ASSIGNMENT Step 2-6 (Complete)

Step 2: (My Blog)

https://keepcalmandaccounting.wordpress.com/2018/03/09/the-journey-begins/

AGL Financial Statement: https://keepcalmandaccounting.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/acct11059_12033199.xls

 My Moodle Profile:

https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/user/profile.php?id=49236

Acknowledgment: I would like to thank all my course mates and my instructor Martin, who helps me to complete this assignment. I would also like to thank to all students who came to visit my blog and left their precious comments.

Complete Assignment:

ACCT11059-12033199

 Step 3

The company I am working on in this assignment is AGL. A leading energy provider and a well familiar name in Australia. Company is providing electricity, gas, solar power and related services to the approximately three and a half million people across Australia. They define their business as ‘‘Harness insights to enrich the customer’s energy experience’ ’means that they believe that customers are at the heart of everything they do. And the company is proud to contribute and support the communities in which it works and operates. In the discussion below, I will discuss the company’s working in detail in the light of most recent annual report and as we move further step by step in this assignment; I will try to elaborate how this company is working in the market and we also go through its financials in our next steps.

Introduction of AGL:

AGL is in energy from almost 180 years and considered to be the first Gas providing company in Australia. AGL is running the largest solar plant and wind farm in the country. Company is believed to be the main fund provider to Melbourne zoo’s marine rescue unit, look after the pandas in Adelaide zoo, and support Football teams like West Coast eagles, Melbourne’s victory and NSW Water tales. So company is not doing just a business but investing huge money on social causes as well.

How AGL Operates:

They energy industry is changing vast and so is AGL ; followed by two keys strategic imperatives, AGL is focusing on advocacy with customers as they expectations varies with the time and stabilizing and securing the carbon constrained future.

• AGL is moving from a mass retailor to a personalize retailor by empowering their customers to take care of their energy use by simple solutions, smart technology and personalize service.
• AGL is transitioning from large asset operators like factories and industries to the orchestrators of both large and small assets.
• AGL is investing a projects where individuals can produce their own electricity and become less dependents on large energy provider i.e.; using and storing solar energy.
• To achieve these objectives of making their users independent, AGL is making huge investments to create a modern energy system.
• AGL build up Australia’s largest solar plant in broken hill. Which is powering around 50,000 homes annually.
• AGL is first Australian energy retailors who launch battery storage into Australian residential market.
• AGL invested $3 billion for renewable energy generation plants which is believed to provide 1000 megawatts of electricity in coming future.
• AGL is building up the world’s largest virtual power plants which will be connecting 1000 batteries in homes and industries in South Australia.
• They also investing $300 million into customer experience transformation to make the customer’s interaction easier with the company through digital technology.

Key concepts and questions (KCQs) that occur while reading annual report:

During the detail study on report, sentence of investing in digital technology comes repeatedly at difference pages. As it’s a huge investment of 300 million dollars it makes me curious to   read and research more about this investment. While reading in detail and surfing on internet for few hours, I came up with the answers of why digital technology is important and worth spending this huge investment. Here I am sharing few key factors behind this investment;

• AGL is focusing to empower house hold customers by giving them chance to produce their own electricity through solar panels. This idea works great with the people living in suburbs and country side with house roofs which they can use to install their Solar Panels But people living in cities couldn’t seems to be involve in this mega project as they living in apartments with no space to place their solar panels.
• AGL meet this challenge by introducing virtual ownership of one of the panels already installed in their solar plants. Customer can subscribe to one of the solar panel and gets the energy points through a mobile app.
• As much as there is sun light, Customer will keep getting the points which will be later adjust into his monthly bills. This is how digital technology will be helpful to involve the whole community into this cause and worth investment.

Areas OF AGL financial statements I am having difficulty understanding:

The way AGL publish its annual reports is quite comprehensive and easy to understand. But I am still having little difficulties to understand some parts of financial report like finding and calculating restated statements of financial performance is bit hard to calculate. Main reason of having this difficulty is I think the report I downloaded is in too much depth and detail. The videos uploaded by martin and Dr. Maria Tyler gave me almost all answers of my questions, especially the way Dr. Maria explained the excel sheet was so simple and easy to understand even most complicated things. I would never had been able to complete this part without watching her video. So thanks to her and all other class fellows who helps me to go through step by step completing the task?

Comments on other’s Blogs:

https://cquashlee.wordpress.com/2018/03/31/ass1-draft/comment-page-1/#comment-13

https://thaobuiweb.wordpress.com/2018/03/25/ass1-draft/comment-page-1/#comment-5

https://agirlwithabook843931131.wordpress.com/2018/03/27/step-3-4-draft/comment-page-1/#comment-24

https://alatebloomer1981.wordpress.com/2018/03/30/finished-i-think/comment-page-1/#comment-57

Step 4:

 AGL Financial Statement:

https://keepcalmandaccounting.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/acct11059_12033199.xls

Step 5

Ideas, Reflections and Reactions to Reading Chapter 2 and Chapter 3:

I would say the Chapter two” Understanding the game” is the answer of all basic questions comes in my mind while reading my company financial report. Why AGL is sharing its most confidential financial data to the public every year and why it’s so easy to excess those details? The answer is simple it’s the rule of the game. This is what chapter is 2 is all about. Understanding the laws, rules and regulations of the accounting and finance. Before starting the study I was thinking that accounting is all about the circulation of cash. But as much step I am taking further in this study, my mind is getting open and I am realizing that it’s not just the game of money and cash. It’s much more than that.

As I said in earlier paragraph, this chapter is basically answer of basic questions I had in my mind regarding accounting. E.g. the chapter provided me a brief knowledge of financial and management accounting. I was thinking that these two terms are addressing the same thing. But I realize that financial accounting is something which keeps the tracks of transactions while management accounting is concerned with the managers who utilize the provision of accounting information in order to better inform themselves before they decide matters within their organizations. So in simple words what I understand with these two differences is financial accounting is something which I can affiliate with outer world while management accounting is completely revolves inside the organization. I might be wrong in this understanding but I hope my future study will help me more to understand these concepts.

Now let’s move bit further and see why there is a need of defining rules and regulation for the organization as long as accounting is concerned. I found answer of this question by understanding the jobs and roles of accountants. These are the people who are responsible to interact with outer world. This is what financial accounting is all about. Financial interaction of organization with outer world. So defining rules for accountants makes the data delivery more secure and keep is away from manipulation.

After getting a brief knowledge of my questions stating with “Why”, now I start finding and getting answers of my questions starting with “Who”?  Like I got answer why we need rules in this game? Next question came in my mind was who is responsible for making these rules and regulations. The answer I got is “Accounting board and regulatory bodies”. These are two main bodies who normally are responsible for creating a regulatory framework for financial reporting. The main elements I understood from study of chapter two involves in regulatory framework are statutory requirements, corporate governance, auditors and oversights and independent enforcements bodies.

Then after a detail study of accounting methods and procedures accountants needs to follow while preparation of their company’s financial statements, I took few more steps to the chapter 3.1 and chapter 3.2. These chapters provide me vital knowledge of some very important topics like in start I try to understand what is financial statements and rules and regulations I need to follow while its preparation, now it’s time to study more about the types of financial statement, balance sheet, equity statement, income sheet and the terms like what is cash flow. During the preparation of my assignment I went through all these topics for many times to understand them better while entering the data into excel spreadsheet of AGL.

However these are my final touches to the assignment, time to windup the topic with the words that both chapter 2 and chapter 3 are so helpful to build a solid foundation of accounting for me. I am now more curious to know more about these basic concepts. Accounting in now becoming an interesting subject for me and I hope journey with Martin will be full of knowledge and excitement in future.

Step 6

Peer Feedbacks:

Peer Feedbacks

Top 3 Favorite blogs Posting and Receiving Comments from other Students:

This part of the assignment is bit interesting and difficult as well to figure out which is my most favorite blog. I went through many blogs of my fellow friends which helps me a lot to learn more about accounting and also to complete this assignment.  I found asking questions and commenting on others works is a real helpful tool to learn more. And I think it’s the easiest way to learn and understand most difficult concepts of accounting.

Mention below are the posting and receiving of my feedback to other’s Blogs;

A Girl with a Book:

https://agirlwithabook843931131.wordpress.com/

 

• This blog is on my top favorite list. No doubt the work she did is really deserve appreciation. It’s not only the look of her blog the simplicity in her w2ork is amazing. She explain the terms. Assets, Liabilities and equity in easy manner which helps me a lot to complete my work. Thank you so much for sharing your work before the time to help other students like me who were actually struggling to complete this hard task.

Chat FLOW:

https://chatflow386831018.wordpress.com/

Chat Flow is another amazing blog which was helping me throughout the step by step completion of my work. His blog was pointing out “Do and not to do” things and keep me alert about the small mistakes I was going to made. Thanks Evan Spurway for his work and helping material he shared on his blog.

3.  It’s The Little Things!

https://rochelleburney.wordpress.com/

Three little things is quite impressive blog by rochelleburney . Her work on outlook of her blog is so artistic and I never get tired of spending time on her blog. The way shared her ideas and personal experience in preparation of assignment is so impressive. Her blog helps me a lot in completion of step 4 and step 5.

Other Comments:

https://cquashlee.wordpress.com/2018/03/31/ass1-draft/comment-page-1/#comment-13

https://keepcalmandaccounting.wordpress.com/2018/03/30/assignment-stage-2-6-draft/

https://thaobuiweb.wordpress.com/2018/03/25/ass1-draft/comment-page-1/#comment-5

https://agirlwithabook843931131.wordpress.com/2018/03/27/step-3-4-draft/comment-page-1/#comment-24

https://alatebloomer1981.wordpress.com/2018/03/30/finished-i-think/comment-page-1/#comment-57

Useful Links and references:

About AGL.  Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HYSnwsrrjA

Annual Reports. Retrieved from http://www.agl.com.au:   

http://agl2017.reportonline.com.au/sites/agl2017.reportonline.com.au/files/full_financial_annual_report.pdf