Assignment 1 - Step 6: Feedback

Feedback From: Ben McHaffie

Feedback To: Shelly Williams

Step 1

Accounting as a model of business reality: Connecting this concept to your own role as a Project Officer, which made the idea relatable and practical. That personal link really strengthens your reflection.

Comparing financial statements to a photo and a video was a creative way to explain the difference between point-in-time and over-time measures. It’s memorable and easy to understand.

Step 2

Your Moodle profile must have been one of the first up.

Your blog is clearly presented, a pleasure to read and the way you’ve integrated links throughout the blog shows your willingness to go the extra mile.

Step 3

The write-up does a great job explaining that NZX isn’t just about buying and selling shares, it’s a whole ecosystem with markets for equity, debt, derivatives, and carbon. I was surprised to read they had a dedicated carbon auction market. It’s cool to see climate policy treated as part of their core business, not just a box to tick.

It's a nice touch sharing your own photo of the NYSX bull.

It’s pretty impressive that NZX managed to grow earnings even when trading volumes hit a nine-year low in 2023. It’s a good reminder that having multiple pillars in your business can make all the difference when the economy throws curveballs.

That was generous of you to add me to your top blog list. Thanks!

Step 4

Your spreadsheet looks tidy and includes full use of sums. Nice work!

Step 5

It was interesting to see your view on GAAP assisting auditors, managers and project staff like yourself, when all I focused on was investors. I suppose we view everything through our own lens.

I like how you closed off the KCQs with featured quotes from within the chapters and their meaning to you.

Step 6

Awesome work adding your Word Doc to this section for ease of access. I’m gutted I looked at this section last, but that’s on me.

Your feedback is really nice and you’ve given some great constructive advice.

One thing you could adjust, is my Surname on you peer feedback sheet 😉

Overall ASS#1

Very impressive. I genuinely can’t fault this. I imagine this is what HD looks like.

Feedback From: Brooke Mifsud

Feedback To: Benjamin McHaffie

Step 1

Your KCQs show genuine curiosity, and I thoroughly enjoyed the humour and honesty you bring to your reflections. When I think of the men in my life, creativity is not something that immediately springs to mind—yet your writing absolutely proves me wrong. Your KCQs are thoughtful, relatable, and easy to follow. A small suggestion would be to sharpen each KCQ, so the actual question stands out more clearly. But overall, this is a strong and engaging start.

Step 2

Your introduction is warm, comedic, and instantly engaging. I still remember reaching out to you last semester, and it’s great to reconnect through this unit. Your tone makes your blog approachable, and it genuinely reads like someone who is inviting others into their learning journey.

Your visuals add personality without detracting from the blog's academic purpose. The accompanying description feels natural and authentic.

Your blog layout is clean and simple to navigate. A small addition, such as a “Start Here” section, could help first-time visitors orient themselves.

Step 3

You summarise your company clearly and keep it digestible for someone new to the industry. It aligns well with your blog reflections, especially when you mention that you're still trying to understand how accounting elements—assets, liabilities, depreciation—fit together to show a company’s performance.

Your anecdotal style made this one of the most enjoyable blogs I’ve read. You capture that “mature-aged student” energy perfectly—the mix of determination, fear, and humour. Your reflections reminded me that this unit isn’t just about getting through accounting; it's also about overcoming long-held fears about financial statements.

The posts you selected clearly inspired you, and you explain why they resonated with you. The humour you inject helps keep the work engaging and authentic.

Step 4

The numbers are easy to follow and show attention to detail. I appreciated your notes, which gave me pause and concern about whether I am following this assignment correctly!

Step 5

Not posted at the point of feedback

Step 6

Not posted at the point of feedback

Overall ASS#1

Ben, your blog is comedic, honest, and extremely relatable. Your writing makes the accounting journey feel less intimidating—not just for yourself, but for every student who reads your work. You balance humour with genuine self-reflection, and you acknowledge the challenge of stepping outside your comfort zone.

I am keen to see your final result!

Feedback From: Shelly Williams

Feedback To: Ben McHaffie

Step 1

Ben, I really enjoyed how you brought quotes from the chapter into your writing and how you asked questions directly to your readers. It gave your blog a more personal, conversational feel, which was refreshing compared to some of the more traditional formats I’ve seen.

If I had one small suggestion, it would be to add a few headings or breaks throughout. At the moment, it reads as one large block of text, and a bit of structure would make it even easier to follow while keeping that same personal style you’ve nailed.

Step 2

I genuinely enjoyed getting to know you through your page. The layout is clean, visually engaging, and easy to navigate, which made the whole experience smooth and enjoyable. The photos you included add such a personal touch, they really show who you are beyond the written content.

Your little phrases like “back on the bike” and “pedalling forward”, whist on the smallest bike on earth made me laugh definitely strong dad-joke energy. Your podcast recommendations were a smart inclusion too; they felt thoughtful and added another layer to understanding what motivates and interests you.

Step 3

You have such an interesting company! Your explanation was clear, and I could easily understand who they are and what they do by your writing. Burning through US$24M

annually? Ouch. Can they spare us a couple M? I really enjoy reading your content. One small feedback would be that there is a typo in the title KCQs from BrainChip’s annual reports.

Step 4

Very creative picture on your blog. A perfect representation of how I feel about spreadsheets haha. Well done on your data entry. You have followed the assignment requirements perfectly.

Step 5

No yet uploaded.

Step 6

No yet uploaded.

Overall ASS#1

Please note me being picky is just for the sake of “giving feedback”. You have crushed this assignment 😊

Feedback From: Benjamin McHaffie

Feedback To: Brooke Mifsud

Step 1

You’ve done a great job linking what you learned back to your own business. I like how you’ve also created visuals that mix the unit’s key ideas with your personal reflections. It really shows how you’re applying the concepts in a practical way

Step 2

Home | Balancing Brookes

Brooke, your introduction within moodle portrays an extremely busy life for a mum of 4. You’re killing it at CQU, whilst also running a farming transport company. This really humbled me, feeling stressed with half that on my plate. You could add the link to your blog in your Moodle profile too.

You blog has an extremely professional look, with a flow through from the photos to colour palette.

The links at the top of you blog are a nice touch but don’t lead directly to each individual step. Wix is not the easiest website for these modifications and I faced similar issues.

Step 3

Brisco NZ owning Rebel Sport and living and giving. Same Rebel as Australia?I never realised Brisco owned “Rebel Sport” and “Living and Giving”, this is quite the retail giant for New Zealand. I was surprised to see that Rebel Sport was not owned by Super Retail Group, who owns Rebel in Australia. Turns out Brisco Group negotiated an exclusive franchise agreement with Rebel Australia.

You mention the Brisco group is known for large national sales events. Having grown up in New Zealand, I can confirm, you NEVER buy anything from Briscoes at full price, as you know it will be on sale next week.

Your point about Brisco Group moving slowly and being vulnerable to global competitors was insightful and shows a real depth of thought. Whenever I head back to NZ for a holiday, I notice more Australian-owned mega stores popping up. Luckily for Briscoe Group, there’s no true equivalent to Briscoes in Australia, and Rebel Australia runs smaller, and in my opinion, less impressive stores, so they’re not a major competitive threat.

Top 3 blogs posted to Blog links page. I see you have a great eye for blogs. Thanks for the nomination.

Step 4

Could not locate yet

Step 5

Your KCQ’s are extremely easy to congest and show a deep level of understanding and reflection. They were a pleasure to read and you should be very proud of your work.

Step 6

The review I received from you was thoughtful and offered constructive feedback, I will try to make my blog direction flow better. I found your review of my work, while reading your blog, it could be helpful to email your reviews so people know they exist. This will also encourage others to return the favour.

Overall ASS#1

You’ve created some great content. I really enjoyed reading your blog! I recognised many of the photos from your business Facebook page, so I’m guessing they’re all your own, which is fantastic. You could make it slightly easier for your peer reviewers, by adding clear titles for each step.

Feedback From: Lachlan Ross

Feedback To: Benjamin McHaffie

Step 1

I appreciate you going a bit against the grain and choosing to not bold out your KCQs but instead keep this step written in a way that i can discern the topic that you want to talk about. It’s a great start and has me hooked to see the rest of your assessment.

Step 2

All information easily found. I like your personal touch of including your hobby of Crossfit, as a gym person myself I can already connect to this. You have included a link to podcast about you company through a favourite podcast that helps connect you to your company.

Step 3

Good introduction to BrainChip and analysis of all 4 years of reports. I like the use of exact numbers to help reinforce the statements about the company. I like that we can see what you are thinking in real time. Carpentry is very different from tech, especially high processing computer chips, so I enjoyed seeing your research to gain more understanding of the company.

Step 4

Statements all entered very well. We had the same timeframe for our financial reports, so it was easy for me to understand, though you had to deal with more exact numbers in your assessment, compared to my simple £m unit. I commend you on getting it done well

Step 5

This step has a good balance of information, personal contribution and understanding. You have identified a few concepts to delve into to focus on and do well. I really enjoyed the comparison of financial reports and footnotes to a menu and chef, it is quite apt.

Step 6

Overall ASS#1

You connected to his company in this assessment well, through putting the effort into researching and connecting to personal stories. I enjoyed the ways in which you made the topics you wrote about easy to understand with your stories and examples.

Feedback From: Benjamin McHaffie

Feedback To: Lachlin Ross

Step 1

You provide a good reflection of the unit content relating it back to your work in hospitality. I like how you went into depth around sales per crew hour, showing an understanding of complex metrics being simplified for ease of consumption.

You clearly have some background knowledge of accounting, referencing a new understanding of terms, you were previously aware of.

I can sympathise with your feelings at the start of the unit, deciding to go back and read the assessment outline again, after opening a dauntingly large annual report.

Step 2

Lachlan uploaded a photo and succinct introduction with a link to his blog.

You showed a keenness for numbers, so I’m keen to see what a numbers focused mind gets out of this unit.

Step 3

You started with a great overview of your firm, Hill and Smith Holdings’, expanding on their move into the American market. I wonder if their subdued growth in the UK and their growth in the American Galvanised Steel market, may also be related to threats from the USA to introduce tariffs at the time.

You provided a deep overview of Hill and Smith Holdings’ sustainability efforts. I was surprised to see they had managed shift operations to run off 99% renewable energy within the UK. This is an impressive task for a steel producer, as historically, steel production required coal-fired smelters.

Top blogs not visible at time of reading.

Slight adjustment: Within the 4th sentence of Key Performance Indicators, you write “helps show”, you could add “this” helps show, to read more smoothly.

Step 4

Your financial statement looks tidy. It is interesting to see a statement based in millions of pounds, as my company states every dollar. As the statements were added as images, I couldn’t check the use of formulas.

Step 5

I Like the way your KCQs have a call back to the previous bank lending story.

Your theory about the historical shift from owners being hands-on to becoming equity investors, and even investors moving into politics, was interesting. It added a fresh perspective on why GAAP rules exist and really made me think.

Step 6

Thanks for sending through your feedback for my blog.  You provided thoughtful feedback and made some good comparisons between our companies.

To make your writing fit within the feedback boxes, try highlighting the text and type in “Clear all format setting” in the search bar.

Overall ASS#1

Your assessment was really engaging and showed a genuine curiosity to dive into many different topics. I enjoyed reading it, it wasn’t just informative, it actually helped me revise a few things too. Great job pulling everything together in a way that feels clear and easy to follow.

If you wanted to take it up a notch, adding a few images could make the blog more visually appealing and break up the text slightly.