a. Read the heading. Do you think the writer enjoys his job? Discuss with your partner.

I work in the Accounts Dept. and…

My name is Robert. I work in the Accounts Dept. of a major company and I love my job.

The computer program that we employ for the management of projects, orders and administration is new
and quite intuitive. It is used by all Departments; in the accounts Dept. it is used to manage the accounts payable,
the accounts receivable, the company’s liabilities and the source of income (fixed assets, current assets). It is also
used to update the petty cash book and can generate the profit and loss statement, the general ledgers (GL), the
balance sheet and various reports.

My typical daily routine involves checking, approving and recording the client pre-invoices that my colleague
has issued. Each client pre-invoice must be associated with an internal order/project, then it is approved by me and
my boss before being recorded and sent to the customer. I also deal with the unpaid accounts receivables. I do not
really like debt collection, but it is an essential task.

The supplier invoices must be associated with an internal order/project too. I record them once a month,
and I update the register of incomes and expenses for Income Revenue Authority too. After having paid the V.A.T.
through the F24 form, I usually print the V.A.T. records in the middle of the following month.

Another role of the Accounts Dept. is the monthly management of the personnel. My colleague Alice deals
with payrolls.

We mainly use the online banking for the banking operations, it's very simple and we do not have to go to
the bank branch. We haven’t used the checkbook for years, we pay suppliers by bank transfer or credit card. Our
customers pay us only by bank transfer or SDD (SEPA Direct Debit). For this reason, the main banking operations I
carry out are the bank transfer orders and standing orders requests for our regular suppliers.

I also deal with bank and credit card reconciliations. I check our bank accounts every morning. Once a week I
send a copy of the statements to my boss and to our managing director.

b. Read these questions:

1. Is Robert the boss of his Department? YES_____NO_____

2. Does he have direct relationships with customers? YES_____NO_____

c. Read the text for 1 minute and answer the above questions yes or no. Then compare your answers with your
partner.

d. Read these questions:

1.The company employs an old computer program. TRUE_____FALSE_____

2. Robert issues invoices. TRUE_____FALSE_____

3. He prints the V.A.T. record once a month TRUE_____FALSE_____

4. The company pays suppliers by cheques/checks TRUE_____FALSE_____

5. Robert uses online banking TRUE_____FALSE_____

e. Read the text for 5 minute and answer the above questions true or false. Then compare your answers with your partner.

A.K.

1. FALSE 2. FALSE 3. TRUE 4.FALSE 5. TRUE

By: cv1965
e. Look at the highlighted words in the text and match them to the definitions. Then compare your answers with your
partner.

WORDS DEFINITIONS

Total long term and liquid resources of a person or business, as

1 accounts payable a cash, notes and accounts receivable, securities, inventories,
goodwill, fixtures, machinery, or real estate
The accounting transaction record, maintained either manually or
2 accounts receivable
b using computer software, of all the balance sheet and income
statement balances of a company or business. 
3 liability An instruction a bank account holder gives to his or her bank to pay
c
4 a set amount at regular intervals to another's account.
fixed and current assets
d A list of employees to be paid, with the amount owed to each.
A printed listing that shows financial amounts taken in or paid out of
5 petty cash book
e a bank account, or of finances generally.
6 general ledger (GL) f Money owed, debts
register of incomes and
The amount of money a company owes creditors (suppliers, etc.) in
7 expenses for Income g
return for goods and/or services they have delivered.  
Revenue Authority
8 payroll h A formal summarization of petty cash expenditures, sorted by date.
9 standing order request Annual declaration to the tax office of all domestic VAT sales and
i
statement purchases.
10
The amount of money owed by customers or clients to a business
j
after goods or services have been delivered and/or used.

ak WORDS DEFINITIONS

1 accounts payable
2 accounts receivable
The amount of money a company owes creditors (suppliers, etc.) in return for goods
g
and/or services they have delivered.  CONTI PASSIVI
The amount of money owed by customers or clients to a business after goods or services
j
have been delivered and/or used. CONTI ATTIVI

3 liability f Money owed, debts. DEBITI

4 fixed and current assets
Total long term and liquid resources of a person or business, as cash, notes and accounts
receivable, securities, inventories, goodwill, fixtures, machinery, or real estate( Fixed
assets are long-term and will likely provide benefits to a company for more than one
a year, such as a real estate, land or major machinery. Current assets are those that will
be converted to cash within one year. Typically, this could be cash, inventory or accounts
receivable).  BENI. CESPITE.

5 petty cash book h A formal summarization of petty cash expenditures, sorted by date. LIBRO CASSA
The accounting transaction record, maintained either manually or using computer
software, of all the balance sheet and income statement balances of a company or
6 general ledger (GL) b
business. The five main types of general ledger accounts are asset account, liability
account, expense account, revenue account, and equity account .LIBRO MASTRO
register of incomes and expenses for
7
Income Revenue Authority
i Annual declaration to the tax office of all domestic VAT sales and purchases.
8 payroll d  A list of employees to be paid, with the amount owed to each. PAGHE
An instruction a bank account holder gives to his or her bank to pay a set amount at
9 standing order request c
regular intervals to another's account. ORDINE PERMANENTE
1 A printed listing that shows financial amounts taken in or paid out of a bank account, or
statement e
0 of finances generally. ESTRATTO CONTO

f. Correct the mistakes in the spelling

1. stand order request___________________2. accunts________________3.statment___________4.general

legger__________________5.petcash book_______________6.fix assets______________

7.autorithy_________________8.paysroll___________________9.paiable_____________10.receivables__________

A.K.

1. standing order request 2. accounts 3.statement 4. general ledger 5. petty cash book 6. fixed assets
7. Authority 8. payroll 9. payable 10. receivable

By: cv1965
g. Mark the accent

example: standing = stan ding

1. payroll 2. statement 3. assets 4. payable 5. petty cash 5. authority 6. record 7.receivable

8. fixed 9. current

A.K.

1.pay roll 2. state ment 3. a ssets 4. pay able 5. petty cash 5. au thority 6. re cord 7.re ceivable

8. fi xed 9. cu rrent

C.P.

h. Fill in the gaps with the words given

accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed, current, petty cash , ledger, register of income and expenses,
standing order request, statement, liabilities.

1. I’m sorry, the bank online program has a bug and our__________________________hasn’t been
processed, that’s why you haven’t received the payment.

2. Our Board of Directors is meeting to discuss the General________.

3. I’m always nervous when it comes to print the__________________________________. I often call our
consultant so she can check that everything’s fine before sending it to the Income Revenue Authority.

4. I don’t like debt collecting but it’s part of my job. I have to make sure our accounts_______________are
under control and customers pay .

5. The company went bankrupt due to too many___________.

6. ________and ___________ assets are recorded on a balance sheet which is a statement showing the
worth of a company at a certain point in time. 

7. Can you check the last bank __________? Has Mr Jones’ payment come in?

8. We ought to cut our expenses. Mark said that our accounts___________are too much a heavy part on
the budget.

9. If you need any cash, please ask Julia of the Accounts. Dept., as any cash must be recorded on
the_________________book.

A.K. 1.standing order request 2. Ledger 3. register of income and expenses 4. receivable 5. liabilities
6. Fixed-current 7.statement 8. payable 9.petty cash

i. F.P. With your partner, in turns choose one word at a time (don’t tell her/him the word!) and let/him
guess it by your definition/explanation.

The words are: statement, petty cash book, accounts payable, liabilities, payroll, register of incomes and
expenses for Income Revenue Authority.

By: cv1965