Financial Evaluation of Jools Furniture Industries Ltd - Assignment Example

? Jools Furniture Industries Ltd. Financial Evaluation Report of the of the Submitted to the Chairman, Jools Furniture Industries Ltd. April 08, 2011 Jools Furniture Industries Ltd. Introduction Management, it is said, is the art of getting the work of an organization done through its employees. The practice of management involves making the most effective and efficient use of a company’s resources of men, money, machines and materials to produce the maximum output in terms of productivity, ultimately resulting in sales revenues and profitability for the business enterprise. The management of any firm is faced with the task of dealing not only with the short term challenges faced by the business, but they must also have a long term vision for the company. Each company has its own internal advantages called Strengths that enable it to do better than some others in the industry. Likewise, each company also has its own internal deficiencies called Weaknesses that prevent it from making full use of its resources and abilities. Like it or not, all firms operating within a particular industry are similarly faced with uniform challenges from the external environment like the legal, social, economic and technological changes that may emerge as Opportunities for the industry if they give it an advantage, or Threats for an industry if they challenge its well being and continuity in the business environment. Jools Furniture Industries Ltd. likewise has its own set of strengths and weaknesses, and is also faced with opportunities and threats from the external environment. It is clear that it must take some action to offset these internal and external challenges if it is to survive and prosper as a continuing business enterprise. This paper is divided into three parts. In Part I, we will carry out a brief analysis of the firm, its position within the furniture industry in the UK, the future prospects and challenges that it is faced with and how intends to deal with them. In Part II, we will evaluate the current role of the Financial Director and see whether he is playing his role effectively in the organization. We will also put forward a number of suggestions as to how the current system could be improved to aid planning, control and performance management. In Part III, we shall assess the proposal for an ?1.8 million loan to be taken by the Kitchens Division of the business, based on the current gearing and ROI criteria as traditionally maintained by the company, and also suggest two other alternatives in this regard. PART I Brief Analysis of the Present Position of the Furniture Business Looking at the industry scenario given in the case, it appears that the furniture industry in the UK is highly specialized and moving towards maturity. In this stage of the product life cycle, there are a whole lot of producers and manufacturers of a product and the competition is intense, hence every firm is looking at ways to enlarge its business and increase its capacity in different areas. Jools Furniture Industries Ltd. has also done the same over the years and has managed to create four different divisions, each dealing in a different type of product or delivering to a different market. We have the Kitchens Division, the Quality Division, the Bedrooms Division and the Office Division. The marketplace can also be classified into the Domestic, the Office and the Contract market. The domestic market is geared towards serving the public, mainly through retail outlets and making products for household use. The domestic market constitutes 58 percent or the major chunk of the market demand. On the other hand, the office market deals mainly with products concerning desking, seating, tables, cabinets and other items for the office environment. The office market consists of 13 percent of the total market demand. The contract market caters to the needs of furniture for public areas such as hotels, schools, residential accommodation and airports. The contract market constitutes 29 percent or little less than a third of the entire market demand. Overall we see that the size of the furniture industry in the UK has a value of almost ?10 billion in terms of wholesale prices, and directly employs around 124,000 people spread across 7,500 firms. In addition the industry supports and is supported by a large supply chain consisting of materials suppliers, component manufacturers, designers, distributors, contractors and retailers. It is expected that the industry has further growth potential in the coming years, and in the absence of entry and exit barriers it is facing stiff competition in the face of cheaper imports from China and Poland, whose market share in the UK imports has increased from 15 percent ten years ago to 42 percent today. Ratio Analysis Finance is the lifeblood of a business. All short and long term decisions of the management and the owners would invariably involve a financial aspect. In this respect ratio analysis plays a very important role. There are many types of ratios and all of them have a specific purpose. The liquidity ratios show the ability of a business to survive in the short term. The debt-equity ratios show the extent to which the assets of the business are financed through debt or through equity; they also reflect on the borrowing capacity of the firm. The turnover ratios reflect the number of times assets are turned into products and then through sales, back into cash. This represents the operating cycle for a business. The asset turnover ratios indicate the relative composition of assets and their liquidity. Finally, the ratios regarding equity shares and dividend yield etc. are connected to the ownership and profit earnings of the company. A little introspection will show that each of the five types of ratios discussed above deals with a different type of stakeholder in the company. These are the debtors, the creditors, the operations managers, the asset managers and the shareholders of the business. When a firm makes an investment decision, and have to decide on whether to finance it through equity or debt, they are most likely to look at its effect on the debt-equity structure, the interest rate being charged, the term of the loan to be taken and what is being asked as collateral by the bank. They can alternatively, if they are a public limited company, arrange the loan through the debt market (by making a bond/ debenture issue) or through the equity market (by offering additional shares as ownership rights). In the case of equity shares, the firm will be liable only if the Board of Directors recommend a dividend to the shareholders. Calculation of Ratios: 1. Current Ratio = Total Current Assets/ Total Current Liabilities Year QPD KD BD OD 2007 1.12 1.52 1.17 1.31 2008 1.09 1.56 1.22 1.44 2009 1.37 2.02 2.02 1.49 2. Debt Ratio or Gearing Ratio= Total Liabilities/ Total Assets Year QPD KD BD OD 2007 0.67 0.36 N/A 0.31 2008 0.64 0.35 N/A 0.36 2009 0.65 0.33 N/A 0.33 3. Equity Ratio= 1- Debt Ratio Year QPD KD BD OD 2007 0.33 0.64 N/A 0.69 2008 0.36 0.65 N/A 0.64 2009 0.35 0.67 N/A 0.67 4. Interest Coverage Ratio= EBIT/ Interest Paid Year QPD KD BD OD 2007 (0.75) 0.06 0.29 0.14 2008 0.65 0.09 0.19 0.015 2009 0.47 0.09 0.18 0.007 5. ROI = EBIT/ Total Shareholder’s Equity x 100 Year QPD KD BD OD 2007 (14.9) % 17.9% 18.17% 15.8% 2008 16.24% 12.87% 16.62% 12.24% 2009 18.99% 12.75% 14.62% 13.48% 6. Working Capital = Net Current Assets Year QPD KD BD OD 2007 ?187,180 413,993 531,000 223,933 2008 ?122,564 429,786 435,902 259,486 2009 ?484,083 663,121 337,459 261,571 7. Gross Profit Ratio = Gross Profit/ Sales Turnover x 100 Year QPD KD BD OD 2007 38.90% 39.22% 26.37% 38.90% 2008 40.44% 36.20% 31.44% 33.64% 2009 41.36% 37.61% 29.78% 36.97% Overseas/Total Sales Percentages: Year QPD KD BD OD 2007 53.70% nil N/A 5.30% 2008 44.51% nil N/A 5.62% 2009 36.60% nil N/A 4.81% How this Information could be used to make Improvements within the Business Ratio analysis has been used to determine the state of business and industry from the earliest times. The earliest form of income statements and balance sheets emerged from the Florentine Era. Let us look at the ratios one by one and their significance. Taking a look at the current ratios for all the four business units, we see that there has been a steady improvement in all of the three years from 2007 to 2009. This will be of special significance to the Kitchens Division, as it is seeking for a loan of ?1.8 million from a bank or through any other possible sources. For the creditors, it is a healthy sign to see that the Kitchens Division’s current ratio has improved from 1.56 in 2007 to 1.56 in 2008 and 2.02 in 2009. The best improvement has been in 2009. Overall they will also be pleased to see that none of the business divisions has liquidity problems, which is a sign of good financial health in the short term (Alali & Cao, 2010). Similarly all divisions of the business have good working capital, as proof of their short term liquidity. It is good to see that the Kitchens Division has the highest working capital of ?663,121 in 2009. Working capital is used to fund the daily operations of the business. Even a bank will see this as a sign of good short term liquidity and financial health (Barth, 2006). Any creditor would also be interested in the mixture of debt to equity that has been used to finance the assets of the business. From the above analysis we can see that typically 70 percent of the Quality Control Division has been financed with debt, having an equity component of 30 percent. It is just the reverse for the other business divisions, where only 30 percent of the assets have been financed through debt and 70 percent have been financed through equity. This is also very positive for the Kitchens Division as any creditor will see that the business divisions are not very debt heavy and thus he can take a risk by giving a loan to the business, which can be collateralized against the ample asset base of the business. Moving on to the interest coverage ratios, we see that apart from the Quality Control Division which as we know has been heavily financed by debt, the other business divisions namely Kitchens, Bedrooms and Office Division have had interest payments not above 6 to 15 percent. This means that the typical interest coverage available to these three business divisions varies from 16 times to 6 times. Thus there is no need for any creditor to worry regarding both the firm’s ability to pay interest on loan taken if any (Bastable & Bao, 1988). Moving on to the returns on investment ratios for the business divisions, we see that by and large, all the ROI’s for all the business divisions are above the minimum threshold of 10 percent as required by internal policy within the company. Except for one negative ROI in the Quality Control Division recorded back in 2007 due to loss from operations, the rest of the figures all seem OK and would please any investor. It reflects upon the good financial management of the enterprise and its resources. Let us look at the operating results and the gross profit margins for the business units. We can see at a glance that all the business units have a rather healthy gross profit margin percentage, varying between 30 and 40 percent of sales. From this we will deduct the various operating costs and expenses to give us the net profit. Finally it also pays to take a look at the breakup of total sales of the business and the percentage of revenues earned from the local and overseas markets. This is because as we have seen in the business and industry analysis, there is considerable foreign competition from China and other nations. However China is also a good destination for exporting Jules furniture items since most of the local population are eager to own foreign made goods, especially of the branded kinds. The Middle East, China and the EU have been mentioned as good avenues for furniture export in the present scenario. We see from the case details that Jules Furniture has been making effort to expand sales and business prospects in both local and overseas markets. We can see that the Quality Control Division already has an overseas business component measuring around 40 percent of its total sales turnover. Other than that the Office Division has only started moving in this direction, with just 5 percent of its total sales being foreign based. The Kitchen and Bedroom Divisions clearly have to catch up in this regard as they have no appreciable figures connected with overseas markets. It is also mentioned that the Kitchen Division is in the process of applying for a ?1.8 million loan facility and maybe the reason is that it wants to expand its productive and sales capacity both at home and abroad. PART II: Evaluation of the Current Role of the Financial Director Currently we see that the position of the Financial Director of Jools Furniture Industries Ltd. is being held by David Green, who is an FCA and therefore holds the generally accepted professional degree that is required for this role. Some further information is given in the management’s profiles. We see that David is strictly an accounts and finance professional, who is more concerned with creating and setting procedures and standards for the business and its divisions, rather than thinking innovatively and out of the box when asked for creative solutions to financial problems. David’s strength is seen as his reliability and solidity. He does not have the business flair or vision of Julius, but has successfully organized the complex financing for the product expansion that Julius has developed. Modern texts and professional journals suggest that the role of the Financial Director should be to keep one foot in the past and present and one foot in the future. In other words, he must remember what financial challenges the business faced as it progressed from startup to present, and how the Finance Department responded to those challenges. He would have recourse to the company’s bankers and know how best to negotiate a loan from the bank on the most favorable terms. He should also know how the flow of business transactions are recorded in the books of accounts, what are the accounting conventions the business follows and what are the best assets the company can offer in terms of collateral. He should have a good idea as to whether it is better to take a loan from the bank for the investment proposal for Jools Furniture’s Kitchen Division, or make a bond or equity offering by going public in the financial marketplace. The financial director of today is therefore not only concerned with the status quo regarding reporting standards and conventions, correctness and validity of records and business transactions but also how best to take advantage of the market opportunities regarding investments, provident funds and gratuities, medical funds and the like. It is inevitable that the Financial Director be present at most meetings regarding bank negotiations, the start of financial relationships, loan facilities and agreements and terms of lending and investments. Even if he is not always there, all the details should have been seen and signed off by him at some stage prior to finalization. The signature of a Financial Director on a document would involve his professional liability and give the impression that the document had been reviewed by him and that he is aware of its contents (Lochner, 1993). While David Green has been credited for setting up the accounting and financial aspects of the business reporting as the complexity increased and the business sorted itself out and was reorganized into one holding company and four divisions, it seems that the internal audit and supervision aspect of the business has been neglected in some respects. This could possibly be due to overwork or non-involvement of the financial director in the nitty-gritty of the daily grind of business, but it is clear that there are security, accounting and control and supervision lapses that should have been brought to the attention of the management before assuming such alarming proportions. This would really be the responsibility of the internal auditor, however the accountant or book-keeper should also have been the first to notice such discrepancies in the accounts and seek to report them to his supervisor as a fraud, misappropriation or theft. In this connection we would refer to the letter sent to Julius Smith-Brown, the owner of the business by the group audit team. The first issue reported in the letter relates to criticisms of the performance appraisal systems implemented by Head Office, which the audit team thinks might act as a barrier to the achievement of group objectives. This is correctly speaking an Administration and Human Resource issue, however if the bonus, increment or reward systems in place are inadequate or proportionally incorrect, this can be brought to the attention of the Financial Director. The Financial Director can then work with the Human Resources functionary of Jules Furniture Industries Ltd. to correct the situation as necessary (Lundholm, 2003). The second problem highlighted in the letter relates to the discrepancies observed in the stock records of the Offices Division. It has become apparent that about 20 boxes of flat-packed chairs and desks are disappearing from one of the division’s outlets every month. A number of similar but lower value discrepancies have also been discovered in other divisions. If I was the Financial Director and was apprised of this situation, I would have immediately tightened the stock control procedures in every division of the enterprise. The proper way to do this is to trace the flow of materials or products right from their point of entry into the company’s warehouses by means of a purchase or materials requisition and delivery form, to the delivery to work in process and assembly procedures and finally culminating in the finished chairs or other products. It is suggested to install hidden cameras at proper vantage points to track and monitor suspicious activities. Physical guards should also be posted as a deterrent and usually are present at factory warehouses and other storage and production facilities. It should also be tracked the next time a theft occurs and the guards on duty should be questioned. Proper inspection and counting of all materials, parts and fully assembled products should be kept on record. For this purpose a manual or computerized inventory system could be adopted if one is not already in place. Every spare part should be given a unique identification number and stored in a separate and easily identifiable location (Sprouse, 1989). When all these measures have been taken and implemented in all the divisions, it is quite likely that the thefts will stop occurring and the thieves will realize that the company means business and will take harsh action if the culprits come to light. There should be only one point at which goods are allowed to leave the premises and all deliveries should be monitored as to quality, type, quantity, customer and location, so that no delivery is unaccounted for. Guard duty should also be rotated at intervals, sometimes irregularly, so that chances of collusion with the thieves are minimized. Only the Human Resources and the guards themselves should know of the schedule of duties, nobody else. Lastly, the finished goods warehouses should be off limits to the workers once they have completed their shifts. Now we come to the third issue reported by the group audit team and this relates to payroll processing errors. This is again an administrative and control issue in as much as it is an accounting control and monitoring lapse. In a review of the monthly payroll expenses it was noted that the salaries of a number of employees who had retired from the bedrooms division were still being paid every month. We have no idea for how long this had been going on. The proper thing to do in this case is always to open a separate account for the employees joining the organization. Preferably the account should be located at a branch close to the work premises, so that the workers could have access to it for deposits and withdrawals. It should preferably be open on weekends. The accounts of the company should also be maintained at the same branch so that the management can easily arrange the transfer of monthly salaries, bonuses and other rewards or benefits as accruing to each employee. Once the employee leaves the company, the account must be closed as part of the leaving procedure after the last salaries and other dues have been paid out. This will ensure that employees cannot be paid salaries beyond their last working day at the organization. The attendance records of the employees should also normally be checked against their days salaries are earned. This should take care of no salaries being paid out inadvertently. About two weeks before an employee leaves, the Human Resources Department should send out a message to all in the organization regarding any outstanding matters relating to job completion, handover of records, keys and files, amounts owed and owing from any quarter, so that these matters are closed out before the last working day. An exit interview is also normally conducted by the supervisor or a Human Resources representative in special circumstances. Lastly the employee is required to hand over his name plate, employee identification and swipe card so that he can enter the office only as a visitor after his last working day, if it is a normal instance of resignation. Additionally a review of sales ledger balances of the division had revealed a significant proportion over 5 months old. Given that this is the direct responsibility of the Financial Director, he should review how these lapses were allowed to occur and tighten operational controls at the accounting and financial end of the business (Levitt, 1988). The credit terms of the business may need to be reviewed for these clients if the industry is following different practices. In any event they need to be asked to pay up the amounts outstanding in cash if these are beyond the traditional credit period allowed by the firm (Lewis, 1989). Regarding the last point that during a discussion with the Operations Director of the Quality Products Division it was revealed that there have been some quality control problems with a new range of adjustable chairs for senior citizens; the chairs were manufactured during the last two months of the 2009 financial year. Upon inspection, it was discovered that an 'umbrella' folding mechanism in the arm of the chairs- designed to help sitting or standing- had the potential to catch unwary fingers. Amazingly, the Quality Products Division had not recalled any of the chairs in question to date as management felt that the risk of any injury being caused was remote. This is inexcusable and is not part of good corporate behavior and will definitely reflect negatively on the reputation of the firm in the industry and the marketplace if it is leaked out to the media or even a local competitor. Jules should have Sandy Gore-Farquerson, the nonexecutive director in charge of furniture design look carefully at this problem and if need be, recall all the batches that they consider defective. If need be, this could be handled through a press release and advertisement on TV pertaining to why Jules Furniture Industries Ltd. is making a recall, what are the dangers of continuing to use the defective chairs for senior citizens, or indeed anybody else. The date and times for recall and the management of the whole exercise should be given to a conscientious person in the management or executive cadre. It is entirely possible that orders for Jules Furniture will increase if this Public Relations action has a positive effect on the company and its perception as a good and responsible corporate social enterprise. But clearly manufacturing defects and faulty products need to be reported and addressed as quickly, efficiently and effectively as possible. This should have been the responsibility of the Quality Products Division but it is clear that it is not playing its due role in the operations aspect of the work (Stambaugh & Carpenter, 1992). How the Current System Could Be Improved To Aid Planning, Control and Performance Management From a review of the business activities and the audit report presented to Jules, it is clear that the business at present is not living up to its potential. Though some of the units have embraced the latest technologies and sales concepts like conservation and reusable materials used by the Office Products, handmade items produced by the Kitchens Division made to order and using recyclable materials like plastics and others, they are still behind in quality control processes and procedures, proper use of financial assets and strengths to reap further benefits is necessary (Fellingham, 2007). We have already touched upon the issues that were highlighted in the Audit Report given to Jules, the Chairman of the company, and what needs to be done to address these deficiencies and gaps in planning, control and performance management (Maines & Wahlen, 2006). To improve the planning process, it is suggested that a meeting be held in the first week of every month in which last month’s figures of production, sales, costs and expenses be discussed. For this purpose control systems will have to be implemented whereby cost and expense details of all items and activities will have to be submitted. This will have to be done for work in process and finished products as well (Rezaee et al, 2010). Any particular problems that need to be discussed must be talked about and decisions taken or a plan of action considered. Depending on the type of production process, either a standard costing system with variance analysis needs to be adopted, or a process costing system will be implemented. Suggestions for dealing with present and anticipated problems must be discussed according to the situation (Imhoff, 1988). Budgeting needs and overflows must be looked at too. Control procedures must also be reviewed from time to time and deficiencies highlighted by the internal auditor so that they can be addressed or at least brought to the attention of the higher management, so that a decision to revamp or correct the procedure is discussed and implemented. Suggestions for improvement in any aspect of operations would be welcomed (Imhoff, 2003). PART III Assessing a Loan as a Source of Finance for the Investment Proposal The directors of the Kitchens Division want to secure a loan of ?1.8 million in order to expand operations, following the design of a completely new range of wooden garden furniture. The range would be manufactured in Eastern Europe. In accordance with group policy, the directors have approached the Main Board for the loan. The board’s lending criteria stipulate that loan applications must be accompanied by a detailed business plan, including an analysis of discounted cash flows and probability estimates. In response the division has submitted a plan which identifies a suitable property for the factory, and presents a detailed calculation showing an NPV of ?500,000 over a 6 year planning horizon, with a 65% probability of realization. There is a 25% probability that the project will break even in present value terms. Two Suitable Alternatives I. Raising Equity through Issue of Shares Although Jools Furniture is at present a privately held company, the need to expand business efforts may entail a decision by its directors or owners to go public or raise capital by offer of equity shares in the capital markets. There is the primary market where first time flotation of shares called an Initial Public Offering or IPO is made and the secondary market where these shares can be subsequently bought and sold, so that shareholders wanting to liquidate their investment can obtain cash by selling their shares in the open market at the going price. The company deciding to go public usually issues a Prospectus in the newspapers detailing the mission and objectives of the firm, its nature of business and how it intends to make a profit and add value to its worth and the holding of its shareholders. Interested parties apply for shares and successful applicants get allotted shares as per Company’ decision in due course. So by going public, a company can raise capital quite easily in the market if it has a good background and business reputation and its directors are persons of good moral standing. Going public also makes a company name more recognizable in the eyes of investors and the general population. However, going public is not without its demerits. Firstly, there is the risk of management losing control of the company. In fact, many businesses prefer not to go public because of this very reason. However, one way out is to sell just 49 percent of the company and retain 51 percent. But even in this case, ownership of 33 percent or more is a sizeable chunk, especially if the rest of the ownership is widely dispersed and shareholders are not willing to listen to the majority owners. Secondly, the requirement that public companies have to publish their Annual Accounts and Reports and make them available with Government agencies makes most of the dealings public knowledge (Dichev, 2008). Thirdly, there is a cost to be incurred in converting a private limited company to a public limited company. II. Making an Issue of Preference Shares Jools Furniture can also decide to raise capital by issue of preference shares, as compared to ordinary shares. Preference shares differ from ordinary shares in that preference shares can offer more security to their owners as they bear characteristics of both equity and debt. Preference shares usually pay a fixed annual interest at an agreed and stated rate. In this case the profits which become available to shareholders are the residual figure after both interest on loans and preference shares have been paid out (Heath, 1987). It is the remainder of the profits if any that will subsequently be paid to the ordinary shareholders. So here we can see how preference shareholders enjoy the privilege of being paid before everyone else and also receive a fixed payment. Depending on the interest rate prefixed to this class of shares, preference stock may cost more or less than a fixed loan. There are also no tax benefits. However, it is a way of raising funds without having to increase the debt ratio. At the same time the firm can maintain its control and ownership of the assets. The disadvantage to preference shareholders is that they do not have any extra voting rights or control over the company (Drake et al, 2010). Conclusion The case of Jools Furniture Industries Ltd. has been a thought provoking experience as to how a company is financed, how it operates in the marketplace, how it faces and meets challenges and how internal controls, planning and reporting systems can impact on productivity and profitability. References Alali, F. and L. Cao. 2010. International financial reporting standards - credible and reliable? An overview. Advances in Accounting: Incorporating Advances in International Accounting 26(1): 79-86. Barth, M. E. 2006. Including estimates of the future in today's financial statements. Accounting Horizons (September): 271-285. Bastable, C. W. and D. H. Bao. 1988. The fiction of sales-mix and sales-quantity variances. Accounting Horizons (June): 10-17. Dichev, I. D. 2008. On the balance sheet-based model of financial reporting. Accounting Horizons (December): 453-470. Drake, A. R. and J. M. Kohlmeyer III. 2010. Risk-taking in new project selection: Additive effects of bonus incentives and past performance history. Advances in Accounting: Incorporating Advances in International Accounting 26(2): 207-220. Fellingham, J. C. 2007. Is accounting an academic discipline? Accounting Horizons (June): 159-163. Heath, L. C. 1987. Accounting: How to meet the challenges of relevance and regulations. Accounting Horizons (June): 79-82 Imhoff, E. A. Jr. 1998. Accounting Horizons: Challenges and changes. Accounting Horizons (March): 83-86. Imhoff, E. A. Jr. 2003. Accounting quality, auditing, and corporate governance. Accounting Horizons (Supplement): 117-128 Levitt, A. 1998. The importance of high quality accounting standards. Accounting Horizons (March): 79-82. Lewis, E. C. 1989. Specialization: Have we reached true professional maturity? Accounting Horizons (December): 11-23. Lochner, P. R. Jr. 1993. Accountants' legal liability: A crisis that must be addressed. Accounting Horizons (June): 92-96. Lundholm, R. J. 1999. Reporting on the past: A new approach to improving accounting today. Accounting Horizons (December): 315-322. Maines, L. A. and J. M. Wahlen. 2006. The nature of accounting information reliability: Inferences from archival and experimental research. Accounting Horizons (December): 399-425. Rezaee, Z., L. M. Smith and J. Z. Szendi. 2010. Convergence in accounting standards: Insights from academicians and practitioners. Advances in Accounting: Incorporating Advances in International Accounting 26(1): 142-154. Sprouse, R. T. 1989. The synergism of accountancy and education. Accounting Horizons (March): 102-110. Stambaugh, C. T. and F. W. Carpenter. 1992. The roles of accounting and accountants in executive information systems. Accounting Horizons (September): 52-63. Read More