Assignment One - Step One

Reading through the introduction section for this unit was insightful as it provided me with an overview of what to expect for this unit. When enrolling into this unit I thought that it would mainly be an introductory unit for accounting. However when reading through the introduction it was evident that this unit is much more than just an introduction to accounting, as it includes learning how to interact with others and online communication. I think that this is very important to study, as interacting with others will not only benefit us as students but also outside university in our everyday lives whether this be work or social events.

I found it surprising to know that as we study accounting together about ninety percent of learning is through interactions with other students in this unit and the teaching staff. This really puts it into perspective that in order to do well in this unit I will need to interact with other students and teaching staff. Looking over the assignments and seeing that we have tasks due every week made me feel nervous. However I think that even though this may be daunting at first, it will be beneficial as it will keep me motivated, allowing me to not leave anything to the last minute.

I have never had to prepare a blog before so I am excited to do this. I have noticed that some students have already posted theirs on the student Facebook page, which is good to see. I have used peerwise before, which we have to use within this unit. As I enrolled in this unit late in week one, I had already fallen a little behind in this unit. I therefore made sure that one of the first things I did was create my peerwise account. I think that peerwise is fun way of learning by posting questions, and answering other student’s questions. I agree with Martin that this can become addictive and is a good way to interact with other students.I found the tips to help students interact with other students beneficial.

The introduction also provided insight on how many hours we as students should spend per week studying in order to do well for this course. I think that this was good to read as it breaks everything down that we need to know for this unit and what we should be doing every week to achieve good marks. This is my last year of studying for my degree and I am studying a Bachelor of Accounting. I work full time as an undergraduate accountant for an accounting firm and chose to do this unit as one of my last level one electives. So when reading through the first chapter it was good to have some accounting experience as it meant the chapter to me was easy to follow and the terminology was easy to understand.

During my first year of university, I studied a unit on the principles of accounting and throughout my studies and work, I have learnt about journals, debits and credits and the accounting equation. I remember finding this confusing at first and it taking me a while to understand. However when reading about these concepts throughout this chapter they made sense to me. I could also relate most key concepts to my work. As an undergraduate accountant apart of my job involves, preparing accounts, and when doing so I have to prepare journals. This means that I need to understand double entry accounting, and which account to debit and credit.

I like that the chapter starts of with the first section mentioning that accounting is all about reality, as I agree that numbers create reality. Key concepts that the chapter introduced; which I think are very important is that there are different types of businesses. I think that it is important to know that businesses can be organized in different ways, such as sole traders, partnerships, trusts and companies. Working in an accounting firm I need to understand these different types of business structures.

One of my friends owns her own personal training and fitness business and came to me for advise when wanting to know what structure would suit her best. I recommended for her to use a sole trader business structure. This was the business structure that I advised her, after speaking and confirming this with my manager to use because she was the sole owner and was running a small business. In addition this was the simplest and cheapest business structure to set up. However, I did have to inform her that running her business as a sole trader meant that she would be legally responsible for all aspects of her business meaning that her debts and losses couldn’t be shared with other individuals. When reading over this section in the chapter relating to business structures I was wondering if throughout the term would we be learning about the advantages and disadvantages of each business structures. This will be useful to learn as this can help to determine which structure is best suited for different businesses.

Keeping records was also interesting to read as I think that as a student it is important for us to understand and know the importance of this. This section also related back to the first section of this chapter about reality. Without keeping records of a firm, the accounts will give no insight or guidance into understanding the firms economic and business realities.

It took me a while to understand that there is two sides to everything in my first year of studying accounting. I was happy to see that the accounting equation was included in this chapter. As an accounting student I think that this is an important concept to understand as this is considered to be the foundation of the double-entry accounting system.

In my first year working at an accounting firm I would write out the accounting equation on a sticky note and leave this on my computer. Under the accounting equation I wrote whether the debit or credit would either increase or decrease the accounts used within the equation. This would help me when preparing journals. I can understand how this accounting equation can be very confusing if you have not studied accounting before. I think that it will be an advantage to me as I have learnt about these concepts before.

I am excited for what this term has to bring and to learn about new ways to communicate, including creating a blog.