What Are the Subjects Covered in an Office Administration Course?

An Office Administration course can benefit anyone who wants to get an entry-level job in any business to attain a supervisory or managerial position eventually. 

A diploma program is comprehensive enough to prepare students to manage organizational and administrative responsibilities in an office setting effectively. They will learn to communicate effectively and collaborate in a business environment, and use information technologies to engage in effective decision-making.

The subjects covered in an Office Administration course will vary, depending on the learning objectives. A student may want to:

• Acquire interpersonal communication skills 
• Demonstrate a fundamental understanding of the roles and responsibilities of personnel in a business
• Describe and apply bookkeeping principles and practices
• Perform basic business transactions such as accounts payable and receivables, payroll, and balance and income statements
• Research, organize, and create business information collaterals across a wide variety of media
• Use Microsoft Office Suite effectively

Should these learning objectives sound about right, then the following subjects are essential for an Office Administration course.

• Learning Essentials – Understand the fundamentals of learning.
• Computer Fundamentals – Learn to manage local computer desktop files across a network and in the Cloud efficiently, and have a basic understanding of the internet, computers, and file security.
• Professional Skills – Acquire a solid foundation in the successful application of computer technologies and apps, personal management, and interpersonal skills in addressing challenges faced in the professional workplace.
• MS Office Skills – Learn key techniques in using Microsoft Office software applications (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Access) that assist managers in addressing information flow and effectively addressing their day-to-day business operations, as well as using presentation and basic database tools to track, manage, and generate business-related reports.
• Keyboarding – Gain basic keyboarding skills and additional opportunities to increase keyboarding accuracy, speed, and productivity.
• Business Accounting – Learn the basics of business math, bookkeeping, and generally accepted accounting principles and processes used in recording, summarizing, and reporting financial information. Learn how to post to the general journal and ledger, complete payroll, and prepare accounts receivables and payables, income statements, the statement of owner’s equity and balance sheets.
• Computerized Business Accounting – Learn how to apply knowledge of business accounting fundamentals in a small, medium, and large computerized business accounting environment as well as understand blockchain theory, practice, and other evolving technologies.
• Business Essentials – Learn contemporary business principles and operations, information management, organizational structures, management functions, the business of managing people in organizations, and workplace culture.
• Business Communication – Learn the theory and practice of technical communication, business communication, and professional writing, and explore the similarities and differences between each type, when to apply each and how to apply each form to achieve business objectives.
• Career Essentials – Acquire the skills necessary to identify employment opportunities, create personal branding collateral, and effectively conduct a professional job interview.

A practicum would also be an important part of an Office Administration course. It will provide students with opportunities to apply theory to practice and gain valuable real-world, work-related experience. 

Conclusion

The subjects covered in the Office Administration course described above are comprehensive. They are all one needs to know for effective office administration in most business settings. If you are planning on taking up this course, make sure that the program you choose will provide you with all of these subjects.

Want to have a career in business? Browse through MSM Unify’s Office Administration courses to start learning how.