pawn_of_pawns

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Ilan Bouchard

The numbers can be anything. Anything that can be numbered in a large company is, and someone somewhere's job is to just make sure those numbers are correct.

Accountants deal with a company or a person's money and balances checkbooks, while someone with a business major might go into any field they want–restaurant ownership, investing, etc.

This much harder: |--------------------|

Really, it probably depends on the workspace.

An accountant would probably be easiest, since he's the only one who looks at "the numbers" (the money) with scrutiny, meaning he could fudge the numbers around without raising suspicions. But basically anyone with access to a lot of company money can embezzle.

Have you ever seen Office Space?

This also depends. In some fields it's uncertain whether you'll have your job the next day, while other fields more or less guarantee a secure job.


These are very broad questions you're asking, so you'll have to be more specific.

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pawn_of_pawns

I know they're broad, but I don't really need alot of detail. I just wanted more of a feel for the business world.

Watching movies is a good idea. I've seen the beginning and the end of Office Space, but not the middle.

Your answers were helpful, though. Maybe once I decide exactly what type of business to use I can specify more.

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Ilan Bouchard

Check out Wallstreet and Office Space.

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Mike C

Depends what you're doing. I use accounting software, spreadsheets (which are used for costing jobs, quoting for work, tracking expenditure during a job and analysing results after) web design software, wordprocessing, CAD software.

Bottom line, the numbers tell you if you're making money or not.

When qualified, a business major will play the game. An accounting major will keep score.

Quote:

--Do women really have to work harder than men for equal respect in the business world? How much harder?

Yes, undoubtedly. just google 'Glass Ceiling'.

Quote:

--How would one embezel? Would they have to be an accountant or something, or can anyone with the know-how?

There's a thousand and one ways. False accounting, fake invoicing, selling inventory through the back door, if the business deals in cash a lot, simply pocketing some, having extra, non-existant employees on the payroll...

Quote:

--And with all the out sourcing and down sizing, how easy is it to loose your job?

Easy. When the company I used to work for got bought out, it was my job to 'downsize' by 50 employees. Big fun.

Just ask.

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writingaccountant

Ohkay, I know nothing about business so I'm hoping someone here does.

--What is it that people are always looking at on those computers screens? What the hell do all those numbers tell them? And what is the difference between business majors and accounting majors?

I spend 10-12 hours a day as an accountant for a engineering firm. On my screen all day long are Financial information ie Cash balances, loans outstanding, investments etc or Project information like Revenue on a clients project. Business majors in my opionin fall into 2 categories. Accounting/Finance or Marketing. Vanillia Business majors end up as store managers or the like. Normal Business managers lack the detailed skills to do either the selling or scorekeeping effectivly.

--Do women really have to work harder than men for equal respect in the business world? How much harder?

This is now bunk. I have worked with 80-90% women in accounting throught my career 1998-2006. The engineers who work for us >80% men have been passed rather quickly by the 3-4 women. New trend amoung these women engineers which is helping them beat the men is house husbands.

--How would one embezel? Would they have to be an accountant or something, or can anyone with the know-how?

To embezel you have to have 2 accountants working together. In accounting the security is built on checks and balances ie you cant steal because I will find your theft and vice versa. Now if you have 2 people working in the same accounting department they can overlook the theft and split the money. For example the treasury accountant in our firm could send money from our accounts to herself. When she does that the staff accountant will be able to see the money go. If they are working together the treasury accountant can send money to herself and the staff accountant can alter the accounting records to make it look like a valid transaction.

The three easiest ways to steal are as follows. Have checks written to bogus DBA's (doing business as) accountant out of the accounts. Next create a bogus employee to receive checks (watched that one get caught) the head secretary was on both the monthly and weekly payrolls so they were getting double paychecks pretty slick. I am actually writing about the third method which is very lucrative but very involved. An accounting clerk gets the customers to change the payment address to an account they own. Then when the checks and wires come in to the bogus account the clerk quickly sends the money to the company they work for. Once you get a good portion of the clients sending money to you instead of the company you just stop sending the money on to the company and it will take 60-90days for them to catch on and by that time you could have 4-5 million and be gone. The problem is the clerk has to have the staff accountant not ask too many questions about late payments via sexual favors/blackmail.

--And with all the out sourcing and down sizing, how easy is it to loose your job?

This is totally bunk as well. If you can kill it in the business world you are not going to be downsized. The only times in which a downsizing has effected an accounting department was just an excuse to get rid of dead weight. That is in a small <600 person company.

Those are just a few sample questions; any information about the business world would be helpful. Danke.

sorry for the spelling and grammar trying to do this quickly during lunch.

lisajane

I work for one of the largest wholesale finance companies in the world. What the people are looking at on computers depends on what they're actually doing on them. I'm generally looking at a program called Holocon, which helps track loans, update loans, scan loans, settle loans etc etc. Or work-related emails. The numbers tell me what loan it is, how much it's for... etc etc etc.

Depends on the workplace I suppose. At mine, we all have equal respect.

Depends on the workplace. I've been downsized once and got that job given back, but that was factory work. A co-worker of mine was fired recently for not doing work and being too social during work hours. Can be fired for anything as major like breaching the Privacy Act, like telling a third party outside of work about a client's loan application without written permission, or something relatively minor like wearing slutty clothes or someone being insulted by a pornographic picture on someone's computer (people have been fired on the spot for doing those last two).

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