraid of figures particularly towards
Mathematics. Ever since primary school, I was never been good with Mathematics.
It was just a subject that I normally pass it satisfactory. I would feel amaze
if I could score high marks. To show how bad I am with Mathematics, I could not
do prompt arithmetic calculations in my head, I always need calculator, and
this has never been changed even until now. You may do want to trust my prompt calculation.
Surprisingly, I took accounting during my
degree and now I earned my living from it. How is it so? This is unexplainable.
For me, accounting is different from Mathematics, although they are originated
from the same source, which is the figures. They are related to each other but
have a different set of rules. Each will have different set of formulas and
treated differently.
So how do I adopt to accounting? I
started my first lesson in matriculation. I have no foundation of accounting
and that was the first time I saw it. It seems a very hard subject, because of
that I have to make daily revision so that I could catch up in class. Despite
of daily revision, the subject still remain alien to me. I survived such
subject with memorizing the formula and team work. Most of the time during the quizzes,
I memorize the formula, applying to the question and write the working, and my
friends would do the end calculation. As a result, we would have a same answer
for all the quizzes. I passed the exam multiple exercises, applying the same
formulas and workings over and over to the past questions until I get familiar
to it. This has been on going until my degree stage.
It was even worse when it comes to
taxation and management accounting. I must admit that I do not understand what
they are all about but passed the exam through formula memorization. Not to
mention when it comes to public sector accounting or the theoretical part,
which most cases they would be word by word memorization. I never thought I
could passed and obtained my degree in accountancy.
I began my career with financial
accounting as the core. This is where I started to polish back my foundation
and learned back everything that I needed, this time with full understanding on
what and how importance the steps of accounting entries. I had a great teacher
(thanks to Puan Tamsiah), which then I found that financial accounting is not
that hard anymore, not as bad as I was experiencing during my degree. It was
not only steps and entries, I was teach to emphasis on the important of
valuation and verification, and not only relying on the system input only. I
then realize that this is the foundation of everything that you needed in
finance and accounting. By mastering this part, it helps me mastering other
parts of finance and accounting such as reporting, auditing, budgeting,
monitoring, analyzing, taxation and others. Of all sudden, I realize that I do
not afraid of figures anymore, well of course not the prompt calculation, which
I still until now.
Things has become simpler for me day
after day. What makes it simpler, was not the formula memorization, but the
memorization by heart. I find it easy because I applied those formula into real
life through rationalization. I find it more meaningful compared to formula
memorization. I guess it would be a better method for anyone who wanted to
learn accounting and I have been sharing this with the staffs all these while.
After all, this would help to get rid the phobia for those who have allergic to
figures just like me. I make my day to help everyone who have the same problem
just like me.
