Accounting 1.2 Frequently Asked Questions

We have created a database of Frequently Asked Question by our teachers. If you feel that your question has not been answered here, feel free to send us your question using the forms below, and we will put it up on our FAQ’s alongwith the answers.

Teachers or Students cannot start a task? For starting a new task, teacher and students will have to click on the Start a New Exercise button in the main screen to start their Task for Doyle’s Desingers and Start Task 1-3 for Pete’s Plumbers.
Is it possible to do Task 1 in one period, then the next day do Task 2 and 3 and the next day do Task 4 and 5 as we do not have a 2 hour block? Yes they can spend as long as they want on a task. The quick ones can submit early and go to next tasks. The slow ones can save their work and come back the next day to continue.
Do students add columns manually or is there a function they can use to add totals? The students can use the sum function in excel to do the totals, also by clicking on the first column and dragging it to the last entry in the same column on the bottom right hand side of the screen they would get the totals.
Can students practice at home? When can students start practicing at home? Students need to install the Schoolsims software in their home computers. Immediately they can start to practice after installation.
Is there a separate software to install for the teacher version? No. One installation is required to access student and teacher version alike. The login information sent out determines the version to display.
How long do the students have to do the assessment? Normally it is 3 periods, then the 4th period some students can do resit. Because it is auto-marked, you can allow students do it as their own pace. Some will only need 2 periods, some will needs 4-5 periods assuming they have been through the teaching sims before.
How long do students need to prepare themselves in the lab(Minimum time)? We will teach it manually first. The recommended usage time is 2 weeks (8-10 periods). Students can use it at home as well.
How do you run the assessment? Do the students print eg: their CRJ and CPJ and Bank statement to do the recon? Students can do it on the sim. There is split screen for it, and a copy of CRJ & CPJ will be showing on task 3 for their reference. Also they can print out a hard copy if they want.
How do students manage to do the CRJ, CPJ and Bank Statement? The video help on task 3 (Doyle’s Designers)shows you how to do it. Students have a working space next to the table to put in their note (e.g. what transactions have been recorded already, what are the new transactions that need update on the CPJ, CRJ, what transactions is recorded but not showing on the bank statement etc)
When can students practice this at home? Students can practice it at home immediately after the installation is done on their home computers.
The cost for the assessment and class time is $10? Please click here for our pricing.
Is there a booklet with instruction for the students we can print off? Please find the resource attachments in the following links: NCEA_AS_1.2_PetersPlumbers teacher briefing 20110307 Full version, NCEA_AS_1.2_PetersPlumbers-Student worksheet, NCEA_AS_1.2_PetersPlumbers-Solutions booklet.
In the actual Sim, where students are being assessed, are they able to go back and change their answers? After they have submitted the assessment, you will decide whether they can re-sit or not. Only then they will be able to go back and change the answers. You can also setup in the teacher version whether students can see the marking after they have submitted or not. Some teachers don’t want to tell students which part they have done incorrectly.
The working area in Task 2, is it possible to carry forward to Task 3? At the moment it is not possible to carry forward the working area and we will do that in the next version of the sim (which is releasing next week).
The GST Clearing Account in Task 5, is that a liability or an asset? It is a liability.
When I try to input the bigger values in Trial Balance (Task 5), they were not able to put in the value and were given errors? It is intentional so students can’t enter something random entries.
I keep on getting the error for module open in another workbook, why? If you have either of the module ie: Doyle’s Designers or Pete’s Plumbers open in the current workbook and trying to open another instance of the same module in the current workbook, you will get the error. To solve this error, please open a new MS Excel workbook and start a fresh instance of the either Doyle’s Designers or Pete’s Plumbers.
I keep on getting the error “Exception Occurred while Opening from Network – Unable to connect to the remote Server”, why? Since our program is an online application, it does need constant Internet connectivity. If your Internet connection drops while you are trying to open either of the exercise, you will get this error, for the program tries to connect to our server to download the module.
In Task 2 and 3 I am getting errors in terms of date and incorrect entry. For task 2 of the sim, please use transaction’s date where available. For the new transactions found in bank statements (task 3), please use the period’s end date.
Why aren’t the modules stored on our computers? All materials from Schoolsims are copyright. Hence, we do not store files on individual local computers. That’s the reason we have the Schoolsims software installed on your computer connecting to our server to download, and save your work.

Recent NZQA changes to reflect best practice

Can students do the bank reconciliation task separately later with an independent set of numbers? No, this is the new requirement by NZQA in the new standard. Bank reconciliation needs to relate to journal entries and is not an optional task. This is a major change to the old standard and students receive an additional 1 more credit for learning this.

If your question is still not answered then please contact us or report a problem. For online help please add the id: Schoolsims to your Skype list and we are available from 10:00AM to 5:00PM Monday through Friday.