Accounts - Le Marican

Today I have been appointed to update/tally the accounts for Le Marican. At first I thought I would have to apply balance sheet/ Profit&Loss/ etc that was learnt in EFM (Essential of Financial Management). In the end it is just the update of accounts using a Excel Worksheet, the worksheet have two major tabs.

Accounts Tab, it shows the items that will incur cost and maintenance fee that is collected from the resident. Basically under the cost would be SP services/ cleaning/ pest control/ insurance/ etc, once the bills comes in I will typed it into the worksheet. I will also write cheques and make payable to the respective companies and record the cheque number on the bills. The bills is then filed into our accountant's folder so that she can keep track on her side.

Inflow/Outflow Tab, it shows the cheque number in respect to the purpose of payment. It also shows the summary of the balance left in the maintenance account. The account must always be positive and I had to make sure the outstanding balance can last for as long as possible. In order to do so, I had to factor out which is fixed costs and which are variable cost. Fixed cost cannot be avoided hence to cut cost I had to reduce the variable cost. For example, SP services. We can put a timer on the light system so that it will not be on the whole day or put water-saving device on taps. Until CSC (Certificate of Statutory Completion), we as the developer will have to be responsible for the estate's accounts.

I had learn new terms and how accounts can be kept in worksheet instead of balance sheet. I look forward to next week's work and hope to acquire more and more knowledge from Mr Chan and Ms Lily :D

Stress!!

Today's experience is not a good one. I had almost reached my optimum absorption rate and stress level is high today. Luckily the day end well with me surviving the whole day in the cold and quiet office.

I reached office at 8:56 AM, the morning feels bad as I had insufficient sleep last night. I was feeding the prawns when Mr Chan arrive at the office follow by Ms Lily. The day seems alright until a card access manual comes into sight. I was informed that this system will be installed tomorrow and therefore I had to read and understand this system's features/programming and supervise the contractors work tomorrow. I started reading at 9:30AM and when I had read finish the manual it is already 11:30AM. Two hours of information chewing is like studying marketing the day before examination.

After lunch, approximately 2PM I was informed that I am suppose to coordinate the timing for tomorrow's installation with the contractor. After taking the number, I dial and speaks to the contractor. I was challenged when I am suppose to talk to him in Chinese (ever since the beginning of Polytechnic no one had spoken or converse in Chinese anymore). The whole conversation lasted for three to four minutes before he and I finally understand each other and the timing is fixed.

The last task for the day is the document transmittal form that I must typed and print out and bring to site tomorrow. This form is to ensure that the resident had been notified and also received the cards. There are three types of housing in the estate, Type A/ Type B/ Type C. The difference in each type is the size of the unit hence for smaller unit only gets two cards and three cards for the bigger units. I searched my laptop templates but it doesn't seem to have any. Hence I typed the form using my format and was vet by Ms Lily several times before it is approved for it to be printed.

It is already 6PM when all things ends and to my surprise Mr Chan sent me to Ang Mo Kio MRT station which saved my 15minutes bus trip and fare. Hope that tomorrow will be a good day.

Site Visit - Le Marican

Today I went to one of our development which is located near Kembangan. It is a freehold five-storey estate comprising of 12 units. The estate name is "Le Marican", this name sounds Spanish but you will feel it is lack of creativity once you know it is located at Lorong Marican. This estate just gotten its TOP, Temporary Occupancy Permit, in April this year. (Sounds professional :D Thanks to Ms Lily)

The reason why we went down today is to meet our new cleaner (Sam) for the estate. The previous cleaner did not do a good job in maintaining the estate. Hence we had gotten Sam to replace the previous cleaner from Agrigga. Jason highlighted some areas that had not been well-maintain by the previous contractor and Sam also assure that these conditions will improve in the weeks to come. He further prompted Sam on how is he going to assure that the conditions will improve. Sam did not hesitate and answered the question. To me, Jason's question is trying to gauge if Sam had the experience and thus he will do a better job as compared to the previous contractor. It is also a good way to learn from the contractor.

Today's trip is fruitful and I feel I had learnt and gain experience that will be useful in the future. May my coming days be as good as today, Cheers.

Colleagues

Today I am going to introduce my office colleague to everyone. Basically there is only 4 person in the office.

First would be BOSS, Mr Chan. He owns a personal office that is open all the time. This concept is rather useful as it is convenient to "summon" an employee into his office. It prevents employee from doing personal things/activities, e.g. Facebook and Blogging. It also help to give substantial stress to employee so that they will not slack or sleeps. (Personal point of view :D) Everyday he will be reading newspaper and answering calls all the time. Unlike other bosses that I had work with previously, Mr Chan had to do less talking and paperwork. May be it is just the nature of this field.

Second would be Ms Lily, she is the superwomen in the office. With her experience, she is like a encyclopedia. If you asked her "Why the building so small as compared to the land we own?" or " What is GFA/Psf/plot ratio?" she can always answer you immediately. Another factor why is she the superwomen of the office is that she has lots of job titles. The following are some titles that she carries;
Office Environment - Cleanliness Supervisor

Ongoing Project - Project Manager/ Project Co-ordinator/ Project Planner

Past Project - Historian

Office Calls - Calls Facilitator

There may be more, will be updating this when I find out more.

Jason is the third person in this office, he is from the other stage of DEB and I had never notice this person until I joined TGL. He seems knowledgeable in this field. I hope I can be like him when my 16 weeks ends. Jason is able to communicate well with contractors and resident. He warned me of resident that I should be wary of so that I will not face any trouble in the future. He also showed me the floorplans for the current projects and inform me of rectification work that is done/ ongoing/ to be done.

These are the first impression and comments after working in this office for one month. Hope that these positive encounters will continue and i can learn more and more every passing day.

Allowance

Today is my first working day (Officially). I had started work a month earlier due to a special request from Mr Chan. Mr Chan is very friendly and also serious at the same time.

His consideration for me is greatly appreciated. Since I'm in DEB (Diploma in Engineering w/ Business) and TanGuanLee Co. Ltd is considered to be a development company, my knowledge that is applicable is very limited.

During my interview, Mr Chan asked for my background and questions regarding what I do after school hours. I feel that I had done well because the whole interview lasted for 45 minutes and the conversation had been going smoothly without pauses.

Lastly would be my allowance/pay, this issue kicks in only at the end of the interview. It was so engaging that I clearly forgotten about it until Mr Chan reminded me. He is willing to give me $700 instead of the $450 as promised by Mr Chee. I felt relieved as $450 is really too demanding. Unless I'm going home after work and do not go out on weekends, I will definitely exceed the budget. This is my normal breakdown for my daily expenses;

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner - $15-$20 (Depending on whether I'm ordering drinks)

Transport (Bus/Train) - $4

Taking $19/day and 30days a month, minimum expenses per month will be $520. Hence $450 is not enough and $700 will be adequate if we consider miscellaneous cost for recreation activity.