Elanor Rowbotham- CQUniversity ACCT11059 ACCOUNTING, LEARNING AND ONLINE COMMUNICATION ASSESSMENT STAGE 1 Step 2: Moodle Profile and Personal Blog 2.1 MOODLE PROFILE To view both my personal profile on Moodle https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/user/profile.php?id=68254 2.2 PERSONAL BLOG Blogging isn’t a concept I’m very familiar with though I endeavour to try and post something every now and again, updating peers on my assessment work, busy studying life or some tips on how I tackle staying on task and meeting deadlines. https://elanorrowbotham.wordpress.com/ Step 3: My Company – Creightons Plc https:// www.creightons.com/ 3.1 INITIAL THOUGHTS ON MY FIRM 5pm on Friday the 9 th of March couldn’t come around any faster when I started this assignment. I was very excited at the prospect of being given a company. It was thrilling, as if I was an intrinsic part of their company who had been designated to complete their financial reports. I was pleasantly surprised with the company I was allocated.
Blogging isn’t a concept I’m very familiar with though I endeavour to try and post something every now and again, updating peers on my assessment work, busy studying life or some tips on how I tackle staying on task and meeting deadlines.
https://elanorrowbotham.wordpress.com/
Step 3: My Company – Creightons Plc
https:// www.creightons.com/
3.1 INITIAL THOUGHTS ON MY FIRM
5pm on Friday the 9th of March couldn’t come around any faster when I started this assignment. I was very excited at the prospect of being given a company. It was thrilling, as if I was an intrinsic part of their company who had been designated to complete their financial reports. I was pleasantly surprised with the company I was allocated. Creightons Plc is a company located in England, a country I have many family connections with, so I found that very grabbing about my company.
I posted on my blog about my initial thoughts about my firm, the link is provided below: https://elanorrowbotham.wordpress.com/2018/03/24/a-little-bit-about-my-company/
Their website I found at first glance to be engaging, cheerful and potentially being somewhere I’d like to purchase from in the future (https://www.creightons.com/). When discussing our different companies with my peers it was apparent that some of them were not as happy with their companies as me. The only question I had was whether I would need to change the pounds to dollars within their financial statements? Would this entail using exchange rates? Or could I just leave them the same? These initial thoughts were only brief and I soon decided to get underway with my assignment.
3.2 COMPANY BACKGROUND
Located in the English village of Werrignton is the current factory and warehouse for Potter & Moore Innovations Ltd. Potter & Moore were established 1749 in England by Ephraim Potter and William Moore with their speciality in the cultivation of Lavender (growing Lavender was both important and popular in the 1500 and 1600’s). The company currently have over 250 years of manufacturing practice, so are very well experienced in creating luscious bath, body and beauty products. I found their website also very visually appealing and would highly recommend reading a little bit about the history of the company as it’s a very interesting read. To view the Potter & Moore Innovations Ltd about us homepage you can follow the link (http://potterandmoore.com/about-us/).
However, these facts aside, the company I was allocated was Creightons Plc (Creightons). These two companies are very closely linked together as Potter & Moore became part of the Creightons PLC Group of Companies. Creightons has been operating since the 1970’s stocking quality products. Their website provides the online platform for their main factory outlet but as well creates an international market for selling and purchasing their products. Due to a catastrophic fire in December of 2010 most of their factory burnt to the ground, meaning that their entire factory had to be rebuilt (click the Werrington blaze if you’re interested in seeing an image of their ruined factory or video if you’d like to view a short clip). The kept their “traditional sense of pride and quality” whilst modernising and advancing technological processes.
3.3 CREIGHTONS ANNUAL REPORTS
Wow that was a lot to digest! From viewing Creightons 2017 annual report the revenue had increased by a shocking 45.7% from 2016 to 2017 which I found to be a real driving force for me to find more about the companies reports. Another figure that caught my attention when browsing through the operational highlights was that there had been a 62% export sales growth. This figure is significant as it highlights that Creightons have had much interest for their products outside of England expanding their international target market. All annual reports analysed (2017 and 2016, 2015 and 2014) indicated their risks, uncertainties,
strategies to improve and overcome these and elements of their corporate social responsibility.
Before opening the annual reports for the first time I expected to see colour, advertisements on the sides of the page and pictures of the directing staff of Creightons, but was quite shocked to say the least at how an actual annual report is structured. They’re quite plain and boring for the average person, nothing they would be overjoyed at reading, but I found it more like reading a novel on money. I found it interesting that my firms reports were somewhat shorter than those of my peers, which made reading through it not much a hard task to accomplish, surprisingly I enjoyed it. It was very easy to engage and focus on the information as Creightons reports structured within headings so it felt as if I was reading separate chapters.
From speaking with my peers it was clear that my firms financials were not as simple as I was led to believe. One of my peers only had a single table for statement of comprehensive income within her report, whereas I struggled with sifting through the tables as my firm had documented statements for consolidated and company income statements as well as consolidated and company statements for comprehensive income. This I found a challenge but accepted it with enthusiasm and in a couple of hours had successfully gathered the correct information to put together my balance sheet.
Gathering the information for the three financial statements that had to be completed for this assignment I found exiting and like doing an academic scavenger hunt. The balance sheet stood out as being the simplest. They’re a simple and organised way of documenting a firms assets, liabilities and equities. Being able to add up that Creightons assets = their equity + liabilities was a big learning curve for me. I could physically see that the total assets equalled 8,467 in thousands of British pounds, the same value calculated when liabilities and equity were added together!
The income statements and the statements of changes in equity I found initially a little confusing and hard to analyse due to the way in which the information was displayed and arranged. The income statements once I got my head around the setting out were quite straightforward, however, the statements of changes in equity is one I don’t think I’ll ever understand completely.
Feedback wanted: Should this section be explained more thoroughly? With maybe an example and some reaction?
Financial statements when thought about simply are really quite straight forward, it’s just the way people perceive them that confuses themselves. The information is usually set out in logical sequences flowing on from previously stated data which I found to be helpful when making sure Creightons statistics calculated were correct. Due to being a novice in regards to reading firms annual reports I found the simple structure and layouts to be a positive and would happily complete them again. Having experience with using excel technology also made my life easier and not as stressful as I wasn’t learning a new technique. For assessment two I’m exited to see what other excel work we are given to do as I enjoy using the software.
Elanor Rowbotham- CQUniversity
3.4 PEER DISSCUSSIONS
Let me tell you that this assignment was no easy task and certainly was a group effort! Having the ability to discuss and communicate with my peers within the unit was excellent. Sharing news articles that had been stumbled across about other firms was very enjoyable as some were very easy to relate to in regard to my own company. Whilst discussing our firms with some of my peers I was able to understand that our reports were vastly different in structure though the main elements such as directors reports, profit margins, yearly summaries and financial statements were all in a similar format and easily distinguishable.
An example of a financial report that is very different to mine but inherently similar and discuss
Write some another post and see if any body replies Leave some comments on other peoples blogs- hopefully 3?
3.5 BLOG INTERACTIONS
Having to decide my favourite blogs was a lot harder than I imagined are hundreds to choose from. There are so many brilliant blogs that have had so much time and effort invested into. They’ve each been personalised with individual reflections and ideas making them unique and interesting to read. To decide my top three blogs, I found scrolling through the blog links forum and reading some peers messages in their description boxes to be an easy way to start, to see essentially which ones grabbed my attention and intrigued me to read on.
Blog Post where favourite 3 blogs were posted: 3 favourite blogs will be within final submission
Step 4: Company’s Financial Statements
To view the three completed financial statements for this task (the statements of changes in equity, balance sheets and income statements) please open the excel spreadsheet (ElanorRowbotham-C-UK).
Step 5: Reflections from Chapters 2 & 3
Elanor Rowbotham- CQUniversity
This time when reading Chapter 2 and sections 3.1 and 3.2 from Chapter 3 I kept thoughts about my company in the back of my mind. I was aware what was being asked of me in regard to writing key concepts and questions, therefore my note taking and ideas were more succinct. After reflecting on my learning style and past regurgitation methods from the Introduction and Chapter 1, I realised that I need to develop a personal meaning from my learning and understanding. As Martin says “this is what a university education is about”, building on prior knowledge and learning to apply it within my studies. In the past two weeks since the first submission my learning in all my units is something I’ve strived to achieve. From reading Chapter 2 it’s easy to comprehend that you need to understand the game and the rules of the game, and that there can’t be rules controlling everything.
I never really considered that anyone other than debt and equity providers would want or have an interest in the economics or financials of a firm, after reading Martin’s introduction for Understanding the Game, I’ve realised that there’s heaps more people that have a genuine interest in that information. A question I have been pondering is why the general community would need the financial information of business? If Martin is classing the general community as individuals such as myself I have a disinterest in knowing the economic situations of the places I shop at. This however, for businesses such as the local ice creamery I casually work at could potentially be a blessing in disguise. The directors I assume who own the company I’m employed by, would have conducted research such as a feasibility study prior to opening the franchise. They may have done exactly as Martin has suggested in Chapter 2: viewed the annual reports of their competitors in the Yeppoon local area and gained valuable information on what to do and what not to do in the first year of operations in 2010. This is something I’m extremely interested in finding a little bit more about and would like to know if anything such as browsing competitor’s annual reports was used as a realistic strategy.
“If you are going to play a game then you better know the rules” is 100% accurate and something I still have a very long way to go learning about. So, if I don’t know the rules then what am I waiting for…let’s get going! Having financial statements for businesses is a pure genius way of keeping record of profits, losses, liabilities, equity and so on. This thought sits in the back of my mind that if we didn’t have these documents that many businesses would struggle in being able to acquire specific information if required. As a business and communication student my aim in completing this degree is not to specifically know where I want to end up, but ensure I have the knowledge and skills in the area I could want to pursue. For all I know I may end up noticing a niche and opening my own business. Making sure all financial documents were kept up to date and accurate would be a priority, as I would never like to fall into the area of bankruptcy or situations involving skimming the law.
5 years ago close friends of mine successfully operated their own concreting business, well they assumed it was successful as they worked for cash (highly illegal I know!). As it was run as a sole proprietorship, they obtained unlimited liability, meaning that when they were sued by a client, due to injury their entire family went under and lost nearly all their personal assets. I included this example because financials are an integral part of any business, no one can change that, and legally required under the Corporations Act. They
Elanor Rowbotham- CQUniversity
must comply with the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the Australian standards are set by the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) though must comply with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) whose policies are developed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). A concept I’d like answered would be if these concepts provide the conceptual framework for accountants then why are there so many different sets of standards and boards? These standards are all well and good for Australian companies but mine is an English company. So, do they follow similar processes to Australia? As there are so many countries in the world why cannot all countries follow the one set of standards and play the game by the same set of rules? Wouldn’t that make our life a lot easier?
As I’m reading through Martin’s section on accrual accounting, I’m seriously debating have I ever heard of it before? I think so. But it’s safe to say that I’m a way more than completely confused as to what it means and how it is used. I’ve read and re read the section about 4 times now, and the concept that I’ve managed to form in my head is that it’s a similar theory to double-entry accounting, but why? As a novice in the world of accounting, Martin’s insightful example was very helpful though I’m still none the wiser. This is an area that I’d like to broaden my knowledge in and by the end of the unit I hope to have a thorough and logical definition and way of applying the theory to examples.
When I came across the notion of quality versus quantity I was instantly taken aback that it was even something that needed to be raised as a point of discussion. Why would accountants want to fudge the numbers in a firm’s financial statements? In the long run wouldn’t that just put them further back then when they originally started? The idea of faithful representation is basically the same concept we were all brought up hearing since primary school. For example, when I structure a report: it has an introduction in which the points I want to discuss are briefly touched on. The body of the report elaborates on these main points with relevant, researched information. What’s the point on writing a report if the information included is incorrect? There really isn’t any and it produces a misleading and useless reports. Another example off the top of my head is this assignment in fact. A report like mentioned previously would normally contain a maximum word limit to stop the author from waffling useless information. However, this assignment struck me that there indeed isn’t a word limit, highlighting the importance of quality over quantity and keeping it consistent throughout the whole piece.
At 10pm at night I’ve just started writing my reflections for sections 3.1 and 3.2 from Chapter 3 and am quite shocked that Martin is only just introducing financial statements, because I really thought that had already happened. His example of introducing Sarah and Chris at a party made me giggle and made me think that perhaps what I’d so far read and reflected on was just the rumours, like ones you hear about people before you meet them for the first time. This exited me, as it meant I was in for more learning and double the amount of questions. But hey, who doesn’t love a lot of questions? I always got told in school that the silly question is the one you never asked!
Apparently, an annual report is a marketing document, filled with colour, optimistic comments and photos. Does that mean my firms isn’t one then? It contained a grand total
Elanor Rowbotham- CQUniversity
of zero photos, was in one font and completely in black and white printing. However, they still managed to convey their balance sheets, income statements, statement of changes in equity and a cash flow statement, just in a much more straightforward way. I’ve always just assumed that all information within an annual report would be a summary of the previous year’s statistics but a balance sheet isn’t. It’s just the firm’s financial position on one day! Wow it’s just one out of 365 days of the year (for my firm Creightons it’s the lucky 31st March) in which they decide to measure their assets, liabilities and equity. Like Martin said, “it is difficult to see …[a] changing world of business from a firm’s balance sheet”. They provide very little information on how the business progressed throughout the year from where they were on the same date the previous year.
An income statement I understand provides the data on how things have changed within a firm over any year. My initial reaction when reading through this section was that yay there’s something here that I understand completely with no extra assistance! It made it easier as well that my firms income statements only contained the group accounts so it was unnecessary sifting through columns because there were none. However, what was provided was only very brief with minimal other information on revenue and expenses. I would be very interested to see where the non-controlling interests or the minority interests are within my firm’s annual reports as I couldn’t seem to pick them out. I was intrigued with the concept of statements of changes in equity as they are very unique types of tables that take a great deal of my concentration to focus on.
I was very happy to see the section on “Not just one company” as my firm has a parent company, it was great to see that I could make the proper connection between the company I’d read about on their website and their so called ‘parent company’ I’d come across on their financial statements. Even my trusty old friend Google didn’t really help in explaining the underlying concept of a parent company in language I understood completely. By the end of reading this chapter and utilising the videos with Dr Maria Tyler I felt confident when entering my firm’s financials into the spreadsheets.
After finishing my reflection on Chapter 2, 3.1 and 3.2 I’m feeling confident that I know the rules of the game and would be easily able to apply these concepts if needed. Hopefully making the continuing accounting adventure more exiting!
Step 6: Feedback for draft ASS#1
Need to provide at least 3 lots of feedback possibly 4 Add in feedback from other students and what they said Was giving other feedback useful and did I find it useful and helpful when completing my
