Company | Website | Industry | Bal date | Country | Current |
Nufarm | http://www.nufarm.com/Home
|
Chemicals | 31 – Jul | AUS | $’000
|
Step 3:
Step 3 involves you identifying your own company, some background information on your company and its industry,
Find your Firm’s Annual Report and Spreadsheet
Find the company you have been given and click on its URL. This will take you to your firm’s website, where you should be able to find your firm’s annual reports under the Investors or Investor Relations section. This section might also be called Shareholders’ Information, Financial Information or something similar. For some companies, in the ‘Find Your Company’ list there is a comment in the Notes section to help you navigate your firm’s website. Save a soft copy of the Annual Report for your firm for each of the last three years. For example, if your firm’s latest Annual Report is for the year ended 30 June 2017, save your firm’s Annual Reports for 30 June 2017, 30 June 2016 and 30 June 2015.
Only save your firm’s Annual Reports. Do NOT save its interim or half-yearly reports; also, do not save its concise annual reports. You can ignore these. Only save its full Annual Reports (with its full financial statements) for each of the last three years. I also suggest you have a quick browse through your firm’s website. This will give you some initial insights into your firm’s operations and activities.
A key thing for you to achieve in your ASS#1 is to make sure you have got hold of your firm’s Annual Reports for the last three years. As each Annual Report will have two years of financial statements, this will mean you will have the financial statements for your firm for the last four years.
Read Your Firm’s Annual Report: Identify Clearly What Your Firm Does
Carefully and thoughtfully read through your firm’s latest Annual Report. For example, your firm’s latest Annual Report may be for the year ended 30 June 2017. While you do this, note down key concepts and questions (KCQs) that occur to you. Identify areas of your firm’s financial statements you are having difficulty understanding, areas of its business that seem most important or critical to you, key challenges the firm appears to be facing, how successful it appears to be in meeting these challenges and its apparent strategy. Some people’s companies may have very long annual reports. There is no need to read every word (or page) of your Annual Report. Simply seek to gain an initial familiarity with your firm and its latest Annual Report.
Discuss your KCQs with other people in the unit, for example with those at your own location, or online on the ASS#1 (Step 3) forum on Moodle, or through our various blogs, or by email, or on Facebook with other students. You can click on the link to our unit’s Facebook page in the Communication box in Moodle and ask to be given access. What similarities or differences are there between your firm and the firms of other people and in the way they present their financial statements? Are you happy with the firm you have been given, or would you have preferred to be given a different company? What concerns, if any, do you have at this stage?
Know Your Firm
Find useful news articles, blogs and videos about your firm, its industry and some of the opportunities and challenges your firm is facing. Provide links to these resources on your blog. Also, comment on some other students’ blogs about their firms. My company is Ryman Healthcare. Here are links to two videos produced by groups of residents in two of Ryman Healthcare’s retirement villages. They are quite a bit of fun: 80-odd Years of Happy and 80-odd Years of Disco. And they give some insights into Ryman Healthcare’s business and customers. The first video, 80-odd Years of Happy, has gone viral with over 8 million views. There is also a great video on the launch of the myRyman app in 2016; another on the launch of a new staff uniform and the work that went into the design of the new uniform; and another on a singer Rebecca Nelson who has performed at many Ryman villages. What do these videos suggest about the culture management are seeking to support at Ryman Healthcare?
Step 4:
Step 4 involves you inputting your company’s financial statements into your spreadsheet.
You will see your company’s spreadsheet has four worksheets: ‘Financial Statements’, ‘Restated Financial Statements’, ‘Ratios’ and ‘NPV & IRR’. We will use the ‘Financial Statements’ worksheet in our ASS#1 and the ‘Restated Financial Statements’, ‘Ratios’ and ‘NPV & IRR’ worksheets in our ASS#2.
Open your firm’s Financial Statements worksheet by clicking on the Financial Statements tab in your company’s spreadsheet.
You will find in this worksheet some space for you to enter your firm’s Statement of Changes in Equity, Balance Sheet and Income Statement. Carefully enter in each of these statements for your firm for the past four years. You will notice that your firm’s Annual Reports will each contain financial statements for two years. So even though you have downloaded three years of Annual Reports in Step 3, this will give you four years of financial statements.
Also, if you find difficulties in entering your firm’s financial statements into your spreadsheet, go to Studiosity (yourtutor). See how to do this at this link. When in Studiosity, click on Connect live. Connect live is a real-time service, which is usually available from 5 pm to midnight Sunday to Friday (ie not Saturday night). They will be able to help you with specific questions you might have.
Tip: Your firm’s financial statements may be called a range of different names, such as Consolidated Statement of Financial Position (which is your firm’s balance sheet) and Consolidated Statement of Financial Performance (which is your firm’s income statement).
Tip: Your firm’s Statement of Changes in Equity may contain a series of columns showing changes in various sub-categories of equity. You can ignore these columns. For your Statement of Changes in Equity, simply enter the total column in your spreadsheet.
Step 5:
Step 5 involves you writing down some of your ideas, reflections and reactions to reading Chapter 2 and Chapter 3
Read Chapter 2 (‘Understanding the Game’) and Sections 3.1 and 3.2 in Chapter 3 (‘Introducing Financial Statements’) in the Study Guide. Read it like you would a novel or any book, actively seeking to engage with the author (who is me) and to understand what you are reading. What is the author trying to say? Let the author take you on a journey: go with him and see what you think of some of the key ideas and concepts being discussed.
And while you do this, note down key concepts that occur to you. That’s right; just write them down as you go along. Write them in your own words. Also, include any questions that occur to you as you are reading. What do you find confusing, difficult to understand or believe, boring, exciting or surprising? Include some of your key concepts and questions (KCQs) in your Step 5.
Your personal engagement with the reading is what I am interested in. Do not simply summarise the readings. I will say it again, do not simply summarise the readings. I am interested in your reactions, understanding, and questions from the readings. I know what the readings say, as I wrote them. So simply giving me a summary of the readings will not be telling me anything I do not already know.
Use the words “I” and “me”. Different people will have different reactions to the readings. Tell me what your reactions are. This is what I am interested in. Do not tell me what you think I might want to hear. Be genuine and honest in your reactions to the readings. Give me something of yourself in your Step 5.
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- Assignment status: Resolved by our Writing Team
- Source@PrimeWritersBay.com
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