DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this field attachment report has solely been my original work and I do
affirm it has not been produced for any award before in any institution of higher education.

Signature………………………………… Date…………………………………

NAKIDDE ZAM

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 APPROVAL
This is to certify that Nakidde Zam had a period of 4monthsof internship training at Uganda
Baati Limited.

This report is the original copy of her personally done work under our supervision and its’ now
ready for submission to Makerere University Business School after approval.

Signature………………………………… Date…………………………………

Ms. Jennifer Nabaweesi

(Academic supervisor)

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 DEDICATION
I dedicate my report to my academic supervisors Jenifer and Micah, to my mother Maggie, my
father Hussein and my friends Aloysius, Agnes, Rebecca, Fazila, Maggie, Bibian and Jackie. Not
for getting my field supervisors Errinah, Andrew and Lawrence. I thank you all for the support
and ideas you have given me ever since started my training. How I pray that the Almighty
ALLAH rewards you abundantly.

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 ACKNOLEDGEMENT
I thank the Almighty Allah for the knowledge, courage and support given unto me to be able to
complete my training and the report.

My sincere thanks also go to my parents for the conditional love, sacrifice, prayers and guidance
they have rendered to me till date.

I also thank the human resource manager of Uganda Baati Ltd for the replacement which helped
me attain my internship.

For the guidance and help offered to me thought my internship process, I would like to thank my
academic supervisors Mrs. Jenifer and Mrs. Micah for their kind support.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION..............................................................................................................................I
APPROVAL....................................................................................................................................Ii
DEDICATION...............................................................................................................................Iii
ACKNOLEDGEMENT.................................................................................................................Iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS......................................................................................................Vii
ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................Ix
CHAPTER ONE..............................................................................................................................1
1.0 INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................1
1.1 ORGANISATIONAL BACKGROUND:.................................................................................1
1.2VISION AND MISSION:...........................................................................................................2
1.2.1 VISION...................................................................................................................................2
1.2.2 MISSION................................................................................................................................2
1.3 LOCATION............................................................................................................................3
1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE ORGANISATION..............................................................................3
1.5 DUTIES OF THE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS IN THE ORGANISATION:.................3
1.5.1 DUTIES OF THE ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT.................................................................3
1.5.2 DUTIES OF THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT..............................4
1.5.3 DUTIES OF THE PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT.............................................................4
1.5.4 DUTIES OF THE SELLING AND MARKETING DEPARTMENT...................................4
1.5.5 DUTIES OF THE HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT.................................................5
1.6 THE ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE OF UGANDA BAATI LIMITED........................5
CHAPTER TWO.............................................................................................................................7
ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT IN THE ORGANISATION..........................................................7
2.0 INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................7
2.1 ACTIVITIES.............................................................................................................................7
CHAPTER THREE:......................................................................................................................17
SKILLS, EXPERIENCES AND LESSONS.................................................................................17

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3.0 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................17
3.1 SKILLS....................................................................................................................................17
3.2 EXPERIENCES.......................................................................................................................19
3.3 LESSONS................................................................................................................................23
CHAPTER FOUR:........................................................................................................................26
CHALLENGES AND LIMITATION...........................................................................................26
4.0 INRODUCTION......................................................................................................................26
4.1 CHALLENGE.........................................................................................................................26
4.1.1 PERSONAL CHALLENGES..............................................................................................26
4.1.1 TO THE ORGANISATION.................................................................................................29
LIMITATIONS..............................................................................................................................30
CHAPTER FIVE...........................................................................................................................31
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS:.........................................................................31
5.0 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................31
5.1 CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................31
5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS.........................................................................................................31
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................34
APPENDICES...............................................................................................................................35

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 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ACC……………. Account

PAYE…………… Pay As You Earn

WHT…………….. Withholding Tax

NSSF……………… National Social Security Fund

Ltd………………….Limited

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 ABSTRACT

Uganda Baati Ltd is a member of Safal groups of companies that deals in metal roofing and
various products such pre- painted sheets, hallow section, open profiles, round pipes, among
others. It was founded in 1964 and it was the first of its kind in both central and East Africa.
It is located at Kibira Road, industrial Area with mission and vision of leadership in the market
and customer satisfaction and value that are ethical.

During my in field attachment in Uganda Baati Ltd I carried out several activities and
assignments in accounting department and these activities related the theory taught at the
university hence putting it into practice.

Whenever I carried out these activities there were many lessons learnt such as improved
communication skills, operation management among others, experiences such as standing for
long hours during stock taking activity, bank reconciliation, and skill such as computer skills,
photocopying.

However in the process of carrying out these assignments, roles and activities there were quite
some challenges I faced such as work overloads leading to confusion and tiresome, but also the
organization some difficulties like global recession that left companies bankrupt, rising fuel

Lastly, after all these activities, roles, and activities carried out and the challenges faced I made
some recommendation both to the institution of higher education (MUBS) to improve he field on
attachment to benefit the students to fulfill its purpose and to the organization on how to solve
their problems to overcome the challenges for example offering discounts to customer like what
their competitors do.

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ix
 CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Field attachment is a supervised exercise under which the student goes out to the field to put into
practice the theoretical knowledge they acquire in the lectures. Internship is one of the
requirements by the University for a student to attain an award of a degree. Under this chapter
the internee explains the organization background where the training was carried out, mission
and vision of the organization, the duties of the different departments and the organization
structure.

The internee carried out this training in Uganda Baati Ltd.

1.1 ORGANISATIONAL BACKGROUND:

Founded in 1964, Uganda Baati Ltd has had a meandering path to maturity. It is a
Manufacturing Company owned by “Safal Group” as its majority shareholder; with a
participation of Ugandan shareholders who own up to about 10 percent shares. The company has
operations in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Africa, Angola, Malawi and
Zambia.

Being the first company in the East Africa region to set up an ultra-modern Continuous
galvanizing line in making Iron and Steel products, Uganda Baati is today able to offer a wide
range of sheets and metal products; from Galvanized Coils, Roofing Sheets and Mild Steel
Hollow Sections.

Because of its quality works and steady growth especially in the Export Business, the company
won a collection of National and International industry Awards. This year it won a Gold
Award from the Presidential Exports Awards 2008 for being the best steel exporting
company which responded to value addition. Before that it bagged the ‘Quality Management
System’ award from the International Certification Network, and the ‘Quality Award’ from
Uganda of Standards for producing quality products.
Due to this the company has always ensured quality and innovation in its products through its
commitment to follow the Kaizen principles (a comprehensive way of approaching the continual
improvement of manufacturing processes) resulting in superior products for it’s over widening
client base. Kaizen is a Japanese word to “change for the better”. The company s pride is based
on developing a long term relationship with their customer s, understanding their needs and then
recommending the suitable course to be undertaken.

The company employs hundreds of Ugandans directly and indirectly. It allows the local people
to have leadership innovation to the other trait that has enabled Uganda Baati to wiggle though
the think completion from others like Roofing (a) Ltd, East Africa Steel company, Steel rolling
mills, Tembo Steel and casements Africa among others.

The company s success is derived from planning several years ahead of expectations, which
gives them time to clients’ quality products. The company is registered with the Uganda National
Bureau of Standards and has ISO 9001:2000 Certification.

1.2VISION AND MISSION:

1.2.1 VISION
This is a statement that shows the dream of the organization in a period of about twenty years
and more. The vision helps the company to fulfill its mission.

Uganda Baati Limited is committed to sustaining market leadership in the Iron Sheet Industry
and establishing substantial market share in Steel Products through a continuous process of
improving customer satisfaction.

1.2.2 MISSION
Uganda Baati Limited is committed to ethical business practice and customers satisfaction. It is
dedicated to a process of indigenous value addition by upgrading technology, human resource
and to register as an organization of potential capability to sustain market leadership and satisfy
all market need.

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 1.3 LOCATION
Uganda Baati Limited is located at Plot 14/28, Kibira Road, Industrial Area, Kampala. It also has
other branches or service centers; Tororo Branch Plot 78 Nagongera Road, and Arua Branch Plot
52 Kuluvu Road.

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE ORGANISATION

i. To produce Iron sheets of high strength.
ii. To protect the nature of the environment by producing sheets which are non-shrinking and
non-creeping at ambient temperature.
iii. Manufacture of longer life Iron sheets due to pre-Galvanized sections.
iv. To reduce, reuse and recycle since recycling saves nature, conserves natural resources and
reduces waste for a greener tomorrow.

1.5 DUTIES OF THE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS IN THE ORGANISATION:

1.5.1 DUTIES OF THE ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT

i. The duty to complete Accounts by preparing reports for financial Accounting.
ii. The duty to maintain an effective service of internal control that can detect fraud and error.
iii. The duty to ensure an effective internal audit by the auditing all the books of Accounting
in the organization.
iv. To supervise and monitor the company money and assets from fraud.
v. To compute pay as you earn for Uganda Revenue Authority and National social security
fund contribution of the employee and remit them to the organizations.
vi. Supposed to consider all request for issue of money from the organizations account and
approve if they meet the required conditions.
vii. Keeping company’s records for future reference.
viii. To carryout stock taking activity.

1.5.2 DUTIES OF THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT

i. To ensure that there is an effective system of internal control across departments.
ii. To ensure that there is a stand by generator in case of electricity goes off.
iii. To ensure that the all the system used are in proper condition to avoid disturbance.

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iv. To make sure that the companies information is safe guarded from the hackers.

1.5.3 DUTIES OF THE PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT

i. Setting standards and targets for each section of the production Concerned with
manufacturing products, this will include the maintenance of the production line and other
necessary.
ii. The responsibility of quality control and inspection of the products produced.
iii. Responsible for the researching products, estimating cost of producing and buying using
different methods.
iv. Responsible for stocking all the necessary tools, spares, raw-materials and equipment
required to service the manufacturing process.
v. process. The quality and quantity of products coming off a production line will be closely
monitored.

1.5.4 DUTIES OF THE SELLING AND MARKETING DEPARTMENT

i. Facilitates exchange. It facilitates and controls around the exchange process.
ii. Physical distribution. It stores and transports goods involved in exchange process and make
them available.
iii. It provides utilities for example utilities which convert raw-materials into finished goods.
iv. It facilitates the buying and selling of goods for example financing, risk taking,
standardizing, grading and undertaking research into product and product usage.
v. Proper handling of the customer hence good customer care.
vi. Promoting and advertising of the company products.

1.5.5 DUTIES OF THE HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT

i. Restructuring. Think about performance; consider work loud who you are to redistribute
work.
ii. Culture management for example a culture of customer service from strategic to
operational level.
iii. Managing of employee committeemen. Managing employee expectations so that you meet
them and they become loyal and committed.

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iv. Quality management. Ensuring that employees are performing for example providing good
working conditions through trying to equip them with all necessary adjustment or update so
that they perform better.
v. Development and training. Cost and training so that people perform better because when
they are trained and have competence.
vi. Reward development, Ensure that employees who perform better are rewarded according to
their work done hence improving performance and motivating others.

1.6 THE ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE OF UGANDA BAATI LIMITED

The structure shows the physical and human Resources are organized in the company in order to
achieve the set goals. Uganda Baati Limited has a toll organization structure that has many
excels of management.

5
1.7 Organizational structure

6
 CHAPTER TWO

ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT IN THE ORGANISATION

2.0 INTRODUCTION
These are the tasks and assignments carried out by the internee in the organization and include
filing of documents, computation of tax contribution, preparation of sales invoices, stock taking,
bank reconciliation, receiving sales invoices among other activities.

2.1 ACTIVITIES
2.1.1 Filing of documents
This involves organizing documents such as sales order invoices, work in progress documents,
and Mabaati Rolling Mills batches, among others. This activity requires one to organize these
documents according to the period of post in the system, batch or invoice numbers and opting
them in the respective files. Filing of documents helps to keep records and in case of auditing it
is easier to allocate the samples needed by the auditors.

2.1.2 Receiving of sales invoices

Sales invoices are invoices prepared by the cashier when and after the customer places an order
for the goods needed. Receiving of sales invoices means; signing in the book of sales invoices to
approve that the copies remitted by the security officer have reached the right place which is
Accounts.

After an order has been placed by the customer in the marketing department, then they send it to
the cashier to make the necessary copies for the respective departments. The customer is given
two copies of which one is for the security officer to be recorded and submit the invoices to the
Accountant responsible.
I carried out this activity on a daily basis because sales were made on a daily basis and I had to
send back the book to the security officer.

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2.1.3 Preparing sales invoices
These are invoices that the cashier prepares when and after an order has been placed by the
customer in the marketing department. The cashier prepares the invoices depending on the data
presented on the sales order without altering anything on it.
This activity is managed under Accounts receivables which is the account that recognizes the
amount of money owed to the organization by the customer. It records cash inflow on credit and
cash form.

Under the system (Microsoft Soft Dynamic SL) which is the package used by Uganda Baati Ltd,
the transaction posted show that the company has increased its assets by debiting cash incase it’s
a cash sale and crediting the sales ACC.

2.1.4 Preparing of cash and cheque receipts

These are receipts that are prepared to recognize the amount of money received by the
organization out of the sales made. These receipts are prepared so that the sales manager
authorizes the loading of the vehicle by the customer.
These receipts are usually prepared for the customers who pay using cheques and also by in
bulky, so they need an immediate recognition in the system by the Accountant.

When posting these cheques in the cash book (Microsoft Dynamic SL), I had to be keen on the
period of post because this can lead to complication when doing the Bank reconciliation, the
amount and the name of the customer, then the currency used for example it can be Dollars.

These receipts are accompanied by the batch number documents which show the treatment of the
transaction in the system and this helps the sales manager to authorize the sale with enough
evidence.

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2.1.5 Stock taking activity
This refers to the physical counting of stock at the company’s premises this activity is carried
out at every beginning of every month (that is to say 1st and 2nd day of the month).
Stock taking is carried out following the guidelines listed below;

Controls must be executed over counting documents that is to say, serially numbered stock
sheets and data procedures should exist to ensure that all stock are counted for.

Independence of workers. Counters should not be personnel who are in control of the stocks.

Identification of the stock should be done before the day of stock count.

Arrangements to move stock, weigh and access all stock should be made before stock account,
meaning during stock taking there is no purchasing and selling.

Arrangements to mark accounting areas or items when counted should be put in place to reduce
risks of double counting.

Clear segregation of stock not to be counted for example customers goods sold awaiting
collection.

Provision of first aid kit and logistic for solving problems or accidents during the stock count.

Separation of scrap and counted separately.

At the end of every count, the supervisor and a member of the audit team should sign stock
sheets as evidence of correct count done. After counting a responsible official on both teams has
to safely keep the documents so that they are not misplaced.

2.1.6 Management of cash

This activity considers only receivables or sales that are settled in cash, cheques already
deposited in the bank and receipts presented to the accountant or organization. When managing
cash in the cash book (Microsoft Dynamic SL), we apply the cash accounting method where we

9
recognize income only when received in cash from the customer and cheques when and after
being deposited into the bank.

When recognizing the transaction in the cash book, the following accounts are affected; the
source ACC (collection ACC), the destination ACC (bank ACC). Any money received in cash
form has to be transferred to the bank ACC that’s why it is the destination ACC. In case of cash
sales, the source ACC is the sales ACC and the destination ACC is the collection ACC where
the money is transferred.

Management of cash is recognized under accounts receivables where we go to cash manager and
enter all the information presented on the documents from the Bank like the deposit slips and
cash receipts.

2.1.7 Recognition of supplier’s invoices

Suppliers are the providers of raw materials to the organization. Suppliers of Uganda Baati Ltd
include, Mabaati Rolling Mills (MRM), Bushan, among others. The raw materials supplied
include Zinc, Coils and Resincot which are used in the manufacture of iron sheet (Covermax,
Romantile, Loin brand).

When the raw materials are delivered to the company’s premises, the accounting work starts
from there, recognition of suppliers’ invoices means entering the raw materials purchased into
the system as an asset to the organization and passing the expenses incurred while purchasing as
suppliers and other expenses like provision for landed costs.

Suppliers are expenses to the organization hence recognized under ACC payables which treats
expenses incurred by the company. We recognize supplier’s invoices so that we book their
payments in case the purchase was made on credit. Before recognition we make sure that all the
necessary documents involved in purchasing are sent along with the materials to the
organization. Such documents include delivery note, purchase order, goods received note,
consignment note in case it was a foreign purchase, and these documents need to be analyzed
properly before the supplier’s invoice is posted into the system.

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2.1.8 Recognition of transporter’s invoices

These transport raw materials from the boarder (Mombasa) to Uganda Baati Ltd, transporters
include Bahari forwarders Ltd, Atlas Corgo, among others. When the company hires such
companies to transport their raw materials, it means that the organization has incurred an
expense which needs to be recognized in the system (Microsoft Dynamic SL) by debiting the
expense ACC under ACC payables that recognizing expenses. The expense ACC is debited
because according to the accounting standards expenses increase by debiting.

We recognize transporter’s invoices because most of the time the raw materials are transported
on credit so the accountant needs to post these invoices to know the date of settling the debt
depending on the terms of payment given to the organization by the transporting company. The
invoices are posted into the system to keep records of the transaction made. Recognizing these
invoices helps to verify that the raw materials have reached the organization.

2.1.8 Posting Jubilee insurance

When the organization makes a foreign purchase it incurs a lot of costs and among these costs
includes insurance. This is a service provided by Jubilee insurance company; this has to ensure
that the raw materials reach the organization premises in proper condition.

Insurance is an expense to the organization which reduces the company assets through paying
for the service in cash form hence increasing cash outflows. This service is recognized on the
ACC called provision for landed cost. In this case the accounts are treated as follows;

DR. Provision for landed cost

CR. Jubilee insurance company

Provision for landed cost is debited because it recognizes Jubilee insurance as an expense to the
organization and jubilee insurance company is credited because it is a creditor.

11
When recognizing these expenses we have to make sure that the necessary documents to treat
the transaction as an expense are presented to the accountant from the insurance company with
the required information, these acts as proof that the expense was incurred.

2.1.9 Recognition of taxes

This means computation of all the necessary taxes that are remitted to URA such taxes include
Value Added Tax, PAYE, and withholding tax. Withholding tax is computed by the company
when settling the supplier’s debt and the rate charged is 6 per cent. VAT is charged on the
purchases and sales made by the organization and PAYE is charged on employees gross salary.
However, URA does not charge tax on foreign purchasing meaning that its tax exempt.

When computing PAYE the employer has to deduct tax on income of the employee according to
the tax bracket and remit the money to URA. When recognizing PAYE the affected accounts in
the cash book include salary account and PAYE account, where the salary ACC is debited ACC
is credited following the double entry accounting.

But on paying URA, in the cash book we debit PAYE control ACC being an expense to the
organization hence transferred to profit and loss ACC in the books of accounting and then credit
the Bank ACC being an obligation to pay URA hence taken to the balance sheet.

In the instances of recognizing Value Added Tax which is charged on purchases and sales made
by the organization, passing of the tax invoices on the credit sales into the system (Microsoft
Dynamic SL) we debit the debtors ACC and credit sales net profit and output VAT.

In case the organization has more VAT on the debit side, it is claimable but with all the
necessary documents needed to claim for more tax paid and such documents include original tax
invoice, the company name in full, tin number of the invoice among others.

2.1.10 Booking payments

This activity involves allocating the date and amounts to be used to settle payments of the
suppliers of raw materials, transporters and insurance company since most of these activities are
carried out on credit. The creditor gives the organization the terms of payments and this is the

12
period in which the debt has to be settled for example a period of 30 days, 90 days among
others.

When booking payments in the system or cash book we look at the period of post and the terms
of payment because this helps to indicate the period of payment. When booking payments we
enter the ID number of creditor, the invoice number of the invoice, the currency to be used when
paying like USD and the amount to be paid after charging the necessary deductions (withholding
tax).

2.1.11 Computation of NSSF

This is a contribution by both the employer and the employees of the organization and its
eligible to all employees above the age of sixteen and below fifty five years. Employers who
have five or more employees are mandated to register and contribute to the National Social
Security Fund. Since Uganda Baati has more employees it is mandated. NSSF is to cater for
people who retire from work.

In Uganda Baati Ltd, it’s the duty of the employer to compute NSSF on the gross monthly cash
where he has the right to delegate this duty to the person who can prepare such transactions in
the accounts department. When computing NSSF the employee contributes 5 per cent and the
employer 10 per cent summing up to 15 per cent charged by NSSF.

This activity is carried out under accounts payables because it leads to outflow of cash from the
organization hence being an expense which is debited in the cash book because according to the
standards of accounting where expenses increase by debiting.

2.1.12 passing bank charges

These are expenses incurred by the organization when transferring and depositing money on the
company’s ACC. Bank charges include transfer charges, local charges, coin deposit fee, and
interest on loan charges. According the accounting of Uganda Baati, these charges are
recognized under General ledger ACC which is the collection of all balance sheet, income, and
expense account used to keep the accounting records of a business.

13
Bank charges are recognized on a daily basis so that to keep proper transactions in the cash book
(Microsoft Dynamic SL). When posting the bank charges we put keen interest on the period of
post (that is to say 07.2013), the currency, the current rate in case of other currencies other than
Uganda shillings because they keep varying.

In instances where the expense is incurred when transferring from one bank to another, for
example from Citi bank to Stanbic bank. We debit Stanbic bank and credit Citi bank. In the cash
book the bank charges are treated by debiting bank charges and crediting the respective bank.
Bank charges are debited because there are expenses to the company.

2.1.13 Aging reports

An aging is a list of customer’s accounts receivables amounts and their due date. It alerts the
company to any slow paying customers. The company can also prepare an aging report for its
accounts payables which helps to manage the outstanding bills.

2.1.14 Bank reconciliation

This involves comparing or reconciling the present bank statement against the cash book in the
system (Microsoft Dynamic SL). Before doing the bank reconciliation we ensure that all the
expenses and receivables for a particular period are posted into the cash book according to the
respective bank accounts.

In reconciliation we first monitor all the statements coming from the banks on a daily basis
making sure that the closing amount of previous date is the opening of the new date.

Secondary, monitor the cash book to make sure that the transactions posted corresponds with the
documents presented. In case a payment has been made, the amount on the pay voucher must
correspond with the posted value. This also helps to show the unpresented cheques and
outstanding balances.

When doing the bank reconciliation activity we use the following formula;

Bank balance

Less unpresented cheques

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Add deposit in transit

In reconciling we use the double entry accounting where every credit must correspond to a debit.

2.1.15 Photocopying

I also carried out the activity of photocopying several documents such as sales invoices, tax
invoice for fuel expenses, such deposits slips and others.

2.1.16 Printing Batches

For every cheque receipts which was prepared had to be accompanied with and AR edit receipts
and housing treatment of the translation in the cashbook. Transporters, Suppliers invoices
required batch numbers by printing out an AP edit receipt. This batches helped to explain every
made in the cashbook.

2.1.17 Looking for sample batches and invoices in the files

During Auditing period, Auditors chose samples to be used when auditing the books of
Accounts of Uganda Baati. So it was my duty to make sure that all the batches and sales
invoices to be tested are provided to the Auditor.

2.1.18 Working as an office massager

Since departments work hand in hand to achieve the organization objective. It means that every
department provided information to each other. For example when the cheques and cash receipts
were prepared with their AR edit receipts. The internee had to take them to sales department to
be authorized by the sales manager before the customer loads.

2.1.19 Handling customers

This activity involves good customer care, the internee carried out this activity by showing them
where to sign when they have come to pick their cheques. The customers sometimes needed
help when they did not know where to go for assistance, the internee helped by taking their

15
invoices for verification so that they can load in time and also directing them to the respective
departments to report to for more assistance.

2.1.20 Paying wages

Wages are paid either daily or weekly. At Uganda Baati Ltd was paid weekly to the employees
who are not on the payroll of the organization. The internee carried out this activity by first
preparing the petty cash book indicating all the amounts to be paid hence preparing cheques and
send them to the cash office so that we get money to pay off the wages. Before paying off the
wages the accountant had to first get authorization from the signatories, then the payment is
made.

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 CHAPTER THREE:
SKILLS, EXPERIENCES AND LESSONS

3.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter comprises of the skills, experience and lessons gained by the internee while at the
field work training

3.1 SKILLS
Skills are proficiency gained in carrying out specific tasks or acquired technical knowledge in
doing work like computer skills, delegation, interpersonal relations, and computation skills,
among others.

3.1.1 Computer skills

During the internship the internee gained the skill of using different programs of the computer
because of the different tasks which were assigned and they required different programmes. For
example the internee manage to reconcile the books of accounts using excel, writing business
letters using Microsoft office word.

3.1.2 Computation skills

Many tasks were assigned to the internee in the accounting department which required
computation of figures using Microsoft excel. For example computation of NSSF which is 15
percent of the monthly gross income, computation of landed cost expensesincurred when
purchasing raw-materials by the organization.

3.1.3 Typing

The internee was able to increase the speed of typing because of the many activities which were
assigned and the tasks needed one to type in data in the system. For example entering figures on
the bank statement into excel. This required the internee to be speedy when doing such
activities.

17
3.1.4 Communication Skills

The internee was able to gain the skills of proper communication when dealing with different
customers of different languages. The internee was able to know who to communicate to
whether certain issues arise on top of that she wrote business letter to other companies customer
care among others.

3.1.5 Delegation

The internee was given a lot of work from different people at the same time and every person
needed his work done. There were other internee who were at times idle and the internee
delegated some work to them by telling them how to do some activities and this helped to save
time and making other internee active in the department.

3.1.6 Dressing Code

The internee was able to know how office workers dress during the normal working days and
weekends. The internee gained the skill of dressing by look at how other ladies dressed for
work.

3.1.7 Preparation of trading documents

The internee gained the knowledge of preparing trading documents such as sales invoices, cash
receipts, cheque receipts, payment batches among others. Accounting in Uganda Baati Ltd
without such documents prepared and authorized no buying and selling can take place.

3.1.8 Identification

This involves knowing and identifying different invoices, raw-materials which are used in the
production of goods. These items have different accounting treatments in the system. So the
internee to do the duties of the organization effective she had to know the account for each raw-
material or purchase made by the organization. The internee also had to the currencies of the
countries where Uganda Baati carried out its activities because they had to combine accounts at
the end of year.

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3.1.9 Photocopying Skills

This involved using different copies when photocopying all the necessary documents such as
sales invoices and cheque. The internee gained a skill of photocopying two documents on one
paper.

3.1.10 Interpersonal relations

This means the relationship among the people at the worker place. The internee gained the skill
of how to relate with people you work with. The internee was able to gain this skill by listening
to every person without considering the position of any person.

3.1.11 Binding skills

The internee gained the knowledge of binding reports of any volume using different spirals
while at Uganda Baati Ltd.

3.1.12 Attained innovative skill.

This was all about brain storming mostly about accounting principles and practice. There were
instances when the intern needed to be innovative to accomplish the assignment given her i.e.
during gathering of data were new innovated techniques were used to convince the respondents
like the landlords the real cause and intention of the exercise. Fortunately, the idea worked and
the techniques were a success

3.2 EXPERIENCES
These are areas of knowledge and ability to do work better. These include accounting
experience, problem solving, management, standing for long hours when carrying out certain
activities among others.

3.2.1 Problem Solving

This was due to tiresome task and challenges experienced that built a sense of endurance and
how to contain problem at hand. The internee was able to handle every issue at hand. For
example problems caused by the trainer like misplace of their documents, because they were
superior to the internee.

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3.2.2 Accounting experience

The internee was able to put into practice the theory taught in class due to exposure to
accounting practices. For example preparing trading documents, Bank reconciliation, Work in
progress reports and passing all the accounting invoices into the system.

3.2.3 Standing for long hours

This was due to the stock taking exercise of every month at the beginning. During stock taking,
the internee and other employees had to count stock at the company premises but this activity
required one to move from place to place, climb where necessary and standing the all day
counting stock which was highly supervised.

3.2.4 Reconciliation

This is the activity involving reconciling the Bank statement and the cash book. This is the most
difficult activity to carryout since any mistake done by other accountant while entering
accounting figures and information into the system means that the Bank statement and the cash
book will have different figures hence not balancing. The internee experienced this by carrying
out this activity every month.

3.2.5 Filing

This involves organizing documents such as sales invoices, batches, work in progress print outs
and others. The activity required the internee to be keen on the documents and the file where
each document was supposed to be filed for proper allocation and reference when needed. This
helped to make work organized. The internee experienced this by doing it on a daily basis.

3.2.6 Handling customers

This required the internee to acquire good communication skills so that the internee can have a
good approach to the questions of the customers. The internee experienced this through talking
to the customers in the languages they understand better. The internee also helped to direct
customer to the responsible departments which deals with sales.

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3.2.7 Record keeping

Record keeping involves organizing documents and the necessary information to be used for
further accounting duties. The internee experienced this by separating documents to be
forwarded to other departments for record keeping and approval. For example when the sales
invoice where prepared and the copies of the sales invoices had to be splinted and given to the
respective departments for authorization and reference in the future.

3.2.8 Hierarchy of authority

This refers to the flow of authority in the organization. This requires one to know the person to
report to incase of any duty, the activities one has to carry out in the organization and other
persons giving the employee information. The internee experienced this when it came to
authorization of certain duties or activities to be carried out. The internee had to get all the
signatures of the signatories of the certain activity. For when making payment, the internee had
to first get authority from the top managers by getting their signatures confirming the payment
hence it was the responsibility of the internee to know who to refer, to avoid making errors.

3.2.9 Training

The internee experienced the situation of training other fellow internees to carry out some
activities in the times when the trainers where busy and a lot of work was assigned to the
internee. The internee trained others so that some work can delegated to them hence avoiding
idleness of the trainees. For example trained them how to book payments, passing debit notes
into the system, bank reconciliation among others.

3.2.10 Team work

This refers to working together as a group to achieve a common goal. Uganda Baati had different
departments with people of different skills and qualifications but they all aimed at achieving one
common goal. For example when it was stock taking period, all departments had to participate in
the exercise. The internee also carried out the activity hence developing team work and making
work simple.

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Working with different employees

At first it was a terrible experience to the internee to work with people who already have
experience in the activities there doing. The internee could feel out of place more so she was
requested to take documents to the financial controller, sales manager and the production
manager. But after being exposed to the operation of some tasks the internee got used and feel to
take documents to the superior bosses of the organization. For example when the internee was
asked a question on a particular document, she had the answers.

Management of data

When the invoices and debit notes where sent to Accounts department, the internee had to
organize them according to their invoice numbers before being entered into the system. This
helped to check if there is no invoice number repeated. For example when passing Jubilee
insurance debit notes, the internee had to put five invoices on one batch so they had to be
organized basing on their invoice numbers.

Report writing practice

The intern involved in making weekly reports about the assigned tasks and responsibilities .This
practice (report writing) relates to the business research skills that were studied by the intern
while at the University. Therefore the intern was able to write the organizational reports that
were required of her even though she had little knowledge on how to write them.

Role appreciation

Intern had an experience on how to appreciate role and tasks assigned to her. This required the
intern to be self-motivated, driven, having self-esteem, ability to accomplish every roles and task
assigned. This improved her ability and efficiency to accomplish every task.

3.3 LESSONS
These are closely related to skills and experiences but indicate areas of wisdom out of
involvement, discovery, an insight, a better understanding and being well informed. These may
include time management, necessity of record keeping, and confidentiality among others.

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Time management

The internee learnt to manage time at the work place. This was due to work over load which was
delegated to the internee. The internee achieved this by increasing on the speed of doing work,
delegating some tasks to the fellow internees, staying at the office after working hour and
coming early because some tasks where urgent and needed special attention and when not done
immediately it will put the customers on waiting to load their vehicles.

Necessity of record keeping

This involves organizing and recording any information to be used when carrying out certain
activities. Proper record keeping provides all the necessary information further accounting. The
internee learnt to keep records be they can used for future reference. For example during auditing
period, auditors give the accounts samples to be traced in the files for auditing purposes.

Confidentiality

This requires one to keep the important information secretly from the intruders. This can be
achieved through using pass wards. In Uganda Baati Ltd every employee has a pass word so it’s
not ease to access ones work. The internee learnt to keep the information as a secret from other.

Code of dressing

The internee also learnt how the employee dresses for office work more so during the normal
working days. Employees who are smart always do work in a responsible manner compared to
those who put on jeans and t-shirts on Monday. The internee learnt that some ones responsibility
starts by the way they dress up for work.

Managing of tasks

A lot of tasks where assigned to the internee from different trainers who needed the work to be
completed immediately. The internee to manage such tasks had to increase on the speed of doing
work and this helped to save time for the other activities. Managing tasks helped the internee to a
good time manage hence giving the trainers courage to delegate more work to the trainee.

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Being organized

This considers handling of documents, equipment used in operating, filing of documents and
how one organizes the desk. The internee learnt to be organized because it helps to make work
easy. When one is organized it becomes easy to trace a particular document when needed more
so during the auditing period at the end of the year.

Listening

The internee learnt to listen to every person irrespective of the position of the person. This is one
of communication skills one needs to have to be successful in business or any other activity. The
listened to every important word during the training and helped her to attain more knowledge of
running the organizational activities.

How to purchase

The internee learnt how to purchasing for raw materials starts up when the goods have reached
the company’s premises. The internee achieved this by recognizing all the document involved in
purchasing such as purchase order, goods delivered note, goods received note and bill of landing
in case of a foreign purchase.

Necessity of stock taking

This is the physical counting of stock at the company’s premises. By taking part in the stock
taking exercise the internee learnt how useful is stock taking the business. Stock taking helps to
avoid under stocking and over stocking that may lead to idleness of the workers and wastage of
resources respectively. When the company carries out stock taking it gets to know when to
purchase raw materials and also helps to detect safety of company resources by the workers.

Decision making

During the training at Uganda Baati Ltd, the internee learnt to make important decisions and this
happen when the trained assigned tasks to the internee yet some of them where busy face
booking and others had more duties to finish so the internee decided to only the tasks of those
who had a lot of work and left the work of those doing nothing for the following day.

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Appropriate rewarding of employees

While at Uganda Baati Ltd, the internee witnessed how rewarding of employees was done. This
was achieved rewarding employees depending on their performance, some employees performed
at their best so that to achieve the organizational goal. The internee learnt that rewarding
employees because of their performance motivated others to work hard and it’s also good to
appreciate workers for the work they do for survival of your organization.

Making payments

While carrying out the training in Uganda Baati Ltd, the internee was exposed to a lot
computation and in this where computing for payments to be made for certain expenses like
payment of NSSF contribution, taxes to URA, suppliers of raw materials and employee salaries.
The internee learnt the terms of payment to be considered when paying.

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 CHAPTER FOUR:
CHALLENGES AND LIMITATION

4.0 INRODUCTION
This chapter comprises of the challenges and limitations faced by the internee while at the
internship placement

4.1 CHALLENGE
These are factors that hinder the internee and the organization to effectively to complete their
activities or duties. These may include attitude of some employees, inadequate office equipment,
customer care, inflation and others as explained below.

4.1.1 PERSONAL CHALLENGES

4.1.1.1 Attitude of some employees
The internee was hindered to perform effectively due to the bad attitudes of some employees
who pretended to be very busy that they have no time to train the internees. These employees
were scared that they could lose their jobs when the internee learn and perform better than them.
This forced the internee to just watch them doing their task until those interested in training gets
work for internee. However their bosses ordered them to assign and also train the internees
because it was their duty.
4.1.1.2 Inadequate office equipment

Sometimes the computers were not enough to operate the activities of the organization and most
of the activities required the internee to use computers so this made the internee idle yet there
where a lot of work to be done. For example passing Jubilee Insurance, preparing sales invoices,
and other activities. This was solved when some workers went for leave and others had a day off,
so the internee was able to get the computer to use.

4.1.1.3 Work overload

This was due to a lot of tasks which were assigned to the internee at time when the equipment
were not enough to carry out such duties, so work could compile for the internee until there is a
free computer and this could lead to confusion because of the need to complete the work before

26
the owner takes back the computer hence ending up doing mistakes and re doing the work.
However some work was delegated to the other internees by training them.

4.1.1.4 Pollution

This was mostly caused by the noise from the factory and in the sales department where there
was loading and offloading of goods. Too much noise limited the internee to hear what the
trainer was communicating hence hindering the performance of the internee more so in the cash
office.

4.1.1.5 Long distance between departments

Departments get information from one another because they all aim at achieving a common goal.
So Accounts department gets information from all departments but some are very far yet the
internee had to move up and down to get the necessary information which was very tiresome
hence taking a lot of time moving and hindering the performance of other activities. However the
internee solved this by collecting all the necessary documents to be taken to a particular
department and then take them at once hence saving time for other tasks.

4.1.1.6 Tiresome activities

Some activities required a lot of energy for the internee to perform such activities. For example
during stock taking exercise requires one to move up and down, climbing coils to count those at
the to, standing the all day. This was very tire in that it hindered the internee to go for work the
following day. This was solved when tasks were assigned accordingly for example during stock
tacking and they allocated location for every body.

4.1.1.7 Language barrier

While in the cash office the internee had to handle customers of different races and speaking
different languages. It became difficult for the internee to handle customers who did not English
hence making work for the internee difficult.

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4.1.1.8 Busy schedule of some signatories

Some activities to be completed required the internee to first get the signatures of the authorized
employees to confirm the activity to be carried out. For example when making payment for the
suppliers and petty cash book we required signatures of the signatories who at times pretended to
be busy hence putting the activity on a stand still.

4.1.1.9 Network failure

Uganda Baati Ltd uses a package called Microsoft Dynamic Solomon which at times had a
network problem hence making it difficult to complete work in time. Even the internet network
was down making it hard to make online payments.

4.1.1.10 Humidity

The employees liked so much to put on the air conditioners to the extent that they could put them
even in the morning when it was still cold. This affected the internee because it was not
favorable to carry out the assigned tasks effectively and it was difficult for the internee to tell
them to turn the air conditioners off. However the intern could ask them kindly to switch the air
conditioners off.

4.1.1.11 Break down of the equipment

There was a time when the photocopier in the Accounts department was no longer operating and
the internee had to use the photocopier at the reception which required a password. There was a
lot of congestion because very department used that one photocopier and that people at the
reception used to come late hence wasting a lot of time waiting for them so that one proceeds
with work.

4.1.1.12 Low morale

Sometimes the morale of the internee was low because of bad health, poor attitude of some
employees who at times did not want to train us.

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4.1.2 TO THE ORGANISATION
4.1.2.1 Competition in the market
The existence of other companies producing the same products like those of Uganda Baati Ltd
has been a challenge to the organization because they tend to produce low priced products and
offering discounts to the customers which Uganda Baati managers have failed to do. Uganda
Baati has failed to reduce on the prices of its products hence being highly competed by other
companies like Roofing (U) Ltd.

4.1.2.2 Fuel prices

Due to the increase of the price of fuel. It became difficult for the company to operate its
activities effectively. Since the organization has to transport raw-materials from Uganda Baati to
other branches the transport costs increased by because of increased prices.

4.1.2.3 Inflation and Global recession

Due to the increased inflation and global recession recently affected the country hence affecting
the business of the country and also Uganda Baati Ltd. This led to the decline in the performance
of the company and its operations in the branches.

4.1.2.4 Customer care

The aim of the organization is to satisfy the needs and wants of the customer, but I have
witnessed that sometimes customers are waiting for a lot of time to load their vehicles because of

4.1.2.5 Power Fluctuations and Load Shading

The ongoing power shortages and black outs have led to the reduction in the production time
which internee has contributed to increased delay in making of order and meeting of targets set
by management that is to say production targets.

In addition to this, these power black outs have made the company to resort to using of diesel
power generator to try to meet these targets but still the cost of fuel is also high making matters
even harder.

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4.1.2.6 Importation of Raw-materials

Most of the raw-materials are obtained from beyond Uganda borders and it is costly to transport
such goods from say Kenya to Uganda. Most of the raw-materials are imported from Kenya,
Turkey, India, Germany and South Africa. Therefore, in order for these materials to reach
Uganda in time and safe they needed to be ordered for in time, monitored and also provided
insurance for just in case they got stolen or got an accident. Therefore coordinating all this is
quite challenging. Some of the materials include wiring rods, coils, zinc metal ingots, lead to
mention but a few.

4.1.2.7 Demurrage Charges

These basically are charges paid due to the delay in removal of one’s goods from the port and as
a result these charges are levied for storage of those goods at the port which is a problem to the
company since the charges are high that is to say united states dollars 300 per container. The
company has tried therefore to ensure that all necessary documents needed for clearance by the
clearing agents are sent on time so that these charges are avoided. For example an original Bill of
Lading.

4.2 LIMITATIONS
4.2.1 Power breakout and breakdown of the equipment’s

This affected the performance of the internee because of the lot of time to be spent to carry out
one of the particular activity. Once the equipment was not in proper condition performance it
could take a lot of time to be operated.

4.2.2 Swing mood of the trainers

Sometimes the trainers were not in mood of attaining internees. At times this was due to
mistreatment from their employers and this affected the internees when the blame was put on
them.

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4.2.3 Low morale of working

At times the internee was also not in the morale of carryout the duties of the organization and
this affected the performance of the internee.

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 CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

5.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter is a presentation of the assessment of my field attachment training, appropriate
conclusions and recommendations drawn from it as noted below;

5.1 CONCLUSION
In conclusion, my field attachment training at Uganda Baati Limited was beneficial as it exposed
me to the working environment in different departments while with different employees as well
as customers.

During my training, I was able to gain experience on working as a team, managing of different
tasks as well as skills in preparation of foreign purchase order. Scanning of documents and
lessons about importance of record keeping and relevance of hard work as this can even lead to
being retained.

However, given all the above, I was also exposed to some challenges that made working a bit
difficult for example the long distance to different departments within the company, language
barrier especially to the customers who knew specific languages like Swahili, dust raised by the
offloading trucks.

Uganda Baati Limited was however a good environment to work in and therefore my field
attachment in this company helped me to improve on my academic as well as professional
performance in future.

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5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendations are suggestions on what should be done in relation to a certain situation and
the recommendations to the University organization and policy makers that is the government
are as below;

5.2.1 To the University

I would recommend that the attachment should be given more time for students to learn more in
the field properly.

The university came up with this attachment which is a very good tool in helping the students to
try looking at the applicability of the theory they learn in class, however they do not thoroughly
learn or apply this because the duration of the attachment itself in the any given organization is
for just two month and this is not enough time for the student to really get all he or she needs out
of the attachment in time as the field supervisors themselves are divided into two that is they
have to carry out their daily duties and at the same time help the trainee thus little time.

5.2.2 To the organization

Uganda Baati Limited should endeavor to improve on its customer care field by ensuring that the
process gone through to buy a product is reduced such that customers do not change their mind
on purchasing a particular product and the company should also put in place customer assistants
in case they are new to the company such that they are helped to locate or find different places
like cash office, marketing office and the reception area.

I would also advise the organization to extend its production capacity since they were already
given land at the new industrial park at Namanve to try finding fight off growing completion
from growing companies such as Roofing Ltd.

Management should revise the policies on things like lunch, remuneration such as bonuses
because these give the workers motivation to carry out work whole heartedly and makes workers
identify with the company.

I would also advise the organization to ensure that documents for example an original bill of
landing is sent to the clearing agent on time to avoid incurring costs of those goods hence
overcoming the challenge of demurrage charges.
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The company should also adopt the use of a stand by generator to reduce on the delays that are
caused by power blackout.

The company can also overcome the challenge of market competition by diversifying its
products to get more customers compared to the ones they are having and adopting the use of
promotions to increase on the sales.

To the times of high inflation the company should indulge in the activities of value to its
existence. Maximum utilization of resources is important during hard times.

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REFERENCES
Nkundabanyanga Stephen (Advanced Accounting and Principles of Accounting)

Financial Reports of Uganda Baati Ltd

Trading documents of Uganda Baati Ltd

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APPENDICES
Copy of log book

Acceptance letter

Copy of the sales invoice

Jubilee insurance

Copy of MRM

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