This is the end….?

Or maybe it isn’t? Actually it’s not all quite done, my write up on Step 9 has run out of steam, so what we have here is a first cut.

Really if it’s the end or not is all going to depend on what feedback I get and if someone spots something odd that needs fixing.

If you, dear reader, would care to participate in the Step 10 feedback process you can find all the details below. And while you are reading please enjoy this musical masterpiece from The Doors.

GALLIFORDTRY Company Spreadsheet FEASEY

ASS#2 Step 7 Contribution Margin

ASS# Step 8 What I know about ratios

ASS# 2 Step 9 Capital Investment Decisions not quite finished. Suggestions welcome.

dilbert-show-me-the-monies

One more thing

The end of week 10, not long to go until the end of the first term as a mature student. The weekend started well with a 10k run and wearing a yellow tutu while doing barcode scanning at parkrun.

This has been an interesting unit. I’ve learned a few new things over recent weeks, had a few things I already knew confirmed and sharpened up and made some new friends as well, an unexpected and welcome bonus.

I’m on track for a good finish to this unit and want to get it out of the way so I can prepare for the Law exam. I’m up to date with submissions and have Steps 7 & 8 complete. Step 7 Contribution Margins can be found here ASS#2 Step 7 Contribution Margin

Yet there is always one more thing to do. Which reminded me of a song that I played a lot during my original student days in the ’90’s. L7 for those unaware are a female punk/grunge group from Los Angeles and this is from their 3rd (and best in my opinion) album Bricks are Heavy

That one more thing is Step 9 NPV and IRR. To be honest this is irritating me. I understand what the expected outcome is and how to get there by calculation. What I’m supposed to put in the calculation from the initial investment and expected cashflow is a mystery at the moment. I’d rather not have to take a wild guess if I can avoid it. I have had a go this morning and used information from the 2018 report and a bit of research. You can find it on the NPV tab in the spreadsheet if you want to take a look. GALLIFORDTRY Company Spreadsheet FEASEY

The calculation is correct, but is it accurate or relevant? At this stage I’ve no idea. So I’m putting the brakes on and doing something else. I’m going to save the question for the next PASS session and see if that gains me some insight.

dilbert NPV

Ratio’s restrung

Apart from having to vote in quite possibly the worst general election I have ever experienced, and I’ve seen elections in West Africa and the build up to Brexit, so I speak from experience, I’ve had a pretty good weekend. I ran 10K in the dark on Friday night and 6K before the sun came up before parkrun on Saturday morning.

Running at night is one of my favorite activities. There’s no one around and the environment is completely different to the day. Most excellent!

Saturday was spent recovering from running and politics to allow Sunday to be a head down bum up study day.

Which brings me to this blogs loosely connected song, Hilltop Hoods The Hard Road Restrung. A great song, made even better by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

Why is this loosely connected? I’ve already put up my ratios on this blog, knowing there were some errors and knowing it needed some additional focus and Natasha Bennett was kind enough to have a look and provide some comments which is appreciated. Today as well as writing about chapter 8 (see the previous blog post), the ratio’s have been restrung and the word document written to explain my workings and thoughts.

The restrung ratios can be found here GALLIFORDTRY Company Spreadsheet FEASEY and the document containing all I ever wanted to know about ratios but was afraid to ask can be found here ASS# Step 7 What I know about ratios

dilbert work ratio

The final chapter… (of the study guide)

The loosely related song for this blog is from the Cranberries. Reasons being, number one it is a great song and has “decide” in the title, I couldn’t find anything better and number two it was written in response to a decision that the band made at a particular time. In chapter 8 it’s all about information and what to do with that in the decision making process.

Chapter 8 a marginally shorter chapter for Martin, though jam packed with information as always. As I want to focus on the spreadsheet activities for the next couple of weeks I wanted to get this chapter out of the way. If you want to see what I think of decision making feel free to have a look. ASS#2 Step 6 Chapter 8 Decsions

You’ll be pleased to know that it’s only a short piece at 3 pages, it’s Sunday afternoon and I’ve other stuff to be getting on with.

As for me I have a decision to make. Do I stay on this journey through CQ01 and gain my BA Accounting? Or do I swap out in term 2 and use my prior degree to get me on the Master in Professional Accounting?

I’ll leave you with Dilbert

non comital dilbert

Romping through ratios

I don’t have problems getting to sleep at night but I do find my focus on this unit making me neglect sleep. Today’s loosely related tune is the classic Insomnia by Faithless. Amazing lyrics by Maxi Jazz

ACCT11059 the only place where a 90 minute Youtube video takes multiple attempts and a 2 hour final push to watch to completion.

I’d watched the first 30 minutes of the ratio’s video and noted down the important aspects. Last night I casually said to my wife, “I’ve only got an hour to do, then we’ll put on Netflix”. Once again ACCT11059 as called me out as a liar. Nearly 3 hours later, I gently woke my sleeping wife from the sofa and called it a day. My sleepy wife called me something else! I hadn’t realized the time as I was task focused and enjoying myself

Ratios themselves are straightforward and I’d done half of the sheet without Maria’s tutorial, though I had a few odd figures and wasn’t sure on some. I did not know I had inventory initially and didn’t know how to factor in sales, so the video was spot on for that.

To be absolutely certain I was using the right process I watched, stopped, and replayed the video multiple times, while writing more notes and checking figures before I declared the ratios done but not complete. Not every line is as clear in it’s outcome as I would like and needs some more consideration, but it’s done so far.

I did find a excellent investment site that details practically all if the ratios, which allowed me to compare my figures with reality. There are some figures in my sheet that I think are anomalies,the calculations seem to be correct, the numbers I want to think over some more. Calculated values that I’m certain of are highlighted in green, the ones that I need to give more thought to are highlighted in yellow. I know there are a few others in the group with building and construction firms, and I would be very interested to see how we compare.

If you want to take a look the spreadsheet it is here GALLIFORDTRY Company Spreadsheet FEASEY

Happy studies!

Dilber ratio

Give me more, more, more!

Budgets! A process where you ask for lots and settle for less. A complicated game where every department fights over the crumbs dropped from the top table of the board, with the every increasing demand of doing more for less!

As the great UK band the Wonder Stuff sang in 1988 (crikey I’m old!) Give Me More More More!

Sorry! Became very cynical for a moment, bit rangry as I wasn’t able to do parkrun this week. Scott Adam doesn’t help with his Dilbert strips either.

Dilbert_EngineeringBudget

Budget setting can seem a bit like that. Hopefully this is an exaggeration and no-one has to really go through this. Though I might have to agree in that Scott Adams was spot on about the sales and marketing departments.

Once a budget is set they can also be a damn good way of understanding the firms expectations, reacting to the speed bumps encountered along the way, along with motivating and rewarding people and teams. All of this and more you will find in Chapter 7. If you want to know what I think about it, you can find it here. ASS#2 Step 5 Chapter 7 Short Term Budgets

Happy Studies folks!

Feedback’s back alright!

Feedback, it’s the gift that keeps giving. Another assignment another set of feedback. And the Backstreet Boys, because why not?

To round off this bit of the unit at the start of week 8 I present you with my reflections on the restating process, ASS#2 Reflections on Step 3

This document explains my thought processes in restating my financial sheets. Which I did quiet enjoy. In case you missed it the financials can be found here, GALLIFORDTRY Company Spreadsheet FEASEY

The next item on the agenda is what I think of the feedback process in general and the feedback I have given and received along the way. This can be found here ASS#2 Peer Feedback Step 4 Consolidated Feedback Sheets Thank you to those who’ve taken the time to help me out and interact.

Oh, one more thing. When it comes to feedback, don’t be this guy.

dilbert feedback

Happy studies.

BTW – the last word. If you read this and enjoy it, just hit the like button, that way I know I’m not talking to myself. If you don’t like it, leave a comment as to why, maybe I’ll do something different next time, maybe I won’t. Leave a comment and we’ll find out together.

Another one bites the dust!

Happy Sunday. Let’s start with some Queen to celebrate.

Hope everyone is having a good day. Mine started with 12K run up Bundy’s highest point, The Sloping Hummock, and I didn’t die. I haven’t run for two weeks, so was a bit concerned on how I’d go. It went well and I really enjoyed it.

Got home to have a final read of my Step 2 of ASS#2. I’m quite pleased with this one, came out very differently from the first draft. The feedback I’ve received so far has been very positive, so I think I hit the mark with it. Note to new players, Martin is not averse to the left field approach. It’s now been submitted and if you want to have a read it can be found here Paul Feasey ASS#2 Step 2 Version 4

So that’s another assignment out of the road and that feels pretty good.

In the process of knocking off some feedback on various Step 3 spreadsheets. Another note to new players, if someone takes the time out to take a look at your efforts, it’s polite to say thank you and offer to reciprocate. That’s all I’m saying on the matter.

Next phase in this still very odd way of learning the basics of accounting is ratio’s. So far these appear fairly straightforward, so no concerns. Then onto Chapter 7 and budgets. My usual approach to budgets has always been

ask for lots and settle for less
always add at least 10% contingency on a project
when you have a budget make sure it’s all spent by the end of the year.

I suspect Martin has a more detailed approach than that.

dilbert budget

Happy studies

It’s lunchtime, I’m at work and can’t think of a snappy title

dilber numbers

How we all doing? It’s Wednesday lunchtime I’m at work and have about 10 minutes to get this written and posted. Hence the crappy title. I want to get my Law assignment done so I want this out of the way today.

I finally figured out what was wrong with my spreadsheet, thank you to everyone who had a look at it. Credit for your help is in the attached word document.

I have now learnt the perils of double dipping. This exercise has also reinforced the fact that all firms report in different ways and footnotes are gold.

My restated spreadsheet is attached and my document what I have gained from this exercise. Any questions, comments etc please let me know.

ASS#2 Reflections on Step 3

GALLIFORDTRY Company Spreadsheet FEASEY

Happy studies

(now back to the spreadsheets that pay my wages!)