CEFROHT has incredibly been a master piece in grooming me as an accountant. I am Babirye Moureen, a 32year old lady from Busoga – Iganga District but currently living and working in Kampala with The Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT).
I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts in Development Economics from Makerere University in 2015 but I never really worked as an accountant for a long while until I joined CEFROHT from the banking industry.
CEFROHT is a human rights non-profit organization that applies a human rights-based approach to food, nutrition, trade, and investment systems and its linkage to the right to health and adequate living, founded in 2018 and registered with the Uganda National NGO Bureau in 2019.
I started like any amateur with little knowledge on accounting and close to no experience in the field. I kept wondering what a typical day of an accountant looks like, the work load and expectations from me by my bosses. It all seemed overwhelming and at the same time amazing.
My boss and workmates welcomed me and have always been a huge part in shaping and supporting me as the organization accountant through clear instructions, empowerment, encouragement and providing a convenient working environment.
Like any amateur, I went through a series of back and forth when it came to reporting which at a certain moment seemed tiresome and overwhelming but I kept telling myself, keep going and do not give up until you get better.
Through my time in the organization I have learnt that a number of tasks each day require critical, and analytical thinking. Work performed by accountants is detail-oriented, maintaining thoroughness and precision is of great importance.
I am also called upon as an accountant to deliver expertise, opinions, and reporting to other members of the organization and it requires knowledge on principles of accounting, and ability to translate complex, technical topics into language that can easily be understood by non- accountants.
I too perform technical financial work involving manipulating numbers, working with formulas, and performing financial analysis. I sometimes work on a team with one or more other accounting professionals which requires ability to discuss our work in technical accounting terms so as to have alignment across the entire accounting department.
Accounting involves the use of accounting technology: tools such as Microsoft Excel, data modeling programs, and financial software like Quickbooks that help in examining financial statements for accuracy, Providing best-practice financial recommendations and advice to other sectors in the organization, analyzing operational costs and budgeting.
It feels like a rollercoaster through the journey of working and learning all these amazing things i n a time period that still feels like yesterday.
Written by: Babirye Moureen – Accountant
