KYAMBOGO UNIVERSITY

FIELD PLACEMENT REPORT CONDUCTED AT SUGAR CORPORATION

OF UGANDA LIMITED

BY

MURUNGI ALIMAHAD

16/U/1799/AFD/PD

INTERNSHIP REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT AND

ENTERPRENUERSHIP IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE AWARD IN BACHELOR DEGREE OF SCIENCE IN ACCOUNTING
AND FINANCE OF KYAMBOGO UNIVERSITY

i AUGUST, 2019
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this is my original work made personally and with my brain during
internship. And has never been submitted to any institution of higher learning for any
award.

Signature……………………………… Date……………………………..

NAME: MURUNGI ALIMAHAD.

REG. NO: 16/U/1799/AFD/PD

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 APPROVAL

This certify that this field report was done under my supervision and now is ready for
submission as partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Bachelor Degree of
Science in Accounting and Finance of Kyambogo University .

Signature……………………………… Date……………………………..

MR. IKENDI DANIEL

(FIELD SUPERVISOR)

Signature……………………………… Date……………………………..

MR. SSEKYEWA VICENT

(UNIVERSITY SUPERVISOR)

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 DEDICATION

I dedicate this report to my dad Mr. Musinguzi Ahamad, Aunt Maimunah Amisi, Grandmom
Kabahaguzi Mary, Sis Mbabazi Sudatih, Bro Mugisa Musa, sisters and brothers, friends, family,
relatives, to all those people who have been there on my behalf for the financial and moral
support they have given me during my education.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to register my heartfelt gratitude to the following for their constructive contributions and
assistance in having this report complete.

Sincere appreciation to the staff of the finance department (Accounts section) Mr. Ikendi Daniel
Mr. Angrawal Sanjeev, Ms. Nabukenya Oliviah, Ms. Nakivumbi Flavia, Ms. N Claire, Mr.
Asiku Leviticus, Mr Kairanga Twaha and Ms. Atim Jennifer for the guidance, encouragement
and support given throughout my training and may the Almighty God reward them
abundantly.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION..............................................................................................................................i

APPROVAL....................................................................................................................................ii

DEDICATION...............................................................................................................................iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..............................................................................................................iv

LIST OF FIGURES.......................................................................................................................vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS......................................................................................................viii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..........................................................................................................ix

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................1

1.0 Introduction............................................................................................................................1

1.1 Objectives of the Internship...................................................................................................1

1.2 Scope of Internship................................................................................................................1

1.3.0 Organization Profile............................................................................................................2

CHAPTER TWO: MANAGEMENT OF THE PRACTICUM EXERCISE...........................7

2.0 Introduction............................................................................................................................7

2.1 The Role of the Finance Department.....................................................................................7

2.2 Reporting and Induction by the Organization........................................................................7

2.3 The Department to Which I Assigned at the Work Place......................................................8

2.4 The Role of the Site Supervisor...........................................................................................10

2.5 The Role of the University Supervisor................................................................................10

CHAPTER THREE: FINDINGS AND OBSERVATIONS....................................................11

3.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................11

3.1 Knowledge and Skills Acquired..........................................................................................11

3.2 Personal Contribution to the Organization...........................................................................12

3.3 Challenges Noticed During Internship That Are Affecting;................................................12

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CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS..................................14

4.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................14

4.1 Management of Internship at Work Place............................................................................14

4.2 Comment on Findings..........................................................................................................14

4.3 Recommendations................................................................................................................14

4.4 Assessment of Internship Experience in Organization........................................................15

4.5 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................15

REFERENCES............................................................................................................................16

APPENDICES..............................................................................................................................17

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 LIST OF FIGURES

Diagram of the organization structure…………….……………………..…………..3

Showing employees by sex…………………………………………………………..5

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 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ADEL……………………….Agro Development Enterprise Limited

Admin ………………………Administrator

Agric………………………...Agriculture

C.R.O…………………..…...Central Registration Office

CWS………………..…….....Central Workshop

Dy. GM……………..….….. Deputy General Manager

Dy. Mgr …………..…….…..Deputy Manager

E.R.P……………….….……Enterprise Resource Program

G.R.N………………….……Goods Received Note

GM………………….………General Manager

I.S.O………………...…..…..International standard organization

I.T…………………..……… Information Technology

M.I.S ………………….…….Management Information System

Mgr………………….………Manager

R and D……………….…..…Research and Development

SCOUL……………….……..Sugar Corporation of Uganda Limited

Sr. GM………………….……Senior General Manager

TA……………………….….. Transfer Adjustment

U.S.F ……………………….. Uganda Sugar Factory

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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This internship report contains four chapters in the following order: information about the
organization, Management of the internship exercise, Findings/Observations during internship,
Conclusions, Recommendations and way forward of the internship attachment.

The organization was suitable for internship attachment because it has trained and qualified
personnel additionally they are so interactive and willing to be consulted.

I learnt the following skills during field attachment: entering custom bills, entering PAYE
computations, entering local and foreign purchase bills in computer system using ERP,
preparation of party reconciliation statements, and filing of various important documents
systematically in their respective files

The government should maintain restriction on the importation of sugar into the country in order
for the sugar locally produced to be fully consumed hence facilitating the development of the
sugar industries in Uganda.

It is advisable that students who will carry out future field attachment should be willing and
interested to learn more to enhance their preparation of their respective career

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 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

The internship report was made after having internship with Sugar Cooperation of
Uganda Ltd particularly in Finance Departments from 05/06/2019 to 02/08/2019.

This chapter contains the following background of internship; background of the

organization; location; mission; gender in the organization; organization structure; and other
main activities carried out by the organization.

1.1 Objectives of the Internship

 Gain early understanding and appreciation of the practical life real-life situation
challenges associated with application of the theoretical knowledge acquired.
 Develop expected professional self-awareness, internalization of career job requirements
and experience.
 Develop and acquire critical skills needed to proactively observe and analyze
problems/challenges encountered while executing career duties and responsibilities at
work.
 Student gain knowledge about practical aspects of functioning of an organization on the
domestic and foreign markets with a special emphasis on finance/ accounting
management in public administration, private sector, non-governmental organizations,
self-employment and other.
 Student knowledge about performing specific tasks and develop problem identification
and problem solving skills in finance management /accounting.
1.2 Scope of Internship

1.2.1 Content Scope

This internship aimed at providing the students with necessary knowledge and skill in line with
his field of accounting and finance, the intern intended to provide quick response to the public
and as well market the activities of the organization .This enable the student to generate practical
skills from the respondents in the various directorate and department of organization.

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1.2.2 Duration Scope

The intern intended to utilize the time allocated to him in practice accounting concepts as well as
transferring theory into practicals, Reconciling bank statements, client’s brief, writing monthly
financial reports. Therefore theses were executed in the period of 05 th June to 31st July as it was
allocated by the organization.

1.2.3 Geographical Scope

The organization is located at Lower Kawoolo division, Lugazi municipality, Buikwe district.
P.O. Box 1 Buikwe with various Retail outlets in Eastern, North, and western parts of the
country.

1.3.0 Organization Profile

1.3.1 Background of the Organization of Internship

Sugar Corporation Of Uganda Limited was established in 1924 by the late Nanji Kalidas Mehta.
It was formally known as Uganda Sugar Factory. It was the first sugar factory to be established
in the whole of East Africa.

Mr. Nanji Kalidas Mehta came to Uganda when he was a small boy of 14 years. He wondered in
the thickly grown forest of Uganda and his first venture was setting up a small shop amidst
the dense forest of Kamuli 40 km north of Jinja town.

With vision and energy he slowly expanded it to a fast chain of ginneries created sugar cane
plantations and started several industries sugar factory being one of them.

The factory continued until 1972 during this fateful year the government of Uganda
expropriated Uganda Sugar factory and took control of the company and renamed it Sugar
Corporation of Uganda Limited.

Unfortunately production started falling from 55,400 tons to 320 tones per annum by the year
1980.

After President Idi Amin’s regime the new government of H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
invited the family of the late Nanji Kalidas Mehta back to Uganda. His son Mr.
Mehendrabhai Mehta came back to Uganda to a tremendous welcome at Lugazi. He lived up to
2
the expectation of the company. The government handed over the asset of Uganda Sugar Factory
in March 1980 and a new joint venture was born which is christened as SCOUL with equity
participation by the government and one Mehta group.

The new factory was inaugurated on 26/01/1988 by H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni president of
the Republic of Uganda.

SCOUL had a task of developing the local skills and training the Ugandans managerial
staff as a majority of senior staff had left the country. The corporation has braved all
adversities and is now looking forward to a good and a bright future.

1.3.2 Location

SCOUL is located in Lugosi municipality, Buikwe District along the Jinja – Kampala Highway

1.3.3 Mission

The mission of SCOUL is to produce high quality sugar in Uganda to satisfy its

Customers and provide fair return on capital employed through dedicated employees and team
work.

1.3.4 Gender in the Organization

The company has over 6,500 employees; Figure 1.1 illustrates that 10% are females while 90%
are males. The female employees handle clerical and plantation harvest while male employees do
menial tasks

FIGURE 1.1 SHOWING EMPLOYEES BY SEX

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1.3.5 Organizational Structure

The Managing Director heads the company. The Chief Executive oversees the day to day
activities through 7 General Managers of Plantation, Factory, Administration, Material,
Transport and Finance. The company over 6,000 employees.

The functional areas of the organization are as follows;

Factory Department is responsible for processing sugar cane into sugar.

Motor Cane Transport deals with the transportation of harvested cane from the field to the
factory cane yard , maintenance of roads, and fueling all the company field vehicles.

Human Resource Department deals with recruitment, welfare, training, ethics, retirement and
dismissal of employees.

Plantation Department performs duties of land preparations, weeding, and harvesting

sugarcanes for manufacture of sugar.

Central Workshop is responsible for maintenance of all company vehicles and provision of
fuel.

Finance Department is responsible for financial management of the company.

Sales and marketing Department is responsible for marketing the company products in the
local and international market.

Audit Department ensures that the company policies are implemented and all things are done
in the right manner through verifications, research and procedures.

There are other departments like out growers, administration and information technology.

The organizational chart is presented by figure 1.2

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 FIGURE 1.2: ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

Managing Director (MD)

Regional

Director (RD)

Chief

Executive (CE)

Company
ISO 9001
Secretaries
Mgr.

Sr. G.M G.M G.M Sr. G.M G.M G.M Sr. G.M
Worksh
Agric Works Materia Admin. Audit Finance
ops
ls

Roads. Group Audit

Plantation. Distillery, Purchases Hospital. Bagasse. & Central CRO (payroll).
R&D, Factory & All (Imports & Schools. Canes & Audit Accounts.
Forestry, Operation Local), Human Transport Costing &
Diary & Areas Disposal resource. Cash Office
Floriculture Legal

Dy G.M Sr. Mgr Mgr G.M G.M C.W

IT Audit & Out Sales & Security G.M.S
MIS growers Mkting

Central Sales C.W.S

C.R.O Iet Expansion SCOUL
Audit Marketing Stores/Diese
E.R.P Out- Security
l All tractors
Growers
Pass
Vehicles
5
1.3.6 Nature and Activities of the Organization

The main activities carried out by SCOUL are sugarcane growing ; manufacturing of
plantation white sugar under the brand names Mr. Sweet, Lugosi premium and Lugosi
sugar packed in quantities ½ kg, 1 kg, 2 kg, 5 kg, 25 kg and 50 kg; carbon dioxide; alcohol for
human consumption and industrial use; and power. Those products are sold majorly in Uganda
and other East Africa Community countries. Currently power is produced for company
consumption.

1.3.7 Clients/Stakeholders of the Organization

A stakeholder could be an individual or a group of people who are interested in the business; the
people who are stakeholders can be affected by the business activities. There are internal and
external stakeholders;

Owners. Owners are the people who are interested in the business and focused or interested in
making the profit from the stakeholders. The company currently is owned by the government and
Mehta family with each owning 51% and 49% respectively.

Employees. Employees or workers are the people who are working for the business and are
interested in earning the high wages such as machine operators, Cane cutters and transporters.

Customers. Customers are the people who are ready to buy the business products, customers
expect to buy the best quality from that business but at reasonable prices. Example of customers
include; KK star enterprises Kampala, Dreck traders Ishaka-Bushenyi.

Supplier. Suppliers are the people who are willing to give their products to the business and
want the business to buy their products and they include; Gekah engineering construction, Kiteza
general Limited, Capijo investment limited

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 CHAPTER TWO: MANAGEMENT OF THE PRACTICUM EXERCISE

2.0 Introduction

This chapter details the scope of operations of the Finance Department by bringing out role of
the Department and specifically will focus on the role of the Finance department, details the
organization of the internship exercise right from the induction exercise to the farewell meeting
after the practicum and specifies the roles of both the site supervisor and the session supervisor.

2.1 The Role of the Finance Department

The Finance department shall-

 Manage all Finance activities of the company except adjudication and award of contracts ;
 Support the functioning of the Finance committee
 Implement the decisions of the Finance committee
 Check and payment Vouchers of company clients
 Prepare Payment documents
 Prepare purchase vouchers and any other contract document
2.2 Reporting and Induction by the Organization.

I reported on 05th-June- 2019 to the reception where the Internee Manager Mr.OBBO addressed
me and other interns. His address was directed towards enlightening all the interns on the
selection criteria that was employed for selecting successful interns, the acceptable dressing
code, code of conduct where at all times all members of the SCOUL are expected to be
presentable even when not at work and at all times hold a high impeccable standard character-
wise.

I was also enlightened about the possibility of being retained once I performed profoundly best
since Sugar Corporation Uganda limited company seeks to achieve the best out of me.

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The other issue of focus was the procedure followed in the stores to manage and control
transactions which is mainly done through the ERP10 software that enhances the coordination of
Accounts activities in all the companies under SCUOL both in the headquarters and the outside
bureaus.

2.3 The Department to Which I Assigned at the Work Place

2.3.0 Category of the department

The department I was a signed to the finance department specifically under finance unit called
Accounts.

2.3.1 Duties of the Finance department:

The Finance department at Sugar corporation Uganda limited company has mandate to carry out
the following duties;

 Receipt of all the stock items supplied Sugar Corporation Uganda limited company
following acceptance of the stock items upon their conformity with the specifications as
specified in the purchase order and the purchase contract.
 To prepare periodic report on the stores operations to be presented to the Chief Executive
Officer.
 It is mandated to manage all requisitions for stock items by the user departments and
issues while utilizing the stock control policies in order to leverage value for money and
improve on productivity.
 They are also mandated to ensure that proper documentation regarding sale of scrap items
is generated for example Tax invoice.
 Carry out supplier reconciliation in order to sort out those particular supplier invoices for
which payment against them has not been effected and is long overdue.
 They are also responsible for maintaining a proper office layout, coding system and
allocation of space to every office item for efficient operations for example order picking.
2.3.2 The title of the head of the Finance department

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The tittle of the head of finance is G.M Finance.

2.3.3 The responsibilities that I was assigned:

 Reconciling of bank statements to bring them in agreement with the bank books of Sugar
Corporation Uganda limited.
 Preparation, generation and posting of Tax invoices relating to Payee, Withholding tax
and excise tax
 Carrying out supplier reconciliation in order to filter out those supplier invoices for which
payment has not been effected against.
 Data entry for both days worked in a week and overtime for employees of the company.
 Reviewing entered data for identification of any data entry errors for example wrong
treatment.
2.3.4 Offices that I have worked with and what they do

1. Accounts; this manages all Accounting activities in Sugar Corporation Uganda Limited
company
2. Payroll department; this office is responsible for processing of employee salaries
including advance payments, gratuity and end of contract fee/payment
3. The human resource office; is responsible for human resource planning and ensuring
that all the human resource requirements of SCOUL.
4. Procurement; this manages all purchasing activities in SCOUL company
5. Sales and marketing department, this manages the sales and marketing activities of
SCOUL.
2.3.5 Relationship with other officers in executing

They were supportive and encouraged me to ask as many questions as I could about the subject
of Finance management in order to enhance my learning experience and in addition I was
assured that every member of the Account staff would be glad to give a response to my
questions.

I had to accord these officers with respect because each of them was my immediate supervisor
and was tasked to assess my performance mainly in terms of dressing and behavior and attitude
to words work for example the stores staff.

9
They were friendly and supportive to the extent that there was no significant line delineating me
as an intern and them as SCOUL staff as they ensure that I felt at home at all-time specifically by
assuring me that by the fact that I was doing my practicum at Sugar Corporation Uganda Limited
company, I was a member of the SCOUL family for the whole of my internship period.

2.4 The Role of the Site Supervisor

The site supervisor among other duties performs the following role;

 Orienting me at the beginning of the practicum by taking me through the policies and
procedures of the stores operations, goals and objective of SCOUL
 To assign work tasks to interns and fore see the performance of this tasks by interns by
guiding in time s where a challenge is met.
 Verifying and posting entered data on receipts and issues of stock items.
 Assessing my performance from time to time during the internship period with
consultation with the university supervisor.
 To complete a final evaluation form at the end of the internship.
 Discuss and develop a schedule and work plans with the students.
2.5 The Role of the University Supervisor

 To prepare the intern mentally for the practical field experience and in addition clear the
high expectations and illusions that may be possessed by the student.
 To assess the performance of the intern during the entire internship exercise.
 The university supervisor acts as a coordinator between the university and the sight
organization for the practicum.
 Assessing the internship environment on the grounds whether it is availing the student
with and objective learning opportunity for easy bridging of the gap between theory and
practice.
 To receive and mark student reports.

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 CHAPTER THREE: FINDINGS AND OBSERVATIONS

3.0 Introduction

This chapter contains lessons; experiences; new knowledge and skill gained; most interesting
experiences

3.1 Knowledge and Skills Acquired

3.1.1 Knowledge

I acquired knowledge of doing the following;

 I have mastered how to use ERP software for Accounts operations of maintaining
stock cards, supplier reconciliation among others.
 I have gained knowledge on how Accounts operations are carried out in a profit
making company. Additionally I have gained immense knowledge on the
acceptable code of conduct and dressing code in an office environment in order to
be presentable and not to offend any colleagues.
 I have gained knowledge on haw bid evaluation is managed and executed in a
profit making company where the focus is on reducing bureaucracy while
leveraging benefit to the company.

3.1.2 Skills

I learnt the following skills during:

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  Computer skills on Microsoft packages of excel, word, internet skills the
operations of the different applications within Microsoft ERP and in addition how
to operate other office equipment like photocopying machines among others.
 Relationship-wise, I have gained interpersonal skills that have enhance the
completion of my practicum.
 In all the tasks I performed upon completion I had to report on the final output
hence availing me with the platform of developing my Reporting skills.
 During the course of the exercise, I was able to take accurately ethical decisions
 Arrangement and Filing of taxes like VAT; Withholding Tax and PAYE based
on Bill payment number (BPs) and at the end I learnt filing skills.

3.1.3 How I Intend To Utilize What I Have Learnt For My Professional Development.

I was better prepared for the since the following course units were related to the
field of work namely ; foundation of finance , principles of management , information
technology, business communication skills , business law and company law. These course Units
helped me in easing my work for example in carrying out Party reconciliation statements,
Balance salary payable accounts, and Passing purchase bills. This will help me to favorably
compete on the labor market in the country due to different skills and knowledge acquired from
internship and this will help me to develop my professional more.

3.2 Personal Contribution to the Organization

I was able to increase on the efficiency and effectiveness in the execution of company work
as well as meeting the required deadline in areas of making salary reports, making payroll and
tax process. This came when I serve to increase on the manpower available the Accounts Unit.

3.3 Challenges Noticed During Internship That Are Affecting;

3.3.1 The Company

 Lack of enough working space in most departments which hinders employees in

performing well certain activities. .
 Competition from other sugar producing companies such as kinyara sugar, Kaliro sugar.

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  The passwords given to the accounts staff are given restrictively which restricts their
work.
 Fraud committed by untrustworthy employees like recording wrong figures intentionally.
3.3.2 The Workers:

 Low salaries to causal workers such as cleaner, cane cutter and security providers
 Poor accommodation characterized of old building.
 Poor feeding of workers mainly workers of the organisation feed on Posho and Beans.
 Language barrier is also another problem facing the accounts due many tribes in the
company.
3.3.3 The Internee:

 The time period for which I was accepted to do the practicum at SCOUL was quite short
(6 weeks) for me to be able to understand all the processes, procedures on operations of
the Accounts function
 I also encountered constant challenging circumstances mainly during data entry, there
was no standard format of Entering transaction vouchers.
 Some of the doors to some offices had security control installations that required swiping
a security access card for the doors to open and yet as an intern I was not issued with this
access card
 Language barrier since the company is multinational
 I also faced a problem of getting where to carry out this exercise.
 Sometimes there is network failure which results in pending of my assignments.

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 CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

4.0 Introduction

This chapter contains management of internship at work place, comment on the findings,
assessment, recommendations and conclusion.

4.1 Management of Internship at Work Place

SCOUL receives and manages students of internship attachment as organization’s employees. I

was received at SCOUL even though I had not yet given them my internship placement letter. In
the due course I was entitled to general welfare as staff member.

The staff members in the Finance department, were equally my supervisors but the Accounts
head along with the human resource manager were my overall supervisors.

The official reporting time for the company staff is 8:00 am and the official reporting time for
the interns was also the same and the official time for signing out for the company staff is 5:30
pm while the interns officially were allowed to sign out any time from 5:00 pm.

4.2 Comment on Findings

I learnt the following skills during entering local and foreign purchase bills in computer
system using ERP, preparation of party reconciliation statements, and filing of taxes like
VAT, Withholding Tax , and PAYE. However, I faced some challenge while performing tasks

14
at the station, Language barrier since the company is multinational, Sometimes there is network
failure which results in pending of my assignments.

4.3 Recommendations

4.3.1 Recommendations Suggested for the Improvement of SCOUL.

 Constant communication to suppliers for reconciliation of statements of accounts.

 Delay of invoices in the system should be overcome by regular updating of the
system.
 SCOUL to acquire a stand by generator even for the company to produce enough
power in order to solve the problem of power cuts.

4.3.2 Recommendations Suggested for the Improvement of the Future Internship by

Kyambogo University

 The university should provide adequate computerized accounting and audit packages
in its curriculum so that students are fully prepared for the work demands .
 As an intern, I would like to recommend that the university should lay out guidelines for
our field supervisors on the areas of interest it feels that a student can acquire enough
practical skills.
 I would advise the University to allows this activity (internship) to take place twice in
the learning years of the students because two months are not enough for a student to
have practical understanding each and everything conducted by the organization.

4.4 Assessment of Internship Experience in Organization

In my field attachment, I found out that practical skills cannot be acquired by just reading
textbooks and attending lectures only but one needs field attachment to skills, knowledge and
experience real life of work such as Bank statement reconciliation skill, filling, Recording,
Printing and photocopying and computer skills like running different computer software
application e.g. ERP10, Payroll master, Ms. Excel.

15
4.5 Conclusion

All in all the internship practicum I conducted at Sugar Corporation Uganda limited Company
availed me with the tools, people, processes with which I was able to practically understand the
link between what I learned in school within the scope of Accounting and finance specifically in
the areas of Accounting, procedural manuals, stock control policies relating to inspection,
verification, Bank reconciliation, Drawing accountability, Payroll processing, stock taking and
record keeping particularly maintenance of the Payment vouchers, purchase bills and above all
maintenance of ethical code of conduct while executing the different task and while with
emphasis on how to relate with other employees in an organization.

REFERENCES

Frank Wood (1996) Business Accounting 1, 7th edition, Pitman Publishing Company

Omunuku (1999) Fundamental Accounting for Business Practical Emphasis

Kakuru Julius (2005) Finance Decisions and the Business Publishing Group, Kampala
Uganda.

Company Brochures.

Company Organizational Chart.

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 APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Acceptance letter

Appendix 2: Recommendation letter

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