ASSIGNMENT PART 1

When year twelve was coming to an end, everyone at school was stressing out about what they were going to study next year. Not me. I had no idea what I wanted to do when I left school, despite people saying “you better hurry up and figure it out”. I was never stressed towards the end of year twelve as I knew that I did not want to study as soon as I left school as I’d been doing school work for most of my life. I didn’t really understand what all the hype was about. Why did we have to figure out what we wanted to do for the rest of our lives when we weren’t even old enough to drive a car on our own? Throughout high school I had plenty of ideas and thoughts about what I wanted to do when I left school, but none of them stuck. I was changing my mind every time someone asked me. I believe that deep down I had already made the decision that I wasn’t going to go to university after high school, as I was happy with my job at the time and I knew there was protentional for me to move into a higher role, which is exactly what happened, less than a year of me being out of school. My first real job was at McDonald’s and I worked there throughout mostly my entire high school years. I was promoted to a Duty Manager when I had turned eighteen. I knew that I didn’t want to stay in that job forever, so I started looking for something else that wasn’t in the fast food/hospitality industry. That’s when I came along a job advertisement for a junior receptionist at a small local accountancy firm. Fortunately for me, I was the chosen applicant for the job. I was very nervous about working in an accounting firm as I have never been good with numbers and I had never worked in an office environment before. Training was provided and there were lots of things to learn, there still is and there will always be something new that needs to be learnt. However, as a receptionist in a small company, there is no room to excel in my career. This is when I decided to apply for university to do a Diploma of Business Studies. I believe that having four years’ worth of management experience and the experience of working in an accounting firm would be very beneficial to this course. Particularly this unit.

I was hesitant to apply for university as I was nervous and unsure of what I was about to put myself through. I felt as though I needed to do something that was of importance and would help me further my career in the future. We are the end of the first week and I’ve surprised myself with how much I already know. It’s interesting how much more you can learn when you actually understand what is being put in front of you. I look forward to the rest of this unit and the knowledge and understanding that I gain from it.

Study Guide Introduction

When I first noticed this subject was a core unit for my Diploma of Business Studies, I was not very interested in it at all. Numbers and spreadsheets are not my thing and then realising that I would then need to be communicating with other students also, I was nervous to say the least. But as I kept reading further into the introduction of the study guide, I quickly came to realise that this unit was only an introductory to accounting and the things that we would be learning in this unit where the basics of accounting that will becoming very useful in the real world of business.

I chose to complete only this subject this term, so I could put all of my time and energy into learning everything properly. I have no prior knowledge or training in accounting so that side of things is still rather daunting. I’m also not a very interactive person when it comes to sharing thoughts and ideas about my work. I have always been the type of person that sits back and observes everyone else, because I’ve always had doubts that my answers and understanding of certain things could be wrong, so to avoid the embarrassment of being told I’m wrong, I observe what others are doing so I can determine for myself whether or not I am on the right path. I do however understand that sometimes you need to hear another person’s point of view and their understanding of the topic to get a clearer picture of what you should be doing.

In saying that, I really want to be able to take something away from this unit and what I mean by that is, I want to actually learn the basics of accounting so that when I’ve graduated, I will still be able to explain to someone what the fundamental accounting equation is, or what the difference is between a journal and a ledger. I don’t want to forget what I learn in this unit.

Chapter 1

One of the first things that caught my attention in chapter one was “First you must understand how numbers changed reality. Some people think numbers merely reflect reality… but we believe that numbers create reality”. Which has so much truth to it, as to fully understand what is going on inside of a business, you need to look at the numbers. Working in an accounting firm during this subject will be very beneficial to me. I don’t format the financial reports, however I do ensure all the clients and accountants details are correct, as well as making sure the balance sheet is balanced. I have little knowledge of the ins and outs of the financial reports and I’m aiming to increase that knowledge with this unit of study. Reading through the first chapter made a lot of sense to me, especially when it was talking about different size firms, as I work in a small firm of twelve people that is run by more than one person, making it a partnership, whereas my sister works in a larger firm with multiple shareholders.

While I was reading through the chapter, I realised that I did mostly understand what was being mentioned, however I it’s still kind of a grey area for me as being a Receptionist, I don’t have to handle the numbers for my firm. Financial statements and all different types of figures get passed over my desk, however I’ve never really had the need to learn what the figures meant. So, when I came across double-entry accounting, I was pretty confused, but it also sounded familiar in a way as I know that I’ve heard that word said around my office. I re-read the paragraphs on double-entry accounting to try and wrap my head around what it really means and how I can put it in terms that I can understand. I broke it down into small parts so I could piece it together in my own words and the way I would describe it, is, Double-entry account is a standard accounting method that involves recording each transaction in at least two accounts, resulting in a debit to one or more accounts and a credit to one or more accounts.

I found that PeerWise is really helpful, I got a head start on answering other students questions before week one had started. I think that PeerWise is going to be a really great tool to use throughout this unit. While I was writing this step of the assignment, I would log onto PeerWise and answer and rate some questions by other students and it helped me understand more of the chapter as others had similar questions to mine. It was interesting to see the explanations they would put as to why they chose a certain answer to be correct. I feel like having other students explain why something is right or wrong is more beneficial for myself and I would assume others as well, because we are all going through the same thing and reading the same information, most likely for the first time and I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels like they have no idea what they’re doing.

Now that week one is over, I can say I’m feeling rather nervous for what’s to come. I feel that I am still way out of my depth, but I am willing to give anything a go, as great things don’t happen when you stay sitting in your comfort zone. Although I’m feeling nervous, I’m also interested for what’s next in this unit. I found that writing this reflection and reading it back to myself a few times, has helped me really understand the things I have read. I’m looking forward to gaining more knowledge into the world of accounting throughout this unit.

ASSIGNMENT Part 1 – Response to Feedback

When I received my feedback for part one of my assignment, I was pretty happy with the result as I found that reflecting on the chapter in my own words and experiences made the whole thing a lot easier. However, some constructive feedback that I received was that for future reference, I should try to explain my understanding with examples of my own. As if I was trying to explain what I had just learnt in chapter one to a family member or a friend.

I’m not very creative, so I think that trying to create my own examples of things will be daunting. I feel like I don’t have the right idea about what will be challenging for me.

StudIosity Feedback

When I saw in the study guide that we had to submit a draft copy of our work to studiosity, I had no idea what it was. So when I submitted my draft copy, I had no idea what to expect. I did however find the feedback I received pretty valuable. They picked up on small things, such as my choice of grammar and a few punctuation errors.

I will most definitely be using studiosity for my future assessments in other subjects. I submitted my draft in the afternoon, around 3pm and received a response before 5pm the same day. I understand that probably won’t happen every time I submit a draft, but it still puts my mind at ease knowing that support for students is there whenever they need it. I found it very beneficial & I feel as though it will help myself and other students stay on track.

Assignment Stage 1 – Steps 3 to 6

Step 3

When I first noticed that I was assigned Stella Holdings International Limited, I thought, “What on earth does this company sell?” Once I had jumped on their website, the first thing I noticed was shoes! I couldn’t have picked a better company to assign to me than this one. Shoes are definitely of interest to me. Their website was extremely easy to navigate; I was able to find all the basic information I needed within a few minutes.

Background Information.

Stella Holdings International Limited operates production facilities in China’s Guangdong, Hunan and Guangxi provinces, as well as in Vietnam and Indonesia. With so many factories in action, I believe this would allow the company stability, growth and the efficiency in providing high quality footwear to its customers. I also found information relating to Stella’s 2008 revenue reaching US$1 Billion and their annual manufacturing capacity reaching 50 millions pairs. I just think that is insanely incredible for a company that sells footwear.

Lawrence Chen, the Chief Executive Officer explains in this article http://www.stella.com.hk/upload/ew_PressRelease2Q18Eng_120718_final.pdf, that due to the 7.4% increase in the shipment volumes and manufacturing revenue of Stella, the first half of 2018 was a major success for the company. He says that they will continue to improve the quality of the products they provide to their customers.

See blog entry about Stella Holdings International Limited here:

https://accountingisaccrualworld.news.blog/my-company/

Stella Holdings International Limited Financial Reports:

Click to access ew_01836AR-16032017.pdf

Click to access ew_01836AR-07042018_0.pdf

Click to access ew_01836_AR18-21032019_0.pdf

Step 5

Chapter 2 Reflection

I was really drawn into chapter two by reading the quote by Albert Einstein; “You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else. This makes so much sense as accounting is definitely not my forte’ and I have no idea about even just the basics of accounting and how useful it can really be. For example, I didn’t know anything about ‘GAAP’ Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. I browse through the financial reports at work to ensure the accountants haven’t missed inputting any figures. I guess I always just assumed that the accountants themselves had created the financials from scratch. I was oblivious to the fact that there are rules. I mean obviously, clients pay for them to do this for their partnerships, businesses, trust etc. I’ve never really had to put much thought into the whole working of the financial reports, until starting this unit.

As I continued reading the chapter, Martin spoke about people outside the firm asking for clients financial information and the rules that go along with it. Working in accountancy firm as a Receptionist, I deal with banks and other firms requesting information on our clients all the time. We can’t hand out information on clients without their authority. In our firm, we need to have the clients written permission before releasing any information to people outside the firm.

I was able to understand the first half of the chapter and it made sense that banks and other firms etc. request financial information of those who may be applying for a mortgage or changing to a different accountant. I mean, how can the bank loan money to someone without them providing proof of their income and financial situation? It wouldn’t happen because there are rules in relation to this. It took me back a little bit when I realised that at one stage banks did not have the power to request financial information. How did that work? How did they lend money to businesses when they had no idea of their financial situation? If you ask me, that does not sound very sensible at all.

I sit at work all week and I feel as though now I’m slowly understanding certain things that I wouldn’t have even thought twice about before. Accrual accounting for example; I spoke with one of the accountants in my firm and they explained and also showed me that accrual accounting is a method that records the revenues and expenses when they are incurred, regardless of when cash is exchanged. I found that really helpful, as I can read something a hundred times over and still not understand it. I need to be physically shown how to do something and the different ways to do it. I am definitely more of a hands-on learner and sometimes as I sit behind my laptop, I feel as though I’m not learning as much even though all the materials are right in front of me.

Chapter 3 Reflection

I really enjoyed reading this chapter, especially the concept about meeting someone for the first time and being introduced to financial reports. It’s really difficult for me to stay concentrated on learning something that I’m not very excited about it. I mean, I understand why I need to know this information, but it seems so much more exciting to be doing anything BUT reading about accounting.

So reading through the financials statements for Stella International Holdings Limited was hard, to say the least, even though I am up to date with the chapters in the study guide. I wasn’t very confident about what I actually needed to be looking for. I am still struggling to understand the figures in the financial statements. I guess I am just feeling very overwhelmed with the amount of reading that is required as part of this unit. Anyway, I went back and read through the assignment part one guide, where I noticed that it told me exactly what I needed to be looking for. Statement of changes on equity, the balance sheet and the income statement. After carefully going over my financial statements for Stella, I was able to locate the figures I needed to input into my excel spreadsheet. Like I’ve mentioned previously, I need to read things a few times and sometimes need to be shown how to do something in order for me to really understand it. Watching Maria’s YouTube video helped me understand what the figures meant and why they were important.

Step 6

I wasn’t very keen on the idea of giving and receiving feedback from other students, but I believe it has been very beneficial for myself and the quality of my assessments.

Conclusion

To conclude the first part of the assignment, I wasn’t overly excited about the whole thing as I’m sure I’ve mentioned previously, accounting has never been something that interests me, I don’t know if it ever will, but I do know that it is important and very beneficial for me to understand in the future. Reading financial statements for Stella International Holdings Limited was definitely a new thing for me. I had no idea what the figures meant and now I feel like I have some kind of knowledge about them.

I also enjoyed interacting with the other students about how they were progressing throughout the assignment and I appreciated the feedback that I received from them. Overall, so I far I think I’m doing well.