This Unit relates to the role of invoicing and receiving payments. The first element involves you manually preparing and coding invoices and credit notes for goods and services supplied, and entering the details in both a manual and computerised accounting system. The element also requires you to prepare statements of accounts manually, as computerised output. It is expected that you will communicate with customers politely and effectively in response to their queries or when chasing payments.

The second element is concerned with checking and recording receipts in a manual and computerised system. The element requires you to deal with receipts in a variety of different forms and, therefore to complete paying-in documents when necessary. You are required to deal with unusual features relating to wrongly completed cheques, out of date cheques, debit or credit card limits exceeded and disagreement with supporting documentation. Where these features are outside of your own area of responsibility the element expects you to refer them to an appropriate person.

This Unit relates to the organisation's expenditure. It includes dealing with documentation from suppliers and ordering and delivery documentation, preparing payments, recording expenditure in the appropriate records, and making payments relating to invoices, wages and salaries, and petty cash.

The first element is concerned with insuring calculations and records of expenditure are correct and deducting available discounts. You are required to code and enter documents in a manual and computerised accounting system. You are also required to handle both verbal and written communications with suppliers in a polite and effective manner. However, you are not expected to deal with goods supplied under leasing or hire purchase contracts at this level.

The second element relates to preparing authorised payments, relating to creditors, payroll and petty cash. This involves you in selecting appropriate payment methods and ensuring that all payments are recorded and entered into the accounting records, both manual and computerised. This element also requires you to take responsibility for ensuring the security of relevant payment methods and to refer queries to the appropriate person.

This Unit relates to the internal checks involved in an organisation's accounting processes. The first element is primarily concerned with comparing individual items on the bank statement with entries in the cash book and identifying any discrepancies. This involves recording details from the relevant primary documentation in the cash book, manual and computerised, and calculating the totals and balances of receipts and payments. You are also required to identify any discrepancies, such as differences identified by the matching process.

The second element requires you to total the relevant accounts and to reconcile the control accounts, within a computerised and a manual accounting system. You are also required to resolve or refer any discrepancies and to ensure security and confidentiality.

The third element involves drafting an initial trial balance manually and producing a trial balance from a computerised accounting system. You will be expected to identify and rectify discrepancies, which may occur in a manual accounting system, and create a suspense account where necessary.

This unit is about recognising and providing basic management information. This involves information relating to both costs and income and includes the comparison of actual costs and income against the previous period's data, the corresponding period's data and forecast data.

The first element involves recognising costs centres. It should be noted that in some organisations profit centres or investment centres will be used in place of cost centres, and these will differ depending on the organisation. The element also involves recognising elements of costs, coding income and expenditure and identifying and reporting obvious errors, such as the wrong code or excessive volumes. You are required to extract information relating to the three elements of costs: materials, labour and expenses.

The second element is concerned with extracting information from a particular source, for example the previous period's data, and comparing that information with the actual costs and income, in line with the organisational requirements. You are required to report discrepancies between the two in the appropriate format, ensuring confidentiality requirements are adhered to.

This unit is about your ability to use a computer system safely and effectively. For the first element, you will need to demonstrate that you are fully aware of your responsibilities when using a computer system and the software packages you will need. For the second element you will be required to show an understanding of the need to keep data confidential and secure.

This unit requires you to understand the needs for health, safety and security in the workplace. Both the employee and the employer have responsibilities for maintaining a reasonable level of health, safety and security.

Health
All employees need to be healthy to work efficiently. If you are suffering from malaria or have three broken ribs, your performance is likely to suffer.

Sometimes ill health can be your own fault. If you eat a dodgy curry, drink twelve pints of lager at lunchtime or bungee jumping you may well be asking for trouble.

On the other hand, if you are required to sit in front of a VDU for six hours at a stretch, or the heating is turned round so low in the depths of winter that your fingers turn blue and you catch a cold, your employer is likely to be at fault.

Safety
Employees and employers also need to be aware of safety in the workplace. Of course, some places of employment are more obviously dangerous than others.

If you work on a building site or on a production line, you need to take great care of your personal safety, and so does your employer.

If you work in an office, you will need to take care when operating equipment such as a guillotine (which has a very sharp blade) and your employer will also need to make sure that the metal guard for tyhe guillotine is always in place to prevent loss of fingers.

Security
Security means keeping the workplace and employees free from intrusion from outsiders and also from unauthorised employees. Threats include:

• theft of business equipment such as computers and vehicles
• theft of money and valuables owned by employees
• theft of business information held on computer and paper files
• damage to equipment
• harassment of individuals

Remember that both employees and employers are responsible for security and that breaches of security can come from employees as well.

This unit is concerned with the personal and organisational aspects of your role.
In the first element you need to show that you plan and organise your work effectively and also demonstrate that you prioritise your activities. The second element requires you to demonstrate that you work effectively with others by offering assistance, resolving difficulties, meeting deadlines, etc. In the final element in this unit you need to show that you develop yourself through learning and acquiring new skills and knowledge.