Working Effectively

A couple of months ago I completed my working effectively unit. In this unit I learnt how to work effectively in an accounting and financial offices.

In this unit I learnt how to work in an accounting department within an organisation and how important it is to have different policies and procedures in place so all the employees work within the same rules. Also I learnt the reporting lines which is important in an organisation so if you need to report anything you know who you can go to. Also I learned that you need a good range of communication skills in an accounting department which includes English and Maths skills.

In another part of this unit I learnt how to work independently and as part of a team. Also how important it is to have good time management skills and how to prioritise your work load. I also learned why you need to keep developing your skills for yourself and the organisation you work for needs.

Final I learnt about different ethical values and principles and how important it is to certain employees. Also I learned what sustainable values meant to an organisation.

I didn't really have any problems doing this unit. I just found it a bit hard because I always struggle with English based exams. I just took my time doing the exam and made sure I read the full question properly so I could understand it.

Basic Costing

I have recently complete my Basic Costing Unit.

In this unit I have learned the difference between different types of costings within an organisation. I have learnt the difference between materials, labour, overheads and what is direct or indirect cost to a business. Also I have learnt how to use a coding data to identify different costings.

After I learnt about different costings I started to learn about different types of inventory. I learned the difference between raw materials, work in progress and finished goods. Along side this I learnt the manufacturing system to help calculate the direct cost of making something. In the manufacturing system there is a part to calculate the overheads costs. There are three different overheads fixed, variable and semi-variable. I also learnt the difference between FIFO (first in first out), LIFO (last in first out) and AVCO (average cost). I used these methods to help me calculate the labour cost.

The final section of this unit was all about spreadsheets and how to input the costings into a spreadsheet. I learned a few basic functions and formulas to help me to calculate the full costings over a certain period of time and to see if the actual cost is more or less than the budget cost. I also learnt how to set out a spreadsheet so you can understand it easily without getting confused with all the numbers.

I found this unit quite easy to do and once I learnt the differences between certain things it was straight forward. I only struggled with a couple of parts. The first part was the manufacturing system but the only way to learn it was to just do it over and over again until you know which order it went in. The other part was learning how to calculate the labour cost using FIFO, LIFO and AVCO. To help myself learn this calculation I just did different practice questions and if I still struggled understanding it I asked my tutor to go through it again with me.

Applied Business and Personal Skills

In my ABPS unit I used a lot of my preferred learning style which is reading and writing. Also I used visual and auditory learning styles. For my visual learning I looked at different examples of business letters and emails so I would know the difference between them and everyday letters and emails. For my auditory learning I watched and listened to a video which gave you tips on how to answer some of the questions in the exam.

During this unit I improved so of my weaknesses and used some of my strengths. I improved on my communication skills when we had small class meetings in lesson. Also I improved on my spelling by reading information I needed to know and writing business letters and emails. I used my strengths to help me organise my time so I had the right amount of revision time and time to relax to refresh myself.

For part of the ABPS unit you need to know what a business meeting is. To help the class learn what a business meeting was my tutor set up a group meeting as part of the lesson so the class could understand the different sections within a meeting. During these meetings I learnt what agendas and minutes are used for and we all took our own notes so we could learn how to write minutes for a meeting.

In this unit we worked a lot within a group or as a fułl class so I didn't work independently a lot. The only time I worked independently was when I did any work at home and when I was revising.

I sat the exam for this unit on the 28th January. I found out this week that I have passed it.

Spreadsheets

In the last few weeks I have been learning how to create different spreadsheets. I have learnt how to do a few different formulas, formatting spreadsheets with borders, colours and changing data into currency and creating charts using the data in the spreadsheet. Also I learnt conditional formatting and how to use the IF function.

During this unit I have worked independently and reminded myself how to create spreadsheets as I have done them before but 7 years ago. If I struggled doing anything I tried researching how to do it or I didn't understand it I would ask my tutor.

I will keep coming back to do spreadsheets to keep my skills up and make sure I won't forget how to do them.

Doing the spreadsheet unit will help me in the future when I start applying for jobs that might involve doing spreadsheets as part of the job.

My SWOT Analysis

Here is a copy of my SWOT analysis which shows my strengths and weaknesses. My strengths will help me find a job by shows employers what I can bring to their business. My weaknesses will tell employers what I might need help or training with to help me improve on this weaknesses. Also it shows any opportunities I could take to help me to get where I want to be in my life. The threats show any obstacles that might be in my way to find the job I want to be in.

I did this analysis to help myself identify what my strengths and weaknesses are and to help me think about what opportunities I could take to get where I want to be.

I only had one problem doing this blog. The problem was that the table wouldn't copy onto my blog using my laptop at home. To solve this problem I tried doing it on my laptop at college. When I did it at college it copied onto my blog fine.

This task was a reading and writing learning style which is my preferred learning style.

My 1st Reflection of The Year

Since I have started this course in September I have learnt that my preferred learning style is reading and writing. This means when I'm learning I understand things better if I can read it or make notes on it. I have also used different learning styles since I have started this course in September. I have used kinaesthetic and visual. When I used kinaesthetic I was creating poster and mind maps to help me learn and when I used visual I was make an action plan for where I wanted to be in a year.

One of my first problems was that my laptop was running to slow for the lesson. To resolve this problem I told my tutor and she manage to get a network cable from the IT department at college. Doing this made the laptop run fast so I could keep up with the lessons. Another problem I had was struggling with what things went in the credit and debit side of a balance sheet in my bookkeeping unit. I solve this problem by just revising and practicing how to do them. My last problem was I had a week off college because I was too ill to come in so I missed a couple of lessons. To stop myself missing out on my work I emailed my tutors to send me the work I missed or asked one of my friends to get it for me.

In one of my business and personal skills lessons we worked in groups to discuss what was important to do and not to do at a job interview. We made a poster and put sticky notes on it and decided in our group where on the poster it should go depending on how important it was. After we did that we swapped it with another group to see if they agree with us and we did the same with their poster. If we didn't agree the order they put their sticky notes we could change them around but we had to give a reason why we changed it. They could do the same with our poster.

I could use my learning blog to help me revise in the future and remind myself who to do things I did at the beginning of the course.

Double Entry Bookkeeping System

I did this task to help me remember the double entry bookkeeping system. I did this document using Microsoft Word. I will use this to revise from before my assessments.

I didn't have any problems doing this task because I new how to use Microsoft Word.

I liked doing this task because it is my preferred learning style which is reading and writing.