A few years ago I prepared the page on Cost Modelling: very simple but good for GCSE and early A level work. I have now hosted the Excel file here and an HTM version of the Excel file: excel file ... htm page.

The Northern Rock bank has been through the hoops recently ... was it justified though? I provide a calmer analysis than you might have seen elsewhere. I can't give all the answers of course but at least you'll feel relaxed at the end of my latest report! (329 Kb)

Frankie asked me to put together a page on standard costing variances for sales. So I did. Go to the Cost and Management Accounting section in the menu on the left and look for the Sales Variances link. It's a PDF version of a PowerPoint Presentation and it's a cracker! (370 Kb)

Oil and gas and other forms of energy stay firmly rooted to my mind. I have prepared an analysis of a wide ranging review of the energy industry by J David Hughes of Canada. Just click on the oil and gas section in the menu on the left. (614 Kb)

A bit of World Cup fun: click on this link for some top tips.

Gas Flaring, Global Warming, Y2K and the MMR Vaccine all come under scrutiny in my latest expose. I read a piece by the World Bank on Gas Flaring and immediately felt the need to share it with you. Just click on the oil and gas section in the menu on the left. (168 Kb)

Football again, by coincidence: my new article is a compilation of a variety of materials on the economics of the football World Cup: generally this comes under the heading of what is known as soccernomics. The article also contains the results of a number of economic/econometric style models relating to the self same football tournament. (139 Kb)

The majority of the content of the article is not mine but I have given precise sources of where my information came from. The linking paragraphs and commentaries are mine, however. It's under soccernomics in the menu on the left.

I wrote the following two articles for a client and am able to make them available here too: in general they are intermediate level articles.

• a new file on Barclays Bank's profits for 2005 (123 Kb)
• an article on the Operating and Financial Review (OFR) (87Kb)

These two articles are in the Financial Analysis section of the menu on the left.

On the Management Accounting page, a page introducing two Presentations on Cost Accumulating (52Kb) and Cost Model Building (142Kb): learn management accounting by ... going to the kitchen! They're under Cost and Management Accounting in the menu on the left.

TWO files relating to budgeting and budgetary control: in the menu under Cost and Management accounting, 165Kb and 52Kb respectively. The bigger of the two files is an update of my previous version of these notes that can still be found in the management accounting section, as can the accompanying new PowerPoint Presentation on the same topic: here.

Updated on 28 October 2005 ... EBITDA: ever heard of it? Read the accounts of any company that's had two or three bad years and you'll find it: lastminute.com as was used it until they were bought out; amazon.com used it until they started to turn the profits corner; and the Royal Mail used it as the basis for paying out bonuses to their employees and senior management. It's an accounting trick! It's around 237Kb in size

The Manchester United Takeover by the Glazer Family and the City Code

Here is a PDF file containing

1 a timeline of events
2 the City Takeover Panel's directive for Glazer to put up or shut up
3 the relevant extracts from the City Takeover code: what Glazer had to do and why
4 some inputs from the very well informed Shareholders United web site
5 extracts from the BBC News web site
6 extracts from The Independent Newspaper web site

Download the file from the Financial Management area of the menu. I have left the Takeover Panel rules in full so the file is a bit lengthy but make some notes as appropriate. It's only around 64Kb in size

An unusual file for this site, here is an excellent file containing Dima's AS Level revision notes for his Government and Politics exam.

Dima wants you to know that he objects to this presentation and would rather you downloaded his animated PowerPoint version ... you decide but you need to download this PDF file to get his email address!
It's 258Kb in size

Following a lively online debate with the management of the tutor2u web site, I have felt the need to prepare another pdf file on the subject of preparing charts. In any case it's a valuable file in its own right, so download it free of charge from here! It's 678Kb in size

The National Health Service has announced a amjor new pricing strategy that could take it by storm. I have reviewed what they have published a put it into a pdf file: 291Kb large.

Here's our easyJet plc Report 2nd Edition: I still think this company is a worry ... download this ZIPped version of a PDF file ... it's a fairly big file, hence the ZIP ... in spite of changing the settings to make the file as small as possible 444Kb

I've updated my report on amazon.com although it's not in PDF format because someone kindly sent me a virus that wiped out my Acrobat Distiller package. Still, the link's here and it's worth a read of course!

The potential insolvency of British Energy: I have taken a look at their latest accounts and a few nespaper reports as at 10 September 2002 in an attempt to unravel some of their problems. The answer is that what they are facing comes as something of a shock. I present a lot of accounting information, lots of ratios and several extracts from British newspapers and the reader is then encouraged to draw their own conclusions. I have ZIPped this file but it is still 637Kb large and there are virtually no graphics in it!

I have written a summary of an Audit Commission Report that looks into the management of Operating Theatres in NHS Trusts. The report gives an interesting insight into operating theatre management and I have not only summarised that report but I have added a few notes of guidance for teachers and added some questions that will help students to work through the report and ally it to their other studies: complements work on management accounting, asset management, spreadsheeting ... This file is 398kb.

Here's a page that takes us through the ins and outs of conflicts of interest and insider dealing. It's a general sweep through the topics and it ends with a case study for the reader to use to apply what has been learned. This file is large at 627kb.

Numerate people can still look at a page that considers a linear and non linear analysis of some results from the Olympic Games. This is an excellent page for undergraduates studying, eg, cost behaviour analysis. This file is 410kb.

I took a look at easyJet plc's annual report and accounts and supplementary information for the financial year ended 30 September 2001. I found a mixture of interesting things and things that might be worrying ... see for yourself! This file is 321kb.

A brief review of Wal Mart, the giant US retailing company. I was pointed at the words of a pundit who said that Wal Mart is the king of productivity ... I had a look and couldn't agree. This file is 207kb.

Frank Powell sent a question along a discussion list wire asking for help on Unbundling Costs: what it is and what it means. This file is the result of my efforts to unravel the story for him. This file is short and shouldn't take long to open.

A selection of charts all based on the same data. I have taken this opportunity to provide some raw data, extract some basic statistics and then construct a series of charts, ranging from scattergraph to Z Chart. In the middle of all of that I have prepared radar charts and logarithmic charts, to name but two. This file is medium sized but shouldn't take long to open.

A case study I wrote a couple of years ago about the takeover by Prada of Italy of Church & Co plc, shoemakers of Northampton. I have put this case into pdf format and added some nice graphics from Church's own web site. The teacher's guide is available from me: just write and ask! This file is a short file and shouldn't take long to open.

amazon.com: a Brief History and Analysis. This case is a financial analysis of amazon.com and takes a look at the company from the point of view of its mission and objectives. The case uses ratio analysis, Press Release analysis and a variety of other analyses in an attempt to help us form an opinion of just how good amazon.com is. Be patient, this file is 27 pages long and takes a little while to download.

Let’s Draw Some Charts … some examples from the WWW with suggestions for improvement and it's a first level introduction to drawing charts or graphs. The file unashamedly draws on one source (the BBC.co.uk web site) for the charts that are discussed but then it provides a detailed expose of what's good and what's bad about the charts that are presented. Moreover, the file discusses what we can do to improve the charts that have problems. There are also a few notes for teachers at the end of the file ... such service! This file is a lot shorter and shouldn't take long to open.

Duncan Williamson
23^rd July2011