Assignment 1, Step 1 DRAFT

Hi Everyone,

I have finally finished my Draft Ass#1, Step 1.  I was wondering if you could have a read and suggest any improvements as I am great with number not so good with the written word..

All comments good or bad would be much appreciated.

Thanks in Advance.

Kind Regards

Donna

ACCT11059 Accounting, Learning and Online Communication  

 ASSIGNMENT STAGE 1 (ASS#1): GETTING STARTED

 Step 1 – Writing down some of my ideas, reflections and reactions to reading the Introduction and Chapter 1 in the Study Guide.

 Introduction

I had been thinking about returning to school for some time but life, children and work seemed to get in the way.  This year I decided that it was time for me to put myself first so I signed up to start my accounting degree.  I was very nervous about studying and was not sure what to expect.

I picked up the study guide – Introduction: Accounting, Learning & Online Communication and started to read. I found that right from the start it made me feel at ease that I was not alone in feeling nervous and that there are other students on this huge journey with me. I found it hard to put it down I wanted to continue reading further and learning more.

It’s great to know that the teaching staff understand that everybody learns differently and that we all can learn from each other.  I like that fact that they encourage students to talk to one another and seek help when required (I am not great at seeking help) so it’s something I am going to have to work on.

In reading the section about the CEO’s and accounting backgrounds I found myself looking back at the places I have worked over the last 20 years and having a closer look at the CEO’s and CFO’s  of the organisations.  I thought about what their responsibilities and understood that having an accounting background is fundamental to them performing their duties. I found this section very interesting as I can relate it to my working career.

In the past I have not been very good at studying (really didn’t like School) but over time I have learnt that there is different ways of learning.  I just love the way you have written the learning tasks by outlining each topic and tips.  This helps me better understand what each section is where to go to find out more information from example using Moodle, Peerwise and UCROO.

I am not very tech savvy and was quite nervous about having to create a Blog and link it the forums etc as well registering and using peerwise but to my surprise I just loved creating and connecting with other students.

Peerwise is a great concept, I fell in love with it straight way it helps me to revise and test the reading I complete each week.  It also helps me understand the areas I need more help or revision on. Unfortunately I am one of those students that finds reading documents quite boring and unfortunately does not retain the information well (in one ear out the other) but if I can apply the information learnt each week in a system like peerwise I find it helps me to retain information better for future recall.

The concept of six different ways of learning took me by surprise I found myself thinking about how I learn and what I can do differently to help me gain as much knowledge as I can, which in turn will help me get the most out of my course and degree.

Through the whole Introduction one concept keeping coming up Communication.  I believe the guide was written very well to reinforce that communication is important and is ever-changing and as a student I need to remember that I need to communicate effectively either in person or online. I am excited to learn more about communicating in my Blog and commenting on each other’s work.  Can’t wait to start to work more like a team.

 

Chapter 1: A way of viewing Business

 

I started to read chapter 1 and the first paragraph really hit home.  I have been working within finance areas for a very long time I thought accounting was about entering transactions and data into a spreadsheet or computer system. I am aware that the accounting system houses a number of different transactions in one place and it makes it must easier and quicker in subtracting data. But I would love to know how it all works.

In my current job I am required to run a number of month end reports such as Profit and Loss, General Ledger and Cost Centre reports. I can’t wait to learn more about Assets, Liabilities and Equity and understand how to read a Balance sheet as I believe I am only seeing one side of the equation dealing with revenue and expenses. Understanding the whole equation will provide me with a different view of a business or organisation for better or worse at the moment I feel like I am only focusing on the numbers instead of what the numbers represents.

The concepts of markets started me thinking about how many markets my employee interacts with on a daily basis. I am very familiar with the terms suppliers, employers, customers and investors but I had not heard them being referred to as markets.

I live in a little area called Jimboomba and I can relate to the businesses you found on your short walk around Yeppoon as I have found here in Jimboomba but until I read your section on “businesses are everywhere” I had not even though about each of these business needing their own set of accounts and who might help or complete this task. It sure did open my eyes to the fact that every business needs someone with accountancy background to help and assist regardless of the size of the business.

One thing that fascinates me is the different types of businesses who knew that there were so many different types.  My father owned his own business so I am familiar with the term sole trader and I work for a company so I am eager to learn more about partnerships and trusts and why trusts can be made up by a person or a company but not a partnership.  It makes me think about all the little businesses in Jimboomba and whether their set up as sole traders, partnerships or trusts. Interesting stuff.

 

The concept of double –entry accounting is interesting as I have really only thought of it as accounting not double-entry accounting.  From very early on in my career I have always known that there is two sides to every transaction but for the life of me I can’t remember who introduced the concept.  I am so lucky that I live in the twenty-first century and we have technology like financial management systems to help us record transactions.

Wow I had no idea that statements of assets and liabilities dated back to 1389. The world has change so much since then surely there is an easier way to account for transactions, but after thinking about it the double-entry concept has been truly embedded in today’s society that trying to change this concept now is not feasible.  Couldn’t image having to re train and educate all the people who use this concept in the world, it’s just not realistic so I guess we are stuck with it but I for one am so happy that we have computers to help with steps of double-entry accounting I would be lost without it.  In saying that I do  want to understand more about the steps the computers does It would be nice to have a better understanding of how the transactions are posted after I enter them into the system.  I am hoping to learn more about the journals that are created after the transaction has been entered.  I am hoping that studying accountancy will give me that insight.

During my financial career I have been very fortunate to have used a number of Financial Management Systems like, Finest, Finance One, Pinnacle and my favourite SAP.  They are a bit different in the front end interface eg: screens, menu paths and modules, but I found that they all use the double-entry accounting concept.

As I read his section about journals and ledgers I feel at ease as my current job has me entering, changing and recording data as journals (transactions) and against various general ledgers.  My company’s general ledger has a number of different number ranges to reflect the different type’s assets, liabilities, equity, revenue and expenses.

As I continue to read I am taken back to the last month end I completed. Part of my job is to analyse the transactions that have been entered for the month.  One thing that springs to mind is the data that has not yet been entered into the financial management system as the works are only partly completed or fully but have not yet receive the invoice for processing.  This information needs to be recorded in the month the works are completed.  In order to enter this information into the system an accrual journal is completed this will post the figures against the correct cost centre and general ledgers in the month the works are completed. I also interrogate the transactions against the general ledgers codes to make sure that the correct codes have been used when the transaction had been entered.  If I find errors I complete another journal called a correction journal to fix the errors.

Whilst I am familiar with Journals, Ledgers, Debit and Credits, Profit and Loss there is a couple of items that I have not had any exposure to they are Trial Balances and Financial Statements.  I have to admit that they scare me a little but in a good way.

I have struggled with Proprietorship section I have read it a number of times and I am not  afraid to say I am still a little confused, I will not let this get me down I am determined to understand what this means. I will seek help from my mentor at work and hopefully they will be able to explain it in a different way.

I have to say I was very happy to have finally reached an equation Equity = Assets – Liabilities I have heard this equation many times throughout my life but didn’t really understand what it meant but finally I had a light bulb moment.  Of course now I know that the equity will always equal the different between the assets and liabilities and that these three elements provide a measure of value for a firm.  It now makes perfect sense. I have to say that I have not heard of the extended accounting equation Assets = Equity + (Revenue – Expenses) + Liabilities but after reading the section I understand that the revenue – expenses provides a precise dollar measures of changes in value during a period of time.  I am looking forward to using both equations and compare the differences.

Over all I enjoyed the first weeks reading, I did find that I had to re-read some sections and use google to practice some of the equations as I am sure I have mentioned that I find reading documents boring for some reason I don’t seem to absorb the information as well as I would like.  I am finding that using peerwise helps me embed the key concepts.  I am looking forward to next week’s chapters and completing Step 2 of the Assessment.

 

Moodle profile (includes a photo with description): https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/user/profile.php?id=53944

Blog link: Mature Age Account Down –https://matureageaccountdown.wordpress.com/

Welcome message: https://matureageaccountdown.wordpress.com/about/

Welcome/engagement comments on other blogs: Billy Moolabroek, Suzanne Kriedemann, Rhiannon Bellamy

Comments on Martin’s blog: https://martinturneraccounting.com/2017/02/20/welcome/comment-page-1/#comment-116