Accounting Overview

The accounting industry has much to offer in terms of opportunities, professional development, and exciting career paths. To be successful in an accounting position one must possess strong analytical abilities, be detailed-oriented, and have the ability to work very quickly and adeptly with numbers. Moreover, those who are the most successful possess not only strong analytical abilities, but also the
1 This handout is prepared with the direct assistance of “Vault Career Guide to Accounting,” and various other sources. For more information about a career in accounting, please refer to Kresge Database.

ability to synthesize, interpret and develop applicable business strategies utilizing financial data. Thus, a career in accounting offers its professionals the opportunity to challenge themselves, work closely analyzing financial data and provide significant value-add to corporations, governments and organizations around the world.

A career in accounting can entail many different specific job functions ranging from an audit or tax-consulting career with a public accounting firm, to an accounting position with an industrial company, to a position with the Government Accounting Office or a non-profit organization.
 
Types of Accounting:
As noted above, accounting organizations provide a range of services. Traditionally, the two primary services provided are audit and tax. However, many accounting firms have grown their advisor services to offer: corporate finance, risk management, transaction services, business process outsourcing, people and change consulting, IT advising, and personal financial planning.

- Audit: An auditor examines the financial statements of a company or organization and independently certifies the statements are valid, accurate, and relevant. Additionally, an auditor often also provides advisory services such as recommending ways to improve profitability, etc.

- Tax: Accountants who provide tax services primarily create strategies to minimize tax liabilities for their clients. Additionally, they prepare tax returns, advise on tax laws, assure clients tax law compliance, etc.

- Advisor: The advisor role within public accounting serves to analyze key data issues, patterns and trends to identify implications, and improve efficiency and effectiveness for clients. The division of specialty that fall within the advisor line of service differs among the firms.

Types of Accountants:

- Public Accountants: Public accountants generally work for a public accounting firm (for example: Ernst & Young) and provide accounting services to companies, governments, etc. Large public accounting firms provide the range of services discussed above in “Types of Accounting,” and because public companies are required to have yearly audits, a large part of public accounting firms’ business is providing auditing services to public companies.

- Private Accountants: Private accountants work directly for a company, government or non-profit organization. They receive their paycheck from the organization for which they are providing accounting services (for example: Internal Accountant at Kraft Foods). Generally, these accountants prepare the financial statements for the public accountants to audit and certify. Additionally, private accountants may also prepare their company’s tax statements, consult its management on changing accounting principles and ensure the financial integrity of the company’s business transactions.
 
Changes in the Field

While students’ interest in accounting related fields ebbs and flows depending on the economy, a career in accounting has long been considered “recession proof” and offers significant job security. In 2008, Forbes ranked Accounting Executive #4 and Accounting Staff #5 in its list of “10 Most Recession Proof Jobs.” Additionally, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ranked Accountants and Auditors in the Top 20 Occupations with the most demand for 2006-2016.

Accountants are especially in demand when the economy is in a downturn. This is because in times of economic uncertainty the public becomes distrustful of current accounting and reporting systems, leading to changes in regulation and accounting practices. The collapse of companies such as Enron and Worldcom led to the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The SOX Act enhanced accounting standards for corporations and those auditing corporations and organizations—leading to increased demand for exceptional accountants. With the inception of SOX, public accounting firms began to divest their consulting services to more easily comply with the tighter regulatory scrutiny. However, firms have recently begun to rapidly rebuild their consulting arms and expand hiring to BBAs again. The recent financial crisis calls for even greater accounting scrutiny and stronger accounting standards and offers those entering the accounting field immense potential for an exciting, promising and challenging career.

The median base compensation for the Ross BBAs entering the accounting field in 2010 was $55, 000. At the Ross School of Business, the employers of the highest number of BBAs have consistently included the “Big 4” public accounting firms—Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, as well as mid-tier firms such as BDO, The Rehman Group, and Plante & Moran. In addition to the audit and tax positions available at the public accounting firms, several students each year go to work for industrial employers as accountants and financial analysts.

Masters in Accounting

In most states, only licensed Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) may provide qualified public opinions and audits on financial statements. In order to qualify for a CPA license, one must fulfill the education and work experience requirements, and pass the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination. Education requirements vary b state, but in most states, 150 credit hours are required to sit for the Certified Public Accounting Examination. Ross students most commonly meet this requirement through a fifth year of education, such as the Masters of Accounting program, at Ross or another institution.
For more information about University of Michigan’s MAcc program, please visit the website: http://www.bus.umich.edu/Academics/MAccProgram/

Source : http://www.bus.umich.edu/StudentCareerServices/resources/CPAccounting.pdf

CONCLUSION :
accounting is a process to identify, measure and report economic information, to allow for assessment and decisions clearly and firmly for those who use the information. The main purpose of accounting is to present the economic information of an economic entity to the parties concerned.

Target market

A target market is a group of customers that the business has decided to aim its marketing efforts and ultimately its merchandise towards.^[1] A well-defined target market is the first element to a marketing strategy. The target market and the marketing mix variables of product, place(distribution), promotion and price are the four elements of a marketing mix strategy that determine the success of a product in the marketplace.
Once these distinct customers have been defined, a marketing mix strategy of product, distribution, promotion and price can be built by the business to satisfy the target market.

Market segmentations

Target markets are groups of individuals separated by distinguishable and noticeable aspects. Target markets can be separated into:

• Geographic segmentations, addresses (their location)

• demographic/socio-economic segmentation (gender, age, income, occupation, education, household size, and stage in the family life cycle)

• psychographic segmentation (similar attitudes, values, and lifestyles)

• behavioral segmentation (occasions, degree of loyalty)

• product-related segmentation (relationship to a product)^[2]

Strategies for Reaching Target Markets

Marketers have outlined four basic strategies to satisfy target markets: undifferentiated marketing or mass marketing, differentiated marketing, concentrated marketing, and micromarketing/ nichemarketing.
Mass marketing is a market coverage strategy in which a firm decides to ignore market segment differences and go after the whole market with one offer. It is the type of marketing (or attempting to sell through persuasion) of a product to a wide audience. The idea is to broadcast a message that will reach the largest number of people possible. Traditionally mass marketing has focused on radio, television and newspapers as the medium used to reach this broad audience.
For sales teams, one way to reach out to target markets is through direct marketing. This is done by buying consumer database based on the segmentation profiles you have defined. These database usually comes with consumer contacts (e.g. email, mobile no., home no., etc.). Caution is recommended when undertaking direct marketing efforts — check the targeted country's direct marketing laws.

Examples

CVS Caremark’s target market is women since they make up 80 percent of the pharmacy chain’s customers. CVS has marketed its stores to aid women who are constantly multitasking. They recently redesigned 1,200 of its 6,200 stores to women, including shorter wait times for prescriptions, wider and better-lit shopping aisles, and more beauty products.^[3]
The Oreo cookie is a popular cookie in the U.S., known for its two discs of chocolate with a white cream filling. The Double Stuf Oreo cookie is also marketed to U.S. consumers. However, Kraft has formulated a different version of the Oreo to target consumers in China. The Chinese version consists of four layers of long, thin biscuits coated in chocolate. Kraft CEO, Irene Rosenberg, trusts her executives who live and work in China to know what consumers would prefer in order to maximize their profits. In Germany, Kraft is appealing to the tastes and preferences of German consumers by creating dark chocolate products. It is also introducing premium instant coffee in Russia, which is a beverage that is popular to consumers.^[4]
World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) target market is young males. Monday Night RAW is the number one entertainment program on primetime cable among male viewers (2 million+) including the male demographics of 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54. It is shown at 9:00 PM ET to reach its target market.^[5]
Kohl’s department store has a target market consisting of consumers buying for themselves and their families.^[6]

The psychology of target marketing

A principal concept in target marketing is that those who are targeted show a strong affinity or brand loyalty to that particular brand. Target Marketing allows the marketer / sales team to customize their message to the targeted group of consumers in a more focused manner.
Research has shown that racial similarity, role congruence, labeling intensity of ethnic identification, shared knowledge and ethnic salience all promote positive effects on the target market. Research has generally shown that target marketing strategies are constructed from consumer inferences of similarities between some aspects of the advertisement (e.g., source pictured, language used, lifestyle represented) and characteristics of the consumer (e.g. reality or desire of having the represented style). Consumers are persuaded by the characteristics in the advertisement and those of the consumer.

<sup>SOURCE :  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Target_market


CONCLUSION :</sup>
target market is the goal or target of the marketing. in this case the target is to the customer. how the passage of a marketing mix to achieve the desired target market by the company. determining the strategy in terms of product, price, place and promotion are very influential in the achievement of the target market.

The Marketing Mix (The 4 P's of Marketing)

Marketing decisions generally fall into the following four controllable categories:

• Product
• Price
• Place (distribution)
• Promotion

The term "marketing mix" became popularized after Neil H. Borden published his 1964 article, The Concept of the Marketing Mix. Borden began using the term in his teaching in the late 1940's after James Culliton had described the marketing manager as a "mixer of ingredients". The ingredients in Borden's marketing mix included product planning, pricing, branding, distribution channels, personal selling, advertising, promotions, packaging, display, servicing, physical handling, and fact finding and analysis. E. Jerome McCarthy later grouped these ingredients into the four categories that today are known as the 4 P's of marketing, depicted below:

The Marketing Mix

These four P's are the parameters that the marketing manager can control, subject to the internal and external constraints of the marketing environment. The goal is to make decisions that center the four P's on the customers in the target market in order to create perceived value and generate a positive response.

Product Decisions

The term "product" refers to tangible, physical products as well as services. Here are some examples of the product decisions to be made:

• Brand name
• Functionality
• Styling
• Quality
• Safety
• Packaging
• Repairs and Support
• Warranty
• Accessories and services

Price Decisions

Some examples of pricing decisions to be made include:

• Pricing strategy (skim, penetration, etc.)
• Suggested retail price
• Volume discounts and wholesale pricing
• Cash and early payment discounts
• Seasonal pricing
• Bundling
• Price flexibility
• Price discrimination

Distribution (Place) Decisions

Distribution is about getting the products to the customer. Some examples of distribution decisions include:

• Distribution channels
• Market coverage (inclusive, selective, or exclusive distribution)
• Specific channel members
• Inventory management
• Warehousing
• Distribution centers
• Order processing
• Transportation
• Reverse logistics

Promotion Decisions

In the context of the marketing mix, promotion represents the various aspects of marketing communication, that is, the communication of information about the product with the goal of generating a positive customer response. Marketing communication decisions include:

• Promotional strategy (push, pull, etc.)
• Advertising
• Personal selling & sales force
• Sales promotions
• Public relations & publicity
• Marketing communications budget

Limitations of the Marketing Mix Framework

The marketing mix framework was particularly useful in the early days of the marketing concept when physical products represented a larger portion of the economy. Today, with marketing more integrated into organizations and with a wider variety of products and markets, some authors have attempted to extend its usefulness by proposing a fifth P, such as packaging, people, process, etc. Today however, the marketing mix most commonly remains based on the 4 P's. Despite its limitations and perhaps because of its simplicity, the use of this framework remains strong and many marketing textbooks have been organized around it.

Source  : http://www.netmba.com/marketing/mix/

Conclusion          : 

 4 p's are the variables of the marketing mix, which consists of product, place, price and promotion. The fourth variable is central to the strategy of an enterprise in achieving its business objectives and target marketing. marketing mix, while initially only consists of 4 p's, but as the development of the era, and many other components to add are the economists, such as people, processes, quality and others.