Week 5: Filing Fun!

Instead of entering data for the past year, this week was mainly concerned with the storage of old data. In China, corporate finance laws require CPA agencies to print and keep all of the records that they work with, for future reference. This entails a thorough and systematic filing system that at once sorts, explains, and protects a company’s data. 

The first step is to gather all of the data. This includes all of a company’s revenue and spending for the past year (in this case, 2023), as well as an update on any changes or continuities for their savings. In many cases, these figures will also be accompanied by an explanation by the company for why some numbers are the way they are. For example, an engineering company could explain why one number on spending is just an estimate, because the acquisition of materials was particularly difficult for a period of time. 

After gathering all of the data, the next step is to combine and order it. This is where the different ways in which a company categorizes their data come into play. In the previous blog, I described how a travel company might divide their data by splitting their company based on location, whereas an engineering company could do the same based on different steps in a more general engineering process. These differences all change the way that different types of charts and forms are ordered in that company’s file. 

After having all of these records laid out, there comes the tedious process of replicating the digital files on paper. Some of the files will have already been printed out; others will have to be printed out in the office. After getting hard copies of every single document, they are ordered and separated (staples and clips are taken out), and then bound by a giant booklet-binding machine. 

Lastly, the booklet for the whole company is labeled with its different subsections, as well as a number assigned to it. 

This process was a little difficult to get the hang of at first, but ultimately fulfilling and fun!