Chapter 4, what is it good for?

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.

acct11059-keep-calm-and-write-kcq-s

Happy Studies!

Keep moving forward*

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.

ASS#2 Step 4 Feedback Sheets

ASS# 2 Step 10 Feedback Form

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!

walt disney keep moving forward

Satisfaction guaranteed

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!

Week 5 already?

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.

Park run RD's

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:

positive feedback is great, but don’t forget to remain critical of your own work and take that last look before submitting
don’t forget the details. Attention to detail is an essential part of managing numbers and business (and parkrun) and a skill to master early on.

Happy Studies

The mind bloggles!

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

layout – how does it look and feel, can I find posts easily
content – what’s in there, is the course criteria being met
style – how is it written, does it engage me as a reader

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

Claudia Turiano

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.

Lisa O’Neill

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.

Sonia Elizabeth Lopez Gomez

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.

Kudos

Feedback is a gift

I was once told by a Technical Director that feedback is a gift. And he was right!

The best feedback is given willingly, honestly and adds value for the recipient.

Poor feedback is rushed, not focused and given without care.

I prefer to give the former and receive the former.

I’ve given one person the full feedback service and it took a while. I’m happy to do more and have offered my services to two more people. One of them has had very focused feedback on their draft #1 and we’ll see if more is requested.

We have to have feedback on three students completed and in by 5pm Thursday Week 4. Not a lot of time to get this done, I’m happy to put the time in and I’d appreciate three of my followers willing to do the same.

Happy Studies (and Feedback)

The best laid plans of mice and students*

The end of week 3, though I feel that I’ve been doing this for longer than that. Must be enjoying myself.

Your correspondent is coming to you live from gate lounge number 5 at Brisbane airport. And it’s bloody grim. This really is the cupboard under the stairs of gate lounges.

It is in fact under lounges 7 to 21 and accessible only by some easily missed stairs. This lounge appears to be for those nuisance passengers who want to get to rural Australia and must be segregated from the classy folk going to the big smoke. It has no redeeming features.

And as my plane has a mechanical fault I’m here for another hour at least. The only minor benefit is for some inexplicable reason the announcer of flights is French and her accent is quite delightful and calming.

gate5

This week I have spent far too long on ACCT11059, probably as I was enjoying my research and writing about my firm. In doing so I neglected my LAWS11030 and have some catching up to do. Which I intended to do last night. Didn’t quite happen, let me tell you why and what it means.

As Helmuth von Moltke the Elder famously said “no plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force” or more simply no plan survives contact with the enemy.

I wasn’t in contact with the enemy I was in contact with my company sales team and at the Treasury Hotel in Brisbane for Queensland Brewed and Batched.

The sales team had requested I play a role in the proceedings and talk about the company, Ginger Beer and Brewing to the assembled guests. Not a problem. I’m always happy to act as ambassador for the brands that I’m associated with. I also have no issues with being behind a microphone or in front of a camera or the public (though I do consider I have more of a face for radio).

As I know we’ve got lots to do on in our studies my plan was simple. I had every intention of saying my piece, eating the (very nice) food and doing the Harold Holt to get some study in. Yeah, nah!

The as well as the sales team the other folk on my table were great company and the alcohol was free! There was Bundy Rum to be mixed with Bundaberg Brewed Drinks and Eumundi beer available. I also got to catch up with the Eumundi head brewer, Chris. Chris used to work for me at the Swan Brewery in Perth 10 years ago and it was great to catch up and compliment him on his career and his brewing skills. I also met the team from Bundy Rum and though we hadn’t met before, we know the same people. The brewing industry is small and incestuous.

I also happened to meet a footy legend Trevor Gillmeister. A very entertaining chap indeed. I have terrible selfie skills, sorry.

Brewed and Batched

I didn’t drink much as I’m well out of practice, but obviously enough to say that when it wrapped up about 9:30, further study was not happening. I should feel bad about this, but I don’t and here’s for why.

There is a point to this blog, not just for me to name drop and show you what a glamorous career I have, though I might share my pic of me and Jennifer Hawkins, former Miss World in the future, and here it ~~is.~~

The point is this and it is for all of us; for young students still in year 12, or just started at Uni or for the more mature, juggling careers and family and trying something different or the ones who don’t quite know what they want in the future and see this as a means to wherever, here’s the point of this blog (finally you cry, we thought you’d never get there!)

The point is that no matter what plans we make or how we think it’s going to turn out reality always comes along and has it’s say in those plans. It’s what we make of it and the circumstances that counts.

I’d planned to do my piece and leave early last night, on reflection that might not have been a good look. In changing my plan and staying on I had a really good night, did a great job for the company and reinforced a positive relationship with the sales team. That relationship build with my colleagues and the guests at the dinner is priceless and worth an evening off. I didn’t get my studies done, but I had a great time and added value.

The message is don’t be afraid to make plans, just be prepared to adapt those plans. Don’t be afraid to try new things or get out there and just see what happens. You’ll probably surprise yourself when you do.

And do try to have some fun while you do it!

Oh, and the other odd thing I did this week was be part of an interview panel for the position of high school principle. It took all day from 8 to 4 before we could agree on an outcome. Never thought I’d be doing that, but I did it anyway.

Now I really must do some LAWS11030!

Happy Studies

*apologies to Robert Bruce “To a mouse”

Between the sheets…..

Who knew a company annual report could be so much fun? Not I that’s for sure.

After much writing, editing, internet searches and scribbles I hereby declare my draft of ASS#1 Steps 2 through to 6 ready for reading. May god have mercy on your souls.

To be honest I feel it’s a bit of an epic at 13 pages and I apologize in advance to any of you brave souls who want to have a look and give me some feedback.

I suggest you get a warm (or cold, not judging) beverage of your choice, a comfy chair and get settled before attempting to read it.

The spreadsheet is also embedded in the document. This I found harder than I should’ve done. Mainly as I only printed the financial reports from the 2018 report and had to hand write on all the earlier numbers, which was a bit of a nuisance. The other bit that slowed me down was watching the tutorial video. This could do with some editing as I found myself pausing it, adding some bits to my sheet, then having to wait for the next bit of guidance to be reveled.

I did draw some parallels though in the fact that I’m sure my children at that age would not have been happily gurgling in the background. May be that was the clever editing?

What I haven’t done is chosen my top 3 blogs. I’ve put my contenders in the draft, it’s still an open race and of course I am open to bribes. As for feedback I’ve provided bits and pieces to people on their blogs and stuff, I’ll start on the drafts tomorrow.

Enough of my ramblings and let’s skip to the good bit.

Ass#1 Steps 3 to 6 Draft is here Paul Feasey ASS# 1 Steps 2 – 6 and in case the embedded spreadsheet does not work the company spreadsheet is here GALLIFORDTRY Company Spreadsheet FEASEY

Happy Studies!

Being resourceful

Yesterday I attended a PASS session and got stuck in to my ASS#1 step 3 on my company. I was enjoying myself so much I didn’t consider stopping until it hit 11pm. When I got up at 4:30 to carry on I started to think about the process I’ve now become accustomed to.

I originally went to university in Grimsby in 1991, highly likely well before some of my fellow students were even contemplated. The learning experience back then was very different and how I planned and learnt was also very different.

Now at three weeks in with CQU and doing two units with very different expectations I’m appreciating how much easier it is to learn now than it was then.

I didn’t go to a classic university site. The main campus was across the river in Hull.

In Grimsby we were an annex on the side of the technical college. Our facilitates comprised of a couple of food chemistry labs, a micro lab, a very good food manufacturing facility, a few lectures rooms, two computer rooms (Windows 3.1, Word 2 and 3.5 and 6 inch floppy drives, so you needed two types of disks to back up each time to be sure) and a library.

As this was way before internet, the library was the only resource. It was the study center and the only place to find out information on the necessary science, technology and companies. It was pretty good for what it was, but nowhere as comprehensive as we would’ve liked. Put it simply, if a book was there, great! If it wasn’t put you’re name down on the list to get it and move onto another part of the course.

This was always a challenge, which is why I can honestly say learning now is so much easier. If I don’t know something I can go onto the web and look it up. Don’t want to hand write out a quote, just cut and paste from the source. Need to know more about the industry, Google it.

So much information at the click of a mouse. Got a problem? Put it on Facebook, someone will take a look and help you out. In the past if I wanted feedback I’d likely have to pass over my only handwritten copy of my work and wait until I physically got it back before I could continue. Now I can edit, while someone reads it.

To be honest it couldn’t be easier. There’s still the time taken to collate it and do the assignment, but the amount of time saved is incredible. This has made my life so much easier when doing my ASS#1.

What we also didn’t have was PASS sessions. We’ve had two now and I’ve really enjoyed them. The participants are all at various stages of learning and completion of their understanding, everyone has a contribution to make and everyone can get value out of one hour a week. The closest I got to PASS sessions in my youth was passing pints back from the bar or the ball on the hockey pitch.

We’ve got other great resources available. We’ve forums on the Moodle site and the ability to contact the course leaders at anytime of the day and be guaranteed a response without having to track them down on site. Also the ability to give and receive feedback on our work without having to hand over the only handwritten copy! This is brilliant.

So apart from highlighting that I am really old, what’s the message in this blog?

We have access to an amazing array of information, we have a support network, the ability to ask questions and be answered immediately, we have facilitators willing to give up their time to offer support in PASS sessions, we can get feedback without inconvenience to ourselves or the reviewer and we can write random blogs on how amazing this all is. However all of this only works if we make it work.

The message is this: use the resources, be part of PASS sessions, share information about companies, ask for help and provide that support to others. If you can explain a concept to someone who’s struggling you will reinforce your understanding.

All of this will make the learning easier and the outcome more positive. There’s always the risk of having some fun while you do it too.

Hope everyone is getting some great KCQ’s down for ASS#1. Happy Studies!

Top of the Blogs!

How’s the weekend been folks? Did we spend it locked behind closed doors frantically typing numbers into a spreadsheet while watching a YouTube instructional video, wading through the glossy brochures that are our company reports or did we get outside and get some fresh air?

If you are like me the answer is all of the above. I’ve had a splendid weekend. 10k run on Friday night after work, 8k run on Saturday morning as the sun came up over Bargara, followed by volunteering at parkrun.

Then I followed the very comprehensive YouTube video and plugged all my figures into the spreadsheet. Took longer than I anticipated, though pretty confident that I’ve nailed it. Then I started to read the annual reports in some detail.

After all these years of getting annual reports as a shareholder in some of the world biggest brewers I finally set down to read a report. The mad thing is I’m not getting any dividends off GallifordTry, yet I’m putting the most effort in to understand it.

Sunday has been a complicated day. My middle two children were awarded age champion in their age group at surf lifesaving. Completely irrelevant I know, but I don’t care. They train bloody hard and it’s great that they were recognized for their achievements. Further study of both LAWS11030 and ACCT11059 ensued at the beach this afternoon. Fantastic spot, conducive to study? Maybe not.

While I was taking a break from trying to understand statutory interpretation of legal texts (still don’t understand it BTW) I checked my student email. In there I find an email alert from Accounting With Georgia. Georgia has read the ASSIGNMENT STAGE 1 (ASS#1): GETTING STARTED, a bit more closely than I, and has posted about her top three blogs.

Which then brings me to the point of this blog, what are my top three? I actually don’t know yet. Georgia is in contention as she’s ahead of the curve and said nice things about my blog. But who else and how to work it out?

I looked on WordPress and I’ve followed over 40 blogs. To be fair I’ve been and looked at each and every one of them this evening. There’s a definite mix throughout and some of our fellows are more active than others. I’m actually thinking that we may have a few casualties who have decided that accounting, at this moment, may not be for them as they’ve been very quite since their first post.

Monday 25/03/19 08:43. A quick addition on that above paragraph. As I was swimming this morning it did dawn on me that it’s only the start of week 3. I’ve cracked on and got a bit ahead of the curve. Not everyone is like me. I really do hope there are no casualties so far and the reason for the lack of blog activity is due to the pressures of life, the universe and everything and these folk are all on track with blog posts ready to be published. My apologies for any assumptions I have made that may be considered disrespectful. Definitely not my intent.

There are some very good initial descriptors on companies and I would recommend looking at Susie Luck, Chris Apps, Lisa O’Neill, Emily Bagnall and Georgia’s blog for some pointers.

Do these make the cut into the top 3? I’m going to give it a few more days before deciding. There’s a lot of good stuff in the Accounting Blogosphere and I’ve learnt new things about companies I’ve never heard of before, which is a real benefit.

It’s now late Sunday night, #2 swimmer child needs to be up at 4:45 for training in the morning and I’m in charge, so it’s bedtime.

Have a great week. Happy studies!

Maybe 10 minutes on PeerWise first though