Erin wrote to say thanks for the help I gave him with his CVP problem and said "I thought it could have been something to do with algebra but it's been 30 years since I studied that"!! Well done Erin! DW

I have kept a diary since I was around 14 years old so writing such a Blog as this shouldn't be a problem. When I go on holiday I keep a jounral, too. However, despite the mechanical outpourings of yesterday I have yet to get into the full swing of this. I read that the best way to Blog on your own is to set up a database and take each day's comments from there. I've resisted learning anything to do with databases since the dawn of time but I might have to get into them now!! I have spent the morning working on a project that me and a friend of mine are hoping will see us through our retirement! Well, you never know. It's going well enough even though we are not living anywhere near each other. The power of the internet or what. DW

All the way from Canada, a brand new accounting student, wanted to know: what a journal is, what a ledger is, and what a trial balance is ... with some easy example. I visit ur web site more and more, but I am unable to find out I set up a page to answer this question since it struck me as a good and general set of questions to ask. Take a look at http://www.duncanwil.co.uk/primebooks.html. DW

Coenraad Kleinhans wrote from South Africa to ask why one should ever use a Z Chart. Z charts are discussed on my web site in a PDF file at www.duncanwil.co.uk/pdfs/charting.pdf ... here's what I told Coenraad, though. The benefits of using a Z chart are that they contain three elements of a time series data set: the raw data, the cumulative data and the moving average data. Consequently, we are able to compare current data within the context of the present and the past. There is nothing wrong with plotting data sets on an XY or Line graph, of course, but to get the maximum benefit from the data, you would have to construct three of them to compete with the Z chart! In case you hadn't seen it, I have a pdf file at http://www.duncanwil.co.uk/pdfs/charts.pdf that illustrates the Z chart and a bit about how to construct one. You might find http://duncanwil.co.uk/pdfs/charting.pdf useful too. DW

Erin wrote to me from the States with what looked like desperation. Erin has a problem in which he's been given some information on costs, profits and so on and has to deduce the sales value. The information Erin was given is: Margin of safety: 25% Fixed Costs: $600,000 Variable Costs: 60% of sales The question is to determine the dollar value of the sales based on the above information. I put my answers into a spreadsheet, but here's a summary which consists of restating the information given and then working down the logic of the solution: MOS 25.0% VC 60.0% FC 600000 Contribution = S - VC C/S Ratio = (S - VC)/S 40.0% BEP = FC/C/S Ratio 1500000 MOS = Sales - Break Even Point 25% = 100% - BEP therefore BEP = 75% therefore Sales = BEP/75% Sales = 1500000/75% Sales = 2000000 If that's not clear and you're keen to sort it out, write to me at duncan@duncanwil.co.uk and we can discuss it. DW

Emma wrote from Liverpool to ask where she could start working on her assignment on revenue recognition. I trawled around a bit and came up with these basic suggestions. Go to my home page. www.duncanwil.co.uk, and do a site search for revenue recognition, revenue, recognition and you'll see that I have a few pages that have some useful things for you. The ACCA site, www.acca.org.uk, is very useful Go to the AccountingWeb site, www.accountingweb.co.uk, and do a search for what you want and you'll see some good resources there. A brilliant site for IAS stuff is www.iasplus.com ... do a search there, there's a lot to read. I did a google search, www.google.co.uk, on revenue recognition and there's heaps from the FASB, the IASB, the SEC ... Emma replied That should keep me going for now - thank you so much for your time, you've been brilliant That's me for you! DW

Good morning everyone. I have now sorted out the syntax of this system and have organised my folders and files to accept my Weblog in an orderly manner. I'm going to use this Blog as a diary of the questions and answers that I get from my visitors as well as a general diary of what life has offered me ... from time to time. DW 31/10/02

I think, in the words of the immortal chap, "By George, I think he's got it"!! And so to bed, in the words of the other one. DW 30/10/02

I'm doing it, I'm doing it! DW 30/10/02

If you ever get to this page, forgive me as I'm going through a cheesy testing routine as I've never blogged before! DW. 30/10/02

Woke up this morning, Woke up yesterday too. If I wake up tomorrow, That'll be three in a row!! Duncan Williamson 30 October 2002