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!

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!)

Talking it through

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

dilbert

Who doesn’t like a long weekend?

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)

Family BBQ Easter Friday

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.

morning run saturday 20 april

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.

It all adds up, except when it doesn’t

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.

GALLIFORDTRY Company Spreadsheet FEASEY