Writing a case in Accounting needs, planning, strategy, methodology, organizing and many of the qualities. This article is a part of our series of articles on the case in Accounting. Take a look at How to Read a case in Accounting Part 1 , Part 2 ,Part 3 Part 4 , Part 5 Part 6 and Part 2
First, following the reading of the case, we will write a response. When writing, one must keep in mind that the analysis and the arguments he gives must address the needs and issues expressed by the recipient of the report. Indeed, we must integrate the response to its context and it would be pointless to list all the theoretical elements. presented Response items should be relevant and should not be beyond the scope of work to do, even if it is to support our knowledge. The purpose of writing the case is to share the knowledge that apply to the case, and not the whole theory on the subject. A good idea is to periodically review the job description in order to keep in mind the purpose of the case. Obviously, it is essential to avoid contradictions and to remain consistent with his ideas and opinions.
In general, we should discuss the problems and issues in the customer’s business. Elaborate on what is going well in the company is less and requires less effort, but must still be present. In short, give more time and text to things that go so well as the risks and problems.
Furthermore, although this is not always obvious, we must focus on the essential theoretical concepts and to integrate directly with the case of information in a paragraph, rather than separate the theoretical and practical concepts in two separate paragraphs. The strictly theoretical development should be avoided. If your development could be applied to other cases or in other situations, it is not sufficiently integrated to the case. It is still important to remember to present relevant theoretical knowledge to the case, even if the client seems to know much.
It’s a good idea to structure the text with titles and subtitles. Titles should be clear, concise and must be clear the content of the paragraph. The titles help readers find themselves in the text and structure / plan its response. It is interesting to integrate the titles and subtitles in the response plan during the reading of the case.
When writing, it is also important to take into account the time factor. Indeed, a student who meets the time allocated to a case and using various time management strategies will prevent situations where it will end up writing her case with the remaining time or without having had time to finish. When the case of practice, so it is important to time and not to exceed the allotted time in order to not have problems related to time at important assessments. It is also important to consider and respect the response plan developed while reading the case. Observe the response plan and given time will allow students to deal with all important issues of the case and therefore to maximize points.
It is also essential to consider the evidence present in the case. We must therefore avoid assumptions and respect the framework of discussion of the case. Do not invent hypotheses includes the invention of numbers, data, problems and issues. If the correction does not take into account irrelevant factors and assumptions raised by the student.
Part 2
Writing a preview section is a relatively important element of writing. It should contain the basic elements of the case that will be used throughout the event. there also include definitions, references and constraints that still affect once the majority of the response. We should avoid presenting some answers and resolution of the cases in this section, since they would be presented incompletely and create repetitions. In summary, overview section should contain distinct ideas of cases that begin and end in this section. If there is lack of ideas for writing this section, it is better to focus on the problem solving section and it is even possible in this section is written at the end of the case. It is even possible that certain types of cases, such as directed or very very short, do not require the presence of this section.
Formulate a comprehensive and well-structured analysis is essential. The analysis should answer three main questions or Why ?, What is the impact? How?. Answer his three questions at the right time when writing will have a set of well-structured ideas, relevant and complete. Using relations markers tends to help to structure responses.
To have a quality response, it is important to present several distinct ideas. Indeed, the elements of a case still requires further analysis including several arguments and several aspects. Efficiency in the writing becomes a key element in this situation, since the ideas tend to pile up quickly. It is more advantageous to his energy on several small ideas to focus all his energy on some aspects and that they are not good. Finally, the early stages of writing are usually devoted to the writing of the most profitable topics in terms of points.
The presence of new ideas is also an important part of a quality response. Indeed, the development will contain ideas that do not come from the case and were unknown to the client. The correction does not take account of the ideas from the case, the student must use his own ideas. This can be illustrated with the fact that the customer will pay you an amount for each new and relevant idea you give it and will not pay you for the ideas that he has already stated in the case. The corrector knows the case of data, so it is unnecessary to repeat in the response. Do not repeat the case will save time when writing. In the same vein, it is unnecessary to repeat an idea twice in the response, since the idea will only be corrected once and a rehearsal will take place, in terms of time, another relevant idea that would been written. It should also try to avoid repetition at calculations, as the source of the figures presented in the case, for example. For the calculations, we should stick to the basics and avoid stating the same idea in figures and words. It is also unnecessary to present the known property signs (like $) for example. In summary, then one must keep in mind that all ideas should be different and relevant and we should stick to the basics.
Part 3
Calculations and Quantitative Sections
Now come to the calculations and the quantitative section of a case. The calculations are essential to writing a quality cases and is often an important part of the case. The calculations are often useful in analyzing an idea but will not form an idea in themselves. We must see them as tools and justifications to add depth and relevance to the analysis of an idea.
Calculations must always be valuable. We must always know why we do a calculation (its objective). Two steps are required to determine what is relevant calculation to use. The first step is to define what we want to analyze and evaluate, so the purpose of the calculation. Good example would be: establishing the fair value of a company, whether the company is solvent, determine whether a contractual term is met. Having a goal will help determine which calculation is relevant. Small stones that are not relevant are useless. It’s a good idea to write the purpose of each calculation before presenting it in the response since it forces to reflect on the usefulness of the calculation. The second step is to list the objective achievement means. It is to identify ways to solve the problem. These methods often take the form of calculations. Thus, for a given situation, we will have the choice of two or three calculations and we will choose the most relevant to the problem and to achieve the objective. When in doubt, it is better to develop a simple calculation and short than a long and complicated calculation. Following the calculation, we can use the comparison (eg sector), make a return to the calculation purpose and if the goals can offer added value to the event and add depth to the explanation. It is important not to one calculation; it must be accompanied with explanations, interpretation or recommendation.
Most of the time, the major calculations require the establishment of working hypotheses. These must be realistic, reasonable. Assumptions should not be those of the case and must be justified. They must also be easy to work with, so do not use numbers with decimals but rounding. Finally, arbitrary assumptions that bring no relevance to the case are to be prescribed.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Finally, discuss the final section of the response of an issue or a problem that usually contains the findings and recommendations to the client. This step is essential as it demonstrates professional judgment. Typically, each problem analysis should end with a conclusion (global comment on the situation) or a recommendation (what to do) to the client. To have a quality analysis that will appeal to the corrector, we must not omit them and that is customer demand will determine if one makes a conclusion or recommendation. It’s a good idea to make each recommendation positive term, precise and concrete. Start a recommendation by a verb infinitive force us to determine the action a business and make faster writing. In addition, it is important to take a stand and not to remain vague in the recommendations, we must have confidence in our decisions: only complete and accurate recommendations are taken into account in evaluating a response.
Part 4
Read Part 1,2 & 3 of the article dealing with methods and strategies for reading a case in accounting
If the reading is an essential step in all simulations. It is essential to understand the case context and customer requirements. The reading must be methodical, rigorous and active so as to detect all relevant information that is often scattered throughout the text. A good maximum time measurement to be allocated to the case of reading the third is the total time thereof. Thus, for a case of 60 minutes, we will have to spend up to 20 minutes to read the case. In the first simulations, it is normal to exceed this time for reading and some cases require more time reading than others. There are three main stages of reading a case, either the overview of the application and role playing, the detailed reading of the text and annexes and finally the response planning.
The preview of the application and the role is the first step in any process of reading a case. This step contains all you need to do immediately after receiving the case. A good first step is to see if there is not a working section to the end of the text. This will allow you to direct your future read and quickly understand customer needs and what is expected of you. It must then distinguish explanatory paragraphs. These are additional paragraphs to customer demand coming explain, clarify it or add other applications to the initial request. The explanatory paragraphs are often located just before the working section to do so by the end of the text. If there is no explanatory paragraphs, we can take the initiative to go in the company’s history, often located at the beginning of the text. By dint of doing simulations and taking the experience, the process to find the relevant paragraphs and the work to be done gets easier.
It is then essential to determine the role you have to play in the context of the case. This role will modify the content and form of your answer. For example, a management consultant does not will focus on the same elements as a tax. The last part of the first step is to fly over the annexes. Fly Schedules allows you to take into account all the material available for the resolution of cases and sometimes to identify obvious problems at the level of such ratios.
The second major step of reading a case is detailed reading of the text. Following the determination of work to do and the role it is able to achieve a careful and vigilant reading. It is essential to carefully read the entire text because of time constraints some of the text will often only be read once. The concentration during play is very important. A good first step is to read the company’s history to learn about its creation date, its owners, its industry and product and quality. An industry can already give you an idea on gross margin standards and other relevant financial measures. It must not, however give too much time reading the history, since in one case attempting, more often than not, solve future problems, and not earlier. After taking into account the company’s history, reading the text allow us to specify the work to be done. Some paragraphs will increase your understanding of customer needs and responding to cases will be more relevant and better if you understand better what is expected of you.
Part 5
During playback, it is also important to be alert for problems, weaknesses, challenges and all the new elements that have arrived during the current period. When the problem is, your understanding will allow you to distinguish the central problem and the separate situations that could generate, it is essential to make this distinction. Some problems are implied and not stated directly while reading the case, it is the understanding of the case that will detect them. However, applications are still evident and clear, there is no implicit demands. We should take a moment to analyze the problem and understand it. A good idea while reading and note in the margin or highlight all the important issues and information in context. This will not forget in the step of writing text and for the understanding of the case. It is essential to meet demand during the writing of a case if we want to succeed. There is no need to answer anything other than what the customer asks.
Having clearly identified demand, we can determine the axis of the application, which can be summarized as the thread that will guide the development of e solution. More than one axis of application may exist in one case, since many applications exist. Each application has mostly its own thread. If you follow the thread of requests, you will not leave the scope of the case and will not lose valuable time while writing the case.
The next step is to read the appendices, this time detailed and attentive. Having arrived at this stage, we already have a good understanding of the case and we will collect information to respond to requests. Financial statements are often presented in the appendix, it is essential to examine them. This is the schedule that should be read first as it will allow you to make connections with information present in the other annexes. Reading the financial statements, we seek to identify what is wrong with the company or which is unusual. Then we read the other annexes, which are often separated by clear and about which mostly refers to a problem or a specific situation in the company.
Usually each paragraph of the annexes is important and we do not give unnecessary information. Indeed, this information will supplement your understanding of the case. Do not neglect reading the latest schedules and last paragraphs, even though you are rushed, stressed or you wait to start writing, as if writers often tend to put important information. It is essential to try to link the information present in the text with the content of the annexes. It is also normal to go back as you read and reread whole paragraphs to better understand the situation, the reading of a case is not always linear like a novel.
Let us now annotations, which find their way into all the topics above. The purpose of an annotation is to find and identify information quickly, regardless of the annotation method you decide to use. A good idea is to surround annotation words / expressions important case. It is recommended to read the entirety of a paragraph before starting to surround the words. This will allow you to have a comprehensive understanding of the paragraph, to step back and to distinguish what is really important to what could be significant at first. It is also interesting, as mentioned earlier, to use annotations in the margins. One can for example use the left margin to identify which application relates the item, and use the right margin to identify the subject of the item and how it relates.
It is important that the annotations are simple and perform their first goal of quickly locate information. At this stage, it is still at the stage of reading the case. The focus must remain on reading, not writing. We must remain efficient when annotates a single word or symbol can do the job. For example, annotations can be used to distinguish specific elements, such as quantitative / qualitative, past / future, strategic / operational or business name, the date of creation, etc. Following the annotations, you will be able to note what your role (which you represent), to whom the report, which date we are and all major subjects. These sections will form the layout or start writing your case and act as a header.
Part 6
Now about the drafting of the memorandum. During playback and annotation, it is interesting to prepare a memorandum on a separate sheet. The checklist is not necessarily useful for short event, but is often essential for longer if more than 4 hours. It will also be useful, even essential, when we want to establish a response plan later in the reading process, especially if this help is well structured. Here, we will focus on the drafting of the memorandum during long event. A first interesting element is that your checklist will help you to classify and categorize the information you hold the event. The separation of the checklist should be done according to the demands and problems to solve, and subtitles of these sections will be the most accurate elements on these issues / requests must be treated.
For example, the column headings of the checklist could be the analysis of the investment in a new machine, the funding available to the company and the discussion on the future expansion of the business. Each column of the checklist therefore includes an application or an important topic. Yet there are other ways to structure the checklist as separate its memorandum attached or year, for example. Your checklist should be adapted to the situation. During the drafting of the memorandum, shorten words is a good idea that will save you time. In the situation or the case would be in two parts, with a document filed before the simulation, the applicant has two choices. Either he uses the method described above, or it annotates the text in order to identify quickly and easily the information he wants to go for.
The last of the three major steps in the reading of a case is planning the response. After a detailed reading, annotations and possibly a reminder, it is important to take a moment to structure the development of the text. This is the time to prepare a response plan, which is essential for any length of cases. During the discussion, we must summarize and remember all of the information on applications present in the case. Since it is essential not to miss the or key demand of the customer, you have to be sure we meet the right thing. All ideas are not relevant to the case, we must select the best knowledge and develop with clarity. Problems or requests in the present case should be classified in order of importance.
Some subjects take longer and are more important at the correction and we must know them apart. We must give priority to more important matters, it is the professional judgment that you will get there. One can for example be classified into three categories, namely large, less important ones and those that are not very important.
In all cases, it is essential to include all the important topics and the majority of subjects of lesser importance. Since we are not in an ideal world, sometimes it is humanly impossible to treat all subjects by time limit. In these situations it is acceptable to drop some important issues for the benefit of topics of great importance. Indeed, a candidate who deals extensively with all major applications maximizes its chances of success if successful. Several criteria can be used when you want to determine the importance of a subject. Presumably the amount of money, the industry, the length of the text on this subject or situation over time (deadline) of the problem. Having sorted all the issues of the case by order of importance, we can now address the planning of writing. You can imagine, time management is still important here: we must divide his time to process all subjects. In time, it should also include time to write the presentation of the case and the recommendations. We can also reserve time for the review of the case, to recalculate or to be insured in case you forget.
For example, for a case of four, an example of distribution of time would be 60 minutes to play and plan, 2h30 for the main writing (applications, calculations, problems, issues), and 30 minutes from surplus for recommendations the presentation and review of the case. It is usually important to plan time for planning for the longer event. Indeed, writing the answer in the long case extends over long periods and many elements are treated.
