Instructions:

• Read the case below and answer all four questions at the end of the case.
• Show all work when comparing alternatives and using calculated values.
• Submit your answers on a Word (.doc), Excel (.xls), or PDF (.pdf) document

Acme Engineering is evaluating 10 projects for next year’s capital budget investments.  Their corporate MARR is set at 12% and all projects have a 10-year life:

1. Calculate the IRR for every project
2. If money is not a problem which projects should be approved?
3. Rank order all the acceptable projects according to IRR
4. If only $450,00 is available for the budget which projects should be approved?

Rubric

Capital Budgeting Case

New Assignment 7

Write an 8 page paper (excluding Title/Reference pages) using APA 6^th edition and discuss the following:

• Summarize what the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) is and what the possible financial implications of sustainability on investors could be, why it is important and how the SASB ensures investors are protected (1 page)
• Find a publicly traded company that has filed a 10-K where sustainability related initiatives were discussed, summarize the company and the topics covered (1 page)Write a summary conclusion, bridging the gap between SASB, 10-K reporting, financial implications on cost and price, and the effect it has had on the industry and substitute industries

• • Integrate the possible financial implications for the topics they covered, these could stem from manufacturing and or marketing (price for value) related topics, be specific and substantiate your response with outside sources (2 pages)
  • Evaluate the industry your chosen company competes in and how the sustainability initiatives affect the general industry (competitive landscape), customers and substitute industries (a substitute industry could be a product that can be substituted for what your company produces, for example – cars, can be substituted with airlines, taxis etc) (3 pages)

I would expect a minimum of 5-6 outside sources. The paper will be graded on content (60%), APA (20%), flow (10%) mechanics (10%).

Annual Report II:  Due April 6/7, 2020   [23 points]    This will be about 2 pages in length plus the portion of the annual report you used.6.  The name of the company.(1 point)7.  The ticker symbol and closing stock price of the company’s stock as of February 18, 2020.  Look at the Statement of Stockholders’ Equity or the Statement of Cash Flows.  Were dividends issued? (Yes or No and the total amount.) 4 points)8.  Looking at the notes of the financial statements, summarize the following policies:  (6 points)A.  Revenue recognitionB.  InventoryC.  Property, plant and equipment[9:38 PM]9.  Identify the following for the last two years:RevenuesExpensesIncome from OperationsNet IncomePerform a horizontal analysis (Chapter 13) on the above information. (4 points)10.   Looking at the Statement of Cash Flows, identify the following information for the last TWO years:A.  Largest Use of cash from Investing activities and amounts. These will be negative amounts.  The amount and description. (2 points)B.  Largest Source of Cash from Financing activities and amounts. These will be positive amounts. The amount and description. (2 points)11.  Get an article dated 2020 that mentions your company – not a press release.  This article can be about anything not just financial information – it just needs to mention your company.   Print it out and include it in your report.  Summarize it briefly in your own words.

The company is called TJX company has to be done on TJMAX company

You will use the Module Six Shortage and Overage spreadsheet to complete this assignment.

Using the Excel spreadsheet, enter the correct formula for each question. Each question may require more than one response. The yellow boxes indicate a response is required.

Refer to the Module Six Shortage and Overage Guidelines and Rubric for directions on completing this assignment

All calculations should be rounded to the nearest tenth.

Acc423 

Individual Income Tax Accounting

(100 points)

You are to prepare a retirement plan for yourself taking the following things into consideration:

1. You plan to retire at 60 years old (if you are above 40 you can extend your retirement age to 66 or 70) and wish to have a substantial nest egg at retirement.
2. You are to have two (2) retirement accounts one an IRA and the second one should be either a Keogh, a section 401(k), or a section 457 plan – (a 401(k) or 457 plan can be substituted for the 457).
3. Your assumed rate of return on any investment(s) should not be greater than 8.5 percent annually.
   1. Attach a spreadsheet showing the amounts invested each year for both retirement plans.

1. For the IRA you should go online and find actual an investment firm(s) and select likely investments. For the Keogh, 401(k), or 457 you can use a sample that you find online.

4. Your findings should be communicated to me via memorandum no later than Friday April 10, 2020. Your memorandum should thoroughly explain the what the tax benefits of your retirement plans and any assumptions that you use to arrive at your results.  Please include at least the following:
   1. What is an IRA? What are the two types of IRAs? Also, fully explain the second type of retirement plan you selected (a 401(k) etc.).
   2. The maximum annual investment amount for your plans.
   3. Your age upon initial investment
   4. Your projected retirement age
   5. Your projected salary or income in you will be self-employed (you must use realistic amounts nothing greater than $70,000)
   6. Information on the firm(s) you selected and why you selected them over others
   7. Information on the investment accounts/vehicles you selected-why you selected them over other.
   8. Tax implications of your plan.
   9. Briefly explain what options are available to your Keogh, 401(k) or 457 plans if you change jobs/careers etc.
   10. Total retirement income available upon your retirement.

Before beginning this assignment, you should read and reread the section in Chapter 9 of the textbook that explain retirement accounts.

Professional Development for Accountants 

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR ACCOUNTANTS

Detailed Instructions 
Task 1
Create a training presentation to professional accountants on an aspect of corporate accountability or reporting (other than traditional financial reports) from the module.
The presentation should:
• introduce the particular corporate accountability/reporting aspect you wish to cover;
• present a rationale of why you have chosen it and why you think it is important that accountants should be aware of it;
• demonstrate examples of how it is currently reported, including both positive and negative aspects about its coverage, and provide suggestions for improvements; and
• show how professional accountants can contribute to the reporting of the particular aspect you have chosen.
Within the notes area below each slide you should include some detail behind each slide to elaborate on the bullet points, graphics or pictures you use on the slide itself, including any citations to back up your points. Whilst there is no specific word limit on these notes sections, they should not be mini-essays in themselves, only support for what you would say if you were actually presenting the slides to an audience.
You should aim for between 20-25 slides (not including the title slide and any reference list slides).
N.B.: you should not choose the same topic area as you covered in coursework 1 (i.e. not-for-profit reporting).
Task 2
Write a short reflective piece on how your chosen topic from task 1 may inform your own professional practice and career in the future. You may choose to use a reflective model to help structure your reflection, if you feel it is helpful. Examples of these include:
• Kolb (1984)
• Gibbs (1998)
• Johns (2000)
• Moon (1999)
but you may choose any other reflective model if you find it more applicable to your learning.
Whether you choose to use a model or not, you should consider:
• what you have learnt about the particular topic,
• what its impact on you and your learning and potential future career and practice might be; and
• what you might consider doing differently now that you have an awareness of the topic.
This written work should be no more than 800 words (plus or minus 10%).
General guidance
You are advised to put any lengthy supportive information in an appendix. Appendices are not word-counted and are not marked but they can assist you in providing supporting evidence for your analysis. It may be a good idea to attach in the appendix some necessary information for the organisation you are analysing.

Professional Development for Accountants

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR ACCOUNTANTS

Detailed Instructions 
Task 1
Create a training presentation to professional accountants on an aspect of corporate accountability or reporting (other than traditional financial reports) from the module.
The presentation should:
• introduce the particular corporate accountability/reporting aspect you wish to cover;
• present a rationale of why you have chosen it and why you think it is important that accountants should be aware of it;
• demonstrate examples of how it is currently reported, including both positive and negative aspects about its coverage, and provide suggestions for improvements; and
• show how professional accountants can contribute to the reporting of the particular aspect you have chosen.
Within the notes area below each slide you should include some detail behind each slide to elaborate on the bullet points, graphics or pictures you use on the slide itself, including any citations to back up your points. Whilst there is no specific word limit on these notes sections, they should not be mini-essays in themselves, only support for what you would say if you were actually presenting the slides to an audience.
You should aim for between 20-25 slides (not including the title slide and any reference list slides).
N.B.: you should not choose the same topic area as you covered in coursework 1 (i.e. not-for-profit reporting).
Task 2
Write a short reflective piece on how your chosen topic from task 1 may inform your own professional practice and career in the future. You may choose to use a reflective model to help structure your reflection, if you feel it is helpful. Examples of these include:
• Kolb (1984)
• Gibbs (1998)
• Johns (2000)
• Moon (1999)
but you may choose any other reflective model if you find it more applicable to your learning.
Whether you choose to use a model or not, you should consider:
• what you have learnt about the particular topic,
• what its impact on you and your learning and potential future career and practice might be; and
• what you might consider doing differently now that you have an awareness of the topic.
This written work should be no more than 800 words (plus or minus 10%).
General guidance
You are advised to put any lengthy supportive information in an appendix. Appendices are not word-counted and are not marked but they can assist you in providing supporting evidence for your analysis. It may be a good idea to attach in the appendix some necessary information for the organisation you are analysing.

Accounting Information Systems Investigation

Learning Objectives:

1. Familiarize the student real world application of accounting information systems
2. Allow student to interact with business professionals (experiential learning)
3. Document accounting information systems

____________________________________________________________________________

Assignment:  Identify a service, manufacturing or retail company that interests you or where you have a connection.  The size of the company or if it is private or publically traded.  Contact a person in the leadership (CEO, president, partner, general manager, controller, etc.) of the company (does not have to be an accountant) and request a meeting to discuss the company’s accounting information system.  Your objective similar to an auditor’s objective is to learn about the company’s accounting information system.  Assure the company leader that you do not want them to share any confidential information about the company by completing the non-disclosure agreement available in D2L.

For example: the store manager at your local Lowes Home Improvement Center or the partner of a local CPA firm. 

Please read the paper guidelines document in D2L for additional details. 

The following subheadings are required in your five page paper:

Leadership- Name, titles and contact information (e-mail & phone number of the individual(s) you met with and a picture as appendix to your paper with the individual(s) person you met in front of a company logo (if possible).

Company Overview*- A brief description of the company as well as the location details as follows:

1. Provide a brief overview of the company and their primary business- (e.g. Lowes is in the home improvement business, operates in XX states and XX countries worldwide and is headquartered in YY city established in 19XX.)
2. Discuss the overall company size (sales & employees), location (sales & employees), operating structure (decentralized or centralized) (e.g. Lowes has centralized administration and decentralized management control. The company is structured in 4 regions West, East, Midwest and Southwest with Vice Presidents of store management over each region).

*Depending on the company/firm, a tour prior to your discussion may be helpful. 

Accounting Information Systems- The focus of this section is the technical part of the company’s accounting information system.

1. What software does the company employ?
2. When was it installed (if known)?
3. What accounting system is the company using?
   1. This could be an enterprise resource planning system (e.g. SAP, Oracle), quickbooks, peachtree, green ledger paper, a spiral notebook or any other system that the company uses to maintain their accounting records
4. Challenges with current system
5. What the controls for adding employees, items, general ledger accounts?
6. Where is their system maintained?
7. What are the threats to their system?

General Ledger Structure- Discuss how the AIS systems categorizes sales (revenue) and expenses.  In this section you should discuss the following:

1. the fiscal year of the company when and why does it end- is there logic for when the company has a yearend
2. structure of the general ledger accounts
3. is the location a profit center or cost center (e.g. For Lowes each store would be considered a profit center because they generate revenues & expenses and have a store P&L/income statement).
4. how does the company segment sales and expenses- in other words what departments do they use (e.g. Lowes uses millwork, garden center, lumber , plumbing, electrical, flooring etc.; a public accounting firm might use consulting, bookkeeping, audit & tax).

Key Performance Indicators- A discussion of the key performance indicators (KPI’s) the company uses to manage their business.  This section should include the following:

1. KPI’s used at the location level and the frequency
   1. Revenues (internet vs. in-store), expenses, budget, comparisons (region/nation)
2. Industry specific KPI’s (e.g. Lowes sales by department or inventory shrink, public accounting billable hours or new clients)

Insight- Please write one paragraph about your insight into how this experience enhanced your learning and understanding of accounting information systems.

Attachments-

1. In a separate JPEG file, please provide a picture with you and the company individuals you interviewed. If possible, take the picture in front of some signage from the company (e.g. Lowes in front of the store or public accounting in front of the firm’s front desk or sign outside).

A scanned signed PDF copy of the non-disclosure agreement with your name and the company name filled out correctly.  If you cannot scan to PDF, a word document with the appropriate changes will be sufficient.

Differences in Accounting Practices of French, US and Qatari Companies

Finding Differences in Accounting Practices of French, US and Qatari Companies

Read:

Comparative International Accounting (Nobes and Parker), Pearson, 13^th edition of 2016, Chapters 2.9, 8 and 15.2 (Uploaded in Blackboard)

International Accounting (Doupnik and Perera), McGraw-Hill Education, 4/5^th edition of 2016/2020, Chapter 2 (FURTHER EVIDENCE OF ACCOUNTING DIVERSITY)

On the internet, find the 2018 reports of the following companies

–     Carrefour SA (French parent company, i.e. using French accounting not IFRS), pp. 256-269. (http://www.carrefour.com/content/annual-reports)

• Costco (US GAAP), 33-61 of Form 10-K. (https://investor.costco.com/financial-information/annual-reports)

–     Baladna (Qatari company, using IFRS), pp.1-40. (https://baladna.com/investor_relations/ipo/)

REQUIRED:

1. ‘US Accounting is the best in the world, but it might be an unnecessary luxury for a country such as France.’ Discuss (no more than 250 words)
2. Refer to the income statements for Carrefour SA, Costco, and Baladna. Calculate gross profit margin (gross profit/sales), operating profit margin (operating profit/sales) and net profit margin (net earnings/sales) for each of these companies. If a particular ratio cannot be calculated, explain why not.
3. Looking at the financial statements of Carrefour SA (French accounting) and Costco (US GAAP):
   1. Determine the financial statements included in an annual report
   2. List two format differences in the companies’ balance sheets
   3. Give one example of differences in the level of details (on the face of the financial statements)
   4. Give one example of disclosure differences (in the notes)
   5. Give one example of either recognition or measurement differences