Category: Accounting

Assignment 2: Litigation, Censures, and Fines

Assignment 2: Litigation, Censures, and Fines

Due Week 7 and worth 280 points

 

Research the Internet for recent litigation, censures, and fines involving national public accounting firms.  Examples of litigation cases against national public accounting firms include fines by regulatory authorities and censures by professional societies.

 

Write a three to four (3-4) page paper in which you:

  1. Analyze the primary accounting issues which form the crux of the litigation or fine for the firm, and indicate the impact to the firm as a result of litigation or fine. Provide support for your rationale.
  2. Examine the key inferences of corporate ethics related to internal controls and accounting principles which lead to the litigation or fine for the accounting firm.
  3. Evaluate the primary ethical standards of the accounting organization’s leadership and values which contributed to approval of the accounting issues and thus created the litigation or fines in question.
  4. Identify specific conduct violations committed by the organization and accounting firm in question. Next, create an argument supporting the actions against the organization and accounting firm, based on the current professional code of conduct for independent auditors and management accountants.
  5. Make a recommendation as to how regulators and professional societies may prevent this type of behavior in question for the future. Provide support for your rationale.
  6. Use two (2) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

 

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

  • Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
  • Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

 

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

  • Analyze business situations to determine the appropriateness of decision making in terms of professional standards and ethics.
  • Use technology and information resources to research issues in accounting.
  • Write clearly and concisely about accounting using proper writing mechanics.

Bargain Shoe Store

Resources: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Tutorial help on Excel® and Word functions can be found on the Microsoft® Office website. There are also additional tutorials via the web offering support for Office products.

Scenario: Mary Willis is the advertising manager for Bargain Shoe Store. She is currently working on a major promotional campaign. Her ideas include the installation of a new lighting system and increased display space that will add $24,000 in fixed costs to the $270,000 in fixed costs currently spent. In addition, Mary is proposing a 5% price decrease ($40 to $38) will produce a 20% increase in sales volume (20,000 to 24,000). Variable costs will remain at $24 per pair of shoes. Management is impressed with Mary’s ideas but concerned about the effects these changes will have on the break-even point and the margin of safety.

Complete the following:

  • Compute the current break-even point in units, and compare it to the break-even point in units if Mary’s ideas are used.
  • Compute the margin of safety ratio for current operations and after Mary’s changes are introduced (Round to nearest full percent).
  • Prepare a CVP (Cost-Volume-Profit) income statement for current operations and after Mary’s changes are introduced.

Prepare a 700-word informal memo to management addressing Mary’s suggested changes.

  • Explain whether Mary’s changes should be adopted. Why or why not? Analyze the above information (three bullet points above) and use this information to support your suggestion.

Show your work in Excel®.

Complete calculations/computations using Excel®.

Format your assignment consistent with APA guidelines.

ERP System Implementation

In the new millennium, one of the hot topics has been enterprise resource planning (ERP). Prepare a paper explaining the purpose of ERP and describing some of the key considerations and risks that are associated with ERP implementation. Include any issues or concerns involved when a company implements the system.

Individual Portion:

Research ERP to determine what its purpose is. Also, determine what problems have been encountered when different companies in different industries have implemented this kind of system.

 

Must be completed in APA format paper, 3-4 pages (not including title and reference pages)

Expense Recognition

You are the newly hired accountant for The Gift Shop. The owner has just received the December 31, 2008 bank statement and has asked you to prepare the monthly bank reconciliation.

  • Write the procedure documentation for the monthly bank reconciliation process in a professional manner.
    • It will be the desktop guide used by others in the event of your absence to prepare the financial statements for The Gift Shop.
    • It may be in the form of a memorandum or as a numbered listing of items, depending on your individual preference.
  • Prepare the monthly bank reconciliation for The Gift Shop based on the information provided.

Additional information needed for bank reconciliation preparation follows:

  • Cash per the unadjusted trial balance is $12,675.
  • Cash balance per the bank statement is $12,780.
  • Check #115 has not cleared the bank. It was written for $645.
  • A deposit of $1,000 cleared the bank but was not recorded in the general ledger.
  • A check for $250 was found in the owner’s desk drawer.
  • A deposit of $1,250 was taken to the bank after 2 p.m. on December 31, 2008 and was not posted by the bank until January 1, 2009.
  • Errors were noted in the following checks:
    • Check #121 was recorded for $325 but cleared the bank as $320.
    • Check #125 was recorded for $585 but cleared the bank as $600.
    • Bank service charge reported on the bank statement $30.00

Must be done in 2-4 pages

Bank Reconciliation

Purpose of Assignment 

Reconciling bank accounts is a good way to help maintain internal controls over cash. With time lags and posting errors it is easy for cash transactions to be omitted, recorded in a different accounting period, or reflect incorrect amounts. This assignment with give you practical experience in reconciling the cash balance as noted on the company books to the bank’s records.

Assignment Steps 

Resources: Financial Accounting: Tools for Business Decision Making

Scenario: Daisey Company is a very profitable small business. It has not, however given much consideration to internal control.  For example, in an attempt to keep clerical and office expenses to a minimum, the company has combined the jobs of cashier and book-keeper. As a result, Bret Turrin handles all cash receipts, keeps the accounting records, and prepares the monthly bank reconciliations.

The balance per the bank statement on October 31, 2017, was $18,380. Outstanding checks were No. 62 for $140.75, No. 183 for $180, No. 284 for $253.25, No. 862 for $190.71, No. 863 for $226.80, and No. 864 for $165.28. Included with the statement was a credit memorandum of $185 indicating the collection of a note receivable for Daisey Company by the bank on October 25.

This memorandum has not been recorded by Daisey.

The company’s ledger showed one Cash account with a balance of $21,877.72. The balance included undepositied cash on hand. Because of the lack of internal controls, Bret took for personal use all of the undeposited receipts in excess of $3,795.51. He then prepared the following bank reconciliation in an effort to conceal his theft of cash:

Cash balance per books, October 31 $21,877.72
Add: Outstanding checks
No. 862 $190.71
No. 863 226.80
No. 864 165.28 482.79
22,360.51
Less: Undeposited receipts 3,795.51
Unadjusted balance per bank, October 31 18,565.00
Less: Bank credit memorandum 185.00
Cash balance per bank statement, October 31 $18,380.00

Prepare a 1,050-word bank reconciliation report (hint: deduct the amount of the theft from the adjusted balance per books) including the following: 

  • Indicate the three ways that Bret attempted to conceal the theft and the dollar amount involved in each method.
  • What principles of internal control were violated in this case? 

Show all work in the Excel® spreadsheet and submit with the reconciliation report.

Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.

Managerial Accounting

5-35 Comprehensive Cash Budget (CMA adapted) (LO 4) GrowMaster Products,

a rapidly growing distributor of home gardening equipment, is formulating its plans for

the coming year. Carol Jones, the fi rm’s marketing director, has completed the following sales

forecast.

Month Sales Month Sales

January $ 900,000 July $1,500,000

February $1,000,000 August $1,500,000

March $ 900,000 September $1,600,000

April $1,150,000 October $1,600,000

May $1,250,000 November $1,500,000

June $1,400,000 December $1,700,000

Phillip Smith, an accountant in the Planning and Budgeting Department, is responsible for

preparing the cash fl ow projection. He has gathered the following information.

  • All sales are made on credit.
  • GrowMaster’s excellent record in accounts receivable collection is expected to continue,

with 60 percent of billings collected in the month after sale and the remaining 40 percent

collected two months after the sale.

  • Cost of goods sold, GrowMaster’s largest expense, is estimated to equal 40 percent of sales

dollars. Seventy percent of inventory is purchased one month prior to sale and 30 percent

during the month of sale. For example, in April, 30 percent of April cost of goods sold is

purchased and 70 percent of May cost of goods sold is purchased.

  • All purchases are made on account. Historically, 75 percent of accounts payable have been

paid during the month of purchase, and the remaining 25 percent in the month f ollowing

purchase.

  • Hourly wages and fringe benefi ts, estimated at 30 percent of the current month’s sales, are

paid in the month incurred.

  • General and administrative expenses are projected to be $1,550,000 for the year. A breakdown

of the expenses follows. All expenditures are paid monthly throughout the year, with

the exception of property taxes, which are paid in four equal installments at the end of each

quarter.

Salaries and fringe benefi ts $ 324,000

Advertising 372,000

Property taxes 136,000

Insurance 192,000

Utilities 180,000

Depreciation 346,000

Total $1,550,000

  • Operating income for the fi rst quarter of the coming year is projected to be $320,000. Grow-

Master is subject to a 40 percent tax rate. The company pays 100 percent of its estimated

taxes in the month following the end of each quarter.

  • GrowMaster maintains a minimum cash balance of $50,000. If the cash balance is less than

$50,000 at the end of the month, the company borrows against its 12 percent line of credit

in order to maintain the balance. All borrowings are made at the beginning of the month,

and all repayments are made at the end of the month (in increments of $1,000). Accrued

interest is paid in full with each principal repayment. The projected cash balance on April 1

is $50,000.

 

Required

  1. Prepare the cash receipts budget for the second quarter.
  2. Prepare the purchases budget for the second quarter.
  3. Prepare the cash payments budget for the second quarter.
  4. Prepare the cash budget for the second quarter.

 

 

6-30 Comprehensive flexible budgets and variance analysis (LO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,

6, 7, 8) Lexi Belcher picked up the monthly report that Irvin Santamaria left on her desk.

She smiled as her eyes went straight to the bottom line of the report and saw the favorable

variance for operating income, confirming her decision to push the workers to get those last

250 cases off the production line before the end of the month.

But as she glanced over the rest of numbers, Lexi couldn’t help but wonder if there were

errors in some of the line items. She was puzzled how most of the operating expenses could be

higher than the budget since she had worked hard to manage the production line to improve

efficiency and reduce costs. Yet the report, shown below, showed a different story.

Actual Budget Variance

Cases produced and sold 10,250 10,000 250 F

Sales revenue $1,947,500 $1,870,000 $77,500 F

Less variable expenses

Direct material 561,000 550,000 11,000 U

Direct labor 267,650 260,000 7,650 U

Variable manufacturing overhead 285,012 280,000 5,012 U

Variable selling expenses 93,130 90,000 3,130 U

Variable administrative expenses 41,740 40,000 1,740 U

Total variable expenses 1,248,532 1,220,000 28,532 U

Contribution margin 698,968 650,000 48,968 F

Less fi xed expenses

Fixed manufacturing overhead 111,000 110,000 1,000 U

Fixed selling expenses 69,500 70,000 (500 F)

Fixed administrative expenses 129,800 130,000 (200 F)

Total fixed expenses 310,300 310,000 300 U

Operating income $ 388,668 $ 340,000 $48,668 F

Lexi picked up the phone and called Irvin. “Irvin, I don’t get it. We beat the budgeted operating

income for the month, but look at all the unfavorable variances on the operating costs. Can you

help me understand what’s going on?” “Let me look into it and I’ll get back to you,” Irvin replied.

Irvin gathered the following additional information about the month’s performance.

  • Direct materials purchased: 102,000 pounds at a total of $561,000
  • Direct materials used: 102,000 pounds
  • Direct labor hours worked: 26,500 at a total cost of $267,650
  • Machine hours used: 40,950

Irvin also found the standard cost card for a case of product.

Standard Price Standard Quantity Standard Cost

Direct materials $5.50 per pound 10 pounds $ 55

Direct labor $10.00 per DLH 2.6 DLH 26

Variable overhead $7.00 per MH 4 MH 28

Fixed overhead $2.75 per MH 4 MH 11

Total standard cost per case $120

Required

  1. Calculate the direct materials price variance for the month.
  2. Calculate the direct materials quantity variance for the month.
  3. Calculate the direct labor rate variance for the month.
  4. Calculate the direct labor efficiency variance for the month.
  5. Calculate the variable overhead spending variance for the month.
  6. Calculate the variable overhead efficiency variance for the month.
  7. Calculate the fixed overhead spending variance for the month.
  8. Prepare a performance report that will assist Lexi in evaluating her efforts to control

production costs.

  1. Based on your review of the performance report you prepared, do you think Lexi did a

good job of controlling production expenses during the month? Why or why not?

ACC 599 Week 7 Assignment 2 – Accounting and Audit Enforcement

Using the Internet, Strayer databases, or the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Website, located at http://www.sec.gov/divisions/enforce/friactions/friactions2012.shtml, perform a search on several U.S. health care publicly-traded companies and choose a health care organization that has been accused of committing health care fraud.

Write a five to six (5-6) page paper in which you:

 

  1. Evaluate the level of SOX regulations that applies to for-profit and not-for-profit health care organizations, indicating whether or not mandating SOX requirements for non-profits might reduce fraud and increase corporate governance. Provide support for your rationale.
  2. Determine whether SOX has been effective in regulating ethical behavior of for-profit health care organizations. Defend your position.
  3. Determine whether deficiencies existed in the IT environment, and suggest ways to improve audit trails, data integrity, and policies and procedures in order to reduce the risk of fraudulent activity.
  4. Review the audit report issued by the external auditing firm from the company’s Website for the year it was accused of fraud. Then, determine whether the external auditors were negligent in preparing the audit report for the company. Formulate an opinion regarding which Internal Control was deficient or what GAAP was violated. Defend your position.
  5. Determine what provision(s) of SOX was / were violated in the health care fraud case in question. Indicate whether or not SOX adequately provides sanctions to deter the behavior or if changes are needed to the regulations to remedy the issue(s) and thus ensure compliance.
  6. Based on the fraudulent activity that occurred, recommend two (2) improvements to the internal control environment to reduce those occurrences. Provide detailed recommendations.
  7. Use at least four (4) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note:Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

 

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

 

  • Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

 

  • Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length

Careers in Accounting

Careers in Accounting

Due Week 8 and worth 160 points

Accounting is the study of how businesses track their income and assets over time. Accountants engage in a wide variety of activities in addition to preparing financial statements and recording business transactions. These activities include computing costs and efficiency gains from new technologies, participating in strategies for mergers and acquisitions, quality management, developing and using information systems to track financial performance, tax strategy, and health care benefits management.

Use the Internet or the Strayer Online database to research career options within the accounting field and accounting job postings in your local area to respond to the questions in the assignment.

Write a one to two (1-2) page paper in which you:

  1. Describe at least two (2) career options someone with an accounting education can pursue. Be sure to reference sources such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
  2. Describe one (1) researched accounting position, and explain the essential skills that would make a candidate successful in the position. Articulate the primary manner in which the researched accounting positions could add value to the company seeking candidates.
  3. Use at least two (2) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.
  4. Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
    • Typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
    • Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.

TRANSFER PRICING AND RESPONSIBILITY CENTERS

Case Assignment

Coffee Maker’s Incorporated (CMI)

Two divisions of a CMI are involved in a dispute. Division A purchases Part 101 and Division B purchases Part 201 from a third division, C. Both divisions need the parts for products that they assemble. The intercompany transactions have remained constant for several years.

Recently, outside suppliers have lowered their prices, but Division C is not lowering its prices. In addition, all division managers are feeling the pressure to increase profit. Managers of divisions A and B would like the flexibility to purchase the parts they need from external parties to lower cost and increase profitability.

The current pattern is that Division A purchases 3,000 units of product part 101 from Division C (the supplying division) and another 1,000 units from an external supplier. The market price for Part 101 is $900 per unit. Division B purchases 1,000 units of Part 201 from Division C and another 500 units from an external supplier. Note that both divisions A and B purchase the needed supplies from both the internal source and an external source at the same time.

The managers for divisions A and B are preparing a new proposal for consideration.

  • Division C will continue to produce Parts 101 and 201. All of its production will be sold to Divisions A and B. No other customers are likely to be found for these products in the short term, given that supply is greater than demand in the market.
  • Division C will manufacture 2,000 units of Part 101 for the Division A and 500 units of Part 201 for the Division B.
  • Division A will buy 2,000 units of Part 101 from Division C and 2,000 units from an external supplier at $900 per unit.
  • Division B will buy 500 units of Part 201 from Division C and 1,000 units from an external supplier at $1,900 per unit.

Division C Data 2014 Based on the Current Agreement

Part 101 201
Direct materials $200 $300
Direct labor $200 $300
Variable overhead $300 $600
Transfer price $1,000 $2,000
Annual volume 3,000 units 1,000 units

Required:

Computations (use Excel)

  • Set up a table similar the one below to compute the difference between the current situation and the proposal for Divisions A and B. Design a different table for Division C.
Division A
Current Situation Proposal
No. of Units Purchase Price Total Purchases No. of Units Purchase Price Total Purchases
Internal purchases 3,000 $ 2,000 $
External purchases 1,000 2,000
Total cost for part 101 $ $
Savings to Div. A $
  • Summarize the financial effects for the three divisions and the company as a whole in another table.

Memo (use Word)

Write a 4- or 5-paragraph memo to the division manager explaining the analysis performed. Start with an introduction and end with a recommendation. Each of the four or five paragraphs should have a heading.

Short Essay (use Word) Start with an introduction and end with a summary or conclusion. Use headings.

  • Evaluate and discuss the implications of the following transfer pricing policies:

Transfer price = cost plus a mark-up for the selling division

Transfer price = fair market value

Transfer price = price negotiated by the managers

Why is transfer pricing such a significant issue both from a financial and managerial perspective?

Assignment Expectations

Each submission should include two files: (1) An Excel file; and (2) A Word document. The Word document shows the  memo first and short essay last. Assume a  knowledgeable business audience and use required format and length. Individuals in business are busy and want information presented in an organized and concise manner.

Accounting Ethics

Review the following case study.

When the FASB issues new standards, the implementation date is often 12 months from date of issuance, and early implementation is encouraged. Becky Hoger, controller, discusses with her financial vice president the need for early implementation of a standard that would result in a fairer presentation of the company’s financial condition and earnings.

When the financial vice president determines that early implementation of the standard will adversely affect the reported net income for the year, he discourages Hoger from implementing the standard until it is required.

Write a response of 750 to 1,050 words in which you answer the following requirements:

  • Determine an ethical issue that is involved in this case if any.
  • Identify if the financial vice president acting improperly or immorally.
  • Explain what Hoger have to gain by advocacy of early implementation.
  • Identify who might be affected by the decision against early implementation.