Managerial Accounting and Organizational Controls Case Study

Managerial Accounting and Organizational Controls - Case Study Example This is done by standard reports that are generated at regular intervals. They may be generated monthly, quarterly, or annually and adhere to standard guidelines that are accepted by the accounting industry. The reports tell the amount of business, cost of sales, debt, and assets that a company has. The reports are used by creditors, bankers, investors, and shareholders to make financial decisions in regard to the company. Government agencies use these reports to calculate taxes and fees. These reports are routinely audited by outside parties to assure that proper accounting methods are being used and that the reports contain accurate information. This helps to safeguard investors and shareholders from financial loss and keeps investors and creditors apprised of the condition of the company's finances. Legal and ethical issues arise when external accounting is faulty and presents an incorrect view of the company's financial situation. If it is done intentionally, it is a grave legal issue as has been seen with some companies in the news recently. If it is done in error, or because of bad judgment, it is a serious violation of ethics and may also be criminal. The importance placed on these reports being correct cannot be overstated.

Is was necessary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Is was necessary - Essay Example The decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan is unquestionable and the most momentous made during the World War II. The use of the bomb was integral to the decision to develop it, the assumption was the atomic bomb would be employed when it is ready if it was necessary to win or end the war. According to social psychology there are forces affecting public perception that go beyond the argument about the effectiveness of the U.S government (Okuda 170). These factors affected the policy makers and Truman, who were instrumental leading them to believe in their own misinformation in the decision of dropping the bomb .The psychological social factors resulted to parallel decision of Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb and the decision to engage in military conflicts of invading Iraq. The reaction of the policy makers, Truman and the public was the use of the atomic bomb on Japan was in great favor. Truman, the president of United States of America, appointed an interim committee who undertook the Manhattan project which its initiative was to build the atomic bomb. Although the project was immensely expensive, the interim committee had to rationalize their expenses of time, energy and resources. The development of the atomic weapon, for the purpose of using it against the axis was part of the policy from the beginning of war. They considered the atomic weapon to produce deadly explosive weapon of the modern war. The interim committee recommended that the bomb should be used against Japan as soon as possible. The target of the weapon was to be used at the military installation and used without any warning. The project was a special achievement and a special responsibility of the foreign policy. The decision and the extent of the bomb to be used were shaped by the values and the attitudes. The use of the weapon was later motivated by the wish to keep the Soviet Union out of war in the

Discounted Cash Flow Techniques Essay Example for Free

Discounted Cash Flow Techniques Essay A brief tutorial on Excel financial functions (problems to follow) You may find the following Excel, built-in financial functions helpful when analyzing the problems below. (To access these functions, select Insert, Functions, and choose Financial.) =PV(rate, nper, pmt, fv, type) returns the present value of a series of cash flows. =FV(rate, nper, pmt, pv, type) returns the future value of a series of cash flows. =PMT(rate, nper, pv, fv, type) calculates the periodic payment for a loan based on constant payments and a constant interest rate. =NPER(rate, pmt, pv, fv, type) returns the number of periods for an investment based on periodic, constant payments and a constant interest rate. =NPV(rate, range) returns the net present value of an investment based on a discount rate and a series of future payments (negative values) and income (positive values). (Warning: By convention, NPV calculates the net present value one period before the first cash flow.) =IRR(range, guess) returns the internal rate of return for a series of cash flows. In these functions, rate = the discount, or interest rate. nper = number of periods. pmt = annual uniform payment. fv = future value, or future cash flow. type is a logical value allowing you to specify if cash flows occur at the end or the beginning of the period. A value of 1 indicates beginning of period, 0 or omitted indicates end of period. pv = present value. range = the cells on your spreadsheet containing the cash flows you want to analyze. For example, if the cash flows are in the first 10 rows of column A, the entry for range would be a1:a10. guess = your guess as to the internal rate of return. This helps the computer get started and may be left blank. An example Suppose you want to know the present value of $100 per year for 19 years and $500 at the end of the 19th year when the interest rate is 13 percent. Select a spreadsheet cell and enter =PV(0.13,19,100,500). Excel will return ($742.83). This is the amount one should be willing to pay today to receive the indicated stream of cash flows when the interest rate is 13 percent. Problems 1) An investment costing $50,000 promises an after tax cash flow of $18,000 per year for 6 years. a. Find the investments accounting rate of return and its payback period. b. Find the investments net present value at a 15 percent discount rate. c. Find the investments profitability index at a 15 percent discount rate. d. Find the investments internal rate of return. e. Assuming the required rate of return on the investment is 15 percent, which of the above figures of merit indicate the investment is attractive? Which indicate it is unattractive? 2) A $1,000 par value, 10 percent coupon bond matures in 20 years. If the price of the bond is $1,196.80, what is the yield to maturity on the bond? Assume interest is paid annually. 3) Ten years ago you invested $1,000 for 10 shares of Trublock common stock. You sold the shares recently for $2,000. While you owned the stock it paid $10.08 per share annual dividends. What was your rate of return on Trublock stock? 4) Having heard of your knowledge of present value techniques, you have been asked to testify as an expert witness in the following lawsuit. Several homeowners in a nearby community have organized to protest against alleged gouging on the part of a local lending institution. One resident presents his payment book as evidence. The resident has a 30-year, fixed rate loan at 6 percent interest for $200,000. He got the loan 10 years ago and has been making equal annual payments of $14,529.60 ever since. He observes that he has paid the lending company $145,296.00 yet his payment book indicates that the principal due on the loan has only declined by $33,345.40. He presents this as obvious proof of gouging on the part of the money changers. Do you agree? Why, why not? 5) In 1984, the city council of the town of Patterson agreed that their community badly in need of a modern hotel that would cost approximately $25 million. To finance construction members of the council organized the Patterson Hotel Corporation. Through strenuous promotion they raised $15 million by selling 15,000 shares of stock at $1,000 per share. They secured the other $10 million necessary to build the hotel as a loan provided by a local bank on a 10 year, 14 percent mortgage that called for uniform annual payments sufficient to pay interest and to extinguish the debt at the end of 10 years. Upon completion, the Patterson Hotel Corporation leased the hotel to a national company that operated a chain of hotels. The lease ran for 30 years and contained a clause permitting the lessee to purchase the hotel for $10 million at the end of the 30-year period. The lessee agreed to furnish the hotel and pay all taxes (including income taxes) and operating expenses, and was to meet the interest and repayment obligations on the mortgage during the first 10 years of the lease. During the last 20 years of the lease, the operating company agreed to make payments sufficient to permit annual dividends of $400 per share. No payments at all were to be made to the stockholders during the first 10 years. This was the most favorable operating contract that Patterson Hotel Company was able to negotiate. When stockholders, many of whom had bought stock under considerable pressure, learned that there was no prospect of dividends for 10 years, they were quite upset, and a number of them were anxious to sell their stock. Conrad Billings, a local businessmen in the original group that promoted the hotel, was reported to be buying stock from some of these disgruntled stockholders at $750 a share. Some locals were heard to comment that Conrad Billings was a clever old bastard who was taking advantage of his public-spirited neighbors. There were remarks regarding the fat dividends he would be receiving after the mortgage was paid off. One man was said to have declined Billings’ offer of $750 a share and to have commented publicly that nobody was going to get his stock unless they paid what it was worth. Make whatever assumptions and calculations you find necessary to estimate the fair value of the stock. Was $750 a share really too low a price? 6) You need four new tires for your car. You can buy cheap retread tires for $25 a piece and replace them every 20,000 miles or you can spend $40 per tire and replace them every 40,000 miles. If money has an opportunity cost of 10 percent to you, how many miles must you drive annually to warrant the more expensive tires?

Britains Got Talent Program Media Essay

Britains Got Talent Program Media Essay Britains Got Talent (BGT) is a British television series aired on ITV and TV3. The theme of the program involves competition among various singers, dancers, comedians, gymnasts and other type of performers. Four series of the program have been aired till now and the winner of each series got an entertainment and performance contract worth  £100,000 and had the privilege to perform in front of the Queen at Royal Variety Performance. The first series was premiered on June 9, 2007 and concluded with a live final on July 16, 2007. Recently its fourth season has ended on June 5 2010 which was one by a gymnastic group Spellbound. The beauty of the program is that ordinary people with no exposure or reference have the chance to come on stage, participate in the cut-throat competition in front of 3,000 studio audience and at the end of the series the rightful winner gets the chance of performing at Royal Variety Performance. The judges of BGT includes Piers Morgan, Amanda Holden and of course the creator of BGTs format, Simon Cowell who was also the creator of The X Factor and had participated as a judge in American Idol. He is largely believed to be at the forefront of the judge panel. The judges travel to almost all the major cities of UK to record the auditions. The performers have to put a good show in front of the audience and judges to get to the next round, however, if Judges dont like some contestant, he/she will be buzzed out. So artists have to show not only a splendid act but they also have to gain the favor of judges and audience to remain in the show. However, it is the public who ultimately decide s the fate of the performers. Judges usually favor those contestants who are liked by public. When all performances are made than phone lines opens for some time during which audience votes for the performance, they like most. Britains Got Talent programs previous series, semi final and final rounds were aired live on television. Although Simon Cowell is the creator of Got Talent series worldwide, but Britains Got Talent has produced some remarkable artists, the likes of which were never seen before. So far 54 episodes have been shown in four series with durations ranging from 30 to 150 minutes. BGTs fifth series is expected to go live in June 2011. For its fifth series Simon Cowell will not appear as a judge. Simon Cowell will not take auditions, and will only be invited for live shows. The judges that have been selected for Britain Got Talent fifth series are; Kelly Brook, Emma Bunton, Alan Carr, Louis Walsh, Charlotte Church, Louie Spence, and Paul Ogrady. Britains Got Talent has revolutionized the format of talent shows. The extent of popularity of Britains Got Talent can be judged by the fact that it has 734,000 fans on its Facebook page and 18,300 followers on Twitter. Britain Got Talent also earned the credit of introducing Susan Boyle to the world, a 47 year old Scottish artist who sung I Dreamed a Dream from Les Misà ©rables in BGT and got 20million hits on the YouTube video of her performance. She stood second in thirds series of Britain Got Talent, and her performance attracted huge audience from countries across the globe. Dominos Pizza has been the official sponsor of Britains got Talent and it designed special ads to endorse this partnership. Due to its popularity among masses, Britain Got Talent helped Dominos Pizza in increasing its revenues by 14% to  £155million pre-tax profit by 27.8% to  £29.9million for year ended 2009. Chris Moore, CEO of Dominos Pizza seems very pleased with the outcome. He said: Our sponsorship of Britains Got Talent  took on a whole new dimension with the Susan Boyle phenomenon. With viewing figures for the show exceeding everyones expectations, the three-year sponsorship deal proved to be a well-time decision. Britains got talent programs success could also be seen with the fact that is related with its application. It has got more than 200,000 users. According to some statistics, people do not switch channels in the time when Britain got talent program is aired on the TV. In Britain almost every TV program is judged in the light of three typical families. These include the 10% managers and professionals, low paid population, and vast majority in the middle. Britain Got Talent gets most of its popularity from the vast population audience i.e. middle class. Britain Got Talent was nominated for two National Television Awards in the category of Most Popular Talent Show in 2007 and 2008. Since 2007, British got Talent program has been nominated for twenty two times under different groups for awards. It has been successful in wining different awards 9 times out of 22. In 2008, it received an RTS Award  for its technical achievements and four  Nickelodeon UK  Kids Choice Awards. In 2009, i t won Digital Spy Reality Award for Escala for Favorite Reality Contestant. The winner of its first series, Paul Potts and runner-up of its third series, Susan Boyle produced Platinum albums after being provided with the opportunity to showcase their talent in Britain Got Talent. Britain Got Talent provides the aspiring artists with the opportunity to show the world their gifts and hence provides a great platform for the performers who are unable to get ahead otherwise on account of lack of opportunities. We have the example of Susan Boyle, who was 47 years old singer but never thought she would be able to get out of her simple village life and show the world her remarkable talent. While Britains got Talent program had been admired by many people, this program is also subject to criticism by some people. According to them, this program creates bundles of hopes in contestants minds. Contestants have to wait all day just to give auditions of few seconds in front of judges. Their stance is that Britains got talent programs team does not entertain their contesta nts during their wait. Contestants had to wait not just all day but also with hunger and thirst. In addition, some disqualified contestants had complained that judges had been unfair with them during their decisions. The popularity of Britains Got Talent program has convinced many producers of different channels all around the globe to launch similar kind of programs in their own regions. Similar kind of programs that have started after Britains got talent in different countries are American Got Talent, Australia Got Talent, India Got Talent, Worlds Got Talent and many others. American Got Talent is the program which can be benchmarked against Britains Got Talent. The next section of this report draws a comparison between Britain Got Talent and American Got Talent. Both Britains Got Talent and Americas Got Talent are very famous reality shows on TV. The idea behind the shows is same to promote and find the unique and exceptional talent which does not get the platform and chance to promote their selves at national and international level. The format of the both program is almost same like auditions, shows and elimination criteria. Got Talent programs are most watched and liked by the age group of 18 to 50. Got Talent franchise was invented by British and despite that fact Britains Got Talent was not started at that time due to the dispute of the Paul OGrady with ITV and Britains Got Talent was not able to on air and Americas Got Talent was started prior to the Britains Got Talent and broadcasted on NBC. Britains Got Talent is broadcasted on the channel ITV and TV3 Ireland and the show was commenced on June 9, 2007 and on the other hand Americas Got Talent is broadcasted on the channel NBC and it was commenced on 29, June 2006. Simon Cowell is a creator of the Got Talent Franchise and also doing the judging in the Britains Got Talent and also the active creator of the Americas Got Talent but he has been prevented from judging at Americas Got Talent due to the its contract with American Idol. Britains Got Talent is presented by the same presenters since it started in June 2007 whose name are Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly both are collectively and famously known as Ant Dec and Americas Got Talent is host and presented by the different presenter which includes the Nic Cannon, Jerry Springer and Regis Philbin. The total run time of the one episode of the Britains Got Talent is 30 to 150 minutes and Americas Got Talent total duration is 60-120 minutes. Britains Got Talent winning amount is  £100,000 and also the winner of the competition will get a chance to perform at Royal Variety Performance while Americas Got Talent winning amount is $1 million which will be paid to the winner of the competition over the financial annuity of 40 years or the winner can get the lump sum of the present value of that prize. Americas Got Talent has now become more popular than the American Idol and ratings of the program has increased dramatically on the other side Britains Got Talent is the most favorite and watched program in Britain. According to the some surveys people do not switch their channels until program finished. The companion show of Britains Got Talent is Britains Got More Talent which is telecasted on ITV2 and TV3 Ireland to show the behind the scenes footage and emotional responses of the participants after the judges comments on their performance but there is no such a program. There are total four series of Britains Got Talent which include the almost 54 episodes has been broadcasted till 2010 while almost 60 episodes of Americas Got Talent have been broadcasted till 2009 in its 4 show series and 2010 season is continue.

Social Security Essay -- Welfare Politics Essays

Social Security "On a daily basis senior citizens face a choice between buying food, paying the rent, or buying medicine. Senior citizens slice pills into halves because they can't afford their full prescriptions." (Federal News Service Sept. 2002) Social Security is what keeps many elderly and disabled Americans from being stricken by poverty. Without Social Security in our society 15.3 million elderly would have incomes below the poverty line, however after Social Security was added to the equation only 3.8 million elderly have incomes below poverty. Three-fourths of those elderly people who would have been poor without Social Security were removed from below the poverty line by Social Security. Nearly 90 percent of America's elderly are lifted from poverty by Social Security. Currently nearly 44 million Americans receive benefits under Social Security, making it one of the nation's largest anti-poverty programs existing today. Although many Americans are also not helped by Social Security and linger at the fringes of society because the money is not enough to live in America today, even with Social Security adjusting to inflation. Today, the average Social Security benefit is less than $10,000 a year, and for women the average benefit is closer to $9,000. For most seniors, especially those who live in high-cost areas such as my home state of New Jersey, that's barely enough to maintain even a basic standard of living. Unfortunately 11.9% of Americans who receive Social Security are still below poverty level. It's shocking that over ten-percent of a country of 281 million people can have that much of its citizens in poverty. (http://www.cbpp.org/4-8-99socsec.htm) However c... ...ll. The biggest part of privatization is letting the person decide how to invest their Social Security since it is given to them to be invested, rather than put in a private account after being taken from the person's paycheck as is the current government policy. Americans could then invest in stocks, corporate bonds, government bonds, money market funds, and annuities. The Republican Party then goes further to say there is less risk and makes many more Americans feel "safer". Although there are risks in everything we do. Bibliography  · http://www.cbpp.org/4-8-99socsec.htm  · Socialsecuritychoice.org  · The New York Times Company, October 10, 2002; New York Section: Section A, Page 30, Column 1  · U.S. Newswire Inc., October 8, 2002 Section: National Desk  · Federal News Service Inc., September 24, 2002 Section: Press Conference or Speech

The Mention of the Israelites in Egyptian Scriptures :: essays research papers fc

There are several Egyptian documents that not only mention the Israelites in their texts, but also tie the Bible to historical facts. Egyptian documents such as the Tell el-Amarna letters, a large â€Å"stele† of the Menephtah, and the Elephantine papyri not only tell the history of Egypt, they also coincide with biblical scripture. The documents confirm not only dates, certain numbers, and rituals, such as circumcision, but places and event, e.g. The Exodus, of biblical stories.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to James Orr, general editor for â€Å"The Definition for Egypt,† the Tell el-Amarna Letters were discovered in 1887. â€Å"These documents refer to many Biblical cities; they also give much direct information concerning the political and social conditions at that period† (Orr, Palestine). Damien Mackey’s â€Å"The House of David,† shows the remarkable similarities between several rulers in Egypt and the three kings (Saul, David, and Salomon) mentioned in the Bible. In Michael Grant’s â€Å"The History of Ancient Israel,† he states that a ruler in the 14th century named Labayu ruled over Shechem and extended his kingdom as far as the Mediterranean coast (18). One model given in the case of Saul tells of a second name stated in Psalm 57; the name is Lebaim, â€Å"a unique word in the Old Testament meaning great lions.† In line with this passage comes a reference from the Amarna letters; an Egyptian pharaoh whose name was Labayu, meaning â€Å"Great Lion of (N)’ where N is a god’s name† (Mackey 1). The Amarna letters could also wrap together David and Tuthmosis III as one and the same. Labayu had sons that battled for an equally important roll after his death (Grant 18). In II Samuel 3:1, the passage tells of how Saul’s two sons Ish-Bosheth and David fought for power. This leads Mackey to a comprehensive comparison between David and Tuthmosis I & III. A few illustrations in the contrast are ranging from military campaigns to coronation ceremonies (Mackey 3-5). In the military campaign of Megiddo, the records by Tuthmosis III describe the split of his armies to defeat scattered forces in separate Canaanite towns. Later, Tuthmosis rejoins his armies to capture of Megiddo (Orr, Palestine). This corresponds with II Samuel 11:1 account of David’s conquest of Rabbah (Mackey 5). Although, not as much information is found on the Elephantine papyri and the â€Å"stele† of Menephtah, they still display the bonds between the history of Egypt and biblical scriptures.

Time Is More Valuable

â€Å"Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time. † In the essay â€Å"How America Has Run Out Of Time†, Nancy Gibbs discusses how the inclusion of technology into the workforce has a negative impact on the lives of Americans. Technology was designed to make work easier and faster providing extra time that can be spent freely. Instead, it had the opposite effect causing longer work hour and less time for family. I believe technology in the work place may have a deeper impact American life. Technology has helped to change the nature of the work.Technology like the Internet has helped to connect businesses internally as well as globally with information. Communication has become fast and simple with the use of email and video or phone conference, but at the same time it has made the work place impersonal. With this it reduces the need to meet face to face. Socialization within the work place decrease and there is less â€Å"wat er cooler moments† where employees meet and have conversations. There is a decrease sense of trust, bonds and teamwork present. With the decline in trust there is a decline in work-life balance.Technology provides us with a limitless supply of information and a way to stay connected. â€Å"There are phones in the car, laptops in the den, and humming fax machine eliminates the once peaceful lull between completing a document and delivering it. (602)† The constant connectivity slowly blurs the line between work and leisure. In a sense people are always working. People are able to continue their work at home after leaving the office or even work from home. Even when they are not working, employees can access and reply to email messages from work via their computer and cell phone.As work days increased, negative health effects did as well. Long working hours does not only affect a worker's productivity. Long hours meant less time for an individual to rest, which can create sleeping problems and increase the chance of being in a work related accident. Another result can be the rise of stress due to the need of a competitive advantage. The stress can lead to either high blood pressure and heart disease or bad health habits such as smoking and unhealthy eating. More time spent working meant less time with the family.Some parents feel strained and fatigued trying to juggle the responsibilities at home and at work. Most times this breaks the bond between parent and children because there is less focus on the child. As parents are working, the child is taken care of by a babysitter. Other times the child might take up the parental role and take care of themselves while the parents are away. â€Å"The very culture of children, of freedom and fantasy and kids teaching kids to play jacks, is collapsing under the weight of hectic family schedule. 605)† The structure of American life has changed since technology was introduced in the work force. People ar e on a fast pace schedule to deal with the time constraint caused by work. The accessibility of technology is causing people to overwork to combat the competition faced in the economical market. Overworking causes strain on our own lives and the family life, whether it is neglecting the responsibilities and duties as a parent or not spending time with our spouse. As the sun set and comes close to the end, ask yourself if you are able to find some free time from work?