From the Paper "Andrew Carnegie's greatest contribution to the "Rise of Big Business" was his introduction of cost accounting in the business world. Carnegie changed the method of bookkeeping that had been used by most businessmen since the Renaissance to a more formal and accurate method of accounting. This cost saving method led to the United States becoming an industrial world power because it brought the most trained management and workforce into business."
Abstract This paper discusses that, in the 21st Century, new technology, such as the computer, fax machines and the internet, have improved the business and accounting world in virtually every area ranging from communication, to data recording, to company billing. The author comments that the use of the computer has almost eliminated the job category of bookkeeper. The author discusses that, although these new technologies have great benefits, they are not without problems such as computer crashes.
From the Paper "The technological world has become an absolute necessity in accounting. One way technology has influenced accounting firms is in the realm of communication. Communication, vital to every business, plays a crucial role in the accounting process. Through the use of the fax machine, important documents can be sent via phone line from client to accountant or vice versa. For example, a business needs to have a sales journal covering the last quarter immediately because of a meeting the next day. The fax machine will allow the journal to get from the accountant to the client, a task that would have taken at least a day or two, within a few minutes."
Abstract In this paper, the author traces the history of accounting from the days of early civilization by looking at its gradual development over the next centuries during which writing was invented by accountants; the "invention" of money, banking, and credit during the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations; the introduction of the innovative double entry bookkeeping system by accountants in the 16th century that fueled the Italian Renaissance; the use of sophisticated cost accounting techniques by smart entrepreneurs during the Industrial Revolution; the expanding role of accounting in businesses in the late 19th and early 20th century, and finally, the current state of the accounting profession.
Outline:
The Earliest Traces of "Accounting" in History
Mesopotamian Accountants Invent Writing
Accounting in Ancient Egypt and China
Invention of Coined Money and Banking
Accounting in Medieval Age
Invention of Double Book-keeping by Italian Merchants
Accounting's Role in the Industrial Revolution
Expanding Role of Accounting
The Current State of the Accounting Profession
From the Paper "Increasing government regulations such as the Bankruptcy Act of 1869 in Britain increased the accountants' role in bankruptcy and liquidations. The Companies Act of 1862 required banks to be audited and the audit became mandatory for all public companies by the end of the century. This further expanded the role of the accountant in auditing. Industrialization in other countries of Europe and the United States at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, and the rise of big business coincided with the invention of important accounting and business gadgets such as the calculator, typewriter, and tabulating machines. This gave a further boost to accounting and it gradually became an established profession. Accounting firms such as Cooper Brothers (later, Coopers & Lybrand) were formed and big business firms such as Carnegie Steel adopted sophisticated cost accounting to control operations, cut costs, and even eliminate competition to earn huge profits (Ibid). Du Pont, J.P. Morgan, Standard Oil, and General Motors were other big business firms in the U.S. that thrived after adopting modern cost accounting methods."
Tags: civilization, bookkeeping, money, techniques, profession, modern
Abstract Examines the use of business records as a tool of business management. Defines assets, liabilities, double-entry bookkeeping, balance sheet, accrual method of accounting, hands-on bookkeeping system, and check writing.
From the Paper "This research describes how to establish successful accounting practices for a small retail outlet that does not require the services of a full-time accountant. Poor financial record keeping is recognized as one of the major factors of small-business ..."
This paper analyzes the study of mathematics in bilingual and bicultural environments including cultural and teaching impact., particularly in the Mexican-American communities.: games, cooking, telling time, bookkeeping number stories.
1,575 words (approx. 6.3 pages), 10 sources, 1980, $ 55.95
From the Paper "The purpose of this research is to examine and analyze the uses of mathematics in bilingual/bicultural environments, with specific applications as well as in specific communities.
Because of the Supreme Court decision (1974 Lau vs. Nichols) bilingual education is now mandatory (McNichols 111-15). Mathematics is an ever present, recurring part of daily life. This provides an excellent opportunity for the inclusion of bilingual/bicultural aspects in mathematics.
Because of this decision it now becomes essential to train bilingual teachers in all academic subjects and at all academic levels, including preschool. The states of California, New Mexico, Florida, Pennsylvania, Alaska, Arizona, Illinois, New York, Maine, Connecticut, and Colorado are "working toward ... "
Abstract This paper examines the importance of education in the role of training accountants for their profession. It looks at professional standards, requirements and practices and explores what educational paths must be taken to become an accountant. The paper shows why accountants are not just glorified bookkeepers, but actually require a deeper and more intense professional training background to do their jobs.
From the Paper "Accountants must be trained to be able to arrive at an all-inclusive view of the financial and the legal issues of a business, foreseeing the effect of every sort of transaction on the profit-and-loss statement of a business. Additionally, an accountant needs to be able to recognize and classify all additional factors that could determine the true condition of a business, such as statistics or memos relating to production issues, property and financial records, expenditures, receipts, fiscal changes, and present standing within the business community. (Henning and Torbin ) In a branch of accounting called, ?cost accounting,? the actual cost, over a certain period of time, of particular services rendered or of articles produced. By using the cost accounting system unprofitable ventures, services, departments, and methods may be discovered."
Abstract This paper investigates Economic Value Added, or EVA, invented and promoted by Stern Stewart & Co. The author points out that this theory is aimed at eliminating the problems that accounting faces today by incorporating the concept of a "true economic profit" into accounting and bookkeeping. The paper states that the EVA concept intends to align reported earnings, something which shareholders always take into consideration when investing in a company, with the actual capital that was loaned by the company.
Table of Contents
The Cost of Equity Capital
Operating vs. Financing Decisions
Pension Plan Accounting
Full Cost Accounting
Stock Options
From the Paper "One of the errors that accountants usually makes and that leads to distorted reporting on a company's earnings is the fact that equity capital is not taken into consideration as a cost. If debt is considered a cost and debt interest is noted as an expense, than why not see equity as a cost as well, seeing that it is not a free resource, but something invested by shareholders into the company and funds put into the company. As Bennett Stewart points out, "the cost of equity is not a cash cost, it is an opportunity cost". Indeed, it is the equivalent return that a shareholder would expect to earn by investing in other stocks from companies of comparable risk."
Abstract This paper is an oral presentation of the findings of an independent auditor of the HealthSouth Corporation. The audit concerns a 300-million-dollar refund HealthSouth is seeking from the federal government on the over-inflated profits it reported on its assets. The auditor asserts that no indications of Medicare fraud were found and that the over-inflated profits reported by the company were a result of HealthSound projecting assets not truly expected to incur, as well as a refusal to take into consideration the costs of the company (reporting only money accrued, rather than actual profits. This, in turn, was facilitated by the bureaucratic nature of the medical industry, where reporting of costs, payment of bills, and administrative costs are often delayed because of the nature of health care providers. The paper concludes by stating that HealthSound has not been negatively impacted by the allegations of securities fraud and that it is, and will continue to be, a sound company because of the quality its product.
From the Paper "As a part of this presentation, I, as an independent auditor commissioned by the committee of the firm representing the HealthSouth Corporation, wish to make clear that the company I have just audited, though tarred and feathered by the modern media, is not nearly at fault as one might initially believe, given the nature of the following components peculiar to the health services and health care industry. Although HealthSouth's supposed irregularities may have been elided in the public imagination with corporations such as Enron, it is not an ?imaginary corporation.? Mistakes were made, but these mistakes should not cause individuals to forget the ongoing quality of care still provided by the company."
Tags: finances, accountant, bookkeeping, creditors, debt, survival, solvency, tenet, health, care, industry
Abstract This paper relates that Economic Value Added (EVA) may truly be considered the new "hottest thing" in accounting theory because it aims at eliminating the problems accounting faces today by incorporated the concept of a "true economic profit" into accounting and bookkeeping. The author points out that one of the errors accountants usually make, which leads to distorted reporting of a company's earnings, is the fact that equity capital is not taken into consideration as a cost. The paper stresses that stock options grants are an expense and that stock options are a form of compensation, which should be expensed as exercise rights vest.
Table of Contents
The Cost of Equity Capital
Operating vs. Financing Decisions
Pension Plan Accounting
Full Cost Accounting
Stock Options
From the Paper "Stewart suggests that the pension cost (which is to be determined) should be calculated as the difference between the service cost on one side and the difference between the fund return and the liability interest. The fund return is determined as the return on a portfolio of bonds of similar characteristics with the pension fund, so that in the end the return on the fund and the liability interest will cancel one another. In this way, the pension cost will be equal to its service cost."
Abstract This paper outlines the various methodologies of accounting practices and principles that are being followed in the United Kingdom. It provides an on-the-spot analysis of the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles followed in the UK, better known as the UK GAAP, and also looks at the various differences in accounting principles followed within the United Kingdom and the United States of America. It examines issues of key importance, with reference to both the UK GAAP and the US GAAP, and defines the role and scope of various bodies that regulate the practice and principles of accounting.
Outline
Introduction
Background
Literature Review
Aims and Objectives of the Research
Methodology
Data Analysis
Time Scale
Conclusion
From the Paper "Accounting has gained special and a very exceptional significance in the recent past. Until now it was a mere process that involved a series of cumbersome, time consuming and ongoing activities that related to bringing to book financial transactions related to companies across the globe. A good number of prescribed methods and standards needed to be adhered so as to make the "operation by the book" and largely acceptable. The year 2001 saw a string of nasty and well orchestrated financial scandals and trickery across the United States of America, in particular, and various other countries in general. In the light of these carefully premeditated nefarious designs being uncovered, the accountant and the bookkeeper, hitherto mere management functionaries who operated more with the pen and mind than a collection of principles and standards, were shot into the limelight and under the scanner of a few dozen investigating agencies and accounting firms."
Abstract Supporting the activities and operations of churches and religious organizations is a complicated and serious financial challenge. The activities of these organizations, combined with their limited financial resources, result in a need for careful attention to financial management. Further, as a result of occasional media reports of financial irregularities in some religious organizations, there is an increasing call for financial accountability in almost all organizations today. This paper shows that diocese members want to know, and have a right to know, how and where church funds are spent. Beyond accountability and financial reporting, there is a need for assistance in all aspects of financial management. The diocese, therefore, provides a unique environment in which to contextualize the study of accounting and budgeting. The paper shows that many dioceses are supported by professional accountants and bookkeepers, some as paid employees, others as volunteers. Because the number of clergy is decreasing, financial management functions are being spread thin, and there is less control; therefore, there will likely be increasing pressure from parishes for improved budgeting functions. The base of this research project is extended to all Roman Catholic Church dioceses in the United Kingdom, but concentrates on the budgeting process as it exists within a representative sampling of these religious organizations. Finally, this research project identifies who is involved in the budgeting process and whether structures interfere with budgetary process. An examination of how budgeting is done is followed by an assessment of its contribution in terms of population.
Table of Contents
Abstract
Review of the Relevant Literature
Methodology
Conclusion
From the Paper "The first major component of internal accounting systems for management's use is the company's system for establishing budgetary plans and setting performance standards. The establishment of these performance standards also requires a company to develop a system for measuring actual results and reporting the differences between actual performance and the established standards. This budgeting process leads to the establishment of specific organizational plans which are then translated into action with varying degrees of efficiency. Statistical analysis, quality controls, and trended data are typically provided to management for assessment and determination of need for corrective action, or by preparing revised plans. While these plans can be either broad, strategic outlines of the company's future or specific and detailed schedules of the inputs and outputs associated with specific independent programs, most business plans are periodic plans; in other words, these plans refer to company operations for a specified period of time. It is these periodic plans which are summarized in a series of projected financial statements, or budgets (Shillinglaw 2004)."
Abstract This paper explains that the Bush Plan states (1) "personal accounts" would be voluntary, (2) social security money would be invested in a "conservative mix of bond and stock funds" which would have the opportunity to earn a higher rate of return than what is being provided now and (3) this would supplement the worker's "traditional social security check". The author presents opponents of this plan including AARP (American Association of Retired Persons), the largest advocacy organization for senior citizens in America, which opposes creating accounts out of the contributions workers currently make into Social Security because such accounts actually worsen Social Security's long-term financial health, draining revenues out of Social Security at the very time boomers begin to retire. The paper concludes that it is important to remember that the Social Security trust fund is not a pile of cash but rather just a bookkeeping gimmick in which one part of the government promises money to another part of the government.
Table of Contents
What is the Bush Plan?
Why is President George Bush Pushing Hard for his Plan
Opposition
Facts about Social Security
Business Week Reporter Paul Craig Roberts
The Bush Campaign
The AARP (American Association of Retired Persons)
What are Some Proposed Solutions to the Social Security System?
The Conservative Publication the National Review
From the Paper "The Democrats have countered with ads of their own, according to the Associated Press (Raum, 2005) on Sunday, March 13. The Democrats call Bush's proposal to privatize Social Security "a risky privatization scheme." The Democrats' Saturday radio broadcast on March 12 featured the grandson of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (James Roosevelt Jr.). He said: "In 1935, my grandfather signed the Social Security Act into law, ensuring that Americans retired with financial security." But "unfortunately," he continued, "President Bush and Washington Republicans" do not share the belief of "the guiding principle that America's workers deserve a secure retirement." Roosevelt and other Democrats complain that privatizing Social Security will punish workers "in times of long market downturns," because the investment Bush is talking about on the Wall Street market wouldn't deliver as high a return as it would in economic boom times, the AP story pointed out. The article also mentioned that the most recent AP poll shows the Bush Social Security reform proposals gaining only a 37% positive result from the public."
Abstract This paper looks at how the Temper Tinglary Soho Art Gallery in the Yarra Valley, is considering the use of a website to promote the gallery and exhibitions and how it wishes to undertake outdoor exhibitions but has no relevant information allowing it to analyse this option. The gallery is interested in initiating projects that give it competitive advantage, increase cooperation with other organisations and enable it to analyse data trends. In addition, an efficient solution for transaction processing is also sought in order to relieve the burden on the current bookkeeper.
Following the Marchewka (2006) business model, the paper identifies stakeholders with an interest in such projects and then identifies potential projects for consideration and defines Measurable Organisational Value (MOV) for each project. The different projects are then analysed based on their TBO (Total Benefits of Ownership), TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) and ROI (Return On Investment). The analysis is based on the risks and metrics used to define value for each project. Finally a recommendation to the gallery is made based on the various factors analysed.
Outline:
Stakeholders
Core team
External stakeholders
Potential projects
Value and rationale for each project
Appropriate metric and realistic time frame
Feasibility and Risk assessment
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
Total Benefits of Ownership (TBO)
Increase high value work:
Improved accuracy and efficiency:
Improved decision making:
Analysis of alternatives
Project proposal
Appendix A
Appendix B
From the Paper "Stakeholders need to be categorised according to the influence and interest they have in the project. Using the template in appendix A, the stakeholders have been categorised according to levels of influence and interest. Those who are high influence/high interest require serious attention and the most effort to satisfy. High influence but less interested stakeholders require effort to keep satisfied but one need not invest a large amount of time honing one's message with them. Low influence/high interest people need to be kept informed and an open communication channel with them should be maintained. Low influence and less interested stakeholders should be monitored but not allowed to attract excessive attention. "
Tags: Stakeholders, Measurable, Organisational, Value
Abstract The paper discusses the fraudulent business practices of the Dean Buntrock Wastet Management scandal where the company's earnings were aggrandized, and the financial performance of the company presented investor's with faulty monetary projections and numbers. The paper shows how Buntrock violated the code of ethics in his purposeful intent to manipulate shareholders, buyers and other clients in a process known as netting. The paper includes a huge amount of resource material.
From the Paper "This deceit is evident in the SEC's report pertaining to Waste Management's bookkeeping and other falsified records: The company's earnings were aggrandized, and the financial performance of the Waste Management was presented investor's with faulty monetary projections and numbers (SEC summary). This level of falsify ended up amounting to 33% lower stock worth and the profits which were reported added up to $1.7 billion. The ethics of Waste Management were obviously sacrificed in order for the CEO Dean Buntrock to gain more money. This is the main ethical issue involved with this scandal; that of prevaricating records in order for a greater monetary return."
