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Assignment Stage 1:Maitland BezzinaCQUniversityStep 2: Moodle Profile & Personal BlogPersonal Moodle Profile: Maitland Bezzina's Moodle ProfilePersonal Blog: Route 301 - The Bus Boy BlogsStep 3: Introduction to BlueScope SteelBackground Information:When Martin presented each of us with our companies, I was over the moon when I saw I had been paired with BlueScope Steel as it was a company based in Australia and one that I’d already heard of. Having worked in the construction industry for the past 18 months before university, I had unknowingly been using many of BlueScope Steel’s manufactured steel to lay out the steel mesh and reed bars to provide extra strength to our large-scale concrete pours. Understanding this I could appreciate how BlueScope Steel’s company plays such an integral role in assisting Australia and many other countries worldwide by providing this manufactured steel for bridges, mining facilities, high rises, concrete footpaths and many more structures.I continued my research and watched a few BlueScope promoted videos and stumbled across an inspiring overview video titled ‘The BlueScope Story,’ that’s surely emptied the pockets of many investors sitting on the fence as to whether to purchase a share of the company. With the uplifting background music and the clear spoken words of the commentator, I almost want to buy some shares as well! The video is linked below (Ctrl + Click):The BlueScope StoryA few interesting things I’ve learned about the company. They are a steel manufacturing company which operates in 17 different countries with an astonishing 16,000 staff members. They’ve been an international brand for a very long time; over 100 years. BlueScope Steel have partnered up with international global companies such as Coca Cola & Walmart to oversee the construction of their new retail branches, warehouses & factories. Partnerships such as these enhance the consistency of revenue for BlueScope Steel. Additionally, they own unique intellectual property rights to building designs which speeds up the process of construction which on a business standpoint would give them a massive leg up on their competition. Lastly, they are constantly looking to improve their company image through environmentally friendly ventures, workplace diversity and share value & return.My blog entry introducing BlueScope Steel and my initial feelings below (Ctrl + Click):The Bus Boy Blogs - The BlueScope StoryCompany Comments & KCQ’sUpon reading the first few pages of the company’s financial report, there were a couple of elements of BlueScope Steels’ values that surprised and excited me. The first is their constant pursuit to improve their environmental footprint year in, year out. They are building a 500,000 solar panel farm in Finley, NSW, which will be going online in mid-2019, this is equal to taking 90,000 cars off the road or powering 60,000 homes. It’s an incredible endeavour and after reading this section in the company values, I instantly have a newfound level of respect for this successful company. My brother, with his chemical engineer background, has always said that we will one day run a massive solar farm together. With my business, real estate & concreting skills, coupled with his engineering skills, we would have the core knowledge and passion to get the business up and running. BlueScope Steel’s environmental values have reminded me of what my brother and I want to achieve in the long term in our lives; a business that can make money and be a positive on people’s lives and the environment.As I continued to read through the pages, I noticed BlueScope Steel’s focus on workplace diversity and inclusion. From 2016 to 2018 BlueScope changed the percentage of women in the workplace from 23% up to 40%. To top it off, women as new recruits in trade-based roles were up to almost 5 times the levels compared to 2016, an incredible achievement to diversify in the trade industry and balance out the workforce. One piece of information I struggled to find in the report was that of ethnicity. The company has done a wonderful job including more women into the picture and diversifying gender, however I would have liked to see a mention of diversification of backgrounds. Perhaps I should send a letter?The third key information I found useful was regarding their commitment to the shareholders. Of course, from my experience reading numerous prospectus’ and financial reports in the past I’m aware of many companies padding their confidence for the future to gain trust and a financial backing, however with a developed company like BlueScope Steel they simply have no need for this, especially with their recent yearly performances. It’s apparent that they currently are and, in the past, have been focused on reinvestment opportunities and fair dividend yields for their financial supporters while continuously focusing on reducing their net debt. The result is that they have managed to find themselves in a net cash position of $63.6 million at the 30th June 2018, as compared to the 30th June 2017 where they were sitting at $232.2M net debt. In addition, they’ve recently implemented a share buyback scheme in 2017 for the further benefit of the company’s shareholders, rewarding loyalty to their investors. For the company to focus on rewarding their investors coupled with the fact that they are constantly adding value to their company in different ways is a prospect that surely builds confidence in those who invest in BlueScope Steel.BlueScope Steel Annual Report:Links to Financial Reports (Ctrl + Click):BlueScope Steel Annual Report 2017/2018BlueScope Steel Annual Report 2016/2017BlueScope Steel Annual Report 2015/2016Firstly, as I read through the annual report for BlueScope Steel what I found interesting was that it would be fantastic to become a company director, the benefits are incredible! I’ve learned that if you’re employed as a director for a large company you can expect to not only earn a generous wage, but they even give you an enormous number of shares in the company based on ‘performance’. What I find even more interesting is what they could do with this ‘payment’ of shares. If the board members were to hold these shares for longer than 12 months (from my knowledge) they could simply sell these shares given to them for a greatly reduced tax rate as it will be considered a ‘long-term investment.’ I hope I’m wrong about this because that would back up the statement that ‘the poor stay poor and the rich get richer.’ Why do they get paid in a way that assures they can avoid a large amount of tax? Why do they have this system in place in so many other company’s annual reports? Does the company get some sort of benefit out of providing shares to directors? It’s almost as if they’re earning an actual wage up to a certain point and then when the tax gets to 45c to the dollar they throw in the free shares to keep the big dogs happy. I have so many more questions about why this happens, but one thing I know for certain, personal finances surely become substantial once you get a seat on the board.In the past I’ve read through numerous reports as a potential investor, only looking at the big numbers and looking for more big numbers than the previous few years. As we begin to learn individual aspects of the financial report, I’m beginning to see how clueless I was when reading these reports. Self-teaching has been a massive part of shaping who I am today, and it sure is a tough way to learn sometimes. I’m thankful for the guidance this unit is providing. What I’ve enjoyed most about the financial statement in a general view is the fact that it’s so neatly presented in a way that if I want further in-depth information into a section of the company’s finance, I can simply scroll down within the document and look up that information in the ‘notes’ section. For example, for payments made to the company’s shareholders, I can head to the notes of 19(a) and see additional information that BlueScope paid 3c per share on 19 October 2015. This additional information could prove to make or break a large decision made by an individual or group of people regarding financial backing or a deal made between two companies.Prior to beginning my tertiary studies, I had a layman’s’ idea of what assets, liabilities, equity, revenue & expenses were; however after learning these terms in more depth, then heading over to BlueScopes Annual Report, I am now wondering why specific items are listed in the ‘Assets’ section of the Statement of Financial Position. For example, what on earth is a derivative financial instrument and how is that an asset? And I get it, at this point we’re supposed to just plug the numbers in correctly and throw in a few formulas into our spreadsheets to get a basic understanding, however I fear that I’m almost being left with more questions than answers through reading this report as a budding accountant/business owner. But even with all the confusing lingo what I can see from my company is that the big numbers are certainly getting bigger; from the year ended 30th June 2015 the company’s revenue was $8,540.1M as compared to 30th June 2018 where the revenue had grown to $11,526.3M with consistent growth in between these years. The business has strong ethical values and in this day and age ethical values are vital. I personally believe that these ethics I mentioned earlier are assisting in them gaining more and more business and ultimately helping achieve more turnover for the company.Studiosity feedback:Prior to enrolling in this unit, I hadn’t heard of Studiosity, however after submitting my steps 3 & 5 I’m thankful that it was a part of our assessment. My grammar turned out to be my biggest downfall, where the assessor left 28 individual comments on that alone. One piece of feedback I thoroughly enjoyed was regarding correct use of tense. I was told to try to keep the tense I decide upon as consistent as possible throughout the assignment and when I looked back I could see this was in fact an issue. I can now see that this online tool to improve my grammar, choice of language & referencing is priceless and I’m so fortunate to have been introduced to it so early on in my tertiary studies so that I can take full advantage of it in the 3 Blogs:Kellie McDonaugh’s blog was easily my favourite. Her posts were very personal and I almost felt as if I were with her in her Rockhampton classes and enjoying her newly discovered love for peppermint tea. Compared to that of Christophers blogs (mentioned below) her posts were warm and light hearted. I felt as though my own mother would take a similar approach to blog writing which is why I enjoyed reading her updates so much. The way in which she expressed herself made me feel as though I wasn’t alone going through my own struggles in this new world of university and I’m grateful to have come across her blog so early on.Christopher Apps – The Balance I enjoyed most about Christophers blog was how he remained consistent throughout the entirety of the first assessment piece. His blog posts were not only consistent, they were also very in depth and technical, something I appreciate greatly. On his website there are 3 individual blogs about his company information that delve deeper and deeper into Ausdrill (ASL). He added graphs and visual images into his posts to help those who enjoy learning visually and even talks about Ausdrill’s share price and how it has progressed over the past 20 years. This connected with me as I am very passionate about the stock market and have thoroughly enjoyed reading Christopher’s technical take on blog writing.Claudia Turiano’s Blog last blog I will mention will be that of Claudia’s. I wanted to follow someone in our course that was similar in age to see how they’re coping in this unit. Since I was about 20 years old around 2014 I’ve found it much easier to relate to older individuals as I love talking politics, finance and can’t help but listen to Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra on a daily basis, however I wanted to see what went through the mind of a more ‘normal’ young person. I enjoyed reading her posts thoroughly and although I’m a little pessimistic with the inspirational quotes and motivational one liners, I did enjoy her pursuit to motivate other millennials in the course. Personally, if I were to put something up on my wall for inspiration it would be a stock pricing chart of Microsoft shares from 1986-2019, real exciting stuff.I posted a few comments on the blogs I checked on regularly thanking them for their interesting personal reflections and analysis of their companies which can be seen below: 4: Company Spreadsheet Please see spreadsheet attached separately.Step 5: Chapter 2 & Chapter 3.1, 3.2 ReflectionMoving into my third week of tertiary studies, I’ve begun to delve deeper into the world of accounting and all there is to know about the background, and more importantly, the finances of my company BlueScope Steel. From reading Chapters 2 & 3 I have learned how much influence not only the principles of accounting & book keeping have on a business, but also how the accounting standards in Australia can guide a company to producing quality material for the general public & it’s shareholders. This in-depth information provided to the general population, usually on a financial statement, can paint a positive or negative picture of the realities of a business and its operations, in effect producing logical and emotional reactions & decisions from the outside. I had spent the previous 12 months investing in companies on the Australian Stock Exchange, and all companies I took interest in provided a financial review for anyone who decided to read it. Through reading Martins’ chapters I almost laugh at how I would view these statements to decide on a company. I would look at the biggest numbers and make sure the company had more big figures than the previous year in making my decision to invest. A little simple for my liking nowadays, but it seemed to work. Fortunately, my largest investment from April last year, Afterpay, did all the rest of the work for me, increasing my portfolio almost 350% in a span of 4 months before I chose to sell late-August of 2018 and then buy back for half the price two months later. It’s hard to put into words how I made all the correct decisions at the right times with little to no knowledge on understanding how a company is ‘really’ operating. I had researched extensively, but at the time, the figures meant almost nothing to me. Through reading these chapters I feel as though I’ve begun to acquire a basic ability to assess how a company like Afterpay is taking off. A firm’s financial statement isn’t just a pretty document to please its investors, even though many are pleasing to the eye! It describes key aspects of what is actually happening in a business & allows investors, lenders & other creditors in making accurate decisions regarding providing resources for the future growth of a firm.The section of Chapter 2 that resonated with me most was the importance of providing relevant and faithful information by a company to it’s potential or current investors. More importantly, that these two qualities must work cohesively to be of any use to potential or current investors. Why on earth would I want to know about BlueScope Steel’s yearly growth from 1972 while I’m currently living in 2019, even if the information is completely accurate? What I’ve learned is that these two qualities are what the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) deem vital when preparing a financial statement. Regardless of what the AASB decides, honesty & transparency should always be a key aspect of all businesses. One thing that upsets me is that these rules needed to be implemented in the first place. Why can’t we all just be truthful with one another? Obviously, that isn’t going to happen willingly in the business world, so I’m also thankful of fact that the AASB and other organisations exist to provide a conceptual framework for accountants and businesses to adhere to when it comes time to show how a firm is performing year-to-year. When I landed my first job back in 2009 with Gloria Jeans, I enjoyed 10 months working in the business, learning the trade of the barista before the business suddenly closed without a day of warning for us employees. The lack of communication from my superiors quite literally left a sour taste of Gloria Jeans’ coffees in my mouth. Transparency within a business is extremely important and it’s been fantastic to learn there are many informational standards a business must follow when providing performance reviews to outside individuals & groups.Progressing into chapter 3 (3.1, 3.2,) Martin invited us all to a party and brought along his best friend accounting! In the beginning I was hesitant, but Martin’s friend sure knew how to use her words, I might even ask her for some of her numbers! I got to know all about her balance sheet, the fact that it includes assets, liabilities & equity and how it can show how things are progressing in a business each year. The equation to find the result of the balance sheet is:Liability + Owners Equity – Assets = Firms Balance SheetHowever, it doesn’t necessarily show me what happened throughout that year. A great example was when Martin asked us during the lecture about how Ryman Healthcare could have possibly received $441,000 in interest throughout the year when on the balance sheet it shows the company has no cash at the day of the statement. What we can’t see on a balance sheet is how much cash Ryman Healthcare had at specific intervals throughout the year. Somewhere throughout the year the company obviously had cash reserves in which they accrued interest, however at the day of the financial statement they just happened to have no cash reserves. I found this fascinating as I thought I knew so much about how interest works, yet I was stumped on Martins’ question. It turns out I simply had no idea about how a balance sheet works. I’m so grateful to have made a new friend who could tell me all about it!The accounting Income statement shows how things in a firm change over a period. This is normally carried out over a 1-year timeframe. Expenses and revenue are detailed in the income statement & the equation is simply:Revenue – Expenses = Firm’s income (for a period of time)I found it interesting when Martin outlined the difference between consolidated income and company income. Previously, I was under the impression that all 4 possible terms were the same thing, but I can now see that with a parent company, it does not own 100% equity in all subsidiary companies & not all of the profits or losses of the group of partly owned companies will benefit shareholders of the parent company. I can personally see a situation where a parent company may own 10% of a subsidiary company and receive an even smaller portion of the net profits from that company, as they are investing in the future of that company and want to see it grow. It could work against the parent company if they negotiate terms where the subsidiary company must provide a large portion of their net profits as it will slow down the growth rate of that company. As an investor, I will most certainly be looking into what subsidiary companies my investments may own and how they are treating those other companies ethically and whether they’re looking to grow these companies or just to simply take profits.With these two forms of financial statements, both the balance sheet and Income statement, we are utilising all 5 elements of accounting, which can be put into the extended fundamental accounting equation:Assets + Expenses = Equity + Revenue + LiabilitiesThe final piece of information that stood out to me was the phrase that ‘cash is king.’ I can picture a scene out of a movie where someone of royalty has suddenly been dethroned and they find themselves being bombarded by various fruits and rocks by their commoners whilst being taken to the stake. This seems to be the case for a business that has run out of cash. People will quickly become upset and cease to provide the services your business requires to continue its operations. I remember this happened to me when I was 20 and ran out of money to continue paying my car loans. Within a couple of months, I had people calling me & looking for me to get the money I owed them. It was a horrible experience which has reinforced my caution when entering into a loan agreement. I’m grateful I learned my lesson early on!As Martin continues to introduce more of his friends to me, such as ‘accountings’ lovely children, ‘balance sheet’ and ‘Income statement,’ I find myself excited to learn more about this loving and relatively honest family. It turns out that we can relate to a lot of things when Martin throws in some great conversation starters and it’s proving to really help with the awkwardness of coming across something new.Step 6: Peer FeedbackFeedback From: Maitland BezzinaFeedback To: Jennifer ColeMy CommentsStep 1KCQsStep 2Moodle has notified me that I do not have permission to view your profile, so I am unable to read your introduction.I really liked the layout of your blog however some of the titles are misspelled and I would have liked to see all your steps posted and edited into 1 blog post.Introductory words in Description boxPhoto and descriptionLink to your blog/Set up blogStep 3I find it interesting that you were given Air Asia and surprised that you hadn’t heard of the major crashes that have happened in recent times through their airline. I’m glad you did some extra research and shared what happened as so many lives have been lost from this company’s inability to follow adequate safety procedures. Please review your use of ‘RM1’ and then ‘RM40 Million’ afterwards. Pick one way of describing the figures for Malaysian currency and stick with it. The information provided for Air Asia Malaysia was fantastic. I liked the fact the you even added information about the founders of the company & the comparisons of social media following to that of Quantas. It was a great addition!Background information on companyComments/KCQsComments on other’s blogsStep 4No link provided.Input company’s financial statementsStep 5Your step 5 covered many great topics, however this step was too simplified as compared to step 3. For each new accounting topic or principle you learn about, try to relate it to something in your life to better understand why you’re learning it.KCQsStep 6Individual feedback with othersNot Provided.Overall ASS#1Your step 3 was presented extremely well, however I would have liked to have seen more KCQ’s on step 5. It feels as though you were more focused on your company profile rather than the readings given by Martin. A consistent word count and level of analysis between similar tasks such as step 3 & 5 would prove to be beneficial. Also, in step 5 most of information you talk about are summaries. Relate some of these learnings to your own personal experiences, as it will not only improve your grade, but it will also enhance your ability to retain and relate to the knowledge you gain for future use.Feedback From: Maitland BezzinaFeedback To: Kalani MaherMy CommentsStep 1KCQsStep 2It’s great to see you love spending time with your dog!You provided an easy-to-find link to your blog however, for some reason I couldn’t see a photo or a description.I liked the simple layout of your blog, however personally I’m not a fan of the font or background colour.Introductory words in Description boxPhoto and descriptionLink to your blog/Set up blogStep 3I’ve enjoyed learning about ELLEX and that without this company around, many people more people would be having major problems with their eyes!When you begin talking about your finances in the ‘ELLEX annual report’ section there is no explanation of whether the currency is in single, thousands or millions, so it translates literally to the company having ‘a $3,372 loss’, which in the case of ELLEX I’m sure that isn’t correct.Also, you mentioned the companies balance was substantially higher in 2018 compared to 2017. This can be a good sign but, in some cases, this could also be a bad thing. Perhaps the company sold important assets to achieve the higher balance. Nothing is ever black and white and information should always be questioned and reviewed further when looking at a company’s financial statement.Aside from what I’ve mentioned, you have provided more than adequate in-depth information on your company’s finances which is great, the only problem I can see is there are very minimal questions the annual report is leaving you with, or if you were left with questions, I cannot see them in your step 3. Make sure to express not only the information you comprehend, but the information you still have questions on or are confused about.Background information on companyComments/KCQsComments on other’s blogsStep 4I found your spreadsheet interesting and from comparing the aspects you’ve entered in your spreadsheet it appears on the surface that ELLEX has performed well in recent times.Input company’s financial statementsStep 5Not Provided.KCQsStep 6Individual feedback with othersThere was only 1 peer feedback on your draft. My advice would be to point out some things that can be improved. Nobody is perfect and your peers should want feedback on what they could improve on, even if it’s the slightest grammatical error.Overall ASS#1I enjoyed reading what you have provided to be assessed by your peers. You have clearly researched your company well and you share some interesting information about the performance of your company. I would suggest relating some of this information back to your own life to further reflect on this information and by doing this you will retain the information much more efficiently. Also, in respects to the assignment, your grade may improve.Feedback From: Maitland Bezzina Feedback To: Joanne White . My CommentsStep 1KCQsStep 2Moodle has notified me that I do not have permission to view your profile so I am unable to read your introduction.I really liked the layout of your blog however some of the titles are misspelled and I would have liked to have all your steps posted and edited into 1 blog post.Introductory words in Description boxPhoto and descriptionLink to your blog/Set up blogStep 3I find it interesting that you were given Air Asia and surprised that you hadn’t heard of the major crashes that have happened in recent times through their airline. I’m glad you did some extra research and shared what happened as so many lives have been lost from this company’s inability to follow adequate safety procedures. Please review your use of ‘RM1’ and then ‘RM40 Million’ afterwards. Pick one way of describing the figures for Malaysian currency and stick with it. The information provided for Air Asia Malaysia was fantastic. I liked the fact the you even added information about the founders of the company & the comparisons of social media following to that of Quantas. It was a great addition!Background information on companyComments/KCQsComments on other’s blogsStep 4No link provided.Input company’s financial statementsStep 5Your step 5 covered many great topics, however this step was too simplified as compared to step 3. For each new accounting topic or principle you learn about, try to relate it to something in your life to better understand why you’re learning it.KCQsStep 6Individual feedback with othersNot Provided.Overall ASS#1Your step 3 was presented extremely well, however I would have liked to have seen more KCQ’s on step 5. It feels as though you were more focused on your company profile rather than the readings given by Martin. A consistent word count and level of analysis between similar tasks such as step 3 & 5 would prove to be beneficial. Also, in step 5 most of information you talk about are summaries. Relate some of these learnings to your own personal experiences, as it will not only improve your grade, but it will also enhance your ability to retain and relate to the knowledge you gain for future use.Conclusion:This unit and specifically this assignment have been a wonderful introduction to university life. I’ve been introduced to effective learning methods and tools such as Studiosity and the academic learning centre which I will continue to use throughout my time at CQUni. Also grasping the basics of efficient time-management techniques regarding building an assignment for submission has proven to be invaluable. Leaving work until the last minute in tertiary studies would make things very difficult to succeed and I’m grateful to have been shown a reliable way of studying in this unit for my future courses.Although I didn’t engage with my fellow students throughout the assessment on their blogs, I did actively follow many bloggers, post on the Facebook page and have been active on PeerWise to reinforce my learning of new concepts. To top it off I spent an evening with a fellow classmate reading each other’s assignments in person and discussing areas we could tweak before submitting the final copy online. I believe I am coming around to this collaboration style of learning, even though I have a consistent history of being stubbornly independent. Again, I’m glad various learning techniques have been presented to us to use for our future at university and collaboration is one I will certainly make use of. ................
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