Master Brewer to Master of Professional Accounting with a little help from CQU
I’ve had three attempts at KCQ’s for chapter 6 and I wasn’t happy with any of them. Yesterday I thought I’d try a more radical approach and talk through the issues with Chapter 6 himself.
The conversation went down on here. Paul Feasey ASS#2 Step 2 Version 4
As it’s a rather different approach to KCQ’s I’d appreciate some comments. If it’s pants I’ve still got time to go back and do it again
Long weekend’s, I love them. But that’s easy for me to say as I don’t have to work them at the moment. In the UK they’re called Bank Holidays which has an interesting history and Britpop legends Blur wrote a song about it.
In NSW I was essentially always on call so couldn’t really relax just in case something went pear shaped. In the UK at Carlsberg I was on a 24/7 roster. In my 18 months there I think I worked all the public holidays. In my double life as a project leader and student, all I have to worry about is me, and if I want or need to work over the long weekend in either of my roles I can.
I do appreciate how sucky it is when you see an update from family and friends mates and there’s nothing you can do about it. So if you have worked this weekend I hope it wasn’t too hard, you had some benefits and fun from it.
Vac week. What an interesting concept. No lecture videos to catch up on, no PASS sessions and no tutorials. The chance to catch up and hopefully get ahead of the curve. To be honest I tried, but not very successfully when I consider what I wanted to get done.
With the swimming season over the whole family has been around and doing things with them is far more amusing than restating financial details and reading Chapters 5 and 6. Though I have managed to complete the first draft of my LAWS11030 assignment and finish off my ASS#2 step 1, if you want to read it it’s here. Paul Feasey ASS#2 Step 1
We did go up to Rockhampton see child #1 on campus. Students in Rocky, you are very privileged. What a great campus! The halls are great, the food for the res students is amazing, the sports facilities are great and the gardens are lovely. When I went to Uni the only facility we had was a common room with a TV.
We used the BBQ’s in the gardens for our sausage sizzle. Absolutely fabulous. Public BBQ’s rank in my estimation as one of the greatest societal benefits of all time.
Alice is in a great spot to study. I’m happy she’s there, though she’s got a lot on, with balancing an RA role, adjusting to being an adult, having a social life and intense study. Dentistry is not for the fainthearted or lazy. Very proud of my eldest (takes after her mother in awesomeness)
As there’s no work today I’ve caught up on some blogs. Amazing how we all interpret the chapters in different ways. Maitland’s blog made me laugh, Lisa has managed to break herself, Kyle is working on centrifuges and sugar, and Caitlin has new cows. This all links into Chapter 5 when Martin starts talking about relationships. As a distance student I doubt we’ll physically meet many of our fellows, but reading blogs does give an insight into how we all tick.
It looks like I’ll be getting some more study time in. I had a great run before parkrun on Saturday morning. Just shy of 8k in the dark and the pouring rain. I haven’t run in the rain or in the dark for ages. The Zombies, Run mission was great and I was soaked to the skin. It was awesome. Though it was a bit painful.
About three months ago there were indications that something had come adrift internally. After much abuse by Mrs Feasey and my work colleagues I finally went to the doctors and I have an ultrasound next week. This means unfortunately I’m going to have to stop running for a week. Hopefully it’s nothing too drastic and I can get back out soon. I do get a bit rangry (grumpy due to lack of running) if I have too much of a gap.
This gives me some increased study time. Speaking of which, while everyone else is slowly rising in the Feasey household I’m going to have another cup of tea and read Chapters 5 & 6.
Happy Studies folks.
I have spent an entire evening on my spreadsheet. I’ve watched the videos, more than once. I’ve read the chapter, many times. I’ve looked over Martins examples.
I’ve identified my O’s and F’s. I’ve put all the numbers into all the spreadsheets. I’ve done the checks to ensure that the component parts correspond correctly to the source data. Shouldn’t be a problem. But it is a problem!
The NFA + Equity calculation doesn’t match the NOA! and The total comprehensive income for the year is out as well.
I don’t know why! It all adds up, until it doesn’t and I can’t work it out. I think it’s a calculation error as I’ve a lot of negative numbers in the sheet. I can get it to work, though I’m not entirely sure if I’m going about it the right way. It’s quite possibly a silly error that I’ve overlooked from staring at it for too long. I would like to find it though.
If anyone would care to take a look and guide me in amending the error I’d really appreciate it.
In chapter 1 of the study guide Martin makes it really clear that in order to succeed in this course you need to be spending 12.5 hours a week on the subject. I think I have spent more than that just trying to untangle Chapter 4 and that’s before I start on the restated financial statements.
In the study guides I don’t mind a bit of trivia now and again. I do have a passing knowledge of Machiavelli and GK Chesterton, but I’m not going to search out Euclid. To be honest in this chapter these nuggets I didn’t find at all helpful.
A lot of the concepts in Chapter 4 I’m familiar with through experience, having them interwoven with kinder eggs and Ryman Healthcare didn’t help me much. Especially when trying to work out how to play with my spreadsheet.
What I wanted was details of the mechanical process for the spreadsheet, what I got was somewhat different. As I may have mentioned before, if it was easy everyone would do it. So I’ll read the chapter again and watch the video and see how we go.
I’ve got a Law assignment on the go as well and wanted to get at least something on ASS#2 out so I can concentrate on that. So as the title says from desperation comes motivation. What I have attached is probably version 5 of a first draft.
I’m not happy with it. I’m sure it’s rambling, simplistic and misses a hundred points. Take a look, rip it up and tell me where you think I’ve gone wrong. It’ll be a feedback gift I’ll appreciate. I’ll what Studiosity has to say about it as well.
The output of my desperation can be found here. Paul Feasey ASS#2 Step 1
On a more positive note and speaking of motivation. It was a great parkrun this morning with two colleagues from work joining me. Dan worked for me when I was in operations and Kasey is our project accountant. I run with Kasey twice a week and have been encouraging her to get faster, usually by not telling her the pace we’re running at and she’s come a long way since starting regular running in January.
I am really pleased to say that this method of motivation and support has paid off and she ran her fastest 5k at 26:25. Something to celebrate (unlike my draft 😦 )
Happy studies folks.
Every time I see KCQ in my head I read this as Keep Calm and Carry On!
Don’t ask me why, I have no idea, but it makes me laugh every time. So keeping calm and carrying on is exactly what I am trying to do.
The feedback on my ASS#1 was to work harder on my KCQ’s which is proving to be a bit of a challenge.
Chapter 4! You are really testing me!
I had four attempts last night to assemble my KCQ’s on chapter 4. The only thing I was certain of is Euclid will likely win me a point in a trivia contest and nothing more.
There is so much information in that chapter and all of it makes sense. The challenge is to make sense of it in the form of KCQ’s. In the end I gave up and restated my SOCIE instead.
Fortunately Step 1 is not due until the 23rd and we have a PASS session this evening. I’m hoping the assembled brains trust will provide sufficient inspiration to get this done.
In the meantime.
Happy Studies!
Come Monday morning all of us should be breathing a sigh of relief at the successful completion of the first assignment. We might even have considered reading ahead and seeing what’s next, or we might not.
I was quite surprised when Gayle popped up on messenger informing the group her ASS#1 had been marked. I hadn’t considered looking as I only put it in yesterday. I went and looked, lo and behold it to was marked and commented upon.
I’m happy with the mark as it stands, though do wonder what else I need to do with KCQ’s to make the marker happy. Fortunately we’ve got a number of opportunities coming up to do just that. With ASS#1 completed, I asked myself the question “what do we do next?” The answer is quite a lot actually.
If you haven’t had a look at ASS#2, brace yourself! ASS#1 was simplicity itself compared to what’s coming over the next 9 weeks. The first challenge being to decipher exactly what is required and when. We’ve all got a lot on and having some clear milestones is a benefit.
What I’ve done for me and I’ll share it with you is tabulate the expectations. I’ve laid it out week by week with study requirements and due dates (if I’ve missed something please let me know). For the full details you’ll still need to look at the full Assignment guide but it may help keep you on track. ASS#2 The Simple Guide
What I’ve also done is quickly knock up the feedback sheets for Step 4 and Step 10.
I consider the best way to succeed in this unit is by planning well, getting ahead of the requirements, really thinking about those KCQ’s and positive interaction with others. If by using my very simple guide helps take away the wonder and worry about what to do next then we all win.
Happy Studies!
Apart from three small assignments as part of a BRC Professional qualification course I’ve just finished, I haven’t had a substantial assignment to complete for a very long time.
The difference between then and now, is that back in the 20th century my assignments were handwritten and physically handed in. Type written and submitted over the interwebs! How easy is that!
Technology doesn’t change the fact that a whole lot of effort goes into these things and the relief that comes from pressing the submit button (or putting in the lecturers office pigeon hole) is quite satisfying.
If you have trouble sleeping or have absolutely nothing better in your lives you can read the final version here Paul Feasey ASS# 1 Steps 2 – 6
To be honest though I wouldn’t recommend it, as it’s time to move on. Up next Chapter 4 and restating our financial statements. On the horizon there are more KCQ’s, more spreadsheets and more feedback.
The first four weeks have flown by and I expect the rest of this unit to do the same. What I am looking forward to is the final submission of ASS#2 on June 10th where my satisfaction in completing this unit will be definitely guaranteed.
Happy Studies!
How’s everyone doing?
Week 4 is drawing to a close and I’m quite astounded in how it’s going. I was not totally sure how studying, life, the universe and everything was going to work out. We’re a 1/3 of the way in and it’s going all right.
Couple of things I’ve experienced, learned and been reminded of this week.
PASS sessions continue to be extremely valuable. If you’re not in it, why not? I’m enjoying the interaction and by talking with the group I’m able to better understand the concepts and help out as well. I am trying to say less, honest, but it is a challenge as I’m so used to leading and talking at work.
Warning this is the only negative I have so far in this unit.
PeerWise, to be honest at this stage is losing it’s value. I’m well up on the scoring system and could stop now and still get a pass. I appreciate that we will be at different stages in the reading and I’m deliberately looking for the challenging questions. What I’m finding is that some of these challenging questions are only that way due to being badly written and with no explanation.
If I get genuinely hard question wrong, no problem, I’ll go back and learn from it. But it is frustrating to get a question wrong when it’s badly worded and there’s no explanation.
I have lost count of the times I’ve written provide an explanation in the comments. I’ve now taken to grading questions as fair or poor if there’s no explanation.
Back to being positive! 🙂
Good feedback is really important and to do it properly takes time. I’ve provided feedback and I hope it’s been helpful. I still have a couple outstanding, which I will try and get to. Though it is the weekend, where you’d think there would be more time, however as everyone is home it’s not the case.
Thank you for those lovely folk who have provided feedback on my work and my blog. With the blog it’s always nice to be appreciated and the fact that it’s been helpful is a real bonus.
The feedback on my ASS#1 has been great, but reminds me of an important point. Feedback is not necessarily proof reading. In the words of the immortal Public Enemy (quite frankly one of the best hip hop groups of all time) don’t believe the hype!
In getting the feedback which was really positive in terms of content and style, which I really appreciated, I almost sat back and thought “perfect I’m done” and went to submit it early. A little voice inside said, “are you sure?” So I went back and proof read it again, found spelling errors, grammatical errors and formatting that needed correcting.
If I’d put in “as was”, I would’ve only had myself to blame for not checking and would’ve thrown away easy marks. Rookie error and not good at all.
Which segues nicely to the next lesson. Attention to detail. In my career I should be super focused on the details. If you get times, temperatures and the analysis wrong, you will make bad beer. Quite clearly I wasn’t focused enough on the details and my draft was lacking. But that’s why we do a draft.
The other area of where I wasn’t focused enough on the details was at today’s parkrun. I had an aversion to the numbers 51 to 100 and decided to skip straight to #101. I only noticed when I handed over #151 to the 51st runner. A quick swap and we continued from 101. Not a train wreck, but a bit of a nuisance to sort out at the end.
In my defense I had just run a 56 minute 10 K (my 3rd fastest in three years, go me!) and hadn’t had breakfast, so my brain may have been a little low on sugar.
My faux pas was source of much amusement; that an experienced Race Director who’s doing a degree that involves numbers can just miss a whole set of finish tokens. I will never be allowed to forget this, which is a perfectly reasonable response by my fellow Race Directors, who are here in this pic sorting out my mess.
Week 5 starts, well now, with Chapter 4. I’ve read it once and there is a lot covered. I can see many KCQ’s on the horizon. We have the additional challenge of restating our financial reports. This will take some patience and keen attention to detail. As it’s another new area for me I’m looking forward to it.
The last words:
Happy Studies
When I started this unit I was a bit put out about the need to write a blog and be so interactive as part of the process. After all I came here to learn accounting and where the numbers go, I didn’t come here to blog! A blog is what I do for fun, not as part of a university unit.
After a bit of reflection and some sage advice from my wife, “get on with it idiot and stop complaining, you know how this game is played!” I did what she suggested and got on with it. A very astute woman is Mrs Feasey.
Because of who I am, I can’t just do a token effort to meet the minimum standard, it’s all or nothing. I also can’t stop myself from sharing my experiences and trying to help.
So despite my initial thoughts of “what’s the point?”, I can completely see the point of the exercise and I seem to have gotten right into it.
Writing blogs is fun, it can definitely open up a new world for those unfamiliar with it and providing comments and support to others through blogs is immediately helpful and actually a really good idea. Well done Martin for coming up with that one.
This post is not about me though, it’s about others and who I consider to be the top 3 blogs I have come across on the unit so far. With over 300 participants on this unit there is not chance I’m going to see all of the blogs, though I am giving it a red hot go and following about 50. This alone makes it a tough decision.
Not being one to arbitrarily decide anything, there’s got to be at least some criteria and I’m going with
There are some really strong contenders and I wrote about some of them in a previous blog post last week. A couple of additional mentions before I declare the one’s I enjoy the most so far.
Mel Sergiacomi, Naija Farcancy Gayle Black Maitland Bezzina Karen (sorry can’t find her surname) Dayanara Lopez and Kym Hof
I enjoy all these blogs for various reasons, including the fact that they just make me smile. Go check them out if you’ve the time and follow their links to others and share the love.
In the end there a can be only one three Highlander and in no particular order
I came to Claudia’s blog via Shannon Pengelly . Shannon’s blog is well worth a look btw. Claudia’s blog is very well laid out, I like the style, the content and the level of self reflection. I appreciate a good meme and a good quote and Claudia has a good balance so far in the blog.
I reckon Lisa’s just warming up. She’s got a dry sense of humor and I’m getting a feeling that if she really let’s it rip it’ll be a doozy. I like her style, honesty and can relate to her challenges of study and managing life with teenagers. Her content is good and she’s on track with the requirements.
I think Sonia is doing a cracking job. Again I like the style and layout of her blog and she’s put some great content on it. I like the way she laid out her company profile nice and clearly. What put Sonia in the top 3 was the time she took to go through the ASS#1 requirements and break it down nice and easy for everyone. This is great leadership and support behavior and sets a great example to others on what good looks like.
That’s the top three at this time.
What I’ve enjoyed is that we’re all, me included, coming to grips with a new concept of learning and communication. I’ve enjoyed reading my peers reflections on how they got here and what their goals are. We’ve all got access to the same base information in the study guide and everyone has a different company. What’s been interesting is the way that each student has gone about interpreting and presenting their information and this is great to read and review.
I’ve enjoyed reading the blogs, the KCQ’s and the company information. I’ve commented where I think I can add value and I have been appreciated by others. It would be fantastic to be able to acknowledge the great parts of all 55 blogs I follow, unfortunately breakfast and work is going to take priority. Maybe in a future post.
As I mentioned earlier at the start I really didn’t understand the point of an accounting blog, but I do understand it now. It’s a great medium to encourage communication, one of the key aims of the unit, collaboration and learning. It’s also fun and when we have fun we learn more. Kudos to Martin for this stroke of genius.
Acct11059
Running, Sports, walking, experience
After 4 years of chasing the snow around the world it's back to business for me.
Follow my journey as I commence my first term at CQUniversity and undergo ACCT11059
Ramblings of an accounting student...
A kind tale of a woman & her university experience with kids
My University Experience
My foot is in the Door, no Backing out now. The start of my Accounting Pathway. Follow my journey
Hi! My name is Claudia! This is my blog is for my Accounting Units ACCT11059, ACCT11081 and now ACCT13017 for my Bachelor of Business and Accounting. My assessment will be posted here, but so it is more enjoyable, there is a bit of light, fun reading about me as well. Enjoy!
Join me as I blog about communication, accounting, and a wonder of other subjects as a part of my studies.
The Journey has Begun…
An Educational journey about stumbling through the racks (units) of the store (degree) just to make it to the counter (Graduation) and then find out the item was on sale (Best thing ever, same as completing your degree).
Adventures in Accounting at CQU
My Journey into Accounting
A lady, a Short attention span and Accounting
All about ACCT13017 and my experiences, all while paying homage to Bus Route 301.
It’s accrual world out there
Being Held to Account 