Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Week 33 - Day 3

Now into the second week of accounting and it is consuming my life. I get so much homework, I cannot find any time to read for pleasure. The homework is a struggle to complete. It's not because I thought it would be hard, but more because I find it boring. I can find no interest in it. So the next 4 months will be very tough.

I really do prefer working with words rather than with numbers.

So far we have done Journalising, general ledger, trial balance, petty cash and today we did bank reconciliations. Tomorrow we do Payroll. Thursday we do review and Friday is the exam and end of class.

Next week we will learn Simply Accounting software for two weeks.

As for the early morning schedule changeover, it turned out to be a non-issue. My son has taken the change in routine in his stride and is enjoying the extra hour he gets to be with his friends at daycare before they have to leave for school.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Week 32 - Day 2

Monday was a holiday so today was the first day back at school after the week off. It was also the switch to a morning schedule, and it actually went off without a hitch.

I was up at 5.30 am. Had a shower and got dressed. Got my son out of bed at 6.30 (half an hour earlier than usual). As per the routine, he watched ONE half hour TV program, then the TV went off. He then got dressed and we were out the door by 7.15 am. Plenty of time to get to daycare before it opens at 7.30 am.

My 6 year old son has decided that going to daycare nice and early, is fun because he gets to play Boggle - a game he enjoys. He also has breakfast there as well. Having never heard of Boggle before, I have just read the description I linked to and I am thrilled to learn that Boggle is a word game.

My son's reading skills and his vocabulary are very very good. Only his writing skills are lagging behind. He was given 2 joke books for Valentines day last week, by one of his school teachers. So we have been reading jokes to each other at bed time for the last 5 night. I am astounded at the words he is reading. For example, one joke had the words operation and surgery in it. He knew operation but did not know surgery. Most 6 year olds would not know how to read either of those words.

I got to school at 7.55 this morning which is excellent timing. Today was the first day of accounting. We learned a bit about the ethics and reasons for accounting, and the 4 principles (cost, monetary unit, economic entity and going concern) as well as THE accounting equation. ASSETS = LIABILITIES + OWNERS EQUITY

The teacher asked us for our background in accounting (if we had any) and also how we felt about accounting. She knows that a lot of people hate it - or at least are afraid of it. I have done a smattering of accounting over the years. I did bookkeeping in high school some 30 years ago. I had a one year city council job about 20 years ago where I did job costing and really enjoyed it. And 10 years ago, I learnt the basics of MYOB, a software accounting program, similar to Quickbooks. So no, I am not afraid.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Week 31 - Day 3

The last two grades have arrived.
I got 88% for MS Outlook and 92% for Business Communications.
So far my average over all my courses - 89%

I have this week off, and interestingly enough I find myself being BORED. Quite unexpected. I would rather be learning than have a break. But I did find something new to learn about this week.

Informations System Auditing. ISACA
This involves accounting and financial auditing as well as auditing the system software. One must ensure that all accounting procedures and Computer information systems comply with the laws of the country where the business is located.

I have always been interested in compliance laws, and I think that maybe I would like to become an auditor. One can learn to be an IS auditor by working in financial or IS auditing and by sitting an exam to become a CISA - a Certified Informational Systems Auditor. I found the Review book for the CISA exams at the library. It looked interesting so I borrowed it.

One of the reason I like this career is because it does not involve the technical aspects of the computer system. I dont need to know how the system or networks work. I just need to know that they work correctly to provide a result that is in compliance with the laws.

One other thing. For those of you who might follow the Groundhog day tradition...on February 3rd this year, several ground hogs in both USA and Canada cast shadows indicating that winter would last another 6 weeks.

However in the week following that forecast, the weather has in fact turned warmer. Right now as I type this, it is raining outside, not snowing. The snow on the ground is MELTING and the temperatures are in fact ABOVE ZERO degrees Celcius.

I hereby announce that groundhog day is a load of bull. I also state unequivocally that the calendar needs to be fixed up ASAP because it is currently 4 to 6 weeks out of sync with the seasons.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Week 30 - Day 4

Well my Power Point grade finally showed up.
I got 81%. I would have gotten a better mark if I had studied.
I did not do so good in the final exam.
I got 23/40 which is 57.5 percent. Not good at all.
I loved using Powerpoint, but I don't really like all the theory.
Name the 3 ways you can create a new slide.
I prefer to find one comfortable way and stick to that.

Still waiting for Outlook result.
We sit the Business Communications exam tomorrow.
Next week I have off.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Week 30 - Day 2

Well we finally finished Outlook. Did the exam on Monday (yesterday). Now we are doing Business Communications. Next week I have a week off and the week after that I will be switching to a morning schedule. Its going to be a tough changeover - not just for me but for my family as well - especially for my son who is almost 7 years old. I will be learning all the accounting software as well as how to do accounting.

A morning schedule means that my son's schedule changes too. He will not longer be able to watch TV in the AM. Daycare opens at 7.30, so he will need to be up, dressed, fed and at daycare by 7.30. That gives ne half an hour to grab a bus and get to school for an 8 AM start time.

Right now I am still waiting on Powerpoint and Outlook Final grades.