Accounting

First, search the internet for the official website of your local city government or a city that interests you. After reviewing the website, locate the latest comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR) available on the website. For example, both the City of Sacramento and the City of Phoenix have their most recent CAFRs online within an accounting/financial section. Use the financial statements you locate to address the following questions: How does the audit opinion given to this city by its independent auditors differ from the audit opinion rendered on the financial statements of a for-profit business? A reconciliation should be presented to explain the difference between the net changes in fund balances for the governmental funds (fund financial statements) and the change in net position for the governmental activities (government-wide financial statements). What were several of the largest reasons for the difference? Did the CAFR contain all required components, and what was your impression of how the information was reported? What are some significant differences you see between the report you just reviewed and a for-profit statement?

What quality costs will Mars incur from its recall of Snickers candy bars? The US chocolate maker Mars, one of the world’s largest privately-held companies, issued a voluntary recall in 55 countries for Snickers bars, Milky Way minis, and some other candy bar varieties that were manufactured in a Dutch factory between December 2015 and January 2016. A red piece of plastic was found in one Snickers bar by a customer in Germany; that piece of plastic was traced back to a protective cover used in the manufacturing process at a Mars production facility in the Netherlands. This recall potentially covers millions of candy bars; the recall does not affect Mars’ products made in the US.  In an interview with the Financial Times, a financial analyst estimated that the recall would cost the company tens of millions of dollars.     Questions 1. Prior to the recall, what specific costs of quality could Mars incur in the design, production, and distribution of its candy bars? Again, use your imagination. 2. What specific costs were the analysts referring to when estimating that this recall could cost Mars “tens of millions of dollars?” List as many costs as you can imagine might be incurred related to the recall. 3. Classify the costs you listed for Mars (both pre-recall and post-recall) by type of quality cost: prevention, appraisal, internal failure, or external failure.

Companies must consider how accounting standards, within the current accounting framework, can have a variety of economic consequences on the company. Consider the article “Sears: Accounting for Uncollectible Accounts” (Hoyt & Nelson, 2000). Next, using outside sources that you may seek and your professional experience, develop and write a 3- to 4-page paper concisely answering the following questions: (A2.1) What is Sears’ management trying to achieve through decisions with respect to financial reporting for uncollectible accounts? (A2.2) What accounting standards must Sears consider when making its decisions? (A2.3) Did Sears management meet its financial reporting objectives? (A2.4) What did Sears’ accountants (and management) use in making decisions: knowledge, estimates, or assumptions? Is there any difference between these things? Your paper should reflect the application of the resources presented this week, as well as knowledge gained from previous weeks’ required or optional readings. Refer to The Research Process page in the left navigation bar to guide your research for this Assignment. Be sure to support your work with specific citations from this week’s Learning Resources and any additional resources.

Instructions ACCT 326 Writing Assignment #4 When global firms like Home Depot, Office of Personnel Management, and Target become prime targets for hackers, the attack themselves become front-page news. Financial and personal data have been compromised despite firms having measures in place. You will review three firms (only one firm being the Home Depot, OPM, or Target breach) where a successful attack was made on their systems by hackers. In terms of the second & third firms, you are free to select a breach/attack that occurred within the last three years. Paper Layout • Part I (Facts of Case #1): You will describe what happened and how did the firm respond to the breach/attack. Also, you will identify and discuss how consumers reacted to the breach/attack. Finally, assess how much responsibility should lie with the firm per this breach/attack. • Part II (Facts of Case #2): You will describe what happened and how did the firm respond to the breach/attack. Also, you will identify and discuss how consumers reacted to the breach/attack. Finally, assess how much responsibility should lie with the firm per this breach/attack. • Part III (Facts of Case #3): You will describe what happened and how did the firm respond to the breach/attack. Also, you will identify and discuss how consumers reacted to the breach/attack. Finally, assess how much responsibility should lie with the firm per this breach/attack. • Part IV (Prevention): Identify and discuss at least three measures firms must take to limit/prevent breaches and attacks from happening. One of your preventive measures must be a technology-based measure, such as robotic processing automation (RPA), blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), or data analytics would have prevented/limited the impact of data breaches. • Part V (Role of the Government & Others): In this section, discuss the role that the Federal Government and large associations (e.g., ISACA, AICAP, IIA) should play regarding preventing/limiting breaches. Be sure to speak about the Government first and then pick an association to discuss. • Part VI (Awareness): Explain how this assignment will make you more aware of data breaches. Identify and discuss a set of recommendations you can take to protect yourself and your firm if you are working. Paper Guidelines • Page Length: Your response should not exceed eight pages (double-spaced) or four pages (single-spaced). Note that the cover page, reference page, and appendix, if provided are excluded from the page count. • References: You will need to include at least four literary references and at least four in-text citations to support your paper. These references must be related directly to the topics covered in the paper. References & citations must be properly formatted as noted below. • Headings: You will need to use headings (short, brief, and centered) to separate each area of your paper. Your headings should have an appropriate title such as Prevention instead of Part IV. • Margins & Font Sizes: Use standard margins (minimum .5″; maximum 1.5″) and standard font size (minimum 10 point; maximum 12 point) in your paper. • Writing Style: APA is the preferred writing style, but you can choose any appropriate writing style (e.g. MLA), except that all references are to be formatted via APA. Please consult the UMGC Effective Writing Center (http://www.umgc.edu/writingcenter/index.cfm) for assistance regarding the choice of styles and formatting of references via APA.

Smitheford Pharmaceuticals Smitheford Pharmaceuticals was founded by a former officer in the Civil War, General Robert Smitheford, in 1878. He moved his family to Colorado Springs to aid in his wife’s tuberculosis condition. At the time, it was believed that the sunshine and high altitude had curative effects. The company quickly grew and expanded. To improve the economies of several growing towns in Colorado, General Smitheford built additional manufacturing facilities in Pueblo, Grand Junction, Fort Collins, and Durango, Colorado. Smitheford was an excellent leader, as demonstrated by his rapid rise in the Union Army. He used management incentives and was an early follower of Frederick Taylor on methods improvement and employee satisfaction. The company has since adopted total quality management (TQM) philosophies but has done a poor job of implementing these principles in manufacturing. By the 1950s, Smitheford Pharmaceuticals grew to become the 6th-largest pharmaceutical firm in the United States. Expansion in manufacturing occurred in the 1970s and 1980s with operations in Canada, Puerto Rico, France, Japan, Mexico, and Brazil. Many challenges are facing the industry today. NAFTA impacted some advantages that Canadian manufacturing might have had. Stricter FDA guidelines have made transportation of partially manufactured products more complicated; drug interactions, especially for the elderly, can seriously affect whether or not to release a new product, and manufacturing equipment has become more sophisticated, and with the advanced technology comes increase fixed costs. You are a midlevel manager of production operations at Smitheford. You will need to look at several methods to improve efficiency and effectiveness for its area of responsibility. You will use quantitative and qualitative methods to make recommendations for the improvements. Assignment Details Smitheford Pharmaceuticals wants to reduce its inventory costs. As a quality manager to Smitheford Pharmaceuticals, explain the meaning of lowering the water level to expose the rocks, on the diagram on this figure, as you would to your management team. How would you keep Smitheford Pharmaceuticals from immediately raising the inventory as soon as an outage occurs? Explain how each rock can cause problems in the production process and how you would help pharmaceuticals to improve processes and reduce inventory.

Please complete accounting problems , all 25 questions and provide work that shows how problems were solved

For Assignment 1, you will conduct research on https://www.irs.gov, consult your textbook, and refer to other similar, reputable resources on taxation. Your goal is to compare the three major forms of corporate organizations: partnerships, s-corporations, and corporations. You will then select a domestic organization, identify its entity type, and describe how the organization’s tax methods are detailed in its financial report. To complete Assignment 1, write a four to five (4-5) page paper in which you do the following: Compare and contrast the tax rules and treatment applicable to those three forms of organization and the major way in which the tax treatment affects the shareholders or partners. Explain at least two reasons why a business owner might opt for one form of organization over another. Provide support for your rationale. Identify two sources of tax guidance (e.g. IRS code, Revenue Procedure) for each form of organization and how it defines a component of the tax policy for that form of organization. Research an organization by identifying its entity type (corporation, s-corporation, or partnership) and describe how that organization’s tax methods are detailed in their financial reports. Go to https://research.strayer.edu to locate at least three quality academic resources for this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar websites do not qualify as academic resources. Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements: This course requires use of Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). The format is different than other Strayer University courses. Please take a moment to review the SWS documentation for details. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the source list are not included in the required assignment page length.  The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is: Evaluate the tax rules and treatment applicable to organizations and their impact on shareholders.

Instructions Multicultural Team This course has major project assignments due in Week 3 and Week 5. It will take more than a week’s effort to adequately complete them. Plan time to start the research and work on those assignments earlier than the week in which they are due. Recently, you have been assigned the task of assembling a multicultural, team in your organization. The purpose of the team is to design and implement a leadership development and succession process for the organization.  Based on research using the course text and other scholarly materials: Analyze the stages of group development the teams should expect to experience. At each stage, make recommendations that will help move the team into the next stage. Multicultural project teams often face problems with communication, expectations, and values. How do you think some of these challenges can be overcome? Explain some of the group decision-making challenges the team may experience and recommend ways to overcome them. Discuss at least three recommendations to help make these teams effective.

Look closely at the published financial statements for your company—Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Statement of Retained Earnings, & Statement of Cash Flows. Elaborate on each term. Do you find them understandable? Can you see how they all fit together? List three (3) items that stand out to you and discuss why. Company: https://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReports/PDF/NYSE_EL_2019.pdf

Briefly describe what is the fair value option. Is this option more useful than the historical cost for certain types of assets and liabilities?