Financial Reporting Essays (Examples)

Financial Standards

eporting standards for financial transactions have been varied with regard to countries and companies across the globe for many years. This fact has made it difficult for transactions to be reported with any great degree of accuracy. This was especially true in Germany where there was no true German GAAP. What the rest of the world has considered the German GAAP, the GoB, was actually comprised of here say and opinion gleaned from many different sources. With the advent of the IASB that the European Union adopted in 2007, Germany has finally decided on a single standard with which to govern financial reporting. Large companies within the country, such as Deutsche Bank, have had to make adjustments to the new standards, but this does not seem to have caused a problem. Since the country has loosely used international standards for many years, the new IASB is not new…

References

Bonthrone, R. (2000). German financial accounting and reporting. Translation Journal, 4(3). Retrieved from  http://translationjournal.net/journal/13finan.htm 

Deutsche Bank. (2011). Company. Deutsche Bank. Retrieved from  http://www.db.com/en/content/company/company.htm 

Feige, P. (1997). How "uniform" is financial accounting in Germany? European Accounting Review, 6(1), 109-122.

Gornik-Tomaszewski, S., & McCarthy, I.N. (2003). Cooperation between FASB and IASB to achieve convergence of accounting standards. Review of Business, 24(2), 52-61.

Financial Management

Content Find articles address financial reporting practices ethics standards health care finance, including * generally accepted accounting principles * corporate compliance, ethics, and fraud abuse

Financial management: Literature review

Healthcare institutions, like all organizations, are continually confronted with the four basic elements of financial management: deciding what to invest in or produce; how to finance those investments or products; how to manage assets, and how to report those assets in a manner that is useful and also complies with all necessary regulations. This paper will provide an overview of two recent articles, one on the necessity of uniform accounting procedures to ensure ethical and legal compliance amongst healthcare institutions and the other on the financial consequences of failing to do so for the institution itself.

Article 1: Maintaining the strength of your convictions

According to Larry Tyler's 2004 article "Maintaining the strength of your convictions" "Most financial executives…

References

Adam. (2007). Dot. Boston. Retrieved August 12, 2011 at  http://adamp.com/college/us-gaap-vs.-international-gaap-vs.-unified-gaap/ 

Fong, Gary R., Randy Wiitala & Frederick Stodolak. (2011). Uncovering pharmacy department risks and opportunities. Healthcare Financial Management Association Journal. Retrieved August 12, 2011 at  http://www.hfma.org/Publications/hfm-Magazine/Archives/2011/May/Uncovering-Pharmacy-Department-Risks-and-Opportunities/ 

Rode, Dan. (1990). Uniform accounting standards enable accurate comparisons.

Healthcare Financial Management. Retrieved August 12, 2011 at  http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3257/is_n7_v44/ai_9174983/

eporting and Disclosure: Publicly Traded Companies

Currently, a publicly traded company in the United States must produce a form 10-K each year (Dignam & Lowry, 2006). This is required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and provides a comprehensive overview of the company and its financial health. The 10-K is not the same as the yearly report that is produced for shareholders of the company. Depending on the size of the company, it is possible that other forms beyond the 10-K must be filed, as well (Berezin, 2005). While some are uncertain as to whether the current reporting and disclosure requirements are sufficient for companies that are publicly traded, the form 10-K is dozens of pages and encompasses a great deal of information. Company background information is provided, along with financial statements that have been audited, subsidiaries, equity, organizational structure, the compensation paid to executives, and other things (Berezin,…

References

Berezin, M. (2005). Emotions and the economy, in Smelser, N.J. And R. Swedberg (eds.) The Handbook of Economic Sociology, (2nd ed). NJ: Princeton University Press

Dignam, A. & Lowry, J. (2006) Company Law. New York: Oxford University Press.

Sullivan, A, & Sheffrin, S.M. (2003). Economics: Principles in action. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Financial Derivatives

This study emphasized the importance roles of financial derivatives, which has been known for the last decade and its effects on the Global financial crisis. It further analyzes the impact of financial derivatives and how it can be controlled to prevent corporations from incurring a lot of risks. It also explains the existence of financial derivatives since 1970, to the recent Global Financial Crisis which occurred in the 2006.

Risk is a feature associated with all productivity. As a result, financial markets adjust themselves to the fluctuation of exchange and interest rates. Hedging risk, these corporations highlight the importance of risk management tools known as Derivatives. Derivatives are defined as financial tools providing investors with effective solutions when avoiding risk caused from market volatility (Dodd, 2006). Financial derivatives are considered to be an effective risk management tool associated with Financial Engineering creating solutions to financial problems (Marks, 2010).…

Works Cited

Angel, James, and Douglas McCabe. "The Business Ethics Of Short Selling And Naked

Short Selling." Journal Of Business Ethics 85.(2009): 239-249. Business

Source Elite. Web. 1 Apr. 2012.

Barth, Mary E., and Wayne R. Landsman. "How Did Financial Reporting Contribute To

Financial Fraud Fannie Mae

eview of Fraud Schemes within Fannie Mae 1998-2004

Scope

The agency found the fraud understatements of earnings and illegal gratuities that led to accounting violations and inability to meet Wall Street goals.

The investigation of Lee Frakas, executive of a major mortgage company which had dealings with Fannie Mae with hundreds of fake mortgages. The Securities Exchange Commission cited that Fannie Mae had to repay earnings and correct their books for the period 2001 through 2004. This major undertaking will cost the company over $11 billion by SEC estimates. In addition the Department of Justice has conducted a criminal investigation on the board members.

Summary

The top executive managing Fannie Mae were found guilty of illegally reporting accounting information that led to their receiving million dollar payments. Under Fraudulent Financial Statement Schemes this case is one of corruption and financial fraud. The specific areas include Illegal…

References

Associated Press. (2006). Fannie Mae manipulated accounting. Retrieved January 19, 2012 from  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12923225/ns/business-corporate_scandals/t/report-fannie-mae-manipulated-accounting/# 

Schoenberg, T. (2011). Silence on taylor bean opened the way to $3 billion fraud. Retrieved January 19, 2012 from  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/926704/posts

Financial Accounting

Accounting Concepts

Financial Statements (Regulatory oversight)

The rapid failure and bankruptcy of Enron has prompted severe criticism of the nation's financial reporting and auditing systems, which are fundamental to maintaining investor confidence in U.S. capital markets; there are four areas in which the Enron failure revealed serious problems: corporate governance, the independent audit of financial statements, oversight of the accounting profession, and accounting and financial reporting issues (GAO, 2002). The financial statements are the frontline in determining a company's integrity and accountability. hen a company makes its financial statements public, then they can be scrutinized by many external entities to be used in the market.

However, before financial statements are made public, they should be examined by an external auditor. Auditing is one of the most essential functions in the entire accounting business function and mistakes made in accounting can cost an organization everything. Therefore the auditing process…

Works Cited

GAO. (2002, March 5). Protecting the Public Interest. Retrieved from U.S. Government Accountability Office:  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-02-483T 

Guilding, C., Drury, C., & Tayles, M. (2005). An empirical investigation of the importance of cost-plus pricing. Managerial Auditing Journal, 20(2), 125-137.

Financial Accounting egulatory Compliance

The roles of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of a public company are invaluable in establishing an ethical environment that generates quality accounting and reliable financial reporting for shareholders and investors. In fact, their involvement in this important issue largely pertains to corporate structure and corporate governance. Understanding that structure requires cognizance of the fact that when a company is publicly traded, it is technically owned by the shareholders. Shareholders, of course, are the many different people who own public stock in a corporation. In that respect, everyone who works for the corporation actually works for the shareholders. The next level up in corporate governance is the employees who work for the corporation, and who are responsible for the daily operation of it. These are the people who are actually responsible for implementing the measures ordained by their superiors -- the Chief Executive…

References

Hanna, J. (2014). The costs and benefits of Sarbanes-Oxley. www.forbes.com Retrieved from  http://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2014/03/10/the-costs-and-benefits-of-sarbanes-oxley/#483d803d2776 

Harper, J. (2016). "More than just data": The impact of Bayesian machine learning on predictive modeling.  https://analyticsweek.com  Retrieved from

Financial Officer

For most parts of history, government financial executives have been taken as scorekeepers, and made responsible for collecting, processing and reporting the financial information that used by elected officials and senior managers who use them in making their decisions. The question is whether their role has now changed with the present importance of information technology. (From Scorekeeper to Business Partner: The Evolving ole of Government Financial Executives)

Now there is increasing evidence of the importance that information technology is getting in public administration and this is resulting in more and more insistence from the public that government financial executives have a greater say in all decision making activities of the government. The finance executives are now the individuals to lead the charge for getting an entrepreneurial type of government and have it judged based on its performance. For most of the finance executives now, the changes are leading…

REFERENCES

Allison, Gregory. S. "Making the most of the New Blue Book" Retrieved from  http://www.gfoa.org/services/gfr/archives/2005/04  / Accessed 26 August, 2005

Ehrenhalt, Alan. (January, 2002) "The Problem with promises" Governing Magazine.

Retrieved from  http://www.governing.com/archive/2002/jan/assess.txt 

Accessed 26 August, 2005

Financial Analysis

Suppose you are comparing two firms within an industry. One is large and the other is small. Will relative or absolute numbers be of more value in each case? What kinds of statistics can help evaluate relative size?

Gibson, Charles H. (2012-05-10). Financial Reporting and Analysis (Page 217). Cengage Textbook. Kindle Edition.

When comparing two firms that are unequal in size, the relative financial ratios are more appropriate for any type of comparison. The advantage of using ratios is that they represent a metric that can be easily compared with industry standards or other specific companies of different sizes. The financial statement represents a snap shot of a company's performance over a given time period and the financial information that these reports provide can allow the analysis of a wide range of different ratios. These ratios can provide insights to factors such as the company's ability to repay…

financial statements by business entities. The purpose of this is so that one can understand about the business cash, how the business acquired or generated it, how it was used and in what ways and tomorrow's business plans, financial position of a business, performances and its position. The paper will go ahead to analyze if there is any significance of cash for the survival of a business and the impacts of the various financial sets. The arguments that will prevail will be based on the importance of the different financial statements to a business survival.

Cash is a crucial constituent of a business and I do agree that a business cannot survive without it. 'As a matter of fact the main aim and goal of a business is to generate cash and profits not only in the short run but also in the long-term.' (Minnery, 2006) Every business has everyday…

Works Cited

Elliot.B, 2005, Financial Accounting and Reporting; Financial Times/Prentice Hall, United Kingdom

Graham B. 1998, The Interpretation of Financial Statements Harper Business, amazon

Minnery.B. 2006, 'Don't question the importance of cash flow' The independent, viewed date 28 May 2006, www.independent.co.uk

MoneyInstructor.com. 2009, The importance of cash flow statement; viewed; Aug 19, 2009 www.moneyinstructor.com/doc/importance....

reporting of capital and operating leases and their impact on fair value measurements. The essay surveys lease accounting standards from 1976 thru the present.

The basic principle of lease accounting is that some leases are merely rentals, while others are in effect purchases. U.S. regulations that specify lease accounting rules are issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The primary FASB statement on leases was Number 13, issued in 1976, and is also known as FAS 13, SFAS 13 and FASB 13. Over the years it has been amended several times by additional FAS, including FAS 22, FAS 23, FAS 27, FAS 28, FAS 29, FAS 98, and FAS 121. In addition to financial accounting standards, various interpretations and technical bulletins have also been issued to provide additional guidance. Lease accounting rules were previously labeled as section L10 in the FASB Current Text, while the new FASB Codification uses…

Works Cited

Epstein, Barry J. "Accounting for Leases IFRS vs. GAAP. " IFRS Accounting. 2011. 16 September 2011. .

"History of Lease Accounting (Agenda Paper 2)." Joint International Working Group on Leasing. International Accounting Standards Board and Financial Accounting Standards Board. London. 15 February 2007.

"Leases (Topic 840)." Financial Accounting Standards Board. August 17, 2010: 1. Financial Accounting Foundation. 2011. 16 September 2011. .

"Lease Accounting Rules." Financial Computer Systems, Inc. 2007. 16 September 2011. .

Financial Stakeholders in a Business

Main financial stakeholders, their power and influence in a business

Stakeholders refer to people affected or have an interest in the objectives and operations of the business. The business has a variety of stakeholder segments, which have been broadly categorized as follows:

The classification of stakeholders varies in terms of interests to the activities of the business and their power to influence key decisions. The fact is that key stakeholders do not enjoy equality in terms of their influence and power. This is evident across all business sectors. Senior managers tend to have more influence compared to mere environmental activists (Schaltegger & Burritt, 2010). The table below defines the main financial stakeholders and their impact on the business:

Main financial stakeholders

Main Interests

Impact on the Business

Shareholders

Dividends, share price growth and profit growth

Election of directors

Banks & other Lenders

Principal and interest…

References

Cowton, C., & Haase, M. (2008). Trends in business and economic ethics. Berlin: Springer.

Dawkins, S. (2007). CIMA Exam Practice Kit Management Accounting Decision Management: 2007 Edition. Burlington: Elsevier Science & Technology.

Dayananda, D. (2012). Capital budgeting: Financial appraisal of investment projects. Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press.

Lewis, R., & Trevitt, R. (2013). Financial accounting. Cheltenham: Nelson Thomas.

financial statements of Marriott Hotels and discusses measurement bases they employ. The essay also surveys the literature for current thinking on fair value measurement.

According to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), measurement "involves assigning monetary amounts at which the elements of financial statements are to be recognized and reported" (Deloitte, 2011). Accounting measurement consists of quantifying financial information in dollars or units. These measurements are then used to report information to internal and external users through the use of financial statements that accountants prepare. Financial accounting measurements may be recorded at historical cost or adjusted to reflect current market values (Conjecture Corporation, 2011).

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) require companies to record balance sheet information using a fair value accounting measurement. Companies must therefore use this measurement technique to value assets and equity investment at the current market rate which thee items would bring if they sold in an…

Works Cited

Barth, M.E. (2006). Including estimates of the future in today's financial statements. BIS Working Paper No. 28. Available at SSRN:  http://ssrn.com/abstract=947525 

Cairns, D. (2006). The use of fair value in IFRS. Accounting in Europe 3, 5-22. Available at:

ftp://124.42.15.59/ck/2011-03/165/027/066/423/The%20Use%20of%20Fair%20Value%20in%20IFRS..pdf

Conjecture Corporation. (2011). What is an accounting measurement? Retrieved August 30, 2011 from:  http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-accounting-measurement.htm

Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley Acts are important legislations in the corporate world because of their link to public and privately held companies. Sarbanes-Oxley Act was enacted to enhance transparency and accountability in publicly traded companies. On the contrary, Dodd-Frank Act was enacted to disentangle the confused web of financial service company valuations. Actually, these valuations are usually hidden by complex and unclear financial instruments. The introduction of Sarbanes-Oxley Act was fueled by recent incidents of accounting frauds by top executives of major corporations such as Enron. In contrast, Dodd-Frank Act was enacted as a response to the tendency by banks, insurance companies, hedge funds, rating agencies, and accounting companies to serve up harmful offer of ruined assets and liabilities brought by systemic non-disclosure (Anand, 2011, p.1). While these regulations have some similarities and differences, they have a strong relationship with the financial markets.

elationship between the Acts and Financial Markets:

Since…

References:

Anand, S. (2011). Essentials of the Dodd-Frank Act. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Brink, A.G., Lowe, J. & Victoravich, L. (2013, August). The Effect of Evidence Strength and Internal Rewards on Intentions to Report Fraud in the Dodd-Frank Regulatory Environment. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 32(3), 87-104.

Casey, K.L. (2011, January 23). Speech by SEC Commissioner: "The Regulatory Implementation

and Implications of Dodd-Frank." Retrieved from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website:  https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/2011/spch012311klc.htm

According to these analysts, "The implicit assumption underlying the price-to-earnings method is that the fair market value of the closely held business can be approximated from the market value of comparable publicly traded businesses. To implement this method, the valuator must be able to identify a set of presumed-to-be comparable publicly traded companies and obtain sufficient information on each to verify the extent of comparability from an economic, management, and financial perspective. No publicly traded company will be precisely comparable to the closely held business being valued, so informed judgment must be exercised" (p. 81). As a general rule, the smaller in size and the more limited the scope of activities of the business being valued, the less likely there will be a set of publicly traded companies that are comparable, or even a single comparable publicly traded company. Publicly traded companies are for the most part large, measured in…

References

Allen, M.F. & Cote, J. 2005, "Creditors' Use of Operating Cash Flows: An Experimental

Study." Journal of Managerial Issues 17(2): 198-199.

"Asset/equity ratio." 2009, Investor Glossary. [Online]. Available: http://www.investorglossary.

com/asset-equity-ratio.htm.

Finanace

The Importance of Organizational Performance Assessments

Financial management is a key issue for all organizations. For commercial organizations the primary purpose of the firm is usually to create profit for the shareholders; most businesses were set up with the aim of making money rather than altruistic purposes. Therefore, financial assessments of the firm are a primary measure of its performance, and can give great insights into the efficiency and effectiveness of the firm, especially when compared to other organizations in the same sector. Even non-profit making organizations, such as charities and government departments, require some type of financial assessments take place in order to determine whether or not they are reaching the goals, and assess the way resources are utilized. The aim of this paper is to consider how and why organizational performance assessments are important, and consider how they may be utilized, focusing on financial assessments, but also…

References

Cook Sarah, (2008), The Essential Guide to Employee Engagement: Better Business Performance Through Staff Satisfaction, Kogan Page Publishers

Elliott B, Elliott J, (2011), Financial Accounting and Reporting, London, Prentice Hall.

Revsine, Lawrence; Collins, Daniel; Johnson, Bruce; Mittelstaedt, Fred, (2011), Financial Reporting and Analysis, McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Financial continuity Strategies for NGO Boards
Non-governmental organizations are often caught up in financial woes that make it difficult for their operation despite having a strong mission program. Discussed are professional financial continuity strategies for NGO boards to control the financial performance of their organizations in a timely manner. Firstly, ensuring an effective operation of the board. Their functions are executed through complementary and supervisory operations, and legal obligations on their performance in the organizations structure (Finkler et al., 2016). The board’s primary role is to represent the interests of the stakeholders and those of the organization. Their functions include administration of the organization, financial oversight, and making decisions on policy.
Their governance responsibilities includes approval of annual budgets, preparation of business plans, policy formulation and implementation, strategic planning, and other administrative controls. Internal controls should be exercised not give room for fraudulent activities. Boards should ensure the organization abides…

Financial esource Management

eaching a financial decision regarding heath care services

All forms of industries deemed financial management as expressive in origin till the 1960's. Its basic and sole role was to ensure financing for completing the business's operatives and functions. The department for business planning or marketing would project a net total for meeting the services and meeting daily demands; managers would calculate the assets required to complete a given project needed, equipment's, supplies and building. Financial management is a field which focuses on business securities as well as the markets in which they are in key demand. Also, more emphasis is made on how businesses can tap new markets and unlock their hidden potential. As a result, financial management books were pretty explanatory and predictable in origin during those times. (Sandrick, 2008).

These days, financial management plays a pivotal role in day-to-day operations of a business. The responsibility…

References

Allen, S., and M. Bombardieri. 2008. "A Healthcare System Badly Out of Balance." The Boston Globe, November 16.

Glaeser, E.L. 2004. "The Governance of Not-for-Profit Organizations." The International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law 6 (3).

Halvorson, G.C. 2005. "Healthcare Tipping Points." Healthcare Financial Management (March): 74 -- 80.

Helvin, L.K. 2008. "Caring for the Uninsured: Are Not-for-Profit Hospitals Doing Their Share?" Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics (summer): 421 -- 70.

Financial Analysis of Bestwish Limited

Company Overview

Bestwish Limited produces extensive range of quality products such as gift dressing, greetings cards, and plush merchandise of more than 50,000 stocks. The production of different categories of products involve between 2 and 15 processes. The company produces standardized products and custom designed products ordered from customers on contract basis. However, Bestwish Limited is facing challenges to control the costs because of varying production process, reliance on indirect costs and large number of stock keeping units.

Bestwish Limited has just closed the 2010 fiscal year account and the company is finalizing the 2011 budget. Bestwish intends to analyze the 2010 financial statement to present the accurate picture of the company financial performances.

Objective of this report is to analyze 2010 financial statements to assess the viability of Bestwish Limited.

Task

Attn:

Audit Committee of the Board

Finance Director

Subject: Financial statement Analysis

Date:…

References

Drury, C. (2009). Management Accounting for Business, 4th Edition (Cengage Learning EMEA, ) ISBN 1408017717.

Harris, R. And Sollis, R. (2003).Applied Time Series Modelling and Forecasting (John Wiley and Sons) ISBN 0470844434

Glynn, J. Perrin, J. Murphy, M. And Abraham, A. (2003).Accounting for Managers, 3rd Edition.(Thomson Learning) ISBN 186152904X

The Times 100, (2012). Financial statements and reporting A Cadbury Schweppes case study. The Times 100 Business Case Studies.

Financial Feasibility

Bull Run, Virginia

Pleasant Valley Estates is envisioned as an upwardly mobile community - located in Bull Run, Virginia - and targeted toward the young, single professional and young families.

Cash Flow Statement Overview

The cash flow statement constitutes a financial document, which details the exchange of cash between a business and the outside world while strategically demonstrating the in and outbound logistics. Flow is traditionally categorized as:

flow "in" from Operations - the cash the entity or company makes by selling goods and services, flow "in" from Financing - the cash the entity or company raises by selling stocks and bonds, and flow "out" to Investing - the cash the company spends toward investing in future growth

Each of these flows can move bi-directionally. Investors generally like to see that the company covers its spending with cash from operations rather than resort to financing. The cash flow…

Jordan, B. "Homeownership Alliance." Banc One Investments Advisor.

Freddie Mac Reports Strong Multifamily Lending Volume: New Product Lines Boost Production and Position Freddie Mac as Industry Leader." Freddie Mac News and Information Report. Nov. 2000.

Financial Statements: Accounting

Accounting: Financial Statements

Are the assets included under the company's assets listed in the proper order? Explain your answer.

When it comes to the listing of current assets in a balance sheet, it is their liquidity that is taken into consideration. In that regard therefore, the assets that would ordinarily be turned into cash quickly come first. Looking at the company's current assets, one would conclude that based on my explanation above, the order of listing is proper and correct. Cash (which is the most liquid current asset in this case) comes first. The other current assets follow -- in the order of their liquidity.

How are the company's assets classified?

With regard to the classification of the company's assets, we first have the current assets followed by the fixed assets. While current assets in this case include all those assets the company would ordinarily expect to…

References

Lasher, W.R. (2013). Practical Financial Management. 7th ed. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

These units tie up capital that could be better spent elsewhere. Below is the placement of Financial Times' business units (See Figure 1).

Figure 1. BCG Growth-Share Matrix - Financial Times

STAS: QUESTION MAKS:

None. The Asian Market

The Online Market

CASH COWS: DOGS:

The UK Market The American Market

The European Market

Ansoff Matrix:

Ansoff's matrix provides four different growth strategies: Market penetration, market development, product development, and diversification. With market penetration, the organization seeks to achieve growth with existing products in their current market segments, aiming to increase their market share. Market development involves growth by targeting its existing products to new market segments. Product development is the strategy whereby the organization develops new products targeted to its existing market segments. And, diversification, is where the organization grows by diversifying into new businesses, by developing new products for new markets.

Financial Times has implemented both a market penetration…

References

Robinson, J. 5 June 2005, "Out of the red and into the pink: Editor Andrew Gowers is restoring some colour to the FT's cheeks," The Observer, p. 9.

Griffiths, I. 20 May 2005, "Analysis: FT's first cuts were the cheapest," The Guardian, p. 24.

Miller, J. 16 May 2005, "Media: Webview: Why the press must wake up to the web," The Guardian, p. 13.

Another point of difficulty is that different firms may use different calendars when reporting. For example, the fiscal year at FedEx ends at the end of May, while at UPS the fiscal years ends at the end of December. This makes for a difficult comparison. For example, fuel prices escalated rapidly in early 2008. Comparing a FedEx FY09 and UPS FY08 would be very difficult, given that one of those statements would reflect the fuel price increase and the other would not.

There are also limitations to accounting analysis as a whole. At best, these forms of analysis are only as good as the financial statements from which they are produced. A large number of variables contribute to those statements, including accounting policy, accounting accuracy (or lack thereof), outdated information and changes in the accounting standards (NetTom, n.d.)

Changes in accounting policy or accounting standards can distort data year-over-year, which…

Works Cited:

MSN Moneycentral: FedEx Corporation. (2009). Retrieved November 3, 2009 from  http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/invsub/results/hilite.asp?Symbol=FDX 

MSN Moneycentral: Thomson Reuters. (2009). Retrieved November 3, 2009 from  http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/invsub/results/statemnt.aspx?Symbol=TRI 

Loth, R. (n.d.). Financial ratio tutorial. Investopedia. Retrieved November 3, 2009 from  http://www.investopedia.com/university/ratios/profitability-indicator/default.asp 

No author. (2007). Common Size Financial Statements. NetMBA. Retrieved November 3, 2009 from  http://www.netmba.com/finance/statements/common-size/

Financial Proposal: Dorchester, Ltd.

As discussed in earlier papers, for Dorchester, the final decision as to which particular nation to invest in is dependent on a range of distinct scenarios; these factors naturally impact the selected acquisition target. Before the acquisition target is selected, the nation which houses the potential acquisition target needs to be scrutinized closely. For instance, the trade environment of the nation where the prospective acquisition is located needs to be assessed, since this factor will impact the cost and ability to engage in trade. The political environment of the nation where the prospective target resides is also a crucial factor that needs to be examined closely. No potential targets exist in peaceful vacuums; rather all the prospective nations looked at during this course have some element of political risk attached to them. Furthermore, as discussed during earlier assignments, it's been found that political stability of a…

References

Brown, C. (2011, January 20). How to Finance an Acquisition. Retrieved from Inc.com:

 http://www.inc.com/guides/201101/business-acquisition-financing.html 

Ford, P. (2010, August 17). China's economic status is good news for the country ...

right? Retrieved from Csmonitor.com: China's economic status is good news for the country ... right?

III. RECOMMENDATION

The financial statements of IVK should be closely examined to determine how to increase revenues while decreasing expenses. Concerning the IT Department, the new manager needs to hire a good mix of people with various skills. There will, of course need to be staff members with exceptional technical skills that can develop new technologies to keep the firm growing at the steady rate that it did a few years ago. However, the department should not be saturated with technical staff. The new manager will need to hire individuals who have a strong business sense and are experienced in the fields of accounting, finance as well as other business areas. This is necessary because the technical staff person may favor a technology that seems to be best for the company because of its capabilities, but the person with a good sense of business can evaluate the technology to determine…

25 per share on the initial offering date in 1961 and held as a long-term investment. The original 100 shares has grown to 48,000 shares through stock splits and stock dividends. And this does not include the reinvestment of cash dividends.

Action

Shares

Shares After

Split

Closing Price

Before Split

Oct

1961

Bought 100 Shares

April

1966

100% stock dividend

2 for 1)

Nov

1969

Stock Split

2 for 1)

Nov

1971

50% Dividend

3 for 2)

July

1972

33 1/3% Dividend

4 for 3)

June

1976

50% Dividend

3 for 2)

Nov

1981

Stock Spilt

3 for 2)

April

1983

Stock Split

5 for 3)

June

1992

100% Dividend

2 for 1)

April

1994

Stock Split

2 for 1)

June

1998

Stock Split

2 for 1)

June

2001

Stock Split

2 for 1)

Lowe's has been a publicly owned company since October 10, 1961. Its stock has been listed…

(2 for 1)

Lowe's has been a publicly owned company since October 10, 1961. Its stock has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since December 19, 1979. Shares are traded under the ticker symbol LOW.  http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=frameSet&url=www.shareholder.com/lowes/index2.cfm 

Clearly Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse is a strong investment yes, though care should be made, as with every market investment to demonstrate staying power in the progress of the stock and invest in the market as a long-term investor.

Accounting Framework

The reclassification of this expense from an aggregated category to a specific one, Fuel and oil expense, reflects a shift in how hedging will be done in the future within Southwest. Hedging was treated as a pre-emptive financial strategy within the air carrier, often managed completely off the Income Statement and included in accrued or long-term liabilities (Carter, ogers, Simkins, 54). Given the market-to-market impact of fuel contracts being negative ($73M in 2009 per the annual report) and the ineffectiveness of fuel hedges settling in future periods of -$97M the net effect on the company's profitability will be a -$54M reduction in asset valuation. This is compared to a $92M valuation in 2008. This significant shift in the valuation of hedging contracts led to the redefinition of the expense category as well.

Lessons Learned

Despite the losses incurred by Southwest with their hedging strategies in 2009, the results…

References

David A Carter, Daniel A Rogers, and Betty J. Simkins. "Does Hedging Affect Firm Value? Evidence from the U.S. Airline Industry. " Financial Management 35.1 (2006): 53-86.

Duncan Wood. "Cheaper Oil Isn't the Only Payback. " Treasury and Risk Management 16.1 (2005): 42.

The applicability of Activity-Based Costing for decision making is directly linked to the influences that ABC has over process control. In this order of ideas, by better identifying the incurred costs or the overhead, managers can better monitor and control the evolution of products, prices, costs and consequently, profits. ABC identifies the costs incurred by each item in terms of resources consumed. Therefore, with the aid of ABC, organizational managements have the ability to control resource allocation.

Activity-Based Costing reveals yet another significant feature: it has the ability to evaluate the costs of not producing an item. This basically means that with the aid of the ABC, managers are able to know how much they have lost due to machine malfunctioning, product damaging, increased inventory costs or time spent waiting for a machine component to be replaced. "Activity-Based Costing therefore gives not only much better cost control, but increasingly, it…

Works Cited

Barnat, R., 2005, Strategic Control: A New Perspective, Strategic Control,  http://www.strategic-control.24xls.com/en139last  accessed on October 21, 2008

Chellasamy, P., Ligy, V.K., 2008, Activity-Based Costing - a Tool for Decision Making, Fibre 2 Fashion,  http://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/7/670/activity-based-costing-a-tool-for-decision-making1.asplast  accessed on October 21, 2008

Cooper, R., Kaplan, R.S., 1998, Design of Cost Management Systems, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall

Drucker, P.F., 2006, Classic Drucker, Harvard Business School Press

3.2.3 Portfolio Diversification of Investment in Global Property Markets

ecause the global property markets are affected by globalization and specific country / regional factors, means that the overall amounts of risks will vary, the most notable include: transparency and efficiency. Where, each country / region has different on laws and regulations pertaining to the real estate markets. This means that the risks in a number of different markets will depend upon specific market conditions themselves, reflecting these two factors. To protect themselves against these kinds of risks, many investors will often seek to diversify their portfolio. Diversification is: when you are investing a number of different asset classes in real estate, across a variety of countries / regions. The idea is that if a risk occurs in a specific country or region, the other areas that you are diversified in will protect you against the severity of the declines. For…

Bibliography

2009 A Year of Revival for Property Sector, 2010, Visit Kuwait. Available from: . [30 March 2010].

Barwa Real Estate, 2010, Arabian Business. Available from: . [30 March 2010].

Business Risk, 2010, Invest Words. Available from: [29 March 2010].

Dubai Property Companies Called Merger Off, 2009, Property Wire. Available from: [30 March 2010].

For a corporation, this increased their bottom line results and the total amounts of income they are generating. When this happens, investors are pleased with the direction of the firm and will reward the managers with lucrative pay packages and other benefits. ("omney Forgoes Full Charity," 2012)

The reason why this is important is because corporations' can avoid having to pay the same taxes twice under the progressive system. The way that this occurs is the company can take a write off for operations they have overseas. This is because they can argue that the income was not generated within the United States. When this happens, they will be taxed at a lower rate for any kind of profits from these locations. ("omney Forgoes Full Charity," 2012)

If a firm is generating a certain percentage of their earnings using this strategy, they can reduce their tax liabilities dramatically. This is…

References

Progressive Taxes. (2012). Investopedia. Retrieved from:  http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/progressivetax.asp#axzz2K9truLTQ 

Romney Forgoes Full Charity. (2012). Bloomberg. Retrieved from:  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-21/mitt-romney-paid-14-1-federal-tax-rate-in-2011-campaign-says.html

Financial Management - Personal Investment Decision for a Public Company

Financial Statistics

ationale for Toyota

atio analysis

Stock price analysis

Foreign Interests

Toyota Motor Corporation, which is recognized as is one of the most exhilarating productions in the automobile business these days. The company is one of the most economical corporations all over the world and has appreciated a record setting achievement for a very long time. In the previous years, the worldwide automobile industry has been overwhelmed by soaring gas prices, and hard-hitting environmental protection laws. With that even being said, it has not been a walk in the park for Toyota, but to no gain the company has been one of the most effective establishments so far. Toyota Motor Corporation has also been one of the manufacturing leaders in creating new and innovative technologies that take advantage of the productions existing barriers. There are a lot of things…

References

Bryce, H.J. (2007). "Financial and Strategic Management for Nonprofit Organizations." Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall,.

Campos, F. (2010). "As funding dries up, nonprofits must work harder.." Pacific Business News,, 34(8), 34-56.

Elliot, S. (2014). Toyota Motor Corporation. The New York Times, 34(9).

Herrold, C.Y. (2012). "How to Carve a Pie." Foundation News and Commentary,. Foundation News and Commentary, 41(4), 45-67.

It is, in this sense, a question of security and risk avoidance. In a financially insecure environment, an environment where state budgeting and financing for hospitals may be influenced by issues such as a change in the governing party, a change in the state priorities or anything like this, it is important to know that, while on one hand your sources of financing are variable, including here the possibility that sponsorship contacts may be less important in some years, your financial obligations remain stable and are not subject to modifications.

A second important advantage for the two types of conventional mortgage schemes I have mentioned is the fact that they seem to be more addressed to long-term activities than the adjustable rate conventional mortgage. Indeed, the adjustable rate advantages people who will prefer to change their asset after the first years and will benefit form the lower interest rate and…

Bibliography

1. Understanding Mortgage Options. Alpha Mortgage Services Inc. On the Internet at  http://www.loanbright.com/alphatoledo/options.htm 

2. Conventional Mortgage Program Overview. 2005. FreddieMac. On the Internet at  http://www.freddiemac.com/multifamily/conventional.htm 

Understanding Mortgage Options. Alpha Mortgage Services Inc. On the Internet at

Financial Environment

A non-for-profit entity has a financial structure based on assets and liabilities solely. Such an entity does not have equity. The main source of financing for a non-profit entity is donations. A non-profit entity is, other than a few fixed assets, a flow-through entity. This means that donations come into the organization, and are then rendered out in the form of services. There is a high emphasis on expenses. Most charities will have some current assets, but usually these are things likely to be converted to cash. Otherwise, the assets tend to be equipment or buildings, likely depreciable. The balance sheet is known as the statement of financial position, outlining the assets and liabilities. These are not necessarily balanced, which is why the term balance sheet is not used (Foley, 2015). Spending in a non-profit is almost entirely discretionary in nature, technically, though there may be ongoing programs.…

References

CharityWatch.org (2015). Overhead ratios are essential for informed giving. CharityWatch.org. Retrieved April 13, 2015 from  https://www.charitywatch.org/charitywatch-articles/overhead-ratios-are-essential-for-informed-giving/133 

Foley, E. (2015). Reporting and operations. Non-Profit Accounting Basics. Retrieved April 13, 2015 from  http://www.nonprofitaccountingbasics.org/reporting-operations/statement-financial-position 

Friedman, M. (1970). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. New York Times Magazine. Retrieved April 13, 2015 from  http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html

Also, on April 1, 2004, Sony recognized a charge of 4,713 million yen (net of income taxes of 2,675 million yen) as a cumulative effect of an accounting change. (Form 20F Year Ended Mar. 31, 2008)

2.1.2.4 During the quarter ended December 31, 2004 Sony adopted EITF Issue No. 04-8 which requires that the maximum number of common stock that could be issued upon the conversion of contingently convertible debt instruments be included in diluted EPS computations from the date of issuance regardless of whether the conditions to exercise the stock acquisition rights have been met. As a result of the adoption of EITF Issue No. 04-8, Sony's diluted, Sony's diluted EPS of income before cumulative effect of an accounting change and net income for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005 decreased by 7.26 yen and 7.06 yen, respectively, as a result of adopting EITF Issue No. 04-8. (Form…

Bibliography

Documents submitted to the SEC (EDGAR) Form 20F and others.  http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/library/sec.html

Business Plan

Business Financial Plan for Sweet Tooth Treats

Baking has always been a major part of my family life, and for generations there has been infamous cookie recipes past down from one cook to the next. Every holiday season, my cookies are notorious for being the best any gift receivers have ever had. Finally, I believe it is time to make my baking hobby and actual money making enterprise. I know I have the recipe, the potential customers, and options for both retail space and an online presence. The only thing missing is the initial push to make this hobby an actual business -- Sweet Tooth Treats.

Business Start Up Plan

Product

The essentially product here is the various cookies, of different flavors and ingredients. I have several recipes for cookies, both permanent and seasonal variations. These products will be sold in both individual sales at a retail location,…

References

Colorado Small Business Association. (2012). The beginning balance sheet. Documents. Web.  https://www.coloradosbdc.org/DocumentMaster.aspx?doc=4 

Damrauer, Virginia Hire. (2010). One Good Cookie. National University. Web.  http://www.academia.edu/346438/One_Good_Cookie_A_Business_Plan 

Hub Pages. (2012). How to start your own cookie business from home. Small Business and Entrepreneurs. Web.  http://kathrynvercillo.hubpages.com/hub/Start_Your_Own_Cookie_Business 

Office of Financial Management. (2012). Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Accounting Principles. Web.  http://www.ofm.wa.gov/policy/80.20.htm

This can for example relate to customer relations and service. When a company is well-known for its excellence of customer service, customers tend to return. This is also a very good vehicle of word-of-mouth advertising. Satisfied customers tend to return and to advertise to their friends.

4) Tangible resources are vital to recognize within accounting reports, as this is the indicator of a companies earnings and expenditures. If a company is not well informed of both, it is in danger of making unsound financial decisions.

Intangible resources are important for utilization in paradigms such as advertising and ensuring customer returns and also the cumulative effect of word-of-mouth advertising. While not measurable in terms of income, elements such as customer service are also vital to a company's well-being. Complaints about a company could do much more harm than the best reports on its tangible resources. Reputation is therefore also of vital…

Accounting

The role of financial statements in investing is that they provide a consistent format that can be used by potential investors and other stakeholders to evaluate a company. There are several components that facilitate this happening. For publicly-traded firms, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) play a key role in the creation of financial statements. GAAP is a common set of accounting principles and procedures that companies use to compile their financial statements (Investopedia, 2012). ith companies having to produce their statements according to a common set of criteria, the information is easier to compare not only between different years at the same company, but also against other firms in the industry and all other publicly-traded firms.

The IFRS is essentially the international version of GAAP. Financial statements in many countries, especially those in Europe, are produced according to IFRS. There are a many areas where GAAP and IFRS diverge,…

Works Cited:

AICPA. (2011). International financial reporting standards (IFRS): An AICPA backgrounder. AICPA. Retrieved March 22, 2012 from  http://www.ifrs.com/pdf/IFRSUpdate_V8.pdf 

Beiersdorf 2011 Annual Report. Retrieved March 22, 2012 from  http://www.beiersdorf.com/GetFile.ashx?id=3243 

Investopedia (2012). Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Investopedia. Retrieved March 22, 2012 from  http://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gaap.asp#axzz1pmKm2c8C 

Revlon Fiscal Year 2011 Form 10-K. Retrieved March 22, 2012 from  http://services.corporate-ir.net/SEC/Document.Service?id=P3VybD1odHRwOi8vaXIuaW50Lndlc3RsYXdidXNpbmVzcy5jb20vZG9jdW1lbnQvdjEvMDAwMTE5MzEyNS0xMi0wNjUzMTAvZG9jL1JldmxvbkluYy5wZGYmdHlwZT0yJmZuPVJldmxvbkluYy5wZGY=

elevance

Materiality

Quantitative

The Financial Year/Accounting Period Concept

Application of Literature eview into practice for IKEA's 3-year (2009-2010-2011) financial reports

What is missing and ok in the reports? The good and bad points of eports based on Literature eview.

103-year comparative ratio analysis and their interpretations

Literature eview of "Strategic Management Accounting Concept" and its application to facilitate the IKEA's ambitions for the future.

The concept of financial reporting is important to each and every organization. The information contained in financial reports is important since it helps in the reduction of financial risks while also acting as a tool for corporate governance (Kothari,2000; Berndt,2007).Financial report must have a series of desirable characteristics. In this paper, we use IKEA's financial reports in evaluating the desirable characteristics of financial reports. Also discussed is the possible effects of using the concepts of strategic management accounting and its methods in the promotion and facilitation…

References

Beuselinck, C. & Manigart, S. (2007). Financial Reporting Quality in Private Equity Backed Companies: The Impact of Ownership Concentration. Small Business Economics, 29, 261-274.

Dabor, EL., Adeyemi, SB (2009).Corporate Governance and the credibility of financial statements in Nigeria. Journal of Business Systems, Governance and Ethics. Vol 4, (1)

Datamonitor (2012). Ikea Group.  http://www.datamonitor.com/store/Product/ikea_group?productid=6878C795-4BCB-4C85-A319-6F33C508FD80 

Dechow, P.M., Sloan, R.G. & Sweeney, A.P. (1996). Causes and consequences of earnings manipulation: An analysis of firms subject to enforcement actions by the SEC. Contemporary Accounting Research, 13(1), 1-36.

Using these different techniques reveals different information about the company. So for example we know that Tesco earned £67.6 billion in revenue last year, and that this is an increase of 8.1% over the previous year. This is the top line number; we can see that the bottom line number is £3.8 billion, an increase of 11.7% from the year before. This basic analysis reveals that the company has increased its revenues faster than it costs. This is valuable information for all types of stakeholders. Investors find such facts reassuring. Unionized workers may see an opportunity to take their share of the increased profits, and customers may be upset that the company is earning higher margins from them, although it is hard to see where margins might come from on a 19p can of tomatoes.

The balance sheet is used to understand Tesco's financial condition. The assets, liabilities and equity…

Works Cited:

Grant Thornton. (2011). The future of UK GAAP. Grant Thornton. Retrieved November 22, 2011 from http://www.grant-thornton.co.uk/services_/audit_and_assurance_x/the_future_of_uk_gaap-1.aspx

Investopedia. (2011). Efficient market hypothesis. Investopedia. Retrieved November 22, 2011 from  http://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/efficientmarkethypothesis.asp 

SEC. (2007). Beginner's guide to financial statements. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved November 22, 2011 from  http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/begfinstmtguide.htm 

Tesco 2011 Annual Report. Retrieved November 22, 2011 from http://ar2011.tescoplc.com/

New PCAOB

eporting equirements

A PACTICAL GUIDE TO THE NEW PCAOB EPOTING

A Practical Guide to the New PCAOB eporting equirements

PCAOB is a Public Company Accounting Oversight Board established by Sarbanes-Oxley Act to oversee the auditing procedures of public companies in order to protect the interest of investors and enhance public confidence towards preparation of accurate audit information. The PCAOB attempts to protect the interests of investors as well as enhancing fair and accurate audit reporting.

The objective of this study is to justify whether the reporting requirements of the PCAOB reduce the chance of financial fraud.

Justification how the reporting requirements of the PCAOB reduce the chance of financial fraud

Fundamental objective leading to the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act of 2002 was in response of corporate financial scandals that rocked business circle in the late 1990s and early 2000s in the United States. To restore investors'…

References

Berger, S.R. (2010). A practical Guide to the New PCAOB Reporting Requirements. Accounting and Auditing Financial Reporting. CPA Journal.

Center for Audit Quality (2010). Deterring and Detecting Financial Reporting Fraud. A Platform for Action. American Institute of CPA.

Coates, J.C. (2007). The Goals and Promise of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21 (1): 91-116.

Jonas, G.J. (2007).Re: Rulemaking Docket Matter No. 021 -- An Audit of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

Translation, eporting, And Prices

Briefly describe the corporation you researched.

The organization researched is a multinational called Walmart. The chain store is a retailer organization whose home office is located in America. The company operates by providing products to its customer through a chain of retail outlets. The public owned organization is the largest in the global market. The company has grown over the years through implementing policies that allow it to sell at a lower price that its competition. The company is the largest retailer is the globe with majority of its shares held by the public. The founding family still has a controlling share of the business with the family controlling over 48% of the shares. The company founded in 1962 and incorporated in 1969 is among the most successful companies in the globe. Its headquarters is located in Arkansas and is currently the largest grocery retailer in…

References

Akta?, R., & Kar?

n, M. (2011). Timeliness of Reporting and the Quality of Financial Information. International Research Journal Of Finance & Economics, (63), 71-77.

Albuquerque, R., De Francisco, E., & Marques, L.B. (2008). Marketwide Private Information in Stocks: Forecasting Currency Returns. Journal Of Finance, 63(5), 2297-2343.

Bartov, E. (1997). Foreign Currency Exposure of Multinational Firms: Accounting Measures and Market Valuation. Contemporary Accounting Research, 14(4), 623-652.