An Open Letter to the President of the United Republic of Tanzania

Dear your Excellency,

Greetings from the Far East. It is my hope you are doing well.

Of late we have witnessed the political climate in North Africa changing rapidly. This is due to the popular demonstrations and "uprisings" that have toppled governments. First it was Tunisia then followed Egypt and perhaps Libya will be next. I wish to convey to you that the reasons that led to discontent among the populace of these two countries are not markedly different from the situation at home. Before I venture into the reasons I wish to clarify that we are a democracy as such this differentiates Tanzania from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain etc therefore on the face of it we may think we are safe. However, kindly persue the subsequent paragraphs to understand the gravity of the situation.

On a surgical analysis, it is evident that economic conditions are the main causative agents of the protests. This does not mean I am overlooking the political ones however the economic hardships are the main drivers of the "revolutions".

Majority of the protesters were complaining of high food prices, rising fuel costs, massive unemployment, inefficient educational system, corruption, rising income inequality, police brutality and complete lack of accountability by those in power just to name but a few. On looking at these grounds it is clear that the nation (Tanzania) is in the same predicament. The fuel prices are at the roof causing a pinch into every inhabitant's pocket. The domino effect of this is inexplicable on such small space and since you hold economics degree I need not explain the obvious to you.

Further the educational system is in a mess. From primary schools to the university level the government seems to have abdicated its responsibility of providing quality education to the populace. It was easy after liberalization in 1990's to view this as a responsibility of the private sector however we are witnessing the repercussions presently. There is a big shortage of schools plus universities both of which are under-equipped resource-wise. From the lack of teachers to lack of facilities and books the problems are endless.

What is annoying many is the ineptness of the government to deal with the problem surgically. It has to take students to protest for anything meaningful to be done! There seems to be no meaningful government plans of action to alleviate this problem something, which only spells doom for the future.

Rising income inequality is visible from the opulence of the few including the government officials. There is a big gap between incomes in the government servants. The income plus perks of the high-ranking bureaucrats make that of teachers, doctors, lecturers and even the normal civil servant look like loose change. While the government complains of not having money to increase the salaries, we can see new mashangingi being bought, Tea only for the high ranking members in the office continuing to be served. It

makes one wonder, if you do not possess money then how do u service these two of the many unnecessary components.

Not only that, the income inequalities resulting from the business entities or businessmen with close ties to the officials in government also provide fuel for people to hate their government. The media is abuzz with such stories and not all can be discounted with mere deniability or by cooking up a conspiracy story because of the integrity of the journalists who provide them.

At this juncture sir, I think it is pertinent I touch on the subject you may of late hate to hear, corruption and lack of accountability. I have stressed your dislike because some of the allegations have been projected personally to you. Many of the corruption scandals have happened under your nose. The biggest of them all was the Richmond saga. Richmond was the precursor of Dowans. In other words Richmond sold the contract it had with Tanesco to Dowans. The Parliamentary probe committee found that the contract was

awarded under dubious circumstances to an entity that never had any expertise in power generation. Several people were named in the report as the main persons responsible in putting the country at loss. The then prime minister resigned however to the amazement of the nation, no one else was punished. Now we may have to cough billions of shillings in damages for terminating a contract that many feel shouldn’t have been signed at all or was voidable at the option of the government. This has sparked public outrage. What has enraged many of us is the sum proposed to be paid and

which the government was easily willing to release while the culprits who consciously put the country into the quagmire have not been brought to book. It is total lack of accountability that has permeated every corner of the government you run Mr. President. One of the essential questions being asked is where was the government going to get all this money at such a short juncture and if such money is available why is the government complaining of not having money to implement developmental projects.

Politically the recently concluded general elections which returned you to power was full of allegations of rigging and of the state agencies helping your party. This has prompted calls which I believe are justified of rewriting the Constitution so as, among other things, to make some offices like the Chairman of the election commission not a presidential appointee. It is no secret that the Constitution is unsuited to the present political atmosphere.

Even members of your own political party recognize this fact so it makes us wonder why even such a basic element which is inevitable the Government drags its feet to accomplish.

Your Excellency, as I know you are a busy man, I think I should not consume much of your precious time with what has been repeated so many times by Mwananchi and Mwanahalisi. There are still issues to discuss like Police brutality to unarmed lawful protesters in Arusha with no action taken by you to punish those responsible.

Mr. President as I end this letter I wish to remind to you again the purpose of writing. I wanted to show you that the conditions, which prevailed in the North African states that have experienced forceful regime change, precipitate also in our beautiful country. Therefore it is time for the government to tackle these issues before the situation gets out of hand. The masses have shown that no regime is immune from challenge therefore should never get complacent. It is my hope that your wisdom will prevail and ensure the economic as well as political problems are solved in a meaningful way to the satisfaction of everyone.

Your law-abiding citizen,

Ntemi Massanja

Management Accounting- Divisions

 Question

The Benmac Corporation has three operating divisions.  The managers of these divisions are evaluated on their divisional Net Income Before Taxes, a figure which includes an allocation of corporate overhead proportional to the sales of each division.  The operating statement for the first quarter of 1994 appears below:

                                                                                                Division                      

                                                                           A                B                C             Total

Net sales (000)                                                 £2,000        £1,200        £1,600        £4,800

Cost of sales                                                     1,050             540             640          2,230

Division Overhead                                                 250             125             160             535

Division Contribution                                             700             535             800          2,035

Corporate Overhead                                              400             240             320             960

Net Income Before Taxes                                     £300           £295           £480        £1,075

                                                                         ====          ====          ====        =====

The manager of Division A is unhappy that his profitability is about the same as Division B and much less than Division C's, even though his sales are much higher than either of these other two divisions.  The manager knows that he is carrying one line of products with very low profitability.  He was going to replace this line of business as soon as more profitable product opportunities became available, but has retained it until now since the line was still marginally profitable and used facilities that would otherwise be idle.  The manager now realises, however, that the sales from this product line are attracting a fair amount of corporate overhead because of the allocation procedure and maybe the line is already unprofitable for him.

This low margin line of products had the following characteristics for the quarter:

                        Net Sales (000)                                              £800

                        Cost of Sales                                                 600

                        Allocated Divisional Overhead                         100

                        Contribution                                                  £100

                                                                                           ====

Thus the product line accounted for 40 percent of divisional sales but less than 15 percent of divisional profit.

Required:

1.      Prepare the operating statement for the Benmac Corporation for the second quarter of 1994 assuming that sales and operating results are identical to the first quarter except that the manager of Division A drops the low margin product line entirely from his product group.  Is the Division A manager better off from this action?  Is the Benmac Corporation better off from this action?                                                                     

2.      Suggest improvements to the Benmac Corporation's divisional reporting and evaluation system that will improve local incentives for decision-making that is in the best interests of the firm.

                                                                                                                   

 Answer

1.      Without the £800,000 in sales from the low margin product line in Division A, the second quarter operating statements will be:

                                                                                                Division                      

                                                                           A                B                C             Total

         Net sales (000)                                        £1,200        £1,200        £1,600        £4,000

         Cost of sales                                               450             540             640          1,630

         Division Overhead                                        150             125             160             435

         Division Contribution                                    600             535             688          1,935

         Corporate Overhead                                     288             288             384             960

         Net Income Before Taxes                            £312           £247           £416           £975

                                                                         ====          ====          ====          ====

         The Division A manager is able to show a £12,000 higher profit because the £100,000 in lost contribution margin from the dropped product line is more than offset by the £112,000 reduction in corporate overhead.  Divisional sales are now only 30 percent of corporate sales rather than the previous 41.7 percent of sales.  The Benmac Corporation is worse off because it has lost the £100,000 contribution margin from the dropped product line with no reduction in corporate overhead.

2.         The easiest solution is to not allocate fixed corporate overhead to divisions.  Then, the problem of dysfunctional behaviour will not arise.  But central management may want the division managers to "see" the cost of corporate operations so that they will understand that the corporation as a whole is not profitable unless the combined divisions' contribution margins exceed corporate overhead.  In this case, an allocation basis should be chosen that is not manipulatable or under the control of division managers, and has the property that the actions of one division do not affect the allocations to other divisions (as occurred in the second quarter for the Benmac Corporation).  In general, a lump sum allocation based on, say, budgeted net income, or budgeted assets, rather than an allocation that varies proportionately with an actual measure of activity (such as sales or actual net income) will minimise dysfunctional behaviour.  The allocation should be such that managers treat it as a fixed, unavoidable charge, rather than a charge that will vary with decisions they take

Auditing- Internal audit(ACCA Qns)

Qns

Matalas Co sells cars, car parts and petrol from 25 different locations in one country. Each branch has up to 20 staff working there, although most of the accounting systems are designed and implemented from the company’s head office. All accounting systems, apart from petty cash, are computerised, with the internal audit department frequently advising and implementing controls within those systems.

Matalas has an internal audit department of six staff, all of whom have been employed at Matalas for a minimum of five years and some for as long as 15 years. In the past, the chief internal auditor appoints staff within the internal audit department, although the chief executive officer (CEO) is responsible for appointing the chief internal auditor. The chief internal auditor reports directly to the finance director. The finance director also assists the chief internal auditor in deciding on the scope of work of the internal audit department. You are an audit manager in the internal audit department of Matalas. You are currently auditing the petty cash systems at the different branches. Your initial systems notes on petty cash contain the following information:

1. The average petty cash balance at each branch is $5,000.

2. Average monthly expenditure is $1,538, with amounts ranging from $1 to $500.

3. Petty cash is kept in a lockable box on a bookcase in the accounts office.

4. Vouchers for expenditure are signed by the person incurring that expenditure to confirm they have received re-imbursement from petty cash.

5. Vouchers are recorded in the petty cash book by the accounts clerk; each voucher records the date,reason forthe expenditure, amount of expenditure and person incurring that expenditure.

6. Petty cash is counted every month by the accounts clerk, who is in charge of the cash. The petty cash balance is then reimbursed using the ‘imprest’ system and the journal entry produced to record expenditure in the general ledger.

7. The cheque to reimburse petty cash is signed by the accountant at the branch at the same time as the journal entry to the general ledger is reviewed.

Required:

 Explain the issues which limit the independence of the internal audit department in Matalas Co.

Ans

Factors limiting independence of internal audit

Reporting system

The chief internal auditor reports to the finance director. This limits the effectiveness of the internal audit reports as the finance director will also be responsible for some of the financial systems that the internal auditor is reporting on. Similarly, the chief internal auditor may soften or limit criticism in reports to avoid confrontation with the finance director. To ensure independence, the internal auditor should report to an audit committee.

Scope of work

The scope of work of internal audit is decided by the finance director in discussion with the chief internal auditor. This means that the finance director may try and influence the chief internal auditor regarding the areas that the internal audit department is auditing, possibly directing attention away from any contentious areas that the director does not want auditing. To ensure independence, the scope of work of the internal audit department should be decided by the chief internal auditor, perhaps with the assistance of an audit committee.

Audit work

The chief internal auditor appears to be auditing the controls which were proposed by that department. This limits

independence as the auditor is effectively auditing his own work, and may not therefore identify any mistakes.

To ensure independence, the chief internal auditor should not establish control systems in Matalas. However, where controls have already been established, another member of the internal audit should carry out the audit of petty cash to provide some limited independence.

Length of service of internal audit staff

All internal audit staff at Matalas have been employed for at least five years. This may limit their effectiveness as they will be very familiar with the systems being reviewed and therefore may not be sufficiently objective to identify errors in those systems.

To ensure independence, the existing staff should be rotated into different areas of internal audit work and the chief internal auditor independently review the work carried out.

Appointment of chief internal auditor

The chief internal auditor is appointed by the chief executive officer (CEO) of Matalas. Given that the CEO is responsible for the running of the company, it is possible that there will be bias in the appointment of the chief internal auditor; the CEO may appoint someone who he knows will not criticise his work or the company.

To ensure independence, the chief internal auditor should be appointed by an audit committee or at least the appointment agreed by the whole board.

Entrepreneurship and Economic Development

Entrepreneurship is the act of undertaking an initiative towards establishing an enterprise. Some argue there’s an obvious link between entrepreneurship and economic development. Arguably, One of the factors that contributes to economic development is the increase in number of employed people; entrepreneurship provides positions for employment for otherwise unemployed individuals thus increasing the Per Capita Income which in turn affects the economic development of a country. Moreover entrepreneurship increases the economic growth of a country in terms of GDP (Gross Domestic product) since it increases the value of output produced by a country. Hence Entrepreneurship leads to increase in jobs, industrial competitiveness and National output. However such an argument also suggests that High measured levels of entrepreneurship will thus translate directly into high levels of economic growth.

A lot of factors can lead to the economic development of a country such as climate, education, property rights, saving propensity, sports, etc. If entrepreneurship is added to the list; does it mean countries with similar economic development with have similar rate of entrepreneurial activity? However some developing countries such as Brazil and Mexico top the list with high rate of entrepreneurial activity compared to developed countries such as UK and the US. Perhaps high start-up rates in developing countries are perhaps less a sign of economic strength when compared to such rates in highly developed economies.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) three major factors are involved in economic growth; efficient division of labour, capital accumulation and technological advance. Concerning technology, factors involved are such as technology transfer (transfer from abroad), and technology innovation. Strong economies are those based on technological innovation, thus the entrepreneurship aspect can be noticed in such an attempt to analyse economic growth. However one could argue Is Technological entrepreneurship the only form of entrepreneurship that affects the economy?

Perhaps it’s the element of innovation that promotes economic growth. It is through exploiting economies of scale and scope can entrepreneurship promote economic growth. Hence may explain why some poor economies do not fully benefit from entrepreneurial activities.

Nature, source and character of entrepreneurship are also observed to be affected by the development of the economy. In the era of industrial revolution in the 19th century, entrepreneurs evolved out of necessity due to few available jobs people had to find means to self-employment. As the economy of a country developed, such lead to the decline of necessity-based factor in turn entrepreneurship evolved due to opportunity. Enterprises emerged since people saw opportunities for new products and new markets.

However, necessity entrepreneurship had less of an effect on economic development while opportunity entrepreneurship has a positive impact on economic growth. Being pushed to entrepreneurship out of necessity because of lack of jobs or unsatisfactory jobs could lead to under development rather that economic development. Although we may argue that both factors can be involved in establishing an enterprise, then the opportunity-necessity ratio should be more lenient towards opportunity, since opportunity ratio has a positive relationship with GDP per capita. Hence suggested that policies in developing countries should focus on strengthening General National Framework conditions and in developed economies policy should focus on strengthening the entrepreneurial framework conditions since the relationship between Entrepreneurship and economic development in developing countries is more likely negative while the relationship in developed countries is more likely positive.

Entrepreneurial framework conditions (characteristics within the existing business environment that influence the decision to start a business) comprise a company’s capacity to encourage start-ups, combined with provision of skills and motivation for those who wish to go into business themselves. General framework conditions comprise of strategies to strengthen Small and Medium Enterprises before focussing on entrepreneurial framework conditions; these policies are focused at firms not at individuals. These include financial assistance, management assistance, training and reducing regulatory burdens.

When attempting to link entrepreneurship to economic development; definition and scope of entrepreneurship is most important. If entrepreneurial activity is aimed for agricultural sector and at a small scale then it’s more likely to have no/ negative effect on the economy. In essence entrepreneurship in developing countries is more likely to result to negative effect on economy than entrepreneurship in developed countries. The ratio between opportunity and necessity entrepreneurship is a key indicator to economic development. Hence in conclusion, entrepreneurship is not always a driver towards economic development, furthermore the nature, source and character of entrepreneurship changes with the economy, so do economic policies.



REFERENCES:

Dejardin, M. 2000, "ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: AN OBVIOUS CONJUNCTION?", , pp. 0-14.
Stel, A.V., Carree, M. & Thurik, R. 2004, The effect of entrepreneurship on national economic growth:An analysis using the GEM database, EIM Business and policy Research, Zoetermeer.
Zoltan, J.A. 2007, How is Entrepreneurship Good for Economic Growth?, American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), Massachuttes.

Auditing - Subsequent Events

Qn

You are the auditor of Oil Rakers, a limited liability company which extracts, refines and sells oil and petroleum related products.

The audit of Oil Rakers for the year ended 30 June 2005 had the following events:

Date

Event

15 August 2010

Bankruptcy of major customer representing 11% of the trade receivables on the balance sheet.

21 September 2010

Financial statements approved by directors.

22 September 2010

Audit work completed and auditor’s report signed.

1 November 2010

Accidental release of toxic chemicals into the sea from the company’s oil refinery resulting in severe damage to the environment. Management had amended and made adequate disclosure of the event in the financial statements.

23 November 2010

Financial statements issued to members of Oil Rakers.

30 November 2010

A fire at one of the company’s oil wells completely destroys the well. Drilling a new well will take ten months with a consequent loss in oil production during this time.

Required:For each of the following three dates:

15 August 2010;

1 November 2010; and

30 November 2010

(i) State whether the events occurring on those dates are adjusting or non-adjusting according to IAS 10 Events after the Balance Sheet Date, giving reasons for your decision;

(ii) Explain the auditor’s responsibility and the audit procedures that should be carried out.

Audit procedures to be used prior to the audit report being signed include:

Reviewing procedures established by management to try and ensure that subsequent events are identified.

Reading minutes of the meetings of directors, the audit committee and shareholders and enquiring into unusual items.

Obtaining and reading the company’s latest interim accounts as well as any budgets and cash flow forecasts.

Obtaining additional evidence if possible from the company’s lawyers concerning litigation and claims.

Asking management as to whether any subsequent events have occurred such as

New borrowing commitments

Significant sales of assets

New shares or debentures issued

Assets being destroyed by flood fire etc or impounded by the government

Unusual accounting adjustments made or being contemplated

Checking whether any events have occurred that could call into question the validity of the going concern assumption.

(a) 15 August 2010

The bankruptcy of a major customer provides additional evidence of conditions existing at the balance sheet date. The customer will not be able to pay debts due, therefore receivables are overstated and the bad debt provision on the profit and loss account is understated. An adjustment for the amount of the receivable should be made in the financial statements.

The bankruptcy of the major customer takes place after the end of the year but before the financial statements and the auditor’s report are signed. As the auditor’s report has not been signed, the auditor is responsible for identifying material events that affect the financial statements. This means that audit procedures should be carried out which are designed to identify this event.

Specific procedures undertaken include:

Confirming that the customer will not pay to a letter from the receiver or similar authorised person

Confirming the amount due from the customer to invoices raised prior to the year end, and if possible to a positive direct confirmation letter

Auditing the adjustment to the financial statements decreasing the receivable balance and increasing the bad debt write off in the profit and loss account

Including the amount in the management representation letter to confirm no other amounts are due from the customer

1 November 2010

The accidental release of toxic chemicals occurred after the balance sheet date. Assuming that the inventory was not on the balance sheet at the year end, then the spill is indicative of conditions that arose subsequent to the year end. No adjustment appears to be necessary. However, the event may be significant in terms of the operations of the company (a large legal claim could arise) and so disclosure of the event would be expected.

The accidental release of toxic chemicals takes place after the auditor’s report has been signed but before the financial statements are sent to the members. At this stage of the audit, the auditor does not have any responsibility to perform procedures or make inquiries regarding the financial statements. The management of Oil Rakers is responsible for telling the auditor about any significant events, such as this one.

However, as the auditor is now aware of the event and this materially affects the financial statements in terms of disclosure being required, the auditor does have to discuss the event with management.

Specific procedures to be undertaken include:

Obtain information concerning the chemical release from management, reading local press and if possible the company’s lawyers – the latter may be able to indicate whether there is any legal liability.

Discuss the appropriate accounting treatment with the directors, confirming that disclosure is required in the circumstances.

Read the disclosure note to confirm that the matter is adequately explained in the financial statements.

Obtain an updated letter of representation from the directors confirming that there are no other events requiring disclosure.

Amend the auditor’s report to include an emphasis of matter paragraph to draw attention to the full disclosure noted in the financial statements. Date the new auditor’s report no earlier than the date of the amended financial statements.

30 November 2010

The fire at an oil well means that Oil Raker’s oil production and presumably profits will fall in the next financial year. The fire though does not provide additional evidence of conditions existing at the balance sheet date as at this time there was no indication that this would occur. The event is therefore non-adjusting in the financial statements. However, disclosure of the event should be made so that the financial statements do not give a misleading position.

The fire at an oil well takes place after the financial statements have been issued. At this time, the auditor has no obligation to make any inquiry at all regarding the financial statements.

If the auditor becomes aware of the event, then the potential effect on the auditor’s report must be considered.

Specific procedures undertaken include:

 Checking the board minutes, insurance claims and similar documents to ensure that the fire will be covered by insurance and there is no contingent liability for replacing non-current assets or clearing up any environmental damage.

 Inquiring of the directors how the members will be informed of the situation.

If the directors plan to re-issue the financial statements, ensure that appropriate disclosure is made of the event.

If the directors do not intend to amend the financial statements, and you consider the matter to be material to understanding the accounts, consider attempting to contact the members directly, depending on the methods available in your country.

 If necessary, contact the auditor’s lawyers to discuss what action can be taken regarding the lack of disclosure.

How To Write A Reflective Report

Reflective reporting

Reflection in this context is a process of considering what you have learned, how useful it is, and how it may affect your future personal and career development.

Critical reflection helps you to give some coherence to your learning by relating it to what you already know, and to your plans for the future.

The nature of reflection is very varied. Reflection may encompass:

• the norms underlying your judgments
• the strategies implicit in your behaviour
• the theories that underpin your actions
• your feelings about what you are doing
• your role in the organisational (group) context

Reflective thinking is more than using logic and reasoning to construct or justify an argument or assertion. It is also about the assumptions underlying your beliefs and your actions. Think about the justification for your way of approaching a problem in terms of the rationality of your actions, the practicality of your actions and the morality of your actions.

Reflection involves thinking about what happened, what went right and what went wrong. Why things turned out the way they did. What happened as a result of your action or inaction. What you have learned. What is left to learn. What to do next time.

Reflection works best when you think about what you are doing before, during and after your learning experience.

You may write in the first person.

Professionalism and reflection

Reflective thinking is part of what it means to be a professional. In our context professionalism is characterised by:

• A commitment to understanding and applying relevant knowledge. (Theories, methods, practices)
• An acknowledgement of the professional skills and knowledge of others.
• A recognition that professional judgments are open to question.
• Being prepared to read, research and learn from others in order to fully understand.
• A consideration of your own strengths and weaknesses.
• Being prepared to be flexible.

A commitment to professional ethics involves

• Honesty, openness, fairness and sensitivity when dealing with others.
• Open and effective communications.
• Demystifying technical language.
• Being able to give rational justifications for your actions and decisions.
• Respecting confidentiality.
• Giving due credit to others who have helped you in your work and citing sources for the information you have used, etc.
• Acceptance of responsibility for your professional actions.

Self-questioning to promote reflection

Before you begin a project ask yourself what you already know that is relevant. What would you like to learn from the project? What will you be able to do when the project is complete that you cannot do now, or how can you improve your professional performance?
During your learning ask yourself:

• What am I learning?
• Who and what is proving helpful?
• What connections can be made to other areas of study?
• How and where might I use my new knowledge and competence?

After the learning episode or project ask yourself:

• What can I do better now?
• What surprised me?
• Who and what helped?
• What questions are yet to be answered?
• What next?

The personal debriefing approach to reflection

After completing the learning take time to think and reflect. This can involve reference to notes, discussion with others, dredging your memory in order to:

• Describe the experience.
• Describe how the actual practice relates to the original aims.
• Describe events and actions, then feelings.
• Positive and negative feelings should be described and owned. Consider for example the feelings you had of surprise, frustration, boredom, anger, excitement, pleasure, self-satisfaction. (Feelings are often a good guide to how your learning is progressing.)
• Out of the above descriptions analyse the experience.
• Analyse in relation to the original aims and objectives. Try to reach a judgement on what you achieved (citing appropriate evidence). Analyse the whole experience in terms of such as the thoroughness of your work, the relation to the latest knowledge and practice, how clients were handled (if appropriate) Consider equal opportunities issues if this is appropriate.
• Consider new approaches that you might use in future work. How are your plans for the future changed?

The journal or portfolio approach to reflection

Keeping a journal, or diary, of events is a great help for reflection and promoting learning. Keeping a journal involves:

• Expressing what happened in writing, which is itself a process of clarification
• Writing forces you to focus on what actually happened and aids the separation of events from their interpretation and your feelings about them.
• Expressing your feelings about events in writing helps you understand them better.

Remember the journal is a private document for your exclusive use. Keeping a journal involves:

• Creating a personal document. Do whatever suits you best.
• Being honest with yourself. Learn to write about how things are, not how you would like them to be. Or at least learn to separate these two :-)
• Being positive.
• Being spontaneous. There is no need to agonise over the grammar, or choice of words.
• Using pictures, doodles, diagrams, mind-maps as appropriate.
• Recording your feelings!
• Recording experiences as soon as possible after they happen. Use a PDA or (preferably) a notebook, and/or a voice recorder
• Making a regular time to write up your journal.
• Dating all your entries.

Format for a reflective report

A suitable structure is as follows:

Introduction: An explanation of the aims and objectives of the learning experience.

Part 1: A reasoned, ordered and critical account of your learning. Include key theoretical, conceptual and applied learning points.

Part 2: Critically evaluate your new learning and how it relates to your existing understanding.

Part 3: A demonstration of how the new knowledge has developed you as a person and as a professional. How it might be used in a work situation. How you could have done things better.

Appendices: Original working notes, materials provided, a bibliography of references you have used indicating the extent of your reading, reference to any outcomes of the learning in the form of documents or software.