eCheat.com RSS Feedhttps://www.echeat.com/ Statistics project Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Title Date The Effects of Unemployment Rate and Inflation on Economic Growth Introduction The economic growth of a country is desirable since it leads to improved standards of livings. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) indicates a countries economic growth. A higher GDP indicates higher economic growth. Several factors affect the GDP of a country. Some of the factors that influence the growth of the economy include inflation and the unemployment rate (Alisa 90). Inflation is the increase in the prices of goods and services of a country. Inflation is as a result of the decrease in the value of the currency hence an increase in inflation leads to a decrease in the economic growth. An increase in the unemployment rate leads to a decrease in the economic growth of a country. The unemployment rate decreases the purchasing power of individuals hence shrink the economy. This paper investigates the correlation between economic growth and inflation and the unemployment rate of the United States. A linear regression analysis will be used to analyze the data with GDP as the response variable and unemployment rate and inflation as the explanatory variables. Method of Data Collection The data used in the analysis involves the GDP, the unemployment rate, and the inflation of the population of interest which is the United States from the year 1985 to 2018 (Amadeo para 3). The data was obtained from the website The Balance. The website provides reliable data concerning the economic status of the United States. It provides the economic statistics and analyzes the performance with respect to the previous status. Data Analysis Scatter plot diagrams were used to show the graphical representation of the relationship between the response variable and the explanatory variables. The scatter plot diagram of GDP against unemployment shows a negative relationship between the variables. The scatterplot indicates a decrease in economic growth with the increase in the unemployment rate. The StatKey analysis also indicates the coefficient of correlation between the two variables. The coefficient of correlation indicates the direction and strength of the relationship. The coefficient of correlation of the relation between GDP and inflation is -0.576. The negative sign indicates a negative direction of the relationship. The figure also indicates a relationship of moderate strength. The coefficient of determination can be obtained by finding the square of the coefficient of correlation. The coefficient of determination is 0.332. This means that the regression model represents 33.2% 2019-05-10T01:59:11.01-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Statistics-project-45485.aspx Cost Accounting Cost Accounting Student’s Name Institution’s Name Cost Accounting a) Primary accounting information needed by each manager Jason Dennis is the Sales Manager, is responsible for supervising all the sales representatives. The primary accounting information that a Sales Manager should know is the customer base for the organization (Jiambalvo, 2010). Since the company is involved in the trading of tennis related products, Jason Dennis would instruct his sales representatives to concentrate their efforts on the people who play tennis for either recreational or for professional reasons. Besides, Jason Denis would require the information of each of the products that they offer at the company. This information includes the cost of each product. The Sales Manager do not just require the cost of a product at the final stage but the cost from the manufacturing stage to the point where it is ready to be sold. Being the Sales Manager, Jason Dennis is also supposed to be familiar with the salary paid to each of his sales representatives (Gregoriou & Finch, 2012). Furthermore, he should know the rate of commission that they are given on successful sales. This information is important because it would enable the company to determine the number of profits made on successful sales. Dave Marley is Cost Accounting Manager and is responsible for supervising the cost accounts. He would be required to know the cost associated with the each product that the company manufactures. These costs fall into two categories (Gregoriou & Finch, 2012). The first type is the period cost category while second is the product price category. Period costs comprise mainly of the expenses incurred in the selling of the goods and the administrative costs while the product costs include the manufacturing overhead cost, the cost of labor and the raw material costs. Manufacturing overhead costs are costs which are related to indirect expenses such as indirect labor and indirect cost of raw materials. Kevin Carson is the Production Supervisor. The Production Supervisor would need information similar to that required by the cost accounting manager (Weygandt, Kieso & Kimmel, 2012). There are only a few differences like information that the two should have. Such a difference in the information required by the two would occur. For instance, the cost accounting manager is required to know both the information on the period cost and the production cost whereas the production need only know the cost of production. Sally Renner, the Engineer, is responsible 2017-05-23T01:48:16.47-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Cost-Accounting-45331.aspx Enrique’s Journey Enrique’s Journey Enrique’s Journey portrays the story of a Honduran boy as he travels in search of his mother, who had earlier migrated to the U.S. During his treacherous journey, Enrique faces many heartbreaking challenges. Notably, his attempts to cross into American territory are frequently denied. While at Nuevo Laredo, Enrique’s experiences prove that people are basically evil. The evil in humanity refers to both the perpetration of criminal activities and the unwillingness to help others in need. Enrique had lost his mother’s cell phone number while on a freight train. Consequently, he gets stuck at the border for several days. Despite failing to reach El Norte on seven previous attempts, Enrique remains determined to cross the border. He is primarily concerned that his mother would worry when she calls Honduras and fails to find him. Furthermore, Enrique’s mother could have found a smuggler to take him to his destination. Consequently, he sees the urgent need to obtain her number and telephone her. In this regard, Enrique would need at least 100 pesos to make two calls. However, the evil nature of the people at the border is manifested through the fact that they cannot lend him any money. Besides, the Mexicans in Nuevo Laredo felt entitled to migrate into the U.S. However, most people could neither provide jobs nor food. Hence, Enrique was forced to earn a living by offering to wash cars. Although he approached several people, only a couple of drivers agreed to let him clean the vehicle. The intense competition for clients heightened the difficulty of finding work. In addition, the encampment is populated with hardened criminals and drug users. Nuevo Laredo has immigration agents who customarily use physical violence on the migrants. Some civilians also brandish machetes as they seek out illegal migrants. The corrupt nature of immigration authorities hinders victims of assault from seeking justice. Therefore, the people in Nuevo Laredo are evil due to their vices and lack of compassion. Moreover, El Tirindaro serves as the leader of the encampment. He was highly respected since he customarily smuggled people across the river. Nevertheless, his evil traits were displayed in his addiction to heroin. Furthermore, El Tirindaro demanded beer and drugs from any immigrant that wished to live in peace and security. He also tattooed people and sold immigrants’ clothes to finance his evil habits. The extent of evil is seen in that the majority of the 2016-08-08T00:39:05.72-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Enrique’s-Journey-35209.aspx four paragraph eassay on accounting Dear Sir/ Madam, I would like to express my interest in an Administrative Assistant Position for your organization. I believe I am a strong and potential candidate for a position at you organization. I graduated from Science Faculty, Kabul University, currently I am doing diploma in English language in Kardan University also I have attended number of trainings and workshops. I have more than a year of experience in Administrative and Program in Education department. I have ability to work fast, communicate well and to solve problems. I believe that my strengths and abilities are exactly what you are looking for to fill the position and would be the best candidate. I look forward to speak with you. Thank you for your consideration. Best Regards Parisa Sabbar Parisa Sabbar Parisa.sabbar@akdn.org Parisasabbar33@gmail.com 0790172042 Macroreyan, Kabul, Afghanistan PROFILE A BSc in physics, having more than a year of Experience in administration and Monitoring and evaluation in an international non-governmental organization, excellent computer and English skills I feel myself very suitable for your organization, where I could increase my experience and would bring positive changes to your organization. KEY SKILLS Computer Skills ? Operating System (Dos & Windows) ? MS Office (Word, Excel, Access and Power point) ? Internet Browsing and emailing ? Out look Language Skills Languages Reading Writing Understanding Speaking Dari Native Native Native Native Pashto Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent English Excellent Very Good Excellent Very Good Urdu Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent EDUCATION ? 2015- kardan University, Diploma in English Language ? 2013- Kabul University, BSc in Physics ? 2009- Abul Qaseem Firdausi High School, High School Graduate ? 2013- Rahnamoon English Language & Computer Center, Completed MS. Office Package ? 2015- CW4W, Certificate of 5 days training on Librarianship And Reading Promotion ? 2014- WSI, Certificate of 3 days training on Monitoring and Evaluation WORK EXPERIENCE Education Program Assistant AKF-A| Kabul, Afghanistan May2015 - Till Now Key Responsibilities ? Responsible for taking notes of Education weekly, monthly and quarterly meeting and workshops. ? Responsible for short translations. (English to Dari and Dari to English). ? Responsible for collecting and reviewing monthly timesheets of Education Department. ? Responsible for liaising with procurement department for full range of logistical and procurement needs in NPO Education Office. ? Responsible to assist 2016-07-03T00:11:09.34-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/four-paragraph-eassay-on-accounting-35205.aspx ACC 561 Financial Statements Differential Financial Statement Differentiation Paper Jasmine Unger ACC/561 April 8, 2013 Professor Timothy Jared Financial Statement Differentiation Paper Financial statements provide documentation of a company’s financial history for a set timeframe. One of the financial statement used by investors, creditors, and mangers is the balance sheet. The second statement used by accountant’s income statement, which is also important to shareholders. The third statement is the retained earnings statement, and the fourth financial statement is the statement of cash flows. Each financial statement has a different purpose and shows different aspects of the company’s finances. However, these financial statements are integrated and work together to provide shareholders financial information. This paper will defines the four financial statements while explaining the financial statement most suitable for either an investor, creditor, or management. The Four Financial Statements The first financial statement is the balance sheet. The balance sheet provides a portrait of the company’s assets and liabilities. The balance sheet is the statement of financial position at a given point (Quick MBA, 2010). The second financial statement, the income statement, reports the revenues, and expenses during the same timeframe as the balance sheet. Revenue is the monies the company is gaining after expenses. The third statement is called the retained earnings statement, which explains changed in retained earnings. The retained earnings are changed by the company’s income and dividends. The retained earnings statement uses information form the income statement, which changes the financial information on the balance sheet. The final financial statement is the statement of cash flows. The statement of cash flows shows where the business obtained cash during a period of time and how that cash was used (Kimmel, Accounting, 3/e). Financial Statement for Investors Investors rely on more than one financial statement but the first financial statement is the statement of cash flows. The statement of cash flows is very important to investors because the amount of cash generated by the company is shown on this statement (Stocks 100, 2010). This is different from the income statement because the statement of cash flows does not include other types of revenues or company expenses. An investor wants to see the organization’s cash flows from different aspects of the company. Some of these areas include the compay’s operating activities, investing activities, and financing activities. Operating activities should show a positive cash flow because this cash flow benefits shareholders. Investing activities can fall into different categories like capital expenditures or monetary 2013-04-15T23:44:50.753-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/ACC-561-Financial-Statements-Differential-34858.aspx Accounting WHAT THEY DO: Accountants and auditors examine financial statements for accuracy and conformance with laws. Accountants and auditors prepare and examine financial records. They ensure that financial records are accurate and that taxes are paid properly and on time. Accountants and auditors assess financial operations and work to help ensure that organizations run efficiently. Duties Accountants and auditors typically do the following: • Examine financial statements to be sure that they are accurate and comply with laws and regulations • Compute taxes owed, prepare tax returns, and ensure that taxes are paid properly and on time • Inspect account books and accounting systems for efficiency and use of accepted accounting procedures • Organize and maintain financial records • Assess financial operations and make best-practices recommendations to management • Suggest ways to reduce costs, enhance revenues, and improve profits In addition to examining and preparing financial documentation, accountants and auditors must explain their findings. This includes face-to-face meetings with organization managers and individual clients, and preparing written reports. Many accountants and auditors specialize, depending on the particular organization that they work for. Some organizations specialize in assurance services (improving the quality or context of information for decision makers) or risk management (determining the probability of a misstatement on financial documentation). Other organizations specialize in specific industries, such as healthcare. Some workers with a background in accounting and auditing teach in colleges and universities. For more information, see the profile on postsecondary teachers. The four main types of accountants and auditors are the following: Public accountants do a broad range of accounting, auditing, tax, and consulting tasks. Their clients include corporations, governments, and individuals. They work with financial documents that clients are required by law to disclose. These include tax forms and balance sheet statements that corporations must provide potential investors. For example, some public accountants concentrate on tax matters, advising corporations about the tax advantages of certain business decisions or preparing individual income tax returns. External auditors review clients' financial statements and inform investors and authorities that the statements have been correctly prepared and reported. Public accountants, many of whom are Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), generally have their own businesses or work for public accounting firms. Some public accountants specialize in forensic accounting, investigating financial crimes, such as securities fraud and embezzlement, bankruptcies and contract disputes, and other complex and possibly criminal financial transactions. Forensic accountants combine their knowledge of accounting and finance with law and investigative techniques to determine if an activity is illegal. Many forensic accountants work closely with law enforcement personnel and 2013-01-13T20:05:44.92-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Accounting-34774.aspx Corporate Financial Statements The financial statements for a firm are required as it has a number of stakeholders who depend upon its financial information in order to make economic decisions. However, the major corporate finance scandals often shake the confidence of investors and raise questions about the reliability of financial statements prepared by companies and audited by independent auditors. This essay discusses whether corporate financial statements are management representations of the financial position and the performance of a company. It also analyses whether or not accounting standards and practises contribute to ensuring the confidence of investors in the integrity of financial statements. A firm has a number of external and internal stakeholders. The investors and creditors need financial information to make investment or lending decisions based on the net worth and profitability of a firm (Benedict and Elliot, 2001). Financial statements are also used by employees and government agencies for monitoring and decision making. Given the importance and usefulness of financial statements, national accounting bodies issue financial reporting guidelines that companies are required to follow when preparing and presenting their financial statements for promoting high quality corporate governance and foster investment (“About the FRC”, 2012). However, in spite of the widespread knowledge of accounting standards and also the high economic costs associated with the violation of regulations, some companies still tend to commit financial reporting frauds. Large companies like Computer Associates and Tyco International have falsified revenues by manipulating accounting policies in order to show higher than actual earnings (Marshall, 2004). Satyam Computer Limited was one of the largest IT firms in India before it revealed that it had been overstating its earnings for a number of years. This implies that the management of a company can manipulate its corporate financial statements to represent an incorrect view of the financial performance and position of the company. The possibility of corporate financial statements being management representations of the financial position and performance of a company arises because of subjectivity in the implementation of reporting standards. Revenue recognition is one of the main accounting areas where subjectivity can have a significant impact on the operating results of a company. Issues in revenue recognition arise from the differences in purposes and accounting rules for tax and financial reporting (Stolowy and Lebas, 2006). A company’s interpretation of an accounting policy may not match that of the regulatory authorities and therefore, it could lead to reinstatement of its earnings. 2012-11-21T16:59:11.46-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Corporate-Financial-Statements-34747.aspx .23 2011-11-09T06:14:07.377-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/_23-34315.aspx Personal Financing and Investing 1.0 Introduction 2 2.0 Data Collection 2 2.1 Personal Budget 2 2.2 Car deal 2 2.3 Payment method of Car 3 2.4 Selecting a Credit Card 5 2.5 Employing left over cash 6 2.6 Future Income 6 2.7 Future value of trip 7 2.8 North Beenleigh house 7 2.9 Financing Shailer Park home 9 3.0 Conclusion 9 4.0 Recommendations 10 5.0 References: 11 6.0 Appendixes: …………………………………....………After 11 1.0 Introduction The information below has been specially gathered and designed for Mr. Bernard Fanning who may use the following data to make future decisions. This report contains matters concerning Personal Financing which is the ability of an individual to provide funds in order to achieve personal goals and investing which is defined as the putting out of money into a project which in return you may receive a higher amount. 2.0 Data Collection The information and figures produced on this report was collected and presented by, Salman Clay. The resources and information used to produce this report is recorded on the reference and appendix pages, see table of contents for details. 2.1 Personal Budget Income: Total: Monthly Income 3750 3750 Expense: Food 400 Electricity 100 Phone 140 Clothing 200 Entertainment 600 Car expenses 150 Insurance/Registration 150 Miscellaneous 200 Mortgage 1200 3140 Income – Expense: 610 Saving a Year: 7320 2.2 Car deal It has been stated that Mr. Fanning would like to trade in the Toyota corolla, ascent, lift back, four speed, 2000 model for a better much more luxurious Mazda 6, semi-automatic, five speed, 2008 model. Using the information shown on the appendix A, there is a good chance that you may receive an average price of $7200, if the Toyota corolla is traded in. Because the car is said to be in very good condition the price obtained from appendix A is the highest price for trade in. This price does not include fees which are to be paid when buying or selling a vehicle. Examples of the fees are transfer and registration fees. The car that Mr. Fanning wants to trade in the Toyota Corolla for is a 2008 Mazda 6, with automatic transmission. As Appendix B states, the car is a 2008 Mazda 6, Limited Sedan, four door Semi-Automatic 5 speed 2.5 litre which retails for $31 800. This price does not include fees which are to be paid when buying or selling a vehicle. Please refer to the table below. Price: Difference Toyota Corolla $7200 Mazda 6 $31800 $24600 There is an extra price of $24 600 needing to be paid if Bernard wants to trade in the Toyota corolla for the Mazda 6 assuming that the car dealer is being generous and is paying for the fees. 2.3 Payment method of Car Getting a car loan is the best choice of payment for Mr. Fanning’s situation. There 2008-03-16T03:22:49-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Personal-Financing-and-Investing-33533.aspx Republican National Convention The 1880 Republican National Convention convened from June 2 to June 8, 1880, at the Interstate Exposition Building in Chicago, Illinois, United States,[1] and nominated James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur as the official candidates of the Republican Party of the United States for President and Vice President, respectively, in the 1880 presidential election. Of the 14 people nominated for the Republican nomination, the three strongest candidates leading up to the convention were Ulysses S. Grant, James G. Blaine, and John Sherman. Grant twice had served as the President of the United States, and was seeking an unprecedented third term in office. He was backed by the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party, which supported political machines and patronage. Blaine was a senator and former representative from Maine who was backed by the Half-Breed faction of the Republican Party.[2] Sherman, the brother of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, was the then Secretary of the Treasury under President Rutherford B. Hayes. He was also a former senator from Ohio and was backed by a delegation that did not support the Stalwarts or Half-Breeds.[2] On the first ballot, Sherman received 93 votes, while Grant and Blaine had 304 and 285, respectively. None of the candidates were close to victory, and the balloting continued to determine a winner. Many more ballots were taken, but no candidate prevailed. After the thirty-fifth ballot, Blaine and Sherman switched their support to the new "dark horse" candidate, James Garfield. On the next ballot, Garfield won the nomination by receiving 399 votes, 93 higher than Grant's total.[3] Garfield's Ohio delegation chose Chester A. Arthur, a Stalwart, as Garfield's vice-presidential running mate. Arthur won the nomination by capturing 468 votes, and the longest-ever Republican National Convention was subsequently adjourned. The Garfield-Arthur Republican ticket later defeated Democrats Winfield Scott Hancock and William Hayden English in the close 1880 presidential election.[4] Contents [hide] 1 Background 1.1 Ulysses S. Grant 1.2 James G. Blaine 1.3 John Sherman 1.4 James Garfield 2 Pre-convention politics 3 The convention 3.1 Presenting the nominees 3.2 Balloting 4 Aftermath 5 See also 6 References [edit] Background As President of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes had caused heated tensions within the Republican Party. Hayes had moved away from party patronage by offering government jobs to Southern Democrats instead of Northern Republicans.[5] His actions drew heavy criticism from those inside his party, such as Roscoe Conkling of New York and 2007-11-04T19:53:34-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Republican-National-Convention-33387.aspx Financial Report Financial Report Introduction Financial reports convey information which involve with assisting and analyzing and also interpreting the financial position of an organization. This report will examine three areas of analysis which incorporate profitability, effectiveness of management policies and the financial stability of the business. Profitability Profitability ratios are seen as the businesses ability to earn income within the present financial formation of the business. Net Profit Ratio The net profit ratio designates the ability of the business to generate a return on the owners’ investment. For a business to have a high net profit ratio, this means that their operating revenues are high and that their operating expenses are low. If a business has a low net profit ratio, complications arise as it means that they may have higher expenses and that their selling margin is low. Benchmarks for net profit for the three year period were as follows; for 2007 it was 8.5%, for 2006 it was 9.00% and for 2005 this was 8.00%. These benchmarks, when compared to that of Highway Industries are lower which means that Highway Industries is performing at a consistent level. Since 2005, the net profit ratio has risen from 8.44% to 11.88% in 2006. Although it was still above the industry average, the net profit ratio dropped in 2007 by 1.85% to 10.03%. Whilst the business may have dropped in percentage from 2006 to 2007, it rose 1.59% since 2005. This positive net profit indicates that the business has high revenues and low expenses. Rate of Return on Owners Equity Ratio Rate of return on owners’ equity ratio specifies the return to the owner on the amount invested in the business. For a business to have a high return on equity ratio means that the business may indicate management efficiency. For the business to have a low ratio, could mean that their management is inefficient and that it could be beneficial for them to invest elsewhere. The rate of return on owners’ equity ratio is significant for the owner it will be evaluated with other returns on different types of investments to verify if the business is a worthwhile investment opportunity. Highway Industries is impressively above the industry average, and has maintained this over the three year period. As with the net profit, this figure has decreased since 2006, but is still increasingly higher than the set benchmark which is set at 12.00% for 2005, 11.00% for 2006 and 13.00% for 2007-08-05T09:43:40-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Financial-Report-33308.aspx Personal Financing TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 3 PERSONAL BUDGET 3 CREDIT CARD COMPARISON 3 VIRGIN CREDIT CARD 4 MONTHLY EXPENSES 4 TRADE IN 5 TOYOTA COROLLA 5 MAZDA 6 PURCHASE 5 INVESTMENTS 5 SUPERANNUATION 5 OVERSEAS TRIP – 10 YEARS 6 YEPPOON HOME 6 BEENLEIGH HOME 6 BIBLIOGRAPHY 8 INTERNET 8 APPENDIX 10 INTRODUCTION PERSONAL BUDGET CREDIT CARD COMPARISON Mr. Bernard Fanning has many options regarding credit card selections and which credit card would be best for his personal needs. The credit cards that were researched to help Mr. Fanning find the right credit card for him included Commonwealth Bank credit cards, Suncorp Metway credit cards, American Express credit cards and Virgin credit cards. After researching the different types of credit cards that these banks offered, it came down to their standard credit cards which were best suited for Mr. Fanning. Standard credit cards were chosen as Mr. Fanning would only be using his credit card from time to time. Standard credit cards that were offered from the banks mentioned above were all involved with a cheap interest rate deal and all with a 55 day interest free period. Other credit cards that were put on offer by the different banks included platinum and gold credit cards. These cards would not be as virtuous as standard credit cards as they assign higher interest rates. The comparison table below demonstrates the difference between all four of the banks standard credit cards including interest rate, annual fee, and balance transfer. The comparison graph below indicates the difference between interest rates among the four standard credit cards. VIRGIN CREDIT CARD Although all four of the credit cards had reasonably the same interest rates and interest free days, the card that would be ideal for Mr. Fanning is the Virgin credit card which offers him a 0% interest rate for the first six months. Unlike the other researched credit cards, Virgin has no annual fee which would save him on average $50 per year. Mr. Fanning is assured a low ongoing interest rate which at present is 12.99% p.a. Virgin credit cards also offer a low balance transfer which starts of for the first six months as 0%. MONTHLY EXPENSES Monthly expenses that Mr. Fanning is advised to place onto his virgin credit card include his over the phone payments. Over the phone payments include electricity bills and electricity bills. Mr. Fanning may also include other necessities of interest which may include his entertainment costs. Mr. Fanning’s credit card limit is set at $1000 per month. This is due to the fact that Mr. Fanning 2007-08-01T07:51:41-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Personal-Financing--33307.aspx The Changing Role Of Accountants in the 21st Century The Changing Role Of Accountants in the 21st Century A number of reports by academicians and practitioners all over the world have called significant change in the accounting methods and research and their relevance in the 21st century. Many believe that the accounting model is outdated with little relevance to the changes taken place in the wider world. Both the academicians and practitioners agree that if accounting is to serve a useful role in the changing environment, accounting education and accounting research should become more broader, dynamic and not constraint by a single approach. Despite these facts, the academicians and practitioners both stated that the accounting methods taught and practiced have changed significantly. The history of accounts does not begin from the colonial era of the British Empire neither does it begin in the fourteenth century Italy, accounts came from the Mesopotamian region in the 3500 B.C. Five thousand years before the appearance of double-entry, the Assyrian, Chaldaean-Babylonian and Summerain civilizations were flourishing in the Mesopotamian Valley, producing some of the oldest known records of commerce (ACAUS, 1999). As business prospered and industries developed, cities of Babylon and Ninerah became the center for commerce and the language of business and politics. Mesopotamia had more than one bank with a standard measurement in gold and silver. And in some transactions allowing some credit. The accountants in the Mesopotamian times had similar but more extensive duties than the accountants of today. Apart from writing up transactions, he ensured that the agreement complied with detailed code requirements for commercial transactions (ACAUS, 1999). The scribes would record the transaction on specially prepared clay not because clay was available in surplus but because paper also known as papyrus was very expensive and scarce. Between the years 2000 –256 B.C. ancient Egypt, China, Greece and Rome followed a similar accounting methods compared to the Mesopotamian. The use of paper was more than clay tablets as detailed records were made easily on paper. In these early ages, accountants had to be honest and accurate, because irregularities disclosed by audits were punishable by fines, mutilation or even death. Household expenses played an important role in ancient Rome as citizens were required to submit regular statements of assets and liabilities, used in the basis of taxation, and were recorded in an adversary or daybook and monthly posting to a cashbook known as codex accepti et expensi. 2007-04-25T21:02:38-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Changing-Role-Of-Accountants-in-the-21st-Century-33157.aspx Benefits of Using Accounting Report Benefits of Using Accounting Report Accounting Report is the leading provider of competitive intelligence for accounting firms. It is renowned for its straight reporting and analysis of the news, developments, and trends that have defined the profession for over 20 years. Topics covered include breaking news, in-depth firm profiles, mergers and acquisitions, office closings, auditor changes, key personnel moves, legal and regulatory issues, competitive intelligence, niche practices and product launches, and much more. Here are several comments of what some people say about public accounting report: "Insightful information you don't see anywhere else." Says Sean Egan, Managing Partner, KPMG. "I look forward to every issue." Says Robert Leavy, Partner, Grant Thornton. "Superior job of capturing current events." Says Dennis Hanno, Professor, Department of Accounting, University of Massachusetts. An interesting issued that came across the Wall Street Journal the last month was regarding Internet Financial Accounting Reporting. How can companies improve the usefulness of their financial accounting reporting practices? Many companies are using the power and reach of the Internet to provide more useful information to financial statement readers. Recent surveys indicate that over 80% of large companies have Internet sites, and a large proportion of these companies’ Web sites contain links of their financial statements and other disclosures. The increased popularity of such reporting is not surprising, since the costs of printing and dissemination of paper reports could be reduced with the use of Internet reporting. How does Internet financial accounting reporting improve the overall usefulness of a company’s financial reports? First, dissemination of reports via the Web can allow firms to communicate with more users that is possible with traditional paper reports. In addition, Internet reporting allows users to take advantage of tools such as search engines and hyperlinks to quickly find information about the firm and, sometimes, to download the information for analysis, perhaps in computer spreadsheets. Finally, Internet reporting can help make financial reports more relevant by allowing companies to report expanded disaggregated data and more timely data then is possible through paper-based reporting. For example, some companies voluntarily report weekly sales data and segment operating data on their Web sites. Thus, although Internet financial reporting is gaining in popularity, until issues related to differential access to the Internet and the reliability of information disseminated via the Web are addressed, we will continue to see traditional paper-based reported, states Michael Fox, 2007-04-23T04:25:32-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Benefits-of-Using-Accounting-Report-33108.aspx Understanding of working capital Understanding of working capital By N.Kavitha MBA,M.Phil,(Ph.D) Lecturer- MBA, SSM College of Engineering, Komarapalyam. 638 183 Tamil nadu. India nkavithamba@yahoo.co.in Working capital : Working capital may be regarded as the life blood of business. Working capital is of major importance to internal and external analysis because of its close relationship with the current day-to-day operations of a business. Every business needs funds for two purposes.  Long term funds are required to create production facilities through purchase of fixed assets such as plants, machineries, lands, buildings & etc  Short term funds are required for the purchase of raw materials, payment of wages, and other day-to-day expenses. . It is other wise known as revolving or circulating capital It is nothing but the difference between current assets and current liabilities. i.e. Working Capital = Current Asset – Current Liability Businesses use capital for construction, renovation, furniture, software, equipment, or machinery. It is also commonly used to purchase inventory, or to make payroll. Capital is also used often by businesses to put a down payment down on a piece of commercial real estate. Working capital is essential for any business to succeed. It is becoming increasingly important to have access to more working capital when we need it. Importance of Adequate Working Capital A business firm must maintain an adequate level of working capital in order to run its business smoothly. It is worthy to note that both excessive and inadequate working capital positions are harmful. Working capital is just like the heart of business. If it becomes weak, the business can hardly prosper and survive. No business can run successfully without an adequate amount of working capital. Danger of inadequate working capital When working capital is inadequate, a firm faces the following problems Fixed Assets cannot efficiently and effectively be utilized on account of lack of sufficient working capital. Low liquidity position may lead to liquidation of firm. When a firm is unable to meets its debts at maturity, there is an unsound position. Credit worthiness of the firm may be damaged because of lack of liquidity. Thus it will lose its reputation. There by, a firm may not be able to get credit facilities. It may not be able to take advantages of cash discount. Concept of working capital 1) Gross Working Capital = Total of Current Asset 2) Net Working Capital = Excess of Current Asset over Current Liability Current Assets Current Liabilities Cash in hand / at bank Bills Receivable Sundry Debtors Short term loans Investors/ stock Temporary investment Prepaid expenses Accrued incomes Bills Payable Sundry 2007-04-16T06:36:17-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Understanding-of-working-capital-32920.aspx Ethics Accounting The purpose of ethics in business is to individuals to abide by a code of conduct that facilitates, if not encourages, public confidence in their products and services. In the accounting field, the AICPA maintains and enforces a code of professional conduct for public accountants. Professional accounting organizations recognize the accounting profession's responsibility to provide ethical guidelines to its members. The AICPA's first principle of professional conduct states: "In carrying out their responsibilities as professionals, members should exercise sensitive professional and moral judgments in all their activities." A profession is formed on the basis of (1) a generally accepted body of knowledge, (2) a widely recognized standard of attainment, and (3) an enforceable code of ethics. A code of ethics is a crucial element in forming a professional. The three major accounting professional organizations have an ethics code. FASB The Financial Accounting Standards Board is a major organization whose primary purpose is to develop Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States (US GAAP), similar to what the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) does for local and state governments in the United States. The federal organization is responsible for maintaining independence standards in accounting, the powers of which come from the Congress. The FASB sets out to improve corporate accounting practices by enhancing guidelines set out for accounting reports, identifying and resolving issues in a timely manner and creating a uniform standard across the financial markets. The mission of the Financial Accounting Standards Board is to establish and improve standards of financial accounting and reporting for the guidance and education of the public, including issuers, auditors, and users of financial information. It is a seven-member independent board consisting of accounting professionals who establish and communicate standards of financial accounting and reporting in the United States. FASB standards, known as generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), govern the preparation of corporate financial reports and are recognized as authoritative by the Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is the United States governing body which has primary responsibility for overseeing the regulation of the securities industry. The SEC has five Commissioners who are appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. Their terms last five years and are staggered so that one Commissioner's term ends on June 5 of each year. To ensure that the SEC remains non-partisan, no more than three Commissioners may 2007-04-02T15:35:13-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Ethics-Accounting--32881.aspx Martin Luther King I have a dream Nothing inspires me more than a portion the speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the slain civil right leader “I have a dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity.” Since childhood, I dreamed, as did Dr. King who went on to inspire a nation to rethink the struggles of equality. I dream of teaching to inspire people to desire knowledge and enlighten our society that continued education is for, not only the elite, intelligent, and youthful population but for everyone. There are several reasons why this subject is important to me and hence the reason why I am writing for this scholarship. One reason why this issue is so important to me is that as a single parent I want to set an example that no matter where you are in life it is never too late to become more educated. During the last eight years, I have devoted a significant amount of time to my children’s education. Following an industrial injury more than ten years ago, I faced many obstacles of my own such as living with a debilitating disability that modifies my lifestyle. With the desire to administer knowledge, my quest for knowledge has intensified. Whereby discovering many children and young adults who needed my compassion for learning and patience to instruct. In this difficult era of educational standards, I volunteer at schools and libraries helping children become confident to read aloud and with greater comprehension and understand the concepts of math. Moreover, I realize that education in the earliest stages of life is changing with time and we must stay abreast of the changes. “No child left behind.” With the internet, informing and entertaining the young minds of our society through unconventional websites, the educators of today have little chance to set a positive impression. Those who find themselves unacquainted with these changes do not have the courage to become knowledgeable of new innovative ideals and means of learning. However, with the generous endowments made through individuals mindful of the value of higher education, my dreams are becoming real and goals accomplished. My interest in the education of my children and other young minds has driven to help children read more. Educators are unique 2006-12-07T07:13:04-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Martin-Luther-King-I-have-a-dream-31916.aspx The Bridge and sayings I was walking across the bridge I thought that was a silly name for a bridge. Then all of a sudden I heard a girl say I called it The Bridge. So then she said to that I deserved to jump off the bridge and then we can be friends. I was so scared so I ran away and went to my boyfriend's house. He was drunk I could tell he started to chase me all the way back to the bridge. The worst thing that would ever happen to me was my BOYFRIEND threw me off of the bridge. So now I lie here on the bridge all alone and the worst thing to ever happen to a thirteen year old. I wait every day for my boyfriend so I can throw him off the bridge to so we can be together forever and ever. You look at me and walk away I say "hello" and you say "hi". I turn around and you are gone please stay with me forever our last relationship didn't work out but now were together again so lets try to be with eachother forever. We look at each other all the time and we blaim eahother for silly things what is with this weird thing that happens to us I really don't now. I thought I had a true friend untill she decided to talk to the meanest person to me and then my not so true friend was talking about me behind my back so I don't know what you are now please tell me what you are my true friend or not a true friend. So many girls thinks its ok to talk about people behind their back well theres a girl in my class that some people just love to make fun of her so what is with thoughs girls I dunno all I know is they need major surgery on their life starting with the gossip. Some people are just not nice to others but whatever is wrong with them must need a life trust me on that and also whats with the cheating on test thats what bugs me but oh well life suxs thats all I can say. I woke up it was 7 I waited til 11 Just to figure out that no one would call I think I've got alot of friends But I don't hear from them What's 2006-12-01T21:21:16-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Bridge-and-sayings-31848.aspx Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye Moving to a foreign country is one of the hardest things to do. People must adapt to the culture, the lifestyle, and make new friends. In Naomi Shihab Nye’s Habibi, Liyana and her family move from the United States to Palestine, where Liyana’s father was born. Liyana tells her story in great detail about adapting, the meaning of family, and making new friends in her new life. Habibi is a wonderful, compelling story about Liyana and her family adjusting to the atmosphere, people, and the conflicts surrounding them in their new home, Palestine. Of the many motifs in this novel, the unavoidable Arab and Israeli conflict of the 1970’s, (most of which still continues today), is the most powerful. Motifs in Habibi are mainly universal; love and family, adjusting to change, etc. However, there are two motifs which stand out: “war and peace,” and “race, ethnicity, and culture.” War and peace is the basis of Nye’s novel. It is the core theme, and propels the story and characters. The ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict galvanizes the characters to stand up and make a change in their lives, and to be compassionate. It also highlights the racial and cultural tensions between Arabs, Armenians, Jews, and Greeks; though the main warring factions are Arabs and Israelis. In Habibi, Naomi Shihab Nye intermingles “American” and ethnic words to make conflicting cultural norms (between America and the Middle East) stand out, and to mark the gradual acceptance of the Abboud family to their new home in Palestine. She also incorporates meaningful words and poetic imagery to add voice to, and animate, Liyana’s thoughts. Liyana’s character, throughout the novel, has a dreamy and dramatic quality, (not unusual in the typical teenager), and her diction is mainly informal. In the beginning, when Liyana is at the airport with her family she notices an “Indian lady in a purple sari crying, [who is] the size of good-bye” (8), and uses the whole idea of the sad Indian woman to make tangible her own sadness at having to say goodbye. As the time nears for the Abboud’s departure, Liyana’s words become heavier and have a bittersweet quality to them. However, the sadness and homesickness soon begin fleeting once Liyana and her family reach Palestine. There, at the Tel Aviv airport, they are greeted by less-than-friendly “Israeli agents … [who] look ready to jump on them” (36). Nye, beginning in 2006-11-29T04:48:33-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Habibi-by-Naomi-Shihab-Nye--31842.aspx Growing Importance of International Accounting Growing Importance of International Accounting 1. In today’s society, business and cultural environment are playing a significant change in the life of many people. More and more businesses are beginning to operate both domestically and internationally. The expansion of business has lead the world into a new era filled with creative technology, making life easier. With the effects of international pressures, businesses sometimes need to adapt to or try to influence culture. Culture is what people value and believe. Trying to change a person’s perspective about one’s culture is not easy. Yet, cultural environment is changing slowly, as people are more concern with what is going on economically, politically, financially, and social and legally. Due to these changes, international factors are becoming more important. Along with that comes for accounting change. Many businesses have to conduct a lot of surveys and advertisements to see what consumers are looking for. Global business has created many jobs, competition, technology, and much more. With these differences in mind every business might have its own accounting system. This is because of cultural, economic, political, and legal system differences. Laws that are convenient and easy to understand in the US might have no meaning at all to another country. Usages of vocabulary can have a great effect in business depending on what the word means. Developing countries might have a much simpler accounting system than those of the developed countries. Every country has its own style of living and working conditions. If one accounting system were use to satisfy everyone country it would be confusing and worthless to certain countries because of differences in things like taxes, sizes of business, compensation plan, or rules and laws. Since the world has a different perspective of how the world should be manage decisions are made very differently. So, it is important for businesses to notice of what is going on around the world to stay competitive and survive. 2. Since the economy is constantly changing and effecting people’s life, stock market is getting more and more important. Stock market is becoming more important because many people are relying on it to earn a savings for the future. People are concern with what is going on in the economy for they are afraid of another 2006-08-01T19:09:34-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Growing-Importance-of-International-Accounting-30965.aspx Cat Went Here and There The cat went here and there And the moon spun round like a top, And the nearest kin of the moon, The creeping cat, looked up Black Minnaloushe stared at the 2006-07-23T05:03:22-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Cat-Went-Here-and-There-30497.aspx Admissions Essay from an Ethiopian Student I would like to thank the admission committee for considering my application. It is my sincere hope that you will grant me the opportunity to attend in your fine school. Let me highlight briefly the background that would help why I would be the best candidate for your school. My name is unknown who was born and raised in Ethiopia. I left my country, and fled to Kenya interrupting my University education in 1993 due to worsen political turmoil in Ethiopia. I was granted asylum and considered political refugee and taken to refugee camp in Kenya. It was unbearable to live in loathsome and dreadful Kakuma Refugee camp for three years especially for ex-university student who had no prior experience in terrible and insecure environment eating malnourished food and spent the night in Tent .It was only for tough minded individuals that can survive and fit in the cursed land. In spite of the fact that it was unthinkable for refugee to plan for tertiary level of education living in that condition, I kept on searching a way out realize the dream .Three years later I managed to secure the scholarship through Windle Charitable Trust in Daystar University. Even if one assured scholarship and admission, it was hard to compete and graduate from the progaramme given the insecurity, home sickness, cultural differences, and so forth. Nonetheless, I was able to manage to be one of the top students in the first and second year. I was honored to be in dean’s list two times. I was encouraged and promised to maintain my success. Two years later, unfortunately I was depressed and adversely affected by bad news happened on family members back at home in the middle of 1998.Thus, I felt much insecure and failed to proceed my education effectively. Though I was advised a number of times to withdraw by my professors, I decided otherwise. Thus, My GPA was terribly affected and had shown sharp a downward trend. I was hospitalized two times and counseled for longer period of time and later recovered .As it is indicated on my transcript, later my GPA substantially improved and reached where it was before. After the completion of the undergraduate programme, I joined masters’ programme in one of the best university in southern and east Africa, University of Nairobi, in Economics .I had special gratitude for German government who offered me the full 2006-05-30T00:07:36-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Admissions-Essay-from-an-Ethiopian-Student-28896.aspx Expansion of the Japanese Whaling Industry Media Watch Segment – Spoken Task Expansion of the Japanese Whaling Industry (Name) 710 words Presenter: Welcome to Media Watch, I’m Ben Ison. Tonight we investigate the controversial and diplomatic issue of the whaling industry. As the Japanese fishing industry attempts to expand the whaling trade in Australian territorial waters, they have been engaged by the Australian government in a heated argument. While Japan claims the intended expansion of an additional 400 whales slaughtered annually, as “scientific research”, Australia is fighting hard diplomatically to protect the gentle species. The issue has been closely pursued by the media, but we are often subject to predisposed information. How can we understand the issue without extracting the biased perceptions from the media and separating the facts from the fiction? It seems that each commentary is subject to a different perspective of the argument. In an article presented by NEWS.com.au on May 18th, 2005 titled: Voice-over: “PM slams Japan whaling plan” Presenter: we are exposed to biased reporting in favour of whale support by the Australian government. The Prime Minister, John Howard is quoted: Voice-over: “It is not science to harvest 400 whales” Presenter: As Japanese whalers are now determined to hunt humpback whales, along with minke and fin whales, Australia is working alongside the American, British and New Zealand governments to put forth a joint proposal to the Japanese government, in a bid to convince Japan to reconsider the proposed expansion. The majority of the article is quotes by the Australian PM as he expresses his frustration and the stand he will take in relation to the controversy, preferring to go down the “diplomatic path”. By giving only the opinion and assumed perspective of the Australian population, this silences the Japanese government and its population. It positions readers to side with the anti-whaling agreement and shatters the grounds of Japan’s argument of harvesting whales for “scientific research”. The article is constructed for the readers to believe expansion of the industry to be unreasonable and environmentally destructive, leaving no justification for the expansion. Yet, in another article, also by NEWS.com.au, printed: June 4th, 2005 titled: Voice-over: “Whale eaters cook up a storm” Presenter: the writer gives a new perspective to 2006-05-28T03:05:37-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Expansion-of-the-Japanese-Whaling-Industry-28894.aspx The Importance of Animal Confinement Statistic 24,000 people in the world die of starvation every day, approximately one in every four seconds. Good morning/afternoon …… As a member of ………….., I was asked to explore the necessity of animal confinement in intensive production systems. Intensive farming began in the 1920’s at the discovery of vitamins A and D as food supplements. Adding these vitamins to feed mixtures meant that the animals no longer required exercise or sunlight for growth. Confinement may be feedlots, piggeries or poultry sheds. Animal confinement has become critical because: 1. Without it, food can not be distributed appropriately throughout the world, 2. Extensive grazing is ecologically unsustainable, 3. Farmers are forced to produce as efficiently as possible to compensate for an ageing industry, urbanisation and the cost-price squeeze; and 4. In many areas, the housing of animals is essential to their survival In the article “Africa is starving as the world feeds on Iraq” by Daphnee Dion-viens, Jean Zigler, the food rights assessor of the United States is documented as believing that with current technology and available resources, the world should be able to supply enough food for 12 billion people, twice the current population of the world. This will be achieved through intensive farming and its ability to supply a reliable resource of animal protein that can be grown regardless of the quality of the environment and produce a higher yield per area than conventional methods. Zigler sees the reason for starvation as being linked to the restriction of food distribution because of political tension and market forces rather than the ability to produce the food. While 34% of the African population is malnourished, America, Australia and many other countries alike suffer severely from obesity. By comparing the two groups of children in these pictures, each from extremely diverse countries and cultures, it is obvious that there is enough food but current distribution methods mean that both groups will suffer, through the extremes of obesity and starvation. Intensive farming improves the distribution of food by creating a reliable and safe food source where it is needed. Instead of shipping supplies across vast oceans, people in starving countries can build their own resources, producing enough food for themselves in their own country on land that was once deemed too infertile for production. Humans are said to require three main things; food, 2006-05-28T03:02:41-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Importance-of-Animal-Confinement-28893.aspx Are Accountants Number Crunchers Only? Introduction: In the UK today, only 15% of the labour force are in manufacturing; this will go down to about 10% by the year 2010. In Pakistan, approximately 15% to 25% accounting students are increasing every year. The number of professional commerce institutions has increased from 36 to 100 since 1992. (Source: Central bureau of education, Pakistan) What does this means? More and more people are directing towards non-manufacturing environments which makes them more conscious about social and environmental factors than those technical. The decline of manufacturing has been changing the skills and competencies that accountants need in the 21st century to satisfy the needs and requirements of stakeholders. Result is the division of accountants into those who can coop up with changing world and those who can’t i.e. entrepreneurs and number crunchers. Because of the unawareness of the subject matter in general public, little use of available information technology by accountants and ignoring social & environmental factors to report with mere numbers, a common perception is developed that accountants are dull, conservative and preoccupied with numbers. Yet all is not lost. Change is afoot! Do accountants have strength just in numbers? Undoubtedly, accountants are more —much more than number crunchers. Accountants are concerned about how the collected data should be used whereas number crunchers are busy thinking how data should be collected. If number crunching was what was required, then artificial intelligence of computers was sufficient; employers won’t look for accountants who are ‘Emotionally intelligent’ ‘Team worker’ and a lot. In fact, accountants are key strategists who help both individuals and organisations to improve their financial practices and systems. They have an ability to anticipate the client’s needs and position organisation’s capabilities to the best advantage. Depending on their chosen area of specialisation, there is a wide range of duties that accountants perform. Accountants, for instance, help businesses with problems like: • Audit the business for compliance with legislation • How to start a business and when to expand • How much the business is worth • How to make the most out of the corporate wealth • Developing a tax & legal strategy • Managing insolvency, bankruptcy and receivership Forensic accounting, an emerging branch of accountancy, has helped in investigating and detecting frauds but above all, ‘using’ numbers instead of ‘crunching’ had added to the decision making capability of modern accountants. Would that accountants are number crunchers, who would find the right numbers at right times to make use of, for the critics? One who draws a map 2006-04-05T19:04:13-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Are-Accountants-Number-Crunchers-Only-28666.aspx California School System Textbook Replacement California School System Textbook Replacement: Analysis California schools to teach fiction as history? School history textbooks in California are sought to be revised by pressure groups to accommodate and extol the “hindutva” view of Indian history, says Romila Thaper, Professor of History of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and Michael Witzel Professor of Sanskrit of Harvard University, in an article published in today’s (March 9, 2006) edition of the Times of India, New Delhi.. The California State Board of Education (CSBE) is currently seeking community suggestions in regard to the updating of school textbooks. This has been seized by the American Hindutva lobby, the American arm of the rabidly Hindu communal organization, the RSS, as an opportunity to propagate and inculcate its distorted views about ancient India as history. When the Hindu communal Party, the BJP, was in power in India, the history textbooks in the schools were rewritten to suit their views; but these are being set right now. The RSS and the BJP, under the Hindutuva theology, have claimed (with no evidence at all) that “the first Indian civilization is 1900 million years old, the Ramayana and Mahabharata are historical texts to be understood literally, and ancient Hindu scriptures contain precise calculations of the speed of light and exact distances planets in the solar system”. These, undoubtedly would be some of the gems of ancient Indian history, along with a dose of Vedic mathematics, that would be in the revised textbooks in California, if the Hindutuva lobby has its say accepted The authors say that “California has a large Indian American population and one of the largest school systems in the country. Changes made there have immediate repercussions for school systems across the whole country”. The authors go on to narrate how the Hindutva lobby gained such a strategic position in the CSEB revision program. “When the California textbooks came up for review, a former (largely unknown) California Professor of history and Hindutva sympathizer was approached by a Hindutva foundation and later was appointed to an expert advisory panel serving CSBE.” He did not disclose his Hindutva relationship. When word leaked out about the proposed revision of ancient Indian history, many scholars, both in India and America were shocked and objected to the many historical inaccuracies. This strong objection made CSBE to pause to reconsider their course of action. Professor Michael Witzel, one of the authors of the article was invited in 2006-03-10T12:04:32-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/California-School-System-Textbook-Replacement-28541.aspx My Venture Plan My Venture Plan The venture I would like to start is a home-based accounting business. My business would be called McCounting. McCounting will analyze and interpret the financial and economic activities of a business as well as home owners personal activities. McCounting would solve many other entrepreneur's problems by eliminating the stress of the financial aspects of their business. My business would also solve regular home owners the headaches and hassles they may have come income tax time. My business would also take advantage of people's actual wants and needs because people want convenience and simplicity rather than endless hours of number crunching. McCounting will fit almost everyone's financial budget and let's you relax because you know your financial's are in good, reliable hands. Guaranteed. The entrepreneurial characteristics I poses include the following: perceptive, imaginative, very persistent, hard working, goal setting, self confident, very flexible, and extremely independent. I am perceptive because when I am faced with problems I love the challenges and opportunities that arise from them. I am imaginative because I get visions of what I want the outcome of the problem to look like, and then I create it or produce new ideas to improve it. I am persistent because I never give up on things, no matter what the circumstances were. I stick with my ideas until I have tried everything to make the problem better. If I have come to a dead end with my idea, I change my idea and start again until it does work. I am a goal setter because once I have completed or on the verge of completing my first goal I create another one and challenge myself even harder than the first time. I am hard working because being perceptive, persistent, and goal setting do not come with little or not work, they come with the hardest, most complex work, this to me is hark working. I am self confident because I believe in myself, and I believe I can do anything I put my mind to no matter how hard it is or how much work it will take, I believe I can do it. I am flexible because I can adapt to changes rather quickly, and I look at them as a challenge to overcome. I am independent because I don't like to have to rely on other people to get things done, I like to have 2006-01-01T00:34:47-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/My-Venture-Plan--28345.aspx Accounting Case Study on General Mills Accounting Case Study on General Mills General Mills, Inc. Financial Accounting Case Study Module 1: A. General Mills Consolidated Statements of Earnings: 1. The recorded sale amount of almost $8 billion is not the actual amount of cash collected. The amount of $8 billion includes cash and credit sales. 2. Sales increased each year from 2000 to 2002. The difference between the year 2000 and 2001 was a 5.35% increase (5,450-5,173/5,173 = .0535). The difference between the year 2001 and 2002 was a 45.85% increase (7,949-5,450/5,450 = .4585). 3. The largest expense for General Mills for the years 2000, 2001, and 2002 was the same; over 50% of the revenue each year went towards the cost of sales. Sales in 2002 were the largest, about 7% more than the two previous years. 2000: (2,698/5,173) = .522 = 52.2% 2001: (2,841/5,450 = .521 = 52.1% 2002: (4,767/7,949) = .599 = 59.9% 4. Net Income: 2000: $614 million 2001: $665 million 2002: $458 million When comparing the net income figures for the past three years, it is seen that between 2000 and 2001, the net income increased by $51 million, but between 2001 and 2002, the net income decreased by $207 million. 5. A company's stock price is usually influenced by the amount of net income because when finding the price of the stock, you must divide the number of stocks by the net income. So, the higher the net income, the lower the price of stocks, which is what buyers look for (means better profit). 6. Even though General Mills paid dividends in 2000, 2001 and 2002, the corresponding total dividend payments did not appear as an expense on the income statement because dividends are not an expense; they are a financing activity that is reported on the statement of stockholder's equity. They are payments that are made to only the owners of the company. B. General Mills Consolidated Balance Sheets: 7. A company has assets so that they have a location and equipment to operate/create a business. Assets are resources that are controlled by a business. Without assets, one cannot produce and/or run a company. The purpose of assets are to keep track of expenses, what a company owns, like equipment, inventory, cash etc., and creates value for the company. 8. The total amount of assets at the end of 2002 was $16,540 million. 9. When comparing the assets from the beginning of 2002 to the end, we found that 2005-08-07T03:40:41-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Accounting-Case-Study-on-General-Mills-27571.aspx Enron Scandal Explanation, Analysis, and History Enron, a history and how the company imploded Abstract "Son, your ego is writing checks your body can't cash." (Paramount, 1986) The famous words of Admiral T.J. Cassidy in the high-flying action thriller Top Gun (Paramount, 1986) describe what occurred with Enron. Enron was a giant corporation (some say the largest energy company in the world), who depended on outside credit sources to finance its daily operations. In turn its credit-worthiness depended on its performance as reflected in the Enron's share prices. When the price of Enron's shares collapsed, so did its' credit rating. Consequently cash credit to the company became either prohibitively expensive or outright unavailable. Without ready infusions of cash, Enron became unable to meet its earlier credit obligations. This depressed Enron's stock even deeper, which in turn let to the further decline in already low share prices. Being unable to pay its' creditors, with no forthcoming offers of merger from its competitors, and with no foreseeable rescue attempt by the government, Enron was forced into bankruptcy. In the purely abstract form, merely for illustrative purposes, we can compare Enron's debacle with an imaginary individual whose life or at least lifestyle depended much on borrowing - let's say, it became dependant on loans from credit card companies. Without sufficient income to repay interest on these loans, this hypothetical individual is forced to apply for new credit cards, with which he is paying off his creditors. At some point, when the individual's credit rating worsens and he or she is no longer able to get more financing from the credit card issuers, the finale becomes inevitable, and usually it is the bankruptcy. We can also compare Enron's disaster to a pyramid scheme. In the classic pyramid scheme, fraudsters (here Enron's executives, accounting firms, corporate lawyers and their clique in the government) have to keep their victims happy (in the case of Enron the victims were investors, shareholders, suppliers and the general public) by paying off unrealistic rates of return on victims' investments (inflated price of Enron's shares). Pyramid schemes go always bust when a crisis of trust suddenly erupts among creditors or when there are no more victims left to be duped in forking out more money for running the pyramidal operation (i.e., source of credit dries up and the scheme inevitably collapses). We can also liken the Enron's experience to a market bubble, similar to the spectacular crash of 2005-08-05T03:29:50-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Enron-Scandal-Explanation,-Analysis,-and-History-27561.aspx Comparing the financial performance of Qantas and Woolworths Comparing the financial performance of Qantas and Woolworths. Discuss the aspects of the financial information that may be insufficient or misleading I have chosen Qantas Airways Limited & Woolworths Limited to be examined in this literature. Qantas is Australia's leading domestic carrier and one of the world's premier long haul airlines. Qantas is also one of Australia's most recognized brand names, with a reputation for excellence in safety, operational reliability, engineering and maintenance, and customer service. Woolworths' Supermarket is Australia's leading food retailer which provides customers with the best-priced and widest range of fresh produce, dry groceries and other merchandise, underpinned by its quality assurance commitment. However, from January 2003 onwards, due to the tumultuous events of 9/11, the bombings in Bali, the war in Iraq and the devastating outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, all areas of Qantas were affected, including the profitability of the company throughout the year. Qantas recorded an EBIT of $567 million, down from $112.3 million last year after being severely impacted by the effects of the SARS virus on international air travel. (www.qantas.com.au) Contrasting with Woolworths, it achieved an EBIT with increase of 13.7% to $945.7 million, reflecting the excellent sales and profit growth accomplished in the market with further reductions in the operation costs. (www.woolworthslimited.com.au) In comparing the financial performance of both the companies, Qantas and Woolworths generated a return of 2% and 8.15% on total assets respectively and a return of 6.5% and 49.34% on owners' equity respectively. This shows that Woolworths performs better in terms of both the return on total assets and return on owners' equity than Qantas, allowing us to say that Woolworths appears to be performing significantly better in the efficiency of the use of assets and in making returns for the shareholders. There is a large contrast between the financial performance of Qantas and Woolworths. According to the annual report, all key performance measures, such as EPS before goodwill, dividend and free cash flow of Woolworths improved substantially. Their strong performance in the year was supported by excellent progress in managing the key variables of their balance sheet. A significant reduction in inventory of 3.2 days compared with last year was a key factor which contributed $170 million to free cash flow. (www.woolworthslimited.com.au) In opposite, Qantas's performance was affected negatively and led to deterioration in all the key performance measures for this year. This is due to the fact that 2005-07-03T21:12:34-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Comparing-the-financial-performance-of-Qantas-and-Woolworths-27235.aspx Auditing The Risk Based Approach Auditing - The Risk-Based Approach Auditing - The Risk-Based Approach Introduction Risk, plays a large part in the world of Auditing. Audit risk, represents risk to an auditor or an audit firm, as the risk of paying damages to a client may arise out of negligent work when trying to show a true and fair view of a set of company accounts. All audit work involves some level of risk; this may be because a set of company accounts have been misstated due to error or fraud, or the auditor failed to detect the errors or fraud. In addition, these problems may have occurred due to inadequate sample sizes when determining the level of risk or the auditor failed to use proper auditing policies. To evaluate the level of risk related to specific areas of the audit, three components can help. The first is Inherent risk were environmental factors, (background knowledge of the client and were past audits indicate no difficulties) are concidered against whether or not they would lead to a material error, before considering the 'function of internal controls'. Next is Control risks were the 'system of internal controls' is assessed against the possability of preventing material error, or detecting it in time using internal controls. Last is Detection risk were the auditors procedures may fail to detect a material error not picked up by the internal controls. This report explains why the risk-based approach has become popular with external auditors and how it has been linked to materiality and sampling levels. Findings Risk Based Approach The role of an external audit, no matter what type of organisation it is, is to show a true and fair view of the company accounts and to abide by the auditing standards. Recently the risk-based approach has become as valued as auditing standards and adopted by most. The reason for it becoming so popular is that this audit approach helps the auditor to evaluate the level of risk to a particular area of the audit, i.e. specific accounts and transactions. Consequently, auditors can '...avoid both overauditing and underauditing and can distribute work more evenly throughout the year.' Grobstein and others (1985 p29). Besides, focusing on the level of risk the risk-based method helps to evaluate and build value into the financial reporting process and the clients company. In order to do this the auditor must have an up to date insight of the clients business and activities. 2005-07-03T21:10:57-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Auditing-The-Risk-Based-Approach-27234.aspx Financial vs. Managerial Accounting Financial vs. Managerial Accounting, short paper about financial and managerial accounting also includes rules/regulations, CPA and CMA Financial Accounting Financial accounting involves the preparation of a business's financial statements, mainly for users outside the business. These reports are used by owners, potential owners of a business, and by people who have loaned a company money. Some government agencies that regulate business and the stock market require companies to submit financial statements to them. Additionally, stockholders, suppliers, and banks also benefit from the financial reports that are generated. (Horngreen, Stratton, & Sundem, p. 5) Managerial Accounting Managerial accounting helps managers plan and control a company's operations. Accountants prepare budgets to express management's goals in financial terms by identifying, measuring, accumulating, analyzing, interpreting, and communicating information. After a budget has been adopted, performance reports compare actual results with the budget. Cost accountants help management keep track of how much it costs a company to make the product, or provide the service, it sells. (Horngreen, Stratton, & Sundem, p. 5) Rules and Regulations In financial accounting, it is limited by a widely accepted set of rules, standards, and procedures for reporting financial information known as the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), as established by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). This standard requires that a company "account for all of their assets or economic resources according to their historical cost." (Horngreen, Stratton, & Sundem, p. 6) Managerial accounting does not require the implementation of the rules and procedures of the GAAP. Management of an organization can create any type of internal accounting system that will work best for their company. However, they need to be aware of the costs that the implementation of such a system. (Horngreen, Stratton, & Sundem, p. 6) They also need to take into account the information that needs to be kept. More than one set of records is usually the norm. Both financial and managerial accounting must abide by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. This act is a "U.S. law forbidding bribery and other corrupt practices, and requiring that accounting records be maintained in reasonable detail and accuracy, and that an appropriate system of internal accounting be maintained." (Horngreen, Stratton, & Sundem, p. 7) Reporting Requirements Financial accounting usually utilizes summary reports that are concerned primarily with the company as a whole. To contrast, managerial accounting uses more detailed reports which itemize parts of the company such as products, departments, 2005-07-03T21:09:32-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Financial-vs_-Managerial-Accounting-27233.aspx Managerial and Financial Accounting Managerial and Financial Accounting Managerial and Financial Accounting Accounting can be broken down into many different categories and areas. Managerial and financial accounting is only two parts of the cost accounting system. With in these two different aspects of accounting there are many similarities and differences not only between these categories but also in their rules and regulations, management information and reporting requirements as well. The certifications of accountants are also differentiated in these two categories, CMA and CPA. No matter what category you place an accountant in; the job is crucial in the business world. Managerial vs. Financial Managerial accounting is part of a company's management-information system, which provides accounting and other quantitative data to managers at all levels inside the organization. The preparation of information is used for decision making, planning, directing and controlling a company's operations. Financial accounting is the use of accounting information for reporting to parties outside the company. The preparation of information is used for published financial statements and other financial reports. The focus of managerial accounting is on the needs of managers within the company rather than the interested parties outside the company. Some of the users of financial accounting information are current and prospective stockholders, lenders and investment analysts. The main similarity between the both is that they both draw upon data from an organizations basic accounting system, mainly the cost accounting system. Rules and Regulations Managerial accounting does not require regulations and is unregulated because it is intended only for management within the company. Financial accounting requires regulation and must conform to widely accepted set of rules, standards and procedures known as the general accepted accounting principles (GAAP). They are regulated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The rules of accountants also depend on their own professional standards as well as their professional ethical standards. Management and Reporting Both managerial and financial accountants have responsibility to management in competence, confidentiality, integrity and objectivity. Managerial accounting's reports often focus on subunits within the organization, such as departments, divisions, geographical regions or product lines. These reports are based on combined historical data, estimates and projections of future events and "may be very detailed" (2004). Financial accounting reports focus on the enterprise in its entirety. These reports are based almost exclusively on historical transaction data. CMA and CPA Managerial accounts can earn a professional certification. A Certified 2005-07-03T21:08:42-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Managerial-and-Financial-Accounting-27232.aspx Lucent Technologies Company Profile Lucent Technologies Company Profile Introduction Lucent Technologies Lucent Technology is North America's leading maker of telecom equipment and software, including switching and transmission equipment and business communications systems. Lucent Technologies, started trading publicly in 1996 with an initial public offering that was, at the time, the largest in domestic history (Hayes). In December 1999, Lucent's stock reached a high of $77.78 and was the nation's fourth most widely held stock (Romero and Atlas). But by July 2001, Lucent's stock was trading at $6.43, the SEC was investigating its accounting practices, and several former, high-level managers had been sanctioned by the SEC or were under criminal indictment for wrong-doing while at Lucent (Romero and Atlas). The plunge in stock value (exhibit 1) was primarily the result of a November 21, 2000, announcement in which Lucent said it had to restate its financial statements as a result of an internal investigation revealing accounting irregularities. Lucent's restatement reduced revenues by $679 million (McGough, Bloomberg). As early as June 2000, media attention had begun to be directed towards Lucent's aggressive accounting policies. A Wall Street Journal article in June, 2000 suggested that Lucent Technologies might be engaging in creative accounting practices, noting that Lucent's receivables were rising at 49% while revenues were rising at only 20% (Wall Street Journal). Accounting Policy Reporting objectives Lucent's chief executive Richard McGinn had turned Lucent into a Wall Street star by increasing sales at a double digit pace and was determined to maintain Lucent's growth. Many observers believed that Lucent's sales projections were imposed on sales executives by the chief executive who was intent on maintaining a 20 percent growth rate (Berman and Blumenstein). Don Peterson was appointed the executive vice president and CFO; he reported to CEO Richard McGinn and was accountable for the Corporate Finance Organization. Peterson explained in a 1999 article that revenue targets were attained because stock options were used as motivational tools (William, Hart). Motivation to manage earnings was based on executive compensation for performing well on the stock market. One of Lucent's revenue growth tactics included offering deep product discounts to induce customers to purchase products now instead of delaying these purchases. The short term result of increased current period sales came at the expense of not realizing those sales in successive years. Other tactics designed to increase current period revenues and meet stated sales targets included the extension of generous credit terms to customers. 2005-07-03T21:07:50-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Lucent-Technologies-Company-Profile-27231.aspx Critically evaluate marginal and absorption costing Critically evaluate marginal and absorption costing 3.1 Introduction The key issue between absorption costing and marginal costing is how the costs of a business's input resources are best organised and presented so as to identify individual product/service and total business profit. The choice of costing system may be influenced by the costing method. Specific order costing methods will frequently deploy full absorption costing. One reason for this is that the pricing of each unique piece of work will invariably make reference to the total costs incurred. Continuous operation costing methods are more likely to deploy marginal costing (although this may be in addition to absorption costing) because of the opportunities in such an environment to use cost-volume-profit analysis. 3.2 Marginal and absorption costing Marginal costing is a method of inventory costing in which all variable manufacturing costs are included as inventoriable costs. All fixed manufacturing costs are excluded from inventoriable costs. They are instead treated as costs of the period in which they are incurred. Inventoriable costs are all costs of a product that are regarded as an asset when they are incurred and then become costs of goods sold when the product is sold. In product/service costing, a marginal costing system emphasises the behavioural, rather than the functional, characteristics of cost. The focus is on separating costs into variable elements (where the cost per unit remains the same with total cost varying in proportion to activity) and fixed elements (where the total cost remains the same in each period regardless of the level of activity). Whilst this is not easily achieved with accuracy, and is an oversimplification of reality, marginal costing information can be very useful for short-term planning, control and decision-making, especially in a multi-product business. In a marginal costing system, sales less variable costs measures the contribution that individual products/services make towards the total fixed costs incurred by the business. The fixed costs are treated as period costs and, as such, are simply deducted from contribution in the period incurred to arrive at net profit. Absorption costing is a method of inventory costing in which all variable manufacturing costs and all fixed manufacturing costs are included as inventoriable costs. In product/service costing an absorption costing system allocates or apportions a share of all costs incurred by a business to each of its products/services. In this way, it can be established whether, in the long run, each product/service makes a profit. Arbitrary assumptions have to be made 2005-07-03T21:07:03-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Critically-evaluate-marginal-and-absorption-costing-27230.aspx Financial Case Study on The Quality Furniture Company Financial Case Study on The Quality Furniture Company Introduction The Quality Furniture Company was a high-quality home furniture manufacturer. Its headquarters was in Scranton and distribution depends on the department stores, independent home furnishing retailers and regional chains. The Lloyd's, Inc and the Emporium department store were two of them. The Lloyd's, Inc had been a customer of Quality Furniture for over 30 years. It always kept the good relationship and credit with Quality Furniture Company. The Lloyd's Inc sold quality home furnishings from three locations and its sales had the seasonal feature, with a slight downturn in the midsummer months and slight upturn during the December holiday season. Its income came from 75% cash or credit card and 25% six-month instalment terms. The Emporium was a new customer of Quality Furniture's. It was a medium-sized department store, which was well-known for its extensive lines of home furnishings. The Emporium built the partner relationship with Quality Furniture Company in 1983. It also had a good credit to Quality Furniture Company. Quality Furniture Company gave them the same accounts that were on terms of 2%, 10, net 30. Since the beginning of 2001, the competition in the furniture market had intensified, especially in the aspect of quality of product and service. The situation continued in for three years and looked like worse. So Quality Furniture Company thought credit terms and financing of dealers became equally important and was "backed into the position of supporting numerous customers in order to maintain adequate distribution for its products." On the other hand, Quality Furniture Company reinforced its supervision to the financial status of customers. Ralphson had previously a $50,000 limit on the Lloyd's Inc and an $85,000 limit on the Emporium. He adhered strictly to obtaining current reports of the retails quarterly and at times monthly in order to keep a good credit situation. With relaxing demand and decreasing the sale volume, the Lloyd's Inc and the Emporium faced more and more difficult phases. The following is an analysis to the current finial positions of these two companies. Analysis 1. The Lloyd's Inc. Performance measure The Lloyd's Inc showed negative in the return on investment. According the exhibit 1, the Lloyd's Inc even had no return on its total assets during the last two years. And to the return on invested capital and return on owners' equity, the situations were the same. It meant the Lloyd's Inc had not eared on the investment 2005-07-03T21:05:00-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Financial-Case-Study-on-The-Quality-Furniture-Company-27229.aspx Advantages and Disadvantages of Hstorical Cost Accounting Advantages and disadvantages of historical cost accounting, alternatives to historical cost accounting 2.1 Introduction Accounting concepts and conventions as used in accountancy are the rules and guidelines by which the accountant lives. The historical cost accounting convention is an accounting technique that values an asset for balance sheet purposes at the price paid for the asset at the time of its acquisition. The historical cost accounting is the situation in which accountants record revenue, expenditure and asset acquisition and disposal at historical cost: that is, the actual amounts of money, or money's worth, received or paid to complete the transaction. Historical costs Historical cost is a generally accepted accounting principle requiring all financial statement items be based upon original cost. Historical cost means what it cost the company for the item. It is not fair market value. This means that if a company purchased a building, it is recorded on the balance sheet at its historical cost. It is not recorded at fair market value, which would be what the company could sell the building for in the open market. Criticisms of the historical costs method Historical cost method, over a period of time has been subject to many criticisms, especially as it considers the acquisition cost of an asset and does not recognise the current market value. Historical costs is only interested in cost allocations and not in the value of an asset. While it tells the user the acquisition cost of an asset and its depreciation in the following years, it ignores the possibility that the current market value of that asset may be higher or lower than it suggests. Another main criticism of historical accounting method is its obvious flaws in times of inflation. The validity of historic accounting rests on the assumption that the currency in which transactions are recorded remains stable, i.e. its purchasing power remains the same over a period of time. Another main point with regards to inflation is rise in prices for an asset. An asset purchased at a point in time may be expensive in future. The traditional accounting principles record all assets at an original cost and continue to use these historic figures throughout the asset's life, while economists make a more intelligible assumption that money has a time-value attached to it. The economist's approach is broadly embraced in the corporate finance model whose objective is centred on value creation for the shareholders. In addition effects of inflation may 2005-06-19T08:38:45-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Advantages-and-Disadvantages-of-Hstorical-Cost-Accounting-26975.aspx Comparitive Term Paper on US, UK, and China Accounting Comparison of United States, United Kingdom, and Chinese Accounting Systems, Accounting Standards, Accounting Practices This report discusses the accounting practices of the following countries U.K, U.S.A and China. An analysis of these different accounting systems will be conducted on issues such as the growth and background, social, economic and fiscal pressures that have led to each nations current characteristics. Concluding on the direction each nations accounting systems and practices seem to be heading towards. Introduction The main characteristics of U.K accounting is that it is highly dominated by organised accounting profession, which only relate to limited liability companies, no other such entity. A separate fiscal accounting has been developed entirely from commercial accounting. Public sector in the U.K follows its own different rules in accounting. U.K was one of the initial and first countries in the world to develop and have Companies acts containing provisions and also one of the first professional accounting bodies was established in the U.K. Professional accountants and company law play a key role in dominating the U.K corporate financial reporting and play a significant influence varying from external and domestic factors. Britain's financial market is structured around a "capital financial market based financial system" where the stock market funds large scale businesses, trading securities and pricing role. The stock exchange and taxation system have very little influence in financial reporting. Having said that, the stock market has involvement in developing financial reporting standards for listed companies. Although U.K seems to have developed its own companies act and regulations, it still has received indirect foreign influence from member states of the European union through EU directives and from U.S.A with their new accounting standards. Financial reporting and accounting in the U.S.A seems to have a large and dominant influence on accounting in the world today with its largely consistent standards promulgated by the international accounting standards committee. However, the U.S.A accounting is very similar to U.K accounting due to the fact that us accounting was initially an export from the U.K, which is often known to be the funding fathers of US accounting. For example many of the largest accounting firms in the US such as Ernst & Young and ICPMG were expatriate Britain. The U.S.A has taken that initial guidance and is becoming the accounting sector leaders in their accounting standards by exploring and developing rapidly in the accounting field. Standards have become largely voluminous and detailed due to the 2005-06-19T08:37:11-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Comparitive-Term-Paper-on-US,-UK,-and-China-Accounting-26973.aspx Becoming a CPA Career Profile Becoming a CPA (Certified Public Accountant), Job Profile What is a CPA? These three letters mean that you have received a broad-based education. They mean you have passed all parts of a very difficult exam. They mean you have the knowledge, skills and abilities to be a trusted business adviser to your clients or employer. They mean you feel comfortable with the latest technology. They mean you are an ethical individual who can provide an independent analysis. CPA's are many things. They are chief financial officers for Fortune 500 companies and advisors to small neighborhood businesses. They work for large and small public accounting firms. They are well-respected strategic business advisors and decision-makers. They act as consultants on many issues, including taxes and accounting. To become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) you need to meet the requirements of the state or jurisdiction in which you wish to practice. These requirements, which vary from state to state, are established by law and administered by the state boards of accountancy. To qualify for certification, you must: ? Have professional work experience in public accounting. The Uniform CPA Exam is a prerequisite for the CPA certificate because it is the primary way Boards of Accountancy measures the competence of CPA candidates. ? Complete a program of study in accounting at a college/university. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) recommends at least 150 semester hours to obtain the common body of knowledge for becoming a CPA. ? Pass the Uniform CPA Examination, which is developed and graded by the AICPA. Boards of Accountancy also rely on additional means to ensure that a candidate has the necessary technical abilities and character attributes to become a CPA. These may include interviews, letters of reference, investigation of educational background, and affidavits of employment. In addition, some boards of accountancy administer an ethics examination to assess a candidate's knowledge of the rules of professional conduct. The Board of Examiners of the AICPA is responsible for preparing the Uniform CPA Examinations and for operating the Advisory Grading Service, both adopted by the boards of accountancy in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Examination is given twice each year, in May and November, and its duration is 15 ½ hours long. The exam is administered over a two-day period within the boundaries of the fifty-four jurisdictions that use the exam. It is given and graded 2005-06-19T08:35:51-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Becoming-a-CPA-Career-Profile-26972.aspx Evaluation of Accounting in Enron, Xerox, Worldcom Scandals Critically evaluate the role of the accountancy profession in recent corporate scandals such as Enron, Xerox and WorldCom It is expected that the accountancy profession would play quite an important role in scandals such as Enron, Xerox, and Worldcom, as all they all deal with the financial accounts not showing a true and fair view the company. Hence it is the role of accountants to prepare and check the financial statements. Therefore I feel that in the essay it is worth analyzing who exactly in the accountancy profession was responsible for each action in scandals, and show how 'accountants move easily from watchdogs in their capacity as auditors to being the architects of clever deals and frauds as CFO's and CEO's.' (lies damn lies) In the Statement of Auditing Standards 100, published on March 1995, we are told that 'the responsibility for the preparation of the financial statements is that of the directors of the entity'. Therefore the auditor is only responsible to act as a watchdog and make sure that the directors' of the company have prepared the statements in accordance to Auditing and Accounting Standards. Authur Andersen LLP (Enron's auditors) were therefore responsible in providing shareholders with 'reasonable assurance' that the financial statements presented a true and fair view of the company's financial position. Consequently one could argue that because they failed to do this that they were entirely responsible, as far as the public is concerned, in Enron's scandal. The fact that thousands of pages of documents were shredded proves on itself that Andersen was guilty of fraud, as this is a violation of the law and Justice Department. In response to these accusations Andersen stated that their only role in this scandal was to 'express an opinion on the financial statements prepared by the company,' (accountancy age) and therefore will hold themselves responsible for any errors in the auditing. In addition to this it has been 'publicly acknowledged that there was one error of judgment in the treatment of one partnership' (Accountancy Age). Though in another partnership matter, they have defended their case in saying that they were not provided with the necessary information by Enron. According to SAS 600 it was Andersen's role to qualify the financial statement, and thus disclaim it if the effect of this limitation of scope was pervasive enough to make the statements as misleading as they were. However the situation was much more complex than 2005-06-19T08:34:21-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Evaluation-of-Accounting-in-Enron,-Xerox,-Worldcom-Scandals-26970.aspx Harmonization of International Accounting Standards Need for Harmonization of International Accounting Standards Introduction As there has been a tremendous growth in the market place with the existing accounting practices, this leads us to question why do we need harmonization of International accounting standards, what are its advantages and what are the barriers that hinder harmonization? Although accounting may be the "language of business," a common language has never been necessary -- at least as long as the world economy consisted of a set of more or less distinct national economies. (Mednick 1991) (Cited in: www.wetherhead.cwru.edu) This, however, is no longer true. We now have a global economy and it has affected the entire business world. For instance, today's global corporation may have more than one headquarters, and its production and distribution facilities are probably scattered throughout the world. Commodity prices, interest rates and currency exchange values have become internationally linked -- with the result that governments around the world are increasingly supporting harmonization of accounting practices and national policies. (Walters) (Cited in: Bisgay and Jayson 1989) Harmonization is necessary because standard national financial statements are virtually useless; financial markets in more regulated countries are threatened with a loss of market share; and multinational corporations must prepare multiple reports for different nations they do business in. (Nobes and Parker 1991) (Cited in: http://ecocomm.anu.edu.au) There is a need for harmonization for accounting standards in order to help the foreign investor to understand the financial statements of the foreign companies who's shares they might want to buy.(Iqbal, Melcher and Elmallah 1997) Financial information is a form of a language. And if the language of financial information is to be put to use, so that investment and credit decisions can more readily be taken, it should not only be intelligible, it should also be comparable. (Belkaoui 1994) These new environmental factors of the global economy, the international monetary system, the Multinational Corporation and foreign direct investment create an environment in which business transactions, their conduct, measurement and disclosure, takes new and distinctive form that call for a specific accounting sub discipline or the harmonization of accounting practices. Advantages of Harmonization (Turner 1983) The greatest benefit that would flow from harmonization would be the comparability of international financial information. Such comparability would eliminate the current misunderstandings about the reliability of foreign financial statements and would remove one of the most important impediments to the flow of international investment. (Choi, Frost and Meek 1999) Harmonization would 2005-06-19T08:33:25-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Harmonization-of-International-Accounting-Standards-26969.aspx Internal Controls on an Accounting Information System Discussion of Internal Controls that are placed in an Accounting information System In accounting systems, certain controls are needed to ensure that employees are doing their jobs properly and ensure that the system runs properly. These checks are in the best interest of the organization. These controls come in the form of internal and external controls for the system. The internal controls are the checks that are placed in the system my the company's own management and directors. Today more and more companies are moving from the manual accounting systems to computerized accounting information systems. The advantages of a computerized system are increases in the speed and accuracy of processing accounting information. However, as systems become computerized, the internal controls for that system has to be adapted accordingly. This is because computerized systems bring with them certain unique problems that can only be removed or minimized by adapting the present controls and adding new controls. These problems are • In a manual system there is a paper trail for the internal auditor to follow. All records and transactions are kept on paper and so an auditor has clear and documented proof of what has transpired. Computerized systems rarely have a clear paper trail to follow. Since computers do all of the sorting of the information the company rarely sorts the source documents. Also the computer does most of the calculations and processing so there would not be the amount of documentation that there would be in a manual system. • Another problem of computer systems is the fact that there can be difficulty in determining who entered the data. In a manual system the identity of the person entering the data can be identified possibly by the person's handwriting. This cannot be done in a computerized system. This makes it very difficult to determine who is responsible for errors or fraud. • Since the computers do all calculations and processing errors can occur due to bad design of the program. This can be difficult to detect especially if the error does not occur frequently and only does so under particular conditions. • Computer systems also offer new opportunities for fraud. If a computerized system is not set up properly and certain checks not put in then the computer system can be used to defraud the company. The fact that it is difficult to trace who enters the data only adds to the magnitude of this. In order 2005-06-19T08:31:11-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Internal-Controls-on-an-Accounting-Information-System-26967.aspx Telstra Corporation’s Profitability and Liquidity An assessment of the Telstra Corporation’s profitability, and short-term and long-term Liquidity. 1.Introduction All company accounts are prepared in accordance with the various accounting laws and regulations, and are designed for a wide audience. Therefore, to obtain data for specific purposes it is frequently necessary to submit the numbers to specific analysis. Following is an analysis of the Telstra Corporation's year 2000 and 2001 financial statements. This analysis is intended to, through the calculation of ratios, assess the short-term and long-term liquidity, in addition to the profitability of the Telstra Corporation. 2.Short-term Liquidity Short-term liquidity is the ability of the company to meet its short-term financial commitments. Short-term liquidity ratios measure the relationship between current liabilities and current assets. This helps us measure the Telstra Corporation's ability to sell inventory, to collect receivables and to pay current liabilities. Following is the Current Ratio, the Quick Asset Ratio, the Stock Turnover Rate and the Debtors' Turnover Rate. These measures are concentrated upon the current assets and current liabilities to asses the Telstra Corporation's ability to meet their financial commitments as they become due. 2.1Current Ratio For the 2001 financial year, the Telstra Corporation had $m6253 in total current assets and $m9279 in total current liabilities. This gives the company $0.68 for ever dollar of current liabilities. This could be seen as an unsafe situation, but by looking into the 2000 financial year Statement of Financial Position, it can be ascertained that the company had $0.52 for ever dollar of current liabilities. That is $m4889 in total current assets and $m9421 in total current liabilities. This shows that the Telstra Corporation increased its ability to pay debts as they became due by $0.16. (The Telstra Corporation Limited, 2001) 2.2Quick Asset Ratio The Quick Asset Test is a stringent test that indicates if a firm has enough short-term assets, without selling inventory, to cover its immediate liabilities. It is similar but a more strenuous version of the Current Ratio or "Working Capital", indicating whether the company's liabilities could be paid without selling inventory. Using the same figures as above minus the inventories for both years gives the Telstra Corporation an "acid test ratio' of 0.64:1 for the 2001 financial year and 0.40:1 for the 2000 financial year. These values are derived from subtracting the inventories of $m320 and $m295 for the 2001 and 2000 financial years respectively. This ratio shows a difference of $0.24 between the financial years of 2001 and 2000, again 2005-06-18T05:22:26-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Telstra-Corporation’s-Profitability-and-Liquidity-26902.aspx Political Economic and Social Effects of Accounting Standards Political, Economic & Social effects of Accounting Standard Setters 'The view that accounting standard setters consider the economic, political and social consequences of accounting standards is consistent with the view that accounting reports, if compiled in accordance with accounting standards and other generally accepted principles, will be neutral and objective' SYNOPSIS Objectivity and neutrality are the ultimate goals of general purpose financial reporting. However there are many factors involved that make this goal almost impossible to attain. Economic, political and social issues are huge influences on the Accounting Standard setting process, and these influences spill over into everyday accounting, with personal gain often ahead of reliability and objectivity. Users of financial reports have demands that need to be satisfied, and regulatory boards involved in Standard setting have done their best to ensure that information is clear and reliable. Considering these factors, Accounting does not exist in a vacuum, Accountants are human beings, not robots and the profession has strict guidelines and heavy penalties for unprofessional or fraudulent activity. It is thus clear that every attempt is made to acknowledge the operating societal factors, gauge the impact they have on different industries at different times and move from that point. The result than, has to be, the best attempt at a neutral and objective report by the professional accountant. Economic, political and social issues are powerful driving forces within any society. These issues therefore need to be focused on when major decisions in industries, are being made. One industry that heavily relies on, and incorporates economic, political and social issues in its' decision-making, is that of Accounting. The Accounting profession is made up of many standards and regulatory boards that govern the way in which entities maintain their general-purpose financial reports. Accounting standards set minimum benchmarks of the quality required in financial reporting. They specify that reporting entities shall prepare general-purpose financial reports and that these reports will comply with Statements of Accounting Concepts (SAC's) and Accounting Standards (Accounting Handbook 2001, SAC1, pg. 3). The 'objective of general purpose financial reporting', (Accounting Handbook 2001, SAC2, pg. 13) is that all general purpose financial reports are prepared to provide users with information about the reporting entity, which is useful for making and evaluating decisions about the allocation of scare resources (Accounting Handbook 2001, SAC1, pg. 4). These reports 'should' be neutral and objective, free from bias, allowing users to make informed decisions. Considering that the process of 'setting' 2005-06-18T05:21:04-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Political-Economic-and-Social-Effects-of-Accounting-Standards-26901.aspx The Definition of Money What is money? The definition of money The history of credit and banking goes back much further than the history of coins. Nevertheless the story of the origins of money goes back even further still. What is Money? At first sight the answer to this question seems obvious; the man or woman in the street would agree on coins and banknotes, but would they accept them from any country? What about cheques? They would probably be less willing to accept them than their own country's coins and notes but bank money (i.e. anything for which you can write a cheque) actually accounts for by far the greatest proportion by value of the total supply of money. What about I.O.U.s (I owe you), credit cards and gold? The gold standard belongs to history but even today in many rich people in different parts of the world would rather keep some of their wealth in the form of gold than in official, inflation-prone currencies. The attractiveness of gold, from an aesthetic point of view, and its resistance to corrosion are two of the properties which led to its use for monetary transactions for thousands of years. In complete contrast, a form of money with virtually no tangible properties whatsoever - electronic money - seems set to gain rapidly in popularity. All sorts of things have been used as money at different times in different places. The alphabetical list below, taken from page 27 of A History of Money by Glyn Davies, includes but a minute proportion of the enormous variety of primitive moneys, and none of the modern forms. [i:756d84cb38]Amber, beads, cowries, drums, eggs, feathers, gongs, hoes, ivory, jade, kettles, leather, mats, nails, oxen, pigs, quartz, rice, salt, thimbles, umiacs, vodka, wampum, yarns, and zappozats (decorated axes).[/i:756d84cb38] It is almost impossible to define money in terms of its physical form or properties since these are so diverse. Therefore any definition must be based on its functions. Functions of Money [i:756d84cb38]Specific functions (mostly micro-economic)[/i:756d84cb38] [i:756d84cb38]Unit of account (abstract) [/i:756d84cb38] Common measure of value (abstract) Medium of exchange (concrete) Means of payment (concrete) Standard for deferred payments (abstract) Store of value (concrete) General functions (mostly macro-economic and abstract) [i:756d84cb38]Liquid asset [/i:756d84cb38] Framework of the market allocative system (prices) A causative factor in the economy Controller of the economy The table above comes from page 27 of A History of Money. Not everything used as money as all the functions listed above. Furthermore the 2005-05-27T07:48:42-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Definition-of-Money-26788.aspx Retail Inventory Management and Inventory Accounting Retail Inventory Management (RIM) and Inventory Accounting Retail Inventory-Level Planning consists of retail inventory method (RIM) which is an accounting procedure whose objectives are to maintain a perpetual. It also can book inventory in retail dollars amounts and to maintain records that make it possible to determine the cost value of the inventory at any time without taking a physical inventory. Also known as book inventory system or perpetual book inventory. Retailers also have another important choice to make the stock to sales ratio. The stock to sales ratio is derived directly from the planned inventory to determine monthly additions to stock in the merchandise budget plan. Retailers generally think of their inventory at retail price levels rather than at cost. Retailers use their initial markups, additional markups, and markdowns, and so forth as percentages of retail. When retailers compare their prices to competitors', they use retail prices. The problem is that when retailers to design their financial plans, evaluate performance, and prepare financial statements, they need to know the cost value of their inventory. Retailers use physical inventories. This process is time consuming and costly. Retailers take physical inventories once or twice a year. Many retailers use point of sale terminals that keep track of every item sold its original cost, and its final selling price. The rest of the retailers face a problem of not knowing the cost value of their inventory at one time. These retailers with either computerized or manual systems can use retail inventory method. Their are five advantages for using RIM over a system of inventory at cost. The does not have to "cost" each time. When retailers have many SKUs, keeping track of each item becomes difficult and expensive. It is easier to determine the value of inventory with the retail prices marked on the merchandise than unmarked or at coded cost prices. The second advantage for using RIM is that it follows the accepted accounting principal of valuing assets at cost or market value, which is lower. This system lowers the value of inventory when markdowns are taken but does not allow inventory's value increase with additional markups. When using RIM, the amounts and percentages of initial markups, markdowns, and shrinkage can be identified. This information can then be compared with historical records or 2005-05-19T02:53:50-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Retail-Inventory-Management-and-Inventory-Accounting-26658.aspx Choices and the Accounting Field Accountants Thesis: An accountant has many choices to what particular field of accounting to specialize in depending on the financial information she wants to analyze and how it is done. Class: Accountants Special Interest: Analyzing Financial Information Subclasses: Financial accountants Tax accountants Internal auditors A college student decides she wants to become an accountant. General accounting and bookkeeping classes can be taken in high school. In college, the student needs to decide on a more specific field of accounting. An accountant has many choices as to what particular field of accounting to specialize in depending on the financial information she wants to analyze and how it is done. Financial accountants, tax accountants and internal auditors are all accountants in general, but require different training and work methods. A financial accountant records economic data and periodically prepares reports that show profit and other financial information of a company using the generally accepted accounting principles. The reports prepared by the accountant are useful for managers, and also for owners, creditors and the public. Based on information in the reports the public can use the reports to choose a company to invest in. Because a financial accountant is employed by an individual company, she is considered a private accountant. Another type of accountant is a tax accountant. A tax accountant prepares yearly tax returns for individual clients. The accountants have to use constant data such as rates of pay and other information to determine the proper amount of taxes to be paid. These accountants have to take a class once a year to catch up on yearly changes in tax laws and regulations. If a tax accountant has met state experience requirements, she may want to take exams to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). A third type of accountant is an internal auditor. Auditors are sponsored by the Institute of Internal Auditors and work within an individual firm. The auditor reviews accounting and operating procedures used by a firm to make sure everything is being run properly. If things aren't being run properly, it is the auditor's job to find the problem and to try to rectify it. An auditor is considered a private accountant because he is employed by a firm, yet if he specializes in auditing, he may want to get a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) certificate. So, an accountant has career choices to make based on more specialized interests in a field, and as with other careers, 2004-12-22T20:53:02-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Choices-and-the-Accounting-Field-25968.aspx Recent Accounting Scandals Financial Reporting Ethics Adelphia 1. John Rigas, other Rigas family members, Michael Mulcahey 2. Adelphia backed off-the-book loans for the Rigas family totaling 3.1 billion dollars. The company also overstated earnings and purchased luxury items for the Rigas family. 3. Companies are supposed to serve the stockholders interests and not the founder’s interests. The Rigas family illegally used the money and the resources of the company for their own gain. 4. Money was stolen from the business and the stock price fell and was taken off the charts. 5. The Rigas family wanted to use the company resources for their own gain and were helped by people in the company. 6. Shareholders had money stolen from them and lost money when the stock price fell. Arthur Anderson 1. David B. Duncan 2. Signed off on Enron’s faulty accounting and then shredded related documents after the SEC launched an investigation into Enron’s accounting. 3. An auditor must look at a companies financial statements objectively. It is also illegal to destroy information that is part of an investigation. 4. Arthur Anderson and Enron went out of business. 5. Anderson knew if they confronted Enron about their faulty accounting they would lose their account. 6. Arthur Anderson went out of business and their employees had to find jobs elsewhere. Owners of stock in Enron and Arthur Anderson lost money. Enron 1. CEO Kenneth Lay, CFO Andrew Fastow 2. Inflated profits with off-the-books partnerships. Illegally manipulated the energy markets in Texas and California. 3. Enron fraudulently made it appear that they were making more money than they actually were. They also forced energy prices up using questionable and in some cases illegal methods. 4. Enron filed the largest bankruptcy in history and took their auditor, Arthur Anderson down with them. Their collapse brought the stock market down and brought the accounting practices of many other companies under scrutiny. 5. Management wanted to increase profits and Enron’s stock price using any and every method available. 6. Employees lost their life savings in 401k plans. All stockholders lost money. Global Crossing 1. Ex-CEO Robert Annunziata 2. Inflated revenue by swapping network capacity with other providers. Provided excess compensation to management. 3. Swapping contracts made it look like Global Crossing was doing more business than they actually were. Their CEO contract was also criticized by many for giving too much compensation to the CEO, this may have been a result of a lack of proper corporate governance. 4. Global Crossing went out of business. 5. Management wanted the company to look more attractive to investors. 6. Stockholders and employees. HealthSouth 1. Chairman and CEO Richard Scrushy, CFO William T. Owens 2. Overstated earnings by 1.4 billion dollars. 3. Not adhering to GAAP, fraud. 4. Company stock price 2004-04-28T22:50:38-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Recent-Accounting-Scandals--88.aspx