CHOOSE YOUR PATH: ABM SUITS YOU

All about ABM Strand

The Accountancy, Business, and Management (ABM) Strand of the Academic Track of Senior High School (SHS) has nine specialization subjects, namely: Applied Economics, Business Ethics and Social Responsibility, Fundamentals of Accountancy Business and Management 1, Fundamentals of Accountancy Business and Management 2, Business Math, Business Finance, Organization and Management, Principles of Marketing, Work Immersion / Research / Career Advocacy / Culminating Activity.

It should be remembered that these subjects have different content and competencies, which will be determined by the circumstances of the students, the school, and the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in which the students are most likely to enrol.

How are these subjects related to the course that the students will take in college? Let us look at a typical curriculum for Bachelor of Science in Accountancy.

At the University of the Cordilleras, a first-year college student takes Accounting 101 (Accounting Orientation), a one-unit course that is a general introduction to accounting. After a student takes the two Fundamentals of Accountancy, Business, and Management specialization subjects in SHS, there will no longer be any need for this college course. There should also be no need for him or her to take Accounting 1/2 (Fundamentals of Accounting, Part I). There will also be no need for Management 1 (Principles of Management), another college freshman subject. There will still be a need, however, for him or her to take Accounting 3/4 (Fundamentals of Accounting, Part II), which has content over and above that in the SHS subjects.

Does this mean that a first-year student of accountancy will take up very few subjects?

Not really. There are new core subjects in the new GEC, which may or may not be taken during the freshman year. The CHED Technical Panel for Business and Management Education, like other Technical Panels of CHED, has new guidelines for the curriculum, based on CHED’s reduction of the GEC units.

The common perception that the addition of two years to basic education will automatically result in the reduction of two years in higher education is not correct. There is still one year of GEC in college; that means, of course, that one year of GE has been scrapped. Whether that one year will just be dropped or whether it will be filled in by major subjects still has to be determined by the Technical Panels.

The ABM Track is for those who plan on taking up Economics, Business Administration, Accountancy and Marketing in college. Those who are planning to take up HRM should choose this too.

Course overview

This is a flexible course allowing you to study the fundamentals of accounting and business management with the option to then focus more deeply in either field. This course will prepare you for a career in management accountancy, management consultancy and business management.

If you choose to specialize in business management, you'll graduate ready for a business career with accountancy skills alongside. Over 50% of FTSE 100 CEO are business leaders with a finance background such as this. You’ll study financial and management accounting alongside the legal, business, and organizational contexts within which they operate. You’ll then deepen your business knowledge with options to study HR, international business, entrepreneurship, marketing and more.

If you choose to specialize in accountancy, you can graduate as a 'part qualified' accountant but with a deep appreciation of its wider business context. You will study in line with professional practice requirements and so maximize the number of accreditations and exemptions you will have upon graduation.

As with business, you’ll study financial and management accounting alongside the legal, business, and organizational contexts within which they work. You’ll then deepen your accounting knowledge with study options, including taxation, auditing, strategy, and contemporary issues such as social & environmental.

Specialization Subject

Accountancy, Business and Management Strand (under Academic Track)

ABM Strand 1 – Applied Economics

ABM Strand 2 – Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

ABM Strand 3 – Fundamentals of Accountancy, Business and Management 1

ABM Strand 4 – Fundamentals of Accountancy Business and Management 2

Applied Economics

Is the application of economic theory and econometrics in specific settings. As one of the two sets of fields of economics (the other set being the core), it is typically characterized by the application of the core, i.e. economic theory and econometrics, to address practical issues in a range of fields including demographic economics, labor economics, business economics, industrial organization, agricultural economics, development economics, education economics, health economics, monetary economics, public economics, and economic history. The process often involves a reduction in the level of abstraction of this core theory. There are a variety of approaches including not only empirical estimation using econometrics, input-output analysis or simulations but also case studies, historical analogy and so-called common sense or the "vernacular". This range of approaches is indicative of what Roger Back house and Jeff Biddle argue is the ambiguous nature of the concept of applied economics. It is a concept with multiple meanings. Among broad methodological distinctions, one source places it in neither positive nor normative economics but the art of economics, glossed as "what most economists do".

Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

According to the American Management Association, 56 percent of surveyed participants ranked ethical behavior as the most important characteristics of effective leaders. Americans have witnessed firsthand the destruction that occurs when corporations do not behave ethically. Businesses who conduct themselves in an ethical manner pass their values, morals, and beliefs down to the employees and customers. The effect can be felt throughout the community, which has a profound impact on local schools, community centers, and other groups. Companies such as Enron, Tyco, Adelphia, and WorldCom are classic examples of what can happen when corporations disregard or neglect the importance of business ethics. A company’s ethical behavior can build or destroy Main Street USA.

Fundamentals of Accountancy, Business and Management 1 and 2

This course is a review of the fundamental concepts of accounting. The focus is on financial statements that a firm prepares each year. How entries are recorded in accounts to capture all economic activity of the firm is explained. How accounts are organized and what transactions are entered there, are studied. Year end entries and the accrual. method of accounting are described.

Accounting, which has been called the "language of business", measures the results of an organization's economic activities and conveys this information to a variety of users, including investors, creditors, management, and regulators.

Management in all business areas and organizational activities are the acts of getting peopgether to accomplish desired goals and objectives efficiently

How to Manage your Finances

Accounting and finance play an existential role in the management of any business. In the words of John Nessel, president of the Restaurant Resource Group, "If you can't count it, you can't manage it." He means that companies operate on money, and if you don't control that money, you don't control your business. By properly accounting for your company's income and expenses, you can manage the flow of money and thereby direct the course of your business.

Obeying the Law

Good accounting practices have a practical advantage: They keep your company in compliance with the law. Without good accounting you could violate any number of laws, such as not paying the right amount of taxes. The sloppiness of poor accounting can also cause you to overlook many minor details that collectively keep a business on the level, like carrying out facility improvements to comply with safety laws. Additionally, if you ever find yourself under legal scrutiny -- and many businesses eventually do -- having poor financial records can create a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Creating Budgets

By understanding the flow of money through your business with proper accounting practices, you can begin budgeting. In budgeting, you anticipate revenues and use that knowledge to make decisions about how to maintain and grow your business. Budgets are the culmination of good financial record keeping. You can think of them as blueprints in that they take a lot of hard work and information to create but ultimately allow you to build your business to greater stability and success.

Analyzing Performance

It's hard to improve upon a business if you don't have a means to understand the past and learn from it. Good accounting is that means. By reviewing your company's financial records, you can see not only where the money went but what good it did in the long run. In this way you can begin to assess how much value your company's various expenses contribute to the overall operation. With that kind of information you can make informed decisions about which operations to downsize and which to grow. You will also be able to identify new areas where a little expense up front can pay big dividends later.

Developing Strategy

The goal of most companies is to make a profit, but the road to get there is one you have to build yourself. Financial data from within your own company comprises one of the chief tools you have in understanding the economic landscape of the market you're operating in. If your customers are buying more widgets and fewer gizmos, that's something your records can tell you. And if your records tell you you're not getting good enough returns from an outside advertising firm, you can make the decision to bring advertising in house, hiring a whole new department and fundamentally reshaping your business. Good strategy will take your business to richer destinations, but good strategy requires good information.

What is the Purpose of an Accounting Function?

I will pursue accounting on college because for me it's the combination of everything.

Businesses large and small, public and private, for profit and non-profit are driven by numbers. Whether it’s tracking sales, managing inventory or making payroll, smart managers know that keeping tabs on those numbers is crucial, but without a solid accounting function, that task can become an organizational nightmare. Organizations seeking a well-rounded accounting function need to consider several aspects of accounting beyond just simple debits and credits.

The primary purpose of any accounting function is that of on-going financial record keeping. Monetary information of all types--operational expenses, salaries, donations, capital expenditures, investments, cash flow, utilities--should be tracked on a monthly basis at a minimum. The on-going result is the creation of an organization’s financial history that can be used in a variety of ways, as it gives managers a snapshot of the firm’s financial health and wealth at any given time.

The Two Main Forms of Accounting

But the collected data are only meaningful if used; to use data properly, managers break the accounting function down into two primary forms--managerial accounting and financial accounting. While both rely on the same underlying financial data stream, their main difference lies in their focus and time orientation. With managerial accounting, the focus is internal and looking forward, but financial accounting, the focus is external and looking back.

Managerial Accounting

Managerial accounting is used internally for planning and for moving an organization forward in a financially sound manner. With this function, accountants look at the historical financial data stream as well as the current economy and make assumptions about trends and what these trends mean for the organization’s future. Managerial accountants look at the organization in segments, either by department, by region or by product lines for instance, and estimates are made about sales expectations, performance, pricing, costs and work force needs. With managerial accounting, smart managers try to predict an organization’s financial future and make sound decisions based upon those expectations.

Financial Accounting

With financial accounting, the emphasis is on looking at past data with the objective of determining an organization’s value as a whole. Shareholders and investors will use the information to decide if a public company is undervalued and worth investing in or overvalued and should be avoided. Creditors will use this same information to decide whether a non-profit organization is a good risk before lending money. Governmental agencies will use this same information to levy taxes on for-profit organizations. Most importantly, though, financial accounting is required and, as it’s shared externally, it must be precise, thus financial accounting must conform to generally accepted accounting principles to avoid legal issues. Managerial accounting however, since it is used internally, need not be quite so precise, nor is it mandatory. Thus, while organizations must report financially accurate information to the public, they remain free to do as they wish for internal planning purposes.

Financial management of your small business encompasses more than keeping an accurate set of books and balancing your business checking account. You must manage your finances so you don’t overspend and so you remain prepared for all expenditures, as well as profit distributions. Your financial management responsibilities affect all aspects of your business. A company that sells well but has poor financial management can fail.

The goal of any finance function is to achieve three benefits: business support service, lowest costs and effective control of the environment. Money is the lifeblood of a business and finance is the nerve centre. Finance is required to promote or create a business, gain assets, develop products, run market surveys, advertise. The conventional view of finances focuses on being reactive, efficient, and quantitative and risk averse. New innovative views focus on being vision-oriented, opportunity and growth focused, intuitive and risk-taking.

Functions of Management Leading

Effective management and leadership involve creative problem solving, motivating employees and making sure the organization accomplishes objectives and goals. There are five functions of management and leadership: planning, organizing, staffing, coordinating and controlling. These functions separate the management process from other business functions such as marketing, accounting and finance.

Planning

The planning function of management controls all the planning that allows the organization to run smoothly. Planning involves defining a goal and determining the most effective course of action needed to reach that goal. Typically, planning involves flexibility, as the planner must coordinate with all levels of management and leadership in the organization. Planning also involves knowledge of the company’s resources and the future objectives of the business.

Organizing

The organizing function of leadership controls the overall structure of the company. The organizational structure is the foundation of a company; without this structure, the day-to-day operation of the business becomes difficult and unsuccessful. Organizing involves designating tasks and responsibilities to employees with the specific skill sets needed to complete the tasks. Organizing also involves developing the organizational structure and chain of command within the company.

Staffing

The staffing function of management controls all recruitment and personnel needs of the organization. The main purpose of staffing is to hire the right people for the right jobs to achieve the objectives of the organization. Staffing involves more than just recruitment; staffing also encompasses training and development, performance appraisals, promotions and transfers. Without the staffing function, the business would fail because the business would not be properly staffed to meet its goals.

Coordinating

The coordinating function of leadership controls all the organizing, planning and staffing activities of the company and ensures all activities function together for the good of the organization. Coordinating typically takes place in meetings and other planning sessions with the department heads of the company to ensure all departments are on the same page in terms of objectives and goals. Coordinating involves communication, supervision and direction by management.

Controlling

The controlling function of management is useful for ensuring all other functions of the organization are place and are operating successfully. Controlling involves establishing performance standards and monitoring the output of employees to ensure each employee’s performance meets those standards. The controlling process often leads to the identification of situations and problems that need to be addressed by creating new performance standards. The level of performance affects the success of all aspects of the organization.

Why study Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM) Strand?

You should study the ABM strand under academic track because this will help you to become career-ready. That means graduating with academic excellence, professional accreditations and exemptions* and substantial real world experience because it’s an important combination. It means you’ll be well-rounded. You’ll be more professionally prepared. You’ll be able to attract the attention of potential employers more quickly. Many employers prefer accounting and business graduates to have a balance of academic knowledge, with practical experience and/or professional exemptions too. That's why you need too much focus and give importance on your career-ready philosophy to have professional insights and involvement throughout your studies.