Hi

I enjoyed reading your ASS#1 (Steps 3-5 & 7-8).

These steps were generally well done. Most people were able to enter their firm’s financial statements into their spreadsheet, link them to their restated financial statements and then link these two worksheets to their ratios.

Most people’s spreadsheets are in good shape to use in your ASS#2. For those people still with some issues with their spreadsheet, once you have corrected your spreadsheet, please email me (at m.turner@cqu.edu.au) your corrected spreadsheet and I will review it for you to make sure it is in good shape for your ASS#2.

Step 3

“One of the first key concepts identified was the need to understand what [my firm] actually does. If I cannot understand what services or products the business provides, then I cannot understand or consider the market in which it operates, their competitors or the potential business risks they face. “

Most people provided good quality descriptions of what their firms do and key aspects of their operations.

Step 4

Step 4 (entering your firm’s financial statements into your spreadsheet) was generally very well done.

If you need any help with this, please contact me at m.turner@cqu.edu.au or your lecturer on your location for assistance.

Step 5

“Overall, this process was much easier than when I faced this task in ACCT11059.”

Step 5 (restating your firm’s financial statements) was also generally well done.

Step 7

Step 7 was generally quite well handled. Most people were able to calculate the ratios for their firm. Also, most people were able to link the cells in the spreadsheet to cells in the financial statements and restated financial statements worksheets in their spreadsheet.

The first groups of ratios were based on numbers in your firm’s financial statements. The last group of ratios were based on your firm’s restated financial statements. Some people mixed this up a bit when calculating their firm’s ratios.

Quite a few people showed their dividends per share and net borrowing cost as negative numbers. We usually show them as positive numbers.

When calculating earnings per share, a few people had trouble identifying the number of shares their company had on issue. You can generally find the number of shares a company has issued in the Equity footnote in your firm’s balance sheet.

Also, to find your firm’s share price, you can generally find this on Google. For example, by googling ‘Ryman Healthcare share price’.

But what you can’t Google are judgements. And as many people found in their ASS#3, there are all sorts of judgements required to be made, not just in interpreting our firms’ ratios, but also in calculating them in the first place. For example, some people realised that ratios such as Return on Net Operating Assets (RNOA) could be quite different depending on whether we use opening, closing or average Net Operating Assets when calculating the ratio.

Step 8

“As always, it’s great to receive positive feedback from my peers as it enforces the fact that I am completing tasks correctly. However I especially appreciated the feedback provided to me by [another student], as she evidently took the time to really look through my work and give constructive criticism. This has really helped me improve my assessment submission and I almost feel guilty that I have not provided the same quality feedback to my peers.”

“…I find feedback to be a very useful tool. The delivery of feedback to other students is an opportunity to test my own understanding of the subject matter and facilitates peer engagement which I find enriches the learning process. Something I found interesting with this step was that feedback was somewhat easier to deliver than my first attempts during ACCT11059. I felt much more confident in raising questions, sharing information and offering feedback than previously.”

The quality of feedback provided to people was generally of a good quality, including both supportive and positive comments and also suggestions for specific areas where aspects could be improved.

A number of people are recognising a key benefit of providing feedback to others is for the person giving the feedback, as we have the opportunity to reflect ourselves on how well we have met the requirements of the learning task.

Regards

Martin