Hello Everyone!
My name is Emily Knapp and for the past two months I have served as an Accounting and Bookkeep Trainee at Centre O. I am about to begin my fourth year of accounting studies at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, but travelled to Hong Kong to grow my technical skills, broaden my cultural horizons, and experience the adventure only found living abroad.
My time at Centre O has been made incredibly special by the teaching and encouragement I received from all employees, regardless of field. Centre O’s genuine staff, paired with the quality of work I was able to participate in and deliver, helped me to develop my knowledge of international industry accounting and international work culture.
Specifically, working at Centre O has allowed me to better familiarize with cloud-based accounting and reporting systems, the process of creating management accounts, and Hong Kong’s unique tax system. I learned a great deal about our accounting system, Xero, and saw how easily the system integrates Centre O’s bookkeeping with the bookkeeping of our clients and their consumers and suppliers. Using Xero enabled me to see a “financial food-chain” by gaining a holistic view of how businesses in all ranges of industry operate, both functionally and financially.
One of my favorite projects during my internship involved completing monthly reconciliations. By using Xero, I helped with various clients’ monthly accounting and annual auditing needs by cross-checking bank statements and invoices/bills through the reconciliation process, ultimately producing usable financial statements. This process involves several different accounting methods including expense categorization, bank statement review, and line-item matching. All of these actions tested and grew my accounting knowledge.
Overall, my internship at Centre O and time in Hong Kong has been very memorable and I look forward to using my recent experiences as building blocks to help me take on life’s next career adventures!
All the Best,
Emily Knapp