No abstract

Accounting is important for a business of any sizes to keep well-organized and up-to-date accounting records for their daily transactions. It helps businesses to plan and manage financial matters more effectively. However, most of the small business owners do not keep proper books of accounts since there is no legal obligation to do that. Moreover, they also perceive accounting as a very difficult process due to its technical difficulties. Thus, it is quite hard for the small business owners to monitor the financial status/growth and also obtaining financial assistance from third parties. Hence, this study examines the extent of accounting literacy which focuses on accounting records and financial management among small business owners in Jasin district. 51 small business owners responded to the questionnaire distributed. Findings of this study revealed that, in terms of accounting records, majority of the small business owners do not have proper record keeping and do not concern on separation of business and personal transactions. Besides, almost 70% of them did not maintain any financial reports for the business. In terms of financial management, most of the owners use selffinancing in running the business since they are worried they cannot afford the loan commitments. Apart from that, it might be difficult for them to apply for a loan due to no proper business record and financial reports prepared for the business. These results indicate that accounting literacy is still very weak among the small business owners in Jasin district.

Economic Transformation Plan (ETP) emphasizes that the country has a pool of resources to steer towards Malaysia's aspirations to become a developed and high-income nation. The ETP Roadmap highlights accountancy, an integral function in all businesses as part of the significant ETP driver. However, Malaysia still lacks the required number of qualified accountants by the year 2020. This challenges higher learning institutions to produce suitable accounting graduates. Despite taking an accounting subject in schools, not all these students later opt to enrol accounting in higher learning institutions as many factors influence their career choices. This study aims to explore these motivating factors. A quantitative approach was applied whereby primary data were collected through a questionnaire survey. Respondents were students from seven elite schools in Melaka. The study found eight motivating factors; family members in the accounting profession, public accountant as a career choice, students' interest in receiving relevant information, choosing private accountants as a career, parents, school counsellor and career talk. However, only four of these factors were significant to students' decisions to pursue professional accounting courses. In addition, parents' influence plays a greater role in motivating students to opt for professional accounting courses as compared to an accounting degree.

Accounting is perceived as a complicated process due to its technical difficulties. However, accounting knowledge is undeniable essential to complete a business plan. The ‘Simplified Accounting Template for Apprentice’ (SATA) is developed to facilitate students especially non-accounting students who have very little accounting knowledge in preparing proforma financial statements at the financial section in the business plan. SATA act as integral part of technology used in accounting education to improve students’ understanding on accounting and help them to complete the business plan. The objective of this paper is to access the level of students’ understanding on accounting with the introduction of SATA in teaching and learning which finally can assist them to prepare financial statements. A hands-on workshop was conducted by accounting lecturers in UiTM Malacca Branch Jasin Campus on SATA to assist the students in completing the business plan for financial section. A questionnaire was given at the end of the workshop to the students to gather their feedback related on SATA and give their perceptions using SATA in preparing financial statements. This study found that more than 80% respondents admitted that SATA improved their understanding on accounting terms such as terms of non-current assets, non-current liabilities, sales, purchases, 85% agreed that SATA took lesser time to prepare financial statements, 90% found that SATA was very easy to use as compared to manually prepared the financial statements and facilitates in analyzing financial performance and 91% agreed that SATA really help them in completing their business plan particularly in financial section. On overall most of respondents admitted that SATA increase their understanding in preparing financial statements. This study also revealed that most of the respondents understand the component of Statement of Profit or Loss and Statement of Financial Position embedded in SATA.

As a developing nation, Malaysia is looking forward to transforming its direction towards the Industrial Revolution 5.0. Aligned with the transformation process that is mainly driven by the rapid modern industrial transformation, Malaysian education system is faced with a variety of challenges especially in equipping young adults with innovative, digitally literate, and high critical thinking skills to make them future-ready. Additionally, the growing digital world economy has resulted in the loss and transformation of jobs which necessitates the transformation of Malaysian education for future employability. Moreover, the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digitalization of the education sector. Hence, this study aims to explore, analyze, and evaluate first-year Bachelor in Accountancy students’ perspectives with regard to their online learning experiences in digitalized classrooms by looking at six dimensions: 1) Self-Directed Learning, 2) Learner Readiness toward Online Learning, 3) Learner Control, 4) Online Communication, 5) Computer/Internet Self-Efficacy, and 6) Motivation for Learning. Using a qualitative research design, online interviews via Google Meet involving 43 first-year students were conducted. The recorded interviews were then transcribed and analyzed using ATLAS.ti 8. The results of the study suggest that online learning has its advantages and disadvantages based on the respondents’ perspectives and experiences. A majority of the respondents reported that they enjoyed online learning and were well prepared for it while some of them perceived online learning as a complicated approach due to some factors. It can be concluded that these students were ready for online learning.