Internal Accounting Systems & Controls

 
Task 1)

Review and evaluate the accounting system
This review can be of the complete system or of one or more of the accounting functions, depending on your findings – but must specifically cover the following points:
Record keeping systems – explain the purpose of financial reports, and the suitability of the organisation’s current reports to meet organisational needs

Internal systems of control – identify how internal control supports the accounting system and the types of internal control in place, and any controls that are missing

Fraud – explain the causes of fraud, common types of fraud, methods that can be used to detect fraud and potential areas for fraud within the organisation

Working methods/practices – review the working methods used including the use of appropriate computer software, and the operating methods in terms of reliability, speed and cost effectiveness

Training – Identify how training is or can be used to support staff.
The review should cover all aspects of the assessment criteria, as mapped above, when it can naturally be introduced into the report. If it cannot be covered in the report then it can be covered within a written explanation included in the appendix.
Whilst a SWOT analysis may be a good starting place, this should not be placed in the body of the report.

Task 2)

Conduct an ethical evaluation of the accounting systems.
Evaluate the accounting systems against ethical principles by reviewing working practices.
Identify any actual or possible breaches of professional ethics.
To help you with this see http://www.aat.org.uk/sites/default/files/assets/AAT_Code_of_Professional_Ethics.pdf

Task 3)

Conduct a sustainability evaluation of the accounting systems.
Evaluate the accounting systems against sustainability principles by reviewing working practices.
Identify any possible improvements that could be made to improve sustainability.
Task 4)

Identify weaknesses and make recommendations for improvement.
Evaluate the system to identify significant weaknesses, which should be clearly explained along with their impact upon the organisation.

For every weakness that has been identified there should be one or more recommendations made to attempt to improve the situation.

The recommendations should concentrate on the effect that the changes would have both on the organisation and on individual members of staff. They may also highlight:
training needs;
aids to improve staff performance;
changes needed to organisational culture;
anything else which would improve the running of the accounting system.

Prepare a Cost Benefit Analysis
At least one of the recommendations made should be subject to a cost benefit analysis. Whilst not all benefits are quantifiable, all costs are. Students should make any necessary assumptions or estimates to allocate costs to such items as time, unknown salaries, or any other unknown expense involved in the recommended changes. All benefits should be identified, included those that cannot be allocated a financial figure. This can include such things as improved customer relationships, improved documentation systems or staff morale (though this could be allocated a financial figure as improving staff turnover cuts recruitment costs).

Note on appendices

Any charts and diagrams or supporting evidence should be included here and cross-referenced within the text. Any appendices included should be referred to in the main body of the report or, in the case of supporting statements to cover missing assessment criteria, be mapped and cross-referenced on the mapping document.

The assignment is in the form of a problem question dealing with exclusion of liability and consideration.

 
The assignment is in the form of a problem question dealing with exclusion of liability and consideration.
Before attempting the assignment you should review:
• • the guidance on writing eTMAs set out in section 4 of your eTMA Guide; and
• • the advice for answering problem questions set out in section 7 of your eTMA Guide.
You will also need to review the relevant material in Units 4, 5, 6 and 7. You are encouraged to do further independent research, but are not required to do so.
QUESTION
Commercial Vehicle Repairs PLC (“CVR”) repairs vehicles for small businesses. Last month it entered in to repair contracts with (among other customers) Parsons Plumbing Ltd (“PPL”) and Bright Sparks Ltd (“BSL”).
PPL’s managing director, Iwan Parsons, telephoned CVR to arrange the repair of one of its vans and its truck. After the telephone conversation, CVR sent a quotation for the job (see Document A).
Iwan read the quotation but did not look at the terms and conditions set out on the back, an extract from which appears as Document B. He telephoned CVR and explained the importance of finishing the jobs properly and on time, as the vehicles were crucial for cash flow. He said that PPL would be accepting the quotation.
BSL had been a customer of CVR’s for at least 10 years, and every 6 months its vehicles go to CVR for maintenance. CVR’s latest contract with BSL was to service a transit van for £150 (plus the cost of any replacement parts). A date for the work was agreed and CVR agreed that if the van was dropped off by 8:30 am the work would be completed by 4:00 pm on the same day. The first document that BSL received was the invoice after the job was finished. On the back of the invoice were the same terms and conditions mentioned above (Document B).
There have been a number of difficulties:
o • PPL’s van came to CVR with engine problems. CVR’s employee, Bill, reinstalled the radiator without attaching one of the pipes correctly. As a result, the engine overheated and failed. It needs to be replaced at a cost of £2,000. PPL has lost 10 days’ plumbing jobs, amounting to a £10,000 loss of profit.
o • On PPL’s truck, a defective engine management system unit was fitted, so, 2 days after the repair, the engine did not start and PPL has been unable to use the truck for 5 days. As a result, it has lost another £5,000 profit.
Document A
COMMERCIAL VEHICLE REPAIRS PLC Specialists in vehicle repairs since 1960 Unbeatable prices
QUOTATION
CLIENT ADDRESS

Is it socially responsible of a multinational corporation (MNC) to utilize tax avoidance strategies?

 
Instruction given by the lecturer:
Introduction: 200-300 words
1. Introduce the topic
2. Give the thesis statement
3. Outline your approach

Main body of the assignment: 1000-1300 words
Main argument needs a lot of analyse.

Conclusion: 300-500 words
Reiterate the thesis statement
Recap the main points/findings
Show how these address the thesis statement.
Come up with a definite answer to the question (even if the answer is “it depends”)

The conclusion should NOT introduce any new material, but can raise some speculative points.

Criteria for marking:
1. Core concepts: Presenting your knowledge and understanding of the subject matter base on research. Be critical of generic online resources. Search for and use original articles / documents
2. Structure:
Flow of argument, headings, spelling/grammar etc.
3. Critical Reflection:
Evaluating arguments (debates, pros and cons) and developing insights

Marking criteria for 17-point scale (1st class):
Very high quality work, with full understanding of the subject matter. Work that demonstrates intellectual maturity, and is perceptive with highly developed organisation. An ambitious project carried out successfully, with sophisticated handling of primary and secondary material, reasoned, analytical argument. Some degree of originality, independent research and thought.

Can you please also reference the following if possible:
– Only peer-reviewed articles, texts and case studies
– A recent article about corporate tax avoidance

Assignment 1: Contracting and the FAR

Assignment 1: Contracting and the FAR
Due Week 4 and worth 200 points
Imagine that you are a contracts officer for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and that your supervisor has tasked you with the procurement of a new software system for processing tax returns. Use the Internet to research one (1) scandal related to government procurement that has occurred within the past four (4) years.
Write a three (3) page paper in which you:
1. Thoroughly analyzed the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), and thoroughly concluded whether or not these regulations overall offer adequate protection of the collective buying power of the American people. Thoroughly prepared an argument in support of your position.
2. Thoroughly determined whether or not the executive branch is the proper branch to effectuate change that would provide checks and balances for the purchase of good and services for the United States government. Thoroughly provided a rationale for your answer.
3. Use at least 5 (5) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar websites do not qualify as quality academic resources.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
• Describe the legal and administrative framework and economic considerations of the federal procurement process.
• Distinguish between the various types of contracts and considerations for use.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in procurement and contract law.
• Write clearly and concisely about procurement and contract law using correct grammar and mechanics.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
o Typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
o Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, your name, your professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
o Include a reference page. Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.

Organizational Audit

 
Due Saturday
Submit Assignment: Organizational Audit
Conduct a short interview and then perform an organizational audit presenting your analysis, interpretations, implications, and recommended actions.
The audit should address organizational processes, functions and subsystems as covered by course and outside readings.
Please note that if you cannot accomplish this process within your own organization, then choose an organization and interview the person in charge of developing human resources for the company. You must be able to identify both the company and the individual interviewed. You must also receive written permission from the individual you are interviewing, and include this permission with your assignment. It can be via email or you can scan a hard copy of the letter and include at the end of your paper. Include the letter or email as an Appendix.
You will be asking about the leadership, management policies, quality control initiatives, knowledge management in his/her organization and analyzing this information through the lens of whether the organization engenders a culture of creating a competitive advantage. Then conduct your own audit as noted above.
Briefly describe the organization you chose and explain why you made this choice.
Identify the individual you interviewed, date, time and location.
Describe the staff development plans, coaching philosophies, management policies, quality control initiatives, initiatives, etc., that are currently in existence.
Analyze the specific approaches against the background of scholarly research and provide an analysis of their effectiveness in terms of the organization’s vision, mission, goals, fit, etc.
Next, offer your own suggestions (remember to maintain 3rd person voice) for improvement with special emphasis on competitive advantage. Think as a scholar practitioner; in other words, as a consultant.
For the conclusion, discuss what you learned from the analysis of the information gained from the interview, the research and how it has or has not transformed your view on the organization where you work.
Length: 15-20 pages (maximum) plus References page.
Support your statements with evidence from the required studies and your research. Cite and reference your sources in APA style.

Accounting

“The traditional budget is a rigid tool and should therefore be discarded in practice”. Should the traditional budgetary model be abandoned as suggested above? Critically evaluate this claim in the light of recent external pressures from the capital market for timely and accurate information. Please support your answer with theoretical arguments and practical examples from lectures and academic journal articles highlighting the extensive use of budgetary system more recently.

Sustainability Accounting Case Study (ROYAL MAIL)

 
Within the context of the sustainability report of ROYAL MAIL company you are required to critically discuss Gray’s (2010) statement. Your essay should draw upon relevant academic literature and discuss a theoretical framework that could be used to support your argument. Your essay should specifically consider the following issues:

a) To what extent does the sustainability report comply with the GRI’s Sustainability Reporting Guidelines G4?
b) How the sustainability report compares to what is known from the academic literature on this subject?
c) Whether the sustainability report is (or should be) assured? And, if so, what level of assurance is provided?

Your essay should conclude by discussing the extent to which you agree with Gray’s (2010) statement. The essay is to be submitted on or before 13th January, 2016 by 12pm and should not exceed 3,000 words (word count should be included in the front cover of the assignment). The essay should be typed using Times New Roman font size 12, single spaced and on both sides of the paper. Essays should cite and reference academic journal articles. Both summative and formative feedback will be provided via standard coursework feedback sheet.

THE COMPANY IS ROYAL MAIL and I have provided a sample paper about what should be done, use the paper as a guidance, don’t copy paste from it.

The writer should check the lectures which will uploaded , and the CSR reports for royal mail company in the previous years.

http://www.royalmailgroup.com/responsibility/cr-reports

All in all, these are the parts that should be included:

1) introuduction about the company and whats the objective of this essay

2) extent of compliance with GRI’s Requirements (GRI4)

3) Report analysis of academic theory and framework

4) assurance levels and analyzing it

5) Conclusion and whether the writer agrees with Grays (2010) quote or not.

Tax Advice

Scenario Summary
You are a practicing CPA at Gibbons, Johnson, & Tannun LLP. You recently received a new medium-sized client, ABI Inc., a construction company that builds and renovates office buildings. Since the tornado went through your town, ABI Inc., has had more projects than it can handle. ABI’s gross revenues for 20×2 were $12 million dollars, up from $150,000 in 20×1. Alex expects the revenues to grow by 30% for the next three years because cleanup of the devastating tornado will take that long. You prepared ABI’s taxes in March of this year and Alex Lee, owner of ABI Inc., has contacted you again for your advice. Jackson Lee, Alex’s oldest son, would like money to start a business and has said that this is a good avenue to avoid paying estate taxes after his father’s death. Alex’s wife died last year and he has not given any money to his children in the past.
Your Assignment
Alex Lee has contacted you for your advice regarding estate planning. His business has increased significantly this year, as has his personal wealth, and his three children (and eight grandchildren) all are asking him for money. Alex is looking for your guidance.
Estate Taxes
Scenario
You are a practicing CPA at Gibbons, Johnson & Tannun, LLP. You recently received a new medium-sized client, ABI, Inc., a construction company that builds and renovates office buildings. Since the tornado went through your town, ABI, Inc., has had more projects than they can handle. ABI’s gross revenues for 20×2 were $12 million dollars, up from $150,000 in 20×1. Alex expects the revenues to grow by 30% for the next three years because cleanup of the devastating tornado will take that long. You prepared ABI’s taxes in March of this year and Alex Lee, owner of ABI, Inc., has contacted you again for your advice. Jackson Lee, Alex’s oldest son, would like money to start a business and has said that this is a good avenue to avoid paying estate taxes after his father’s death. Alex’s wife died last year and he has not given any money to his children in the past.
Alex Lee has contacted you for your advice regarding estate planning. His business has increased significantly this year, as has his personal wealth and his 3 children (and 8 grandchildren) all are asking him for money. Alex is looking for your guidance.

Key Players
Jackson Lee
Construction Supervisor for ABI, Inc.
I don’t want to pay estate taxes on my father’s estate after he dies, so I would like my dad to give me $3 million right now to start a company that makes custom cabinets. This is my life-long dream.

Alex Lee
Owner of ABI, Inc.
I’m concerned about giving my son $3 million since Jackson has felony drug charges pending against him.

Deliverable
Given the scenario, your role and the information provided by the key players involved, it is time for you to make a decision.
In a 1,000- to 1,500-word memo to Alex Lee, explain the following in terms he will understand:
• Explain the elements of the estate tax formula.
• Describe the interplay between gift and estate taxes.
• Describe strategies to minimize estate taxes.
• Explain the generation-skipping transfer tax and its relationship to gift and estate taxes.
• Give Alex advice on whether he should give his son, Jackson, money to start a business.

taxation

 
You have just transferred to the Tax Dept of a well known, prestigious accounting firm and right after the breakfast reception in your honor (keep dreaming), the partner-in-charge kindly requests that you come to his office to accept your first research project.

Upon your arrival in his plush and somewhat intimidating cavernous office, and with all the earlier niceties aside, he starts spitting out various facts and expletives, and you’re able to scratch down some notes, which include:

· His nephew, the kid, was accepted in a university graduate MS in taxation program

· The kid received a scholarship or tuition waiver, so the program is tuition free, which he cannot fathom the kid really deserves

· The kid will be employed to teach undergrad basic accounting at the university

· He hates the kid and the kid’s mother, his sister-in-law, who he says, can’t cook, is ugly and mean.

He then tells you to prepare a formal tax opinion memo addressed to his nephew, Mousy Goofblinder and to be really careful because he doesn’t want the firm to be sued by Mousy’s mother.

Right before he leaves, he tells you to ask his secretary for any details you might need and that the only question he needs you to address is whether the deal the kid has will be subject gross income for US federal income tax purposes. He then mutters something about you better cite the correct Internal Revenue Code section in your answer or you’re going back to working at McDonald’s.

His secretary tells you that you must write Mousy a clear, really well written, grammatically correct, straightforward letter that cites, along with any other pertinent sources, the Internal Revenue Code section(s) that is/are most relevant to the issue. KISS. She also tells you to keep the letter to 2 pages, maximum, as the senior partner never reads anything longer than that without falling asleep and that you should use the format provided in your text (e.g., relevant facts, issue, conclusion, discussion/citations).