WordPress.com



Accounting, Learning and Online CommunicationAssessment OneTiarna Coogan | 12108389___________________________________________________________________________Step 1: Introduction ReflectionsAfter nearly 4 months of holidays doing not much at all, getting ready to begin reading the introduction felt uncomfortable and the reading felt almost everlasting. For what seems like forever, I have not sat in one place for hours at a time having new information pumped through my brain. Indeed, perhaps I should have started earlier and left more time to read the Introduction and Chapter 1, or at least spaced it out, but I’m so ready to begin. As I begun reading, I was surprised to find the fundamentals of accounting weren’t discussed and it began with the different ideology of learning. This was not what I was expecting at all, and suddenly I was intrigued. As I read Martins introductory into the complexity of learning, I began challenging my every belief and my concepts of learning altogether. Could I have been focusing on the wrong concepts of learning this entire time? What followed was an ‘educational crisis’; I had just become aware that I was stuck in a ‘Rote’ learning cycle. Only four months ago, I was studying six subjects. Mathematics B, Chemistry, English, Visual Arts, Drama and Physical Education; what could I tell you about those subjects? I can tell you I built a clay sculpture astronaut in Art, I performed a play called The Pink Twins, I could probably tell you every book I read and every concept of art and drama. However, when it came to Chemistry and Mathematics B I couldn’t recall a thing. This surprised me as I had to put more effort into studying these subjects, than those that came quite naturally to me like English, Art and Drama. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy mathematics and science. But, now I think about it, all that studying was for me to get good grades. After reading Martins introduction to the unit, I can understand why I can’t recall any information from my math or science classes. While I can somehow manage to create an ‘interpretative process aimed at understanding reality’ in English and art, nothing in math or chemistry passed the ‘memorising and reproducing’ learning stage. So now, I’m kicking myself. Perhaps if I had studied business maths, and I could relate it to my real life in any way I could’ve attained the information. Because let’s be realist, not yet have I had to use integration or differentiation, nor do I know what those words even really mean anymore. The introduction had me frazzled. I sat contemplating for about an hour, looking through my old maths book seeing if I could reignite past learning; nothing. Now, I am inspired to ensure that my learning in University surpasses that second level of learning. Not only can I not afford University to just forget everything I think I learn, but what a waste of time. Two years of senior chem and math, hours and hours of study and I have nothing to show for it. Martins’ introduction left me with a big goal for my university education; to never have my brain ‘vacuum cleaned’ again. Chapter One ReflectionsThe game of accounting begins. When Martin began and kept stating ‘connects to economic and business realities’ I thought damn, it really is a game. The only real experience I’ve had with accounting is my year 10 work experience at my local accounting firm. I looked at a man’s expenditures over the month, then processed his spending’s using codes into different categories. I remember after I’d finished, the lady supervising me would ensure all the accounts were equal to ensure I hadn’t made a mistake. So following this experience, my understanding of accounting was just the status of someone’s earnings and spending’s; the status of their means. Throughout the entirety of Chapter one, Martin insures to educate on what accounting actually is. Yes, it is the status of a firms means, but can be so much more. I learnt that accounting can provide an understanding into how a business is performing, as well as to help create a reality of a firms status in a way that can be understood. Accounting doesn’t just let you know the numbers of a firm, which makes up the assets, liabilities and equity. Accounting also helps you to actual understand those numbers.Stumbling across the statement Martin made of the term ‘bookkeeping’ being a ‘redundant’ word was really a spark of interest to me. I really enjoyed reading the history of double-entry book keeping and how it all began in early ages of human civilisation, and how its modernised to today’s society. Reading the history of accounting really empowered Martins statement of ‘Ideas are powerful’. To think our efficient ‘book keeping’ started with that one idea someone had to record transactions years and years ago. This was very interesting information which kept me engaged to the chapter. Confidence in learning was another concept Martin discussed quite in depth. It’s made very clear that to actively learn, we must find evidence and use it in a way to make sense of it for ourselves. That ‘learning is for understanding’. So, when reading more in depth about the terms and equations of accounting, I found it difficult to make sense of it for myself. I find I’m a kinaesthetic learner, so I learn by carrying out physical activity. Reading and writing makes me become aware of different concepts and terms, but unless I do it in a psychical sense, I can’t find an understanding of it. When reading about the journals, ledgers, assets, liabilities, equity etc., I tried my best to think back to think back to my grade 10 work experience. I’m not quite sure if it’s practically the same or not, but it’s the only physical sense I have of accounting. So, I tried to link it back to that learning experience to ensure this information wouldn’t be ‘vacuum cleaned’.The equations made sense, they were clear and concise. I was able to understand the inverse relationships between the assets, liabilities and equity in the equations, and was surprised to learn these terms provide a measure of value within a firm. Martin has made accounting comprehensible to people such as me, who know practically nothing of the subject. After week 1, I have concluded university is not what I thought it would be. This unit is very different to my initial thoughts. I’m excited and intrigued to be continuing this unit, and look forward to beginning the rest of Assessment One. Step 2: Moodle Profile and Personal Blog Moodle Profile: Blog: 3: First Impressions Martin had posted our companies, and I was eager to begin this assessment. I had been given the company Debenhams PLC; at first, I was a bit uncomfortable as the company is not Australian but based in the United Kingdom. I had never heard of this company before, so I was a bit distraught that I had a company I knew nothing about. I was hoping to have an Australian company as I can’t relate to UK culture, nor the finances. This left me curious as to if I would be able to relate to their financial reports in order to understand them and learn from them. Straight away I decided to investigate. Meet Debenhams PLC Debenhams PLC was founded by William Debenham in London, England in 1778 as a single store, which grew into a British multinational retailer operating in the format of a department store. Meaning, they offer sales in different departments such as clothing, houseware items and furniture. They are most renown for their own fashion brand, and sales in popular makeup, which make them stand out amongst competition. Debenhams offers sales through their own brand, known as ‘Designers by Debenhams’ which is formed by a ‘fashion team’ of high-end designers. Doing so, Debenhams has individualised their style and created an opportunity to beat out competition with high brand equity with the fashion industry and brand recall amongst customers. The company also offers concessions, where other retailers can trade goods or services, and therefore offers sales in other brands such as Oasis, Phase Eight and top makeup brands such as Mac. As a strong multi-brand store, they set themselves apart from their competitors such as ALDI, Asda and Walmart, however the last financial year has made clear that there is weaknesses within the company. Over the 2018 financial year, the company has had an annual loss of 491.5 million pounds; a 40% dive in their profits. It is predicted that 50 of 260 Debenhams stores across the world will shut down, and 4,000 people will become unemployed. Debenhams PLC 2018 Annual Report suggests that the weather in the UK has been the cause to its financial downfall, as well as online shopping. As Debenhams has failed to keep up on the ever-changing technology, during the past year the company has had to fork out millions of dollars to provide plans in order to counteract this affect. They have only in the past year updated their online shopping experience, in order to compete with other companies who can deliver goods internationally. The company has now updated their availability, providing availability online to 66 countries worldwide. However, their lack of convenience and timeliness to apply these changes have already taken their affects, and I doubt they will counteract anytime soon. They suggest that this year they will make back profit by emphasising sales of beauty products, introducing food and events, minimising properties and cutting down management positions. Debenhams has revamped stores with beauty treatments and prosecco bars in hopes they can redefine ‘social shopping’. I personally don’t believe these will make a profitable change anytime soon, as Debenhams has fallen behind its competitors. To read more about Debenhams: Years of Debenhams I began my investigation of Debenhams, and it was interesting to discover Debenhams had invested into becoming private and private equity buyers, which had put Debenhams into debt in 2003. During the private equity years, the company bought into expensive and long leases. This has been one of the biggest downfalls within their profits, as they now need to cut down stores due to lack of sales, and their fixed real estate prices are hurting their ability to compete with other department stores. So, not only have Debenhams been struggling with the changing environment, but also keeping up with competition as their property leases have not left any room to be flexible in these changing times and are damaging their profits.center86106000Below is a graph showing a visual representation of the share prices of Debenhams PLC from 2013 to 2018. I use a graph of the share price’s of this company, as the price of a stock can imitate the a company’s current value and determine the future prospects of the company and it’s investors. This graph also contains side-notes, which describes significant milestones within the company.Debenhams Share Price- The share price indicates that Debenhams has undergone significant hardship, and this failure was not unexpected. In 2017, chief executive Sergio Bucher revealed a plan to make a turn-around through expanding it’s sales and prospects in beauty. This obviously didn’t achieve it’s set goals, as now Debenhams in about to lose 50 stores, and 4,000 employees. Changes such as a new chief executive, ever-changing technology and new ‘turn-around’ strategy has not profited the company in any way. Over the past six years, Debenhams profits had already dropped significantly, and now 2018 has set an all-time low for the company. Debenhams 2018 Annual Report annual report is a great example of a marketing strategy; as Martin has discussed in the study guide, an annual report can be used as a form of marketing to interest potential investors. Debenhams report is a well thought out, aesthetic documentation which had me very interested. Their use of colours, as well as photography, display of data and set out of information is visually appealing. However, the data wasn’t as phenomenal as the physical display of it. As discussed above, Debenhams PLC has begun to undergo a form of liquidation, as it begins to sell of assets and begin to shut down 50 of their 260 stores. The Chief Executive has stated that the loss can be related to the ‘changing environment’ of shopping, as more people have begun shopping online. Whilst reading the Changes of Equity and the Income Statement within the report, the reality of Debenhams financial status hit me. Their losses during the 2018 financial year was significant, even more so when you’re able to see the 2017 balances compared to that of 2018. The total comprehensive (expense)/income for the financial year had gone from ?75.4m, to -?394.3m. A huge loss within 52 weeks of business. My thoughts from finally realising the weight and significance of these losses were; Is Debenhams going to recover from such a huge loss? What is the company going to introduce to try come back form this? Through the annual report, they discuss how they plan to come back from a very difficult financial year. They have discussed and finalised five focus areas which include; delivering improved growth in digital sales, sustain leadership in beauty sales, reviewing and adjusting fashion products, changing the ‘in-store experience’, and accelerating cost reduction. Opportunities and Challenges Debenhams PLC is creating its own opportunities by creating five focus areas which can be improved in order to change the outcome of their 2019 financial year. By introducing more diverse digital sales in smartphones and tablets, they are connecting to the ‘changing environment’ of society, and already have a growth in digital sales. Debenhams is often refereed to for it’s make-up ranges, however due to competitors having lower prices, the 2018 financial year had shown a decrease in these sales. The company plan to introduce 22 new and upcoming brands, and to introduce ‘#BeautyHub’ and a beauty club, where customers are introduced to an ‘instore makeup experience’ and can become members to receive discounts. This was implemented to widen their social media coverage and bring more sales to the beauty department. Debenhams has phased out their current fashion designers and replaced them with a renown London Fashion Week award winner; Richard Quinn. Therefore, their fashion is about to become more ‘individualised’ to the company, more up to date and fashionable rather than just ‘practical’ (as their clothing has been called numerous times in the past). The company also has begun to introduce food, drink and events to their stores to recreate their ‘in store experience’. By introducing bars, cafes and holding events, Debenhams is modernising and connecting with customers with a unique experience which their competitors do not offer. The companies last focus area is to reduce costs by introducing programmes both in-store and online to reduce costs within salaries of employees, reducing management layers, and cutting down real estate. Debenhams has effectively and efficiently analysed their markets and competitors in order to create opportunity for ‘come back’ from the shocking losses of last year, however they still face many challenges. Although Debenhams has proactively started to analyse and develop plans to overcome their losses, challenges still remain. Their costs of rent, rates and service charges are still problematic to the company, as they will still cause potential annual losses. Their five focus groups are an active start to overcoming their problem within their competitive market, however it may take time for their new and improved stores and experiences to be taken up by their customers, and to produce a profit. Debenhams has acted to recover from last year, but challenges still lie ahead. Studiosity FeedbackStudiosity is a wonderful resource for students, I found it so helpful as a first year. The estimated time for receiving work back is generally 24 hours, so when I handed my draft in at 7pm on a Friday, I was very impressed to have it back at around 1pm the next day. It surprised me that as the student, you are able to pick certain focus areas you wish to be drafted. My focus areas were choice of language, spelling/grammar and structure. It was great to have another person give me thorough drafting and pick up on minor errors that I would have never seen. This is a wonderful study tool and I can’t wait to use it again! Top Three Blogs Everyone’s blogs are spot on, but my top favourite (in no particular order) would be: Route 301- The Bus Boy Blogs written by Maitland is a witty read which is so engaging as well as knowledgeable. My Accounting Reality by Cassie’s Accounting is always a good read. She is very descriptive in all her writing. Jess’s Blog written by Jess (obviously) is very well set out and covers plenty of KCQ’s. Step 4: My Company’s Spreadsheet 5: Study Guide - Chapter 2 When beginning to read and discover more about accounting, and this so called ‘game’, I could only ask myself one question. Why play a game with so many rules, and with rules that may be unwritten? To me, considering I’m the type to flip the Monopoly game board over when debating the rules, it was confusing to learn that accounting has so many rules and many are unwritten. I had always pictured in my head that accounting was clear cut and concise, just as my work in my grade 10 experience was. I’d never imagined the underlying complexity of accounting, when all it appears to be is numbers. Martin ensures to teach us all accounting is really a game, and an intricate one at that. One thing I do quite enjoy is history and learning the history of accounting really keeps me engaged to the study guide. It was unknown to me that accounting had been around for so long, and that it’s still progressively changing. It was interesting to read about banks, and how at a certain point they couldn’t access a business’ financial statements. I thought this was strange. My understanding is that most businesses would borrow money off banks, so wouldn’t the bank of needed their financial statements to ensure their own financial security on money they had loaned? This was a hard concept to wrap my head around. Money has been a form of exchange for so long and is a vital part of living. To me, to think banks at some point didn’t have access to a business’ financial statements seemed risky and all-round just silly. I imagine it being like my Mum giving my little brother money, only to not have access to how much he spends, or earns back through working, to know weather she will be paid back or not. I use my brother as an example because he has an expensive taste in almost everything and borrows money a lot (but he always pays it back). The consequences if he were to not pay her back would be that he wouldn’t be able to borrow money again, and Mum would be short of however much my brother borrowed. I’ve always assumed banks had been so strict about loaning money, but to know they use to loan money with such uncertainty blows my mind. As I kept reading, so many acronyms began to appear. GAAP, AASB, IFRS, ASIC and ASX, seeing these capital letters scattered in numerous paragraphs was daunting. As a teen with a great use of acronyms such as TTYL, OOMF or OMG, you’d think I wouldn’t be feared by a bunch of capital letters. For a second, I thought ‘oh, here is the game; trying to remember the acronyms to their meanings.’ I was wrong. As I began reading, the acronyms began to unfold, and I was starting to understand. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) provides firms with guidelines and standards to better understand the status of financial accounts. Then I read about the Australian Accounting Standards Board which are listed within the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act, which enforces protection laws for consumers and investors. The chapter described what the principles and standards were, and who they applied to. The unwritten rules Martin acknowledged made my head turn. Thankfully my head stopped spinning when he started to discuss the ‘greys’ of accounting. I always enjoyed the ‘grey’ area of my studies; especially that in English (if you’ve read The Yellow Wallpaper, you know what I mean). I love the idea of my own interpretation of things, that’s where I believe I find my best learning, and my own sense of things. To know that accounting does have a ‘grey’ area makes me think accounting is probably more exciting than it’s made out to be, and so far it is! Accrual accounting is the economic activity of the firm, when value is exchanged. That made sense, and that the investors would rather a financial statement built of accrual accounting as it measures value and includes the costs and benefits; regardless if cash is paid (such as an electricity company as Martin explains). Martin also discusses the quality of information within a financial statement, as relevant and faithful. This was easy to understand, where they are both very important in deciding if the information provided can be understood, trusted and then used to act upon and make decisions. Such as a source for an essay, the information must have relevance to the topic, and to be proven by evidence and not biased or distorted, to be powerful and show meaning. Much like in a financial statement, this information must be relevant and true representations to understand the economic and business realities of a firm. Study Guide- Chapter 3.1 & 3.2 “Hi, my name is Tiarna and you are? Oh, nice to meet you, Financial Statements!” Martins’ introduction to financial statements is witty, and very engaging. I also found it humorous as I have had two encounters with forgetting people’s names recently, so straight away I was drawn to the reading. Reading chapters 3.1 and 3.2 made plenty of sense as I have begun entering my Changes of Equity, Balance Sheet and Income Statement into my excel spreadsheet. It was nice to know what Martin was relating to, so I could make more sense of it all. I had no idea that the Balance Sheet was the financial position of a firm on one particular day, so that was handy information. I understood that the balance sheet displayed 3 of the 5 elements of accounting, being assets, liabilities and equity. It was an uneasy feeling to know that financial statements can be set out and worded different, as there is no format. This gave me an uneasy feeling as I like when things displaying the same or similar content and set up and named the same things so that I don’t loose or misread vital information. When it came to the ‘parent company balance sheet’ and the ‘consolidated balance sheet’ I was confused. I didn’t quite understand the concept of the percentage of shares, and the ‘non-controlling interests’ and I still can’t seem to wrap my head around it (please send help). The statements that show the change of a firm’s financial status overtime include the income statement, the Statement of Changes in Equity and the Statement of Cash Flows. When Martin discussed the income statement, it was easy to understand that is displays how things are changing regarding how it’s affecting the equity investors. However, when discussing the term ‘parent companies’ again, I still couldn’t wrap my head around this idea. Step 6: Feedbacks Feedback From: Tiarna Coogan Feedback To: Chris Apps My CommentsStep 1KCQ’sChris has created great KCQ’s and reflected his own thoughts and experience. Doing so, Chris has created both an engaging and informative read. It’s great to read and relate to Chris’ thoughts, and to get to know him through his blog. He describes himself as an ‘lone ranger’, and although he states this may be his biggest challenge, I think he is doing wonderfully at communicating with others in the unit.Step 2Introductory words in Description boxPhoto and descriptionLink to your blog/Set up blogChris’ blog is easy to navigate and great for advice on how to stay organised. I also enjoy that with each piece of written content, he has included pictures. Chris has included an introduction to the app called “Team Gantt” which is used in order to help others be organised. This was a great piece to include to his blog! His Moodle Profile description is also a great way to know more about Chris!Step 3Background information on companyComments/KCQsComments on other’s blogsChris has done a fantastic job throughout his assessment. In his introduction to his company and his KCQ’s for his company, Chris has provided a lot of information about his company’s economic and business realities. It was great to see he had incorporated visual representation of the data he discussed throughout this step. Chris is very active within this unit and it’s great to see his discussions with fellow peers which include numerous comments of other blogs.Step 4Input company’s financial statementsChris has provided a complete spreadsheet which is ready for submission, great job! Input company’s financial statementsStep 5 KCQ’s Chris has included amazingly written KCQ’s within this step. He has done an outstanding job of his KCQ’s which he always relates personal experience too. He also has cleverly used his company and its information to relate to the concepts discussed in Martins’ study guide. Again, Chris has included visual representation which helps for readers to further comprehend what is being discussed.Step 6Individual feedback with othersChris has given very valuable feedback to his peers.Overall ASS#1Overall, Chris has put together an impressive assignment. I enjoyed reading it and it was great to see a great standard of this assessment to help decide for myself what I need to improve on.Feedback From: Tiarna Coogan Feedback To: Kayla WalkomMy CommentsStep 1KCQ’s Kayla’s KCQ’s for step one was a great read. She is able to relate her own experiences and thoughts to the study guide which engages the reader to her writing, as well as giving an insight to who she is. Like Kayla, I too have been undergoing the changes of transitioning from high school to University. It was comforting to know there is someone in the unit I can relate to. Step 2Introductory words in Description boxPhoto and descriptionLink to your blog/Set up blogKayla’s blog is both aesthetic and easy to navigate. She includes photos in her blogs she has captured herself which makes her blog very individualised and unique. Her ‘About’ page is very insightful to who she is and what she enjoys. She includes links to her Moodle profile where she includes a small description about herself. Step 3Background information on companyComments/KCQsComments on other’s blogsVocus Group was the company that Kayla was allocated. Like Kayla, I too had not before heard of this company, but was interested to discover it is a telecommunications service company. Her step 3 covers numerous KCQ’s and the reader is left knowing who the company is, what they do, and the economic and business realities of her company. It was interesting to know that in her 2018 report had misspelt EBITDA a few times. Kayla has provided very perceptive KCQ’s and reflections on her company.Step 4Input company’s financial statementsKayla’s spreadsheet is tidy and ready for submission, well done!Step 5KCQ’s The KCQ’s Kayla has covered over chapters 2 & 3 are very well written. I really enjoy her insights to the study guide, including those that expressed Kayla’s surprise to certain information. For example, how Kayla reflects on the fact that there are 2.2 million businesses in Australia. Her step 5 KCQ’s are engaging to the reader, and very reflective of what she has learnt and how she can relate to it.Step 6Kayla has provided her peers with very descriptive, valuable feedback. She is able to be honest of mistakes made and ensures to use examples of what she has found interesting or well done.OverallASS#1Overall, Kayla has done an amazing job. I was very impressed and engaged throughout the entirety of her assessment. I have no points on which Kayla could improve. She has included insightful KCQ’s, reflections and done a wonderful job of communicating with her readers. Well done!Feedback From: Tiarna Coogan Feedback To: Loree Preston My CommentsStep 1KCQ’sYour KCQ’s are very insightful and help others to further understand the topics studied. It’s so great to see you reflecting and connecting your experiences and thoughts to your KCQs.Step 2Introductory words in Description boxPhoto and descriptionLink to your blog/Set up blogYour blog is very clean and easy to navigate around, and the name of your blog is very fun!Step 3Background information on companyComments/KCQsComments on other’s blogsI hadn’t heard about the company Redflex Holding Limited before, but after reading your background information and annual report KCQ’s, I had no further questions to ask about who they are, what they do and their business and economic realities. You’ve covered all KCQ’s and you’re writing is very engaging and insightful to your reflections.Step 4Input company’s financial statementsI couldn’t seem to find the spreadsheet ?Step 5KCQ’s I loved reading your blog, very insightful into your thoughts and the information you’ve provided. Your KCQ’s cover so much information and you’ve analysed your financial statements which is fantastic!Step 6Individual feedback with othersNot yet provided. Overall ASS#1Overall, I loved your writing and think your assignments brilliant! The KCQ’s are great. And your blog is easy to navigate. Well done! . ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download