Week 3:
Teacher Created Materials

August 27, 2013

My third week here at Teacher Created Materials certainly has been the best, from both a professional, social, and leisurely aspect.  I have made great strides in the workplace, been given new and more challenging tasks and projects, and have had numerous influential conversations on how to approach my future in the financial industry.  On top of all of this, I got to experience some essential Los Angeles tourist attractions and sights.

I began my week working more in Accounts Payable, with a focus in keeping track of inventory.  This is a recurring project that I have been working on, and with each week I must do a different task, whether it be inputting invoices into Excel, keeping track of preparation and freight expenses for each shipment, or beginning to create the code necessary to upload the information into SAGE, the accounting software that TCM uses.  This took up only about the first day and a half, then my focus shifted entirely towards Accounts Receivable.  My coworker specializing in this position had a scheduled vacation for Thursday the 22^nd and Friday the 23^rd, so it was my responsibility to completely take over for her and keep everything moving smoothly.  This was a great experience, because it gave me a good idea of how much that I have learned thus far.

Some more work on my inventory project: The invoices that I am analyzing.

I began each day with the Daily Deposit Reconciliation, where I made sure that the deposits made to the bank in the previous day matched up to what we had input into our accounting software.  Once this was reconciled, I entered all of the ACH and wire payments into ELAN, the booking module that TCM uses.  After that, I processed all of the credit card transactions that are typically emailed or phoned in to the company.  This completed my morning tasks, so I worked on a project regarding building costs for the current year to date until the checks come in from the mail around two or three o’clock.  When the check came in, I had to first input them into ELAN in order to close any paid off invoices.  Then, I deposited the checks to the bank through their portable check processor.  At this point, I had made all of the necessary deposits and bookings, so I finished the day with the Daily Deposit Reconciliation as I had started with.  Everything went much better than I had originally though, showing that I have, in fact, been absorbing a good deal of information.  Beginning this week, I finally get to begin working with the General Ledger (GL), which involves writing journal entries and combining accounting theory with practice.

I was extremely fortunate to have my girlfriend come and visit me, which allowed me to get out and explore LA.  We went to see the live filming of a new NBC sitcom “Undateable” at Warner Brother’s Studios, and it was an absolute blast.  It was very cool to see everything behind the scenes of show business.  Over the weekend, we also went to an LA Dodgers game, which was also an incredible experience.  This fellowship has brought me to a place that I have never been before, and has allowed to me to have experiences that I quite possibly would never have had on my own.  I look forward to the next month here, and I hope to make just as many strides in the workplace as I have in this first month.