Internship at malaysiaairlines Essay

As a part of requirement of Bachelor in Accountancy Programme, an internship training programme for six months is mandatory for every student in 7th semester. Therefore, it is necessary for me to complete my internship session in any company which offers relevant job scope and experience to my area and specialization. Previously, I had experienced working in an audit firm and now, I chose to be working in industrial and commercial sector in order for me to experience a new working environment. Hence, that is the reason why I decided to undergo my internship programme with Malaysia Airlines. I began my internship programme on 1st February 2013 with MAS and it ends on 31st July 2013. During that time, I was attached to Accounts Payable Department, 4th Floor, Admin 2 Building, MAS Complex A, SAAS Airport, 47200 Subang, Selangor. The department is headed by Cheah Paik Un and the Manager of the department is Pn. Nik Azlina Bt Nik Yusoff. I was put under the supervision of Nurul Izzati Bt Noordin and my immediate supervisor was Azizah Bt Azmi. 2.0 MALAYSIA AIRLINES (MAS). 2.1 Company Overview Malaysia Airlines (MAS), formerly known as Malaysian Airline System Berhad was found in the year of 1947. It is a Malaysian-based company engaged in the business of air transportation and the provision of related services. Basically, it operates in two segments. The first segment is airline operations, which engaged in the operation of aircraft for passenger and the second segment is cargo services which related to the operation of aircraft for cargo and mail services. In addition, MAS’s other business segment also includes catering, engineering, computerized reservation services, trucking and warehousing services, retailing of goods, terminal charges and tour and travel related activities. Up to now, MAS has over 20 subsidiaries with 13 of them are fully owned by MAS. Some of the subsidiaries are Abacus Distribution Systems (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd, FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd, MAS Golden  Holidays Sdn Bhd, and many more. Malaysia Airlines has its headquarters and registered office on the third floor of Administration Building A at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Selangor. 3.0 WORK EXPERIENCES. 3.1 Duties and Responsibilities. Since I was attached to the Accounts Payable department, basically my tasks involve the handling of incoming invoices from arrival to post. Usually, I would first classify and sorts the invoices into various categories. Then, after performing invoice verification, I would enter the park invoices and update it using SAP system. After that, the superior may have to check and approve the invoice and if there are no variances, the invoice is posted into the accounting system. Apart from that, I also need to update the manpowers’ time sheet and summary as well as the fuel uplift quantity and buffered flights using the Integrated Fuel Management System (IFMS). Therefore, I can state that I already had a clear picture on how exactly MAS handle their accounts payable. In addition,I am well aware that accounting departments are constantly challenged when it comes to validating the accuracy of invoices, obtaining agreement and sign off for expenditure and taking measures to eliminate double payment occurrences. 3.2 Exposure to the Airline Industry. As a part of exposure to the airline industry, Finance Business Support Department has provided all the practical trainees the Internal Finance Module (Basic Airline Economics) on 26th February 2013. I found it very beneficial to me as I am able to apply my knowledge on costing specifically for airlines industry. I was exposed to different cost classification which MAS applied on its expenditure incurred, for example variable costs can be divided into flight related,traffic related and revenue related. After that, on 4th April and 12th April, I went for a half-day visit to Engineering Hangar and Malaysia Airlines Academy where I had the opportunity to observe how the aircrafts are being maintained, CCTS mock up, flight safety demonstration and so on. 3.3 Achievements. During my training period, I have acquired many new skills and knowledge on accounting mainly for airline industry. First, to me it was a success when I was given the opportunity to learn in depth on what type of expenditure incurred by MAS, and other related issues in the way of settling it. Next, this internship programme has certainly enriched my curriculumvitae (CV) and my interpersonal skills as I was given the chance to interact with most staffs from every different level. This has largely broadened my perspectives on career opportunities available in the accounting profession as they always provide me with good advice on it based on their experiences. Thus, I am able to shape my career goals more clearly and it will surely benefit me in the near future. Lastly, I am more familiar with accounting systems such as SAP and ESKER solutions as well as IFMS which is a system mainly developed for managing fuel. I can confidently use it with ease and I found that these systems really make accounting as one of the most enjoyable fields to deal with. This is because, from what I have observed, since ESKER is being used by Accounts Payable Department on 3rd of June 2013, it helps on reducing the problem related to traditional invoice processing method. Some of the problems linked to traditional method are increase in the chance of error due to multiple sources and paper invoices are also hard to monitor as well as labour intensive. Therefore, ESKER solutions really make paper-free AP a reality and helps in cutting operational and administrative AP costs as the invoice approval workflow is simplified and consolidated. 4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS. I must recommend MAS to create a more structured training programme where supervisors are directed to plan a more comprehensive and organized training schedule for every trainees in order to optimize the training period with significant tasks in developing the trainees’ knowledge and skills rather than focusing on the same task for the whole period. Next, I suggest that Accounts Payable Department should once in a while organize a team building exercise for its staffs in order to bring them closer and I am sure that  this would encourage them to appreciate the importance of team work and able to share personal experiences and ideas. 5.0 CONCLUSION. In conclusion, I can state that my internship at Malaysia Airlines was a rewarding experience. This is because, it provided me with some new perspectives that I did not come across during my studies back at the college and the work experience I gained here was very different compared to the private practice sector due to the specific job scope. Next, I would like to attest both of my supervisors (Nurul Izzati Bt Noordin who was my senior supervisor and Azizah Bt Azmi who was my immediate supervisor) at Accounts Payable Department, MAS for the good job. Above all, working together with them was a true pleasure and theirs faith in my abilities was a real source of motivation. I really appreciate the way I have been guided through this internship programme with MAS, beginning from the opportunity to take the time I needed to refresh and expand my knowledge in several issues concerning every single expenses incurred by MAS and ways to make payment, over a somehow protected period where I could discover and learn to value my new working environment, and finally earned the confidence to deal with assignments myself. Last but not least, I need to stress that all the staffs in this department contributed greatly to making my stay at MAS a very enjoyable one. It is through them that I did enjoy my work every day and I am very grateful for the internship opportunity given by MAS.