Monday, March 30, 2009

Week 38 - Day 1

My final grade for Simply Accounting software finally showed up today. I got 88%. I am very pleased with that. I find that I generally do better with software than working with numbers directly.

This week the class is learning about current liabilities, and how to do retail and inventory accounting.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Week 37 - Day 5

I have been so busy, I forgot to post. Sorry.

Last week was Week 36 (March 16th - 20th) AKA March Break and I was home for the week. Didnt do anything exciting.

This week is now week 37 and we are at the end of the first week of accounting fundamentals. This involves what used to be called depreciation - and is now called amortization. The class has also done adjustments, adjusted trial balance, financial statements, closing posts & post closing trial balance.

Then today (Friday) we started doing Retail accounting. Up until now we have been working with accounts from service companies. Now there is an extra step in the retail sector in that for every sale you make, you have to account for the inventory as well (assuming a perpetual inventory system).

Next week we will do continue with the retail accounting and then do current liabilities before we do the final exam.

When I graduate, I hope to get a job, in one of the following industry sector.
Government at any level, (although there is news this week that the Toronto City Hall is downsizing staff and freezing salaries due to the recession).
Service business
Non-profit business
Publishing business
Media business.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Week 35 - Day 1

I finally received my Book-Keeping Final grade today. I made 84%. I could have done better. Part of that final grade comes from the poor showing I did on the final exam. I made just 59/80 on the final exam. That's 73%. You should have seen my paper - RED crosses and circles all over it, and a few red ticks. I definitely should have done better in learning the basics.

This week is the second week of Simply Accounting. I'm finding this a lot easier because it is basically just "filling in the blanks" for the accounting software.

Occasionally some entries must be done in the General Journal where we do need to know which side of the entry is debited and which side is credited.

Next week is March break - where ALL schools in Ontario are off. Daylight savings started yesterday so while it is now dark again in the early morning, its light for longer at nights. And to make things even more weird - it actually SNOWED this morning. But the snow did not settle and was gone by lunch time.

After March Break I will be doing 2 weeks of Accounting Fundamentals. I expect to learn things like depreciation and writing off expenses for tax purposes. After this course there is another software course - Quickbooks - for 2 weeks.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Week 34 - Day 3

Basic Bookkeeping has finished, but I am still waiting for the grade.

This week we are learning how to use the Simply Accounting software package. I am finding this easy - because you dont have to decide what is debit or credit. The software does that for you. You just need to decide which is the right journal to use. It is a purchase or a sale? Was it on credit or cash? I have always found software easy to use, and the more I use it, the easier it gets. I am a hands on learner, but also a visual learner as well.

Today for example. I finished my assignment in class. while we could go home once we had finsihed (and some of the others did choose to leave early) I chose to stay and help a couple of other students who were struggling, and I have also received an email from a third student asking questions.

Simply accounting will take two weeks - this week and next week. The following week we get a week off - March Break. The same week as all the schools.

Because this is an easy subject, I am able to read a bit more than usual, and with march break coming up, I hope to catch up on some challenges.