Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Financial Control Auditing Essay Example for Free

Financial Control Auditing Essay If you use a computer to record your business activity and maintain this data electronically, you are a candidate for an electronic audit. * What are the Benefits of e-Auditing? †¢It saves time – Electronic audits are completed much faster than traditional, manual audits. Company personnel and tax auditors spend less time working on the audit. †¢It saves paper – Electronic tax auditing reduces the amount of paper normally needed during the audit. †¢It is less disruptive to business – Electronic audits permit tax auditors to work at the tax office most of the time. Computer-assisted tax audit techniques reduce on-site audit time. In this way, there is minimal interference with the normal business of your company. †¢It is more efficient – More efficient techniques for reviewing taxpayer information are used in electronic audits. * The process of e-Auditing? To corporate taxpayers: 1- The preparatory stage begins when a tax auditor contacts the company. 2- He then familiarizes himself with the accounting system of the company, and negotiates with company managers responsible for accounting and finance. 3- They make agreements on when and how the electronic material should be delivered to the tax authority, and what copies of files should be created for the purpose. The tax auditor receives the files and converts them into a special database format used by the Finnish Tax Administration. 5- Later, the chief auditor and the company management will discuss the time schedule of the on-site tax audit, i. e. the part of the tax examination that takes place on company premises. * What are the Auditor†™s Responsibilities towards e-Auditing? Our tax auditors have received special training on information technology; they are aware of information security considerations and work under strict rules of confidentiality. Their PC and laptop workstations are protected and secure. They store the original material in a locked cabinet, and they make sure that the work files created from the company-supplied electronic materials are removed from the computers immediately after the audit. Depending on what has been agreed, physical data media (CDs etc. ) will either be returned to the company or destroyed. After the tax authority has issued the assessment decision or tax debiting decision, any files saved in Tax Administration systems will be deleted. The company will receive a message confirming the deletion. The use of expert systems in e-Auditing As computer power is enhanced and auditors are faced with making decisions in more complex environments, some accounting firms have begun to develop expert systems to assist their personnel in the audit process, An expert system is a complex system of computer progams that models the decision process of a human experts. The psychological methods used to gain an understanding of the human experts decision process and conversion of this decision process into mathematical equations and computer programs are fair beyond the scope of this text. Legal Authority The right of the Finnish Tax Administration to receive computer files for the purposes of audit is based on the following tax laws:  § 14, Act on Assessment Procedure (1558/1995),  § 3, Ordinance on Assessment Procedure,  § 169, Value Added Tax Act (1501/1993),  § 10, VAT Ordinance, and  § 37, Prepayment Act (1118/1996). The Decision of 26 Jan 1998 (no 47/1998) of the Ministry of Trade and Industry concerns bookkeeping methods. The first section of this Decision concerns the use of computer automation in accounting. The Accounting Board has issued an official instruction on 22 May 2000 on the implementation of the provisions of the Decision. These instructions include more specific rules on the use of information technology in accounting. In the interest of expediency during tax audits, the Finnish Tax Administration urges corporate taxpayers to follow the recordkeeping rule of six years. In other words, full documentation showing each transaction separately including its entries in accounting records should be kept for six years after the closing of the accounting period. These records also include auxiliary documentation, and they are to be kept in a legible format. * Rules on recordkeeping and reproduction of data Companies are requested to keep the following files and details in a machine-sensible, software-independent format. They should cover the entire time periods to be audited: 1. Journal-type file of the accounting system listing each transaction separately , including the following detailed facts if applicable for the company: †¢Company number, business unit number †¢Document type Sequential number of the accounting voucher/document, which should be the same number as that of the original receipt, voucher or other document found in the books. †¢Date of accounting document / Date of transaction / Accounting period †¢Account number †¢Cost center number †¢Amount in euros (marks), amount in foreign currency, code of currency †¢Descriptions of accounting entries – several descriptions are accepted †¢ Project no, investment no, process no, product no etc. †¢Customer no, supplier no †¢VAT code †¢Any other data fields that help identify the transaction. . Additional files in case the names (of accounts or of cost centers) are not included in the accounting transactions files: †¢Chart of accounts showing every account used during the period, including account name and account number. †¢Lists of cost centers (and their numbers and names) used during various years. †¢Lists showing details of project numbers, investment numbers, process numbers, product numbers etc. used during various years †¢Lists showing VAT codes (with explanations) used during various years †¢Lists of accounting voucher types used Lists showing the sequences of sequential numbers used by the accounting system (can be delivered on paper instead of a computer file) †¢Registers of suppliers and registers of customers, as a computer file, including at least the following facts: ? Business IDs and European VAT numbers ?Customer no, supplier no ?Name ?Address ?Postal code ?Country code 3. Other details: †¢Specifications of records, descri bing each delivered file. †¢Detailed versions of balance sheet (showing each account separately) for the accounting periods to be audited. †¢Model list printed on paper, to show the eginning of the accounting transaction list file, in case numerical fields have been zipped / compressed. * What are the Permissible file types? The files should consist of fixed-length consecutive strings and be free of software-specific characters (and they should not be backup files). Accounting transactions and additional files such as charts of accounts and lists of cost centers should be delivered to us on a physical data medium, which is usually a CD or DVD. The following technical information is mandatory : * Encoding (ascii / ebcdic) Existence of zipped/compressed data elements (please unzip/uncompress) * Number of records * Length of records. If the company cannot deliver the accounting system files where transactions are primarily recorded, tax auditors can alternatively utilize repo rting files or list files. Accounting systems create reporting files and transaction lists associated with the general ledger and journal, accounts receivable and accounts payable What are the Pros and Cons of both manual and E-audit? (Conclusion) There are pros and cons to both the manual and electronic audits. The manual chart review is more time consuming and is subject to both the benefits and liabilities of requiring human judgment during the audit process. The electronic audit is much quicker, although it requires time and attention to careful set up before the first audit can be run. E-audits are independent of human judgment since determinations are made by internally programmed computer logic and are therefore more consistent than manual audits. Their accuracy is more subject to proper PCC documentation, coding and data entry issues. More and more facilities are opting to perform e-audits due to the time savings and ease of performing regular periodic audits once the initial setup has been completed. We encourage the use of electronic audits whenever feasible. For facilities wishing to transition from a manual to an electronic audit, it is imperative that they initially run simultaneous manual and e-audits to compare the results. In theory, the results from the manual and e-audit should be quite similar. If the results of one or more of the audit elements are significantly different, an investigation into the reason(s) for the difference needs to be undertaken.

Monday, January 20, 2020

World War Two and Its Impact on the Role of American Women in Society E

World War Two and Its Impact on the Role of American Women in Society World War II is an event that has marked history like no other. Originating from a European struggle, war broke out in 1939 and continued for six years. From the years 1939 through 1945 more than half the earth's surface was battling in war. American society was greatly affected. People of every age, race and class were deeply affected. Women's place in society took a leap forward like it never had before. As an effect of the second world war women's traditional roles in society were drastically altered. The 1940's brought innovative opportunities along with hardships to American society. After the Depression it looked as though there was no hope for the traditional role of women to be changing. Women had very few job opportunities, especially married women. In William Henry Chafe's book The American Woman, he explains: Legislative bodies enacted laws restricting the employment of married women. Labor, government, and the mass media all joined in a campaign urging females to refrain from taking jobs. And the overwhelming majority of average citizens--including women--showed little interest in modifying the existing distribution of sexual roles. (Chafe 135) The role of women in society was unchanging. It was quite remarkable how stable their role remained for so long (135). While still recovering from the Depression, Europe managed to mark the beginning of the biggest war in history. They first took over Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. And after Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese, the United States entered the war. The main transformation World War II made for women in American society was there were man... ...o work, keeping the economy going while the men were fighting the war. Other women joined the army and navy out in combat. Organizations that are still present to this day were founded, such as the American Red Cross Association, the Women's Army Corps (WAC), the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), and the Army Nurse Corps. Overall, World War II changed the role of American women for the better. It marked the beginning of an ongoing advancement of women's economic position in American society. Works Cited Brokaw, Tom.  The Greatest Generation.  New York: Random House, 2004. Print. Chafe, William H. The American Woman; Her Changing Social, Economic, and Political Roles, 1920- 1970. New York: Oxford UP, 1972. Print. Daniel, Robert L.  American Women in the 20th Century. The Festival of Life. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Marketing Plan of Bentley Motors Limited Essay

Marketing Plan of Bentley Motors Limited 1. Executive Summary 2. Company Description Bentley Motors Limited is a British Manufacturer of automobiles, founded on the 18th of January 1919 by Walter Own Bentley. In the First World War, Bentley was known because of their rotary aero-engines. After the war Bentley designed and produced cars that won the Le Mans race in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930. Bentley presented Queen Elizabeth II with an official State Limousine to celebrate her Golden Jubilee in 2002. Bentley believes that it is a high end luxury car, which has tradition and ultimate class. Bentley follows a â€Å"high-price† strategy, and this Marketing Plan outline will show how Bentley improves their sales and continues to gain a share in the market. 3. Strategic Focus and Plan This section covers three aspects of corporate strategy that influence the marketing plan: (1) the mission, (2) goals, and (3) core competence/sustainable competitive advantage of Bentley Motors Limited. Mission Bentley Motors states that they don’t have a mission statement; but if they did, it would have been in the words of Walter Owen Bentley, â€Å"To build a good car, a fast car, the best in class†. The vision statement that Bentley Motors Limited follows is, â€Å"We are Bentley Motors – the definitive British luxury car company, dedicated to developing and crafting the world’s most desirable high performance cars. Goals 1. Have a larger market share. 2. Launch a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) in the United Kingdom in 2015. The model will be based on the Porsche Cayenne, and will be produced in the United Kingdom. The SUV will be priced around GBP 140,000. 3. Become more eco-friendly. 4. Increase sales to 1500 cars, by 2013. Core Competency and Sustainable Competitive Advantage In terms of core competency, Bentley Motors seeks to use their uniqueness to provide sophisticated and distinctive, high quality luxury cars and other products that appeal to its target customers. In order to use its core competency as a sustainable competitive advantage, Bentley will work with its customers and employees to strengthen the relationships and build bonds to satisfy the high tastes of its clientele. 4. Situation Analysis This situation analysis will show how Bentley is growing larger in the market. Globally Bentley sold just over 10,000 cars in 2007 – compared to 9,000 cars in 2006 and 1000 in 2003. SWOT Analysis Figure 1 shows some characteristics that might influence the market opportunities for Bentley Motors. The SWOT emphasizes the good choices made by the company. Positive internal factors are related to the board, the management growth, the intrinsic value of the brand associated with the high end luxury car. Favorable external factors include the increasing need of luxury goods in the environment. A note to consider is that the financial crisis of 2007 did not affect Bentley’s clientele. Regarding unfavorable factors, the main weakness is the limited growth in the market. Due to the outstanding care and attention given to the production of each Bentley car, the production is slowed down as each car is hand made. However this limited production is perfect for Bentley’s marketing plan. Figure 1: SWOT Analysis for Bentley Motors |Internal Factors |Strengths |Weaknesses | |Management |Excellent and specialized board |Owned by Volkswagen, therefore has to | | | |report to Volkswagen. | |Offerings |Unique, high-price and high-end luxury |Many other competitors like Mercedes, | | |cars. |Rolls-Royce, Ferrari and Maserati provide | | | |similar products. | |Marketing |The exclusivity of the Bentley Motors brand|As the targeted customers are exclusive, | | |is part of the marketing plan. |not many people are aware of the various | | | |services and products Bentley Motors | | | |provides. | |Personnel |Dedicated to personal development of |Their workers are so qualified that if one | | |employees, by improving their technical and|employee leaves they need to spend a lot of| | |business skills. |money to train and develop another | | | |employee. | |Finance |Excellent growth in sales, revenues from |To build one car it takes longer than most | | |2003 onwards. |of their competitors, therefore it takes | | | |time to generate revenue. | |Manufacturing |Sophisticated details, like workers |A typical mass produced luxury model can be| | |inspecting the leather for insect bites and|finished in 24 hours, but to make a | | |17 hides of leather are required to outfit |Mulsanne at the Crewe Factory it takes 9 | | |the cabin. |weeks. | |R&D |Continued efforts to ensure engineering and|Most of the competitors have good R&D | | |luxury details for cars.|departments as well. | |External Factors |Opportunities | Threats | |Consumers |Customers can customize parts of the product, |Due to the high price of the products, | | |such as requesting certain types of leather |Bentley has exclusive consumers and not| | |interiors. |many people go and buy a Bentley every | | | |so often. | |Competitive |There are a few brands that are that obsessed |Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and BMW produce | | |with having unique luxury products. |similar products for a fraction of the | | | |price. | |Technological |Bentley recently hired Rolf Frech as its |Bentley’s competitors have various | | |Engineering Chief. Frech comes from Porsche AG. |engineering methods that can produce | | | |more efficient cars. | |Economic |During the financial crisis of 2007, Bentley’s |The targeted customers are a small | | |targeted customers were still purchasing cars. |share of the market. | | | | | |Legal/Regulatory |Cars with new clean energy (biofuel), ensuring |A new law passed, requires some | | |that the power and torque of the car are not |technological change that Bentley’s do | | |affected.|not have. | Industry Analysis Every human wants to differentiate themselves from one another. One way of doing so is by purchasing luxury goods. Therefore the market for such goods is bound to grow. In comparison to other high end luxury vehicles, Bentley is growing more than the others. Figure 2: Luxury car Market |Year Sales in U. S Market | |Brands |2011 |2010 |% Change | |Porsche |12,633 |12,592 |0. 3 | |Jaguar |9,315 |9,748 |-4. 4 | |Ferrari |1,266 |1,087 |16. 5 | |Maserati |1,706 |1,355 |25. 9 | |Bentley |1,260 |954 |32. 1 | |Rolls Royce |255 |387 |-34. 1 | Competitors in the Luxury Car Market As shown in figure 2 , the main competitors of Bentley are; Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Maserati and Porsche. Company Analysis Bentley is highly recognized for their luxury cars, but they also sell goods that reinforce the image of their brand, such as silver plated wheel spinners, cufflinks, set of espresso cups, driving apparel and luggage sets among a few. 5. Product Market Focus This section describes the marketing and product objectives for Bentley Motors and their target markets, points of difference and positioning. Marketing and Product Objectives Bentley Motors marketing is based on the effort to combine the strength and speed of a sport scar with the luxury of British elegance. These are combined in 3 areas listed below. 1. British Tradition 2. Manufacture 3. Luxury and Sport Target Markets The primary target market for Bentley cars are customers who are not self-conscious and are willing to show what they have earned, these are generally those in the highest 5% of the economy. These customers want premium quality products and services and are willing to pay for it. Points of difference. Bentley’s marketing is concentrated on the fact that they have the sophisticated British charm, mixed with the strength of a premium racing car. This is the main difference when compared to Rolls Royce, which looks at itself as a luxury car or with Ferrari that defines itself as a sports car. Positioning Bentley’s vehicles try hard to close the gap between a being a traditional British sophisticated luxury vehicle and sports car with strong masculine power, which is best shown with its 6 time success at Le Mans. 6. Marketing Program The 4 marketing mix elements used by Bentley Motors are detailed below. Product Strategy Bentley’s are handmade, custom designed cars. It takes roughly 150 hours to produce a Continental GT and 400 hours to build an Arnage. Steering wheels are double stitched by hand using 2 needles simultaneously. It takes 15 hours to create one steering wheel. These are a few features of Bentley’s to name a few. Price Strategy The 2011 Bentley Continental is priced at around $205,600, while the 2011 Maserati Gran Turismo is priced at an average of $125,000. Even though the Maserati is much less priced, the quality that Bentley holds is much greater. Promotion Strategy. Bentley avoids commercializing its products unlike Maserati, therefore making it more prestigious. Bentley places its advertisements in places where they expect their target market to see it, not in commercial places. Bentley also goes by word of mouth, where one satisfied customer passes on the good word to a friend. Distribution Strategy Bentley prides themselves on being represented in 212 Bentley facilities worldwide. With 24 offices in the UK, 38 in the USA, 52 in Europe, 15 in the Middle East and 15 in Asia and Australasia, among others. Therefore with 212 facilities worldwide, it is within arm’s reach – for those who can afford it.

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Strategic Management and Time-based Strategies - 1031 Words

Tricia Acosta BUM 4013 (01) Production and Operations Management Discussion and Review Questions 1.From time to time, various groups clamor for import restrictions or tariffs on foreign-produced goods, particularly automobiles. How might these be helpful? Harmful? It helps the country receiving tax monetarily, allows state to flourish internally, and more costly for exporters. 2. List the key ways that organizations compete. a. Product and service design b. Cost c. Location d. Quality e. Quick response f. Flexibility g. Inventory management h. Supply chain management i. Service j. Managers and workers 3. Explain the importance of identifying and differentiating order qualifiers and order winners. Order qualifiers†¦show more content†¦counterpart. What are some possible explanations for this, assuming that U.S. workers are as hardworking as Japanese workers? Low labor cost strategy: Immediately after the war, exploited the (then) inexpensive labor pool. Scale-based strategy: During the 1960s, used capital intensive methods to achieve higher labor productivity and lower unit costs. Focused factories strategy: During the 1970s, used smaller factories that focused on narrow product lines to take advantage of specialization and achieve higher quality. Flexible factories strategy: During the 1980s, reduced the time needed to incorporate new product and process designs. Used flexible equipment that allowed volume and design changes, as well as product variety. 12. Boeing’s strategy appears focus on its 777 midsize plane’s ability to fly into smaller, nonhub airports. Rival European Airbus’ strategy appears to focuses on large planes. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of these two strategies. Boeing 777: Flew from Sydney to London without refueling. (adv) The family of airplanes distinguished by its fuel-efficiency, spacious cabin interior, range capability, commonality and reliability. 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