Internal Control and Accounting Systems for Vehicle Hire Firm - Example

Possible Recommendations to the Existing Accounting Systems & Ethical and Sustainability Review of A to Z Vehicle Hire Firm Table of Contents Term of References.................................................2 Executive Summary................................................2 Methodology............................................................2 Introduction..............................................................3 Accounting Analysis................................................3 Ethical Review.........................................................8 Sustainability Review..............................................9 Recommendations...................................................10 Cost Benefit Analysis.............................................12 1.0 Terms of Reference 1.1. The focus of this report is on covering the evaluations of both internal and accounting systems course relating to AAT Level 4 Diploma in Accounting. 1.2. It is important to note that the immediate objectives of the report rests with; To evaluate the existing accounting systems as adopted and utilised by A to Z Vehicle Hire firm To formulate possible and necessary sets of recommendations that should be adopted to improve on the immediate accounting systems of the firm while still making sure to conform with all legal procedures. To implement and monitor the effectiveness of the possible recommendations at hand. 2.0 Executive Summary 2.1. The report focuses on providing imminent information on the immediate evaluation of the inner undertakings of the accounts system relating to the firm; A to Z Vehicle Hire. In essence, the report focuses on the identification of the fundamental happenings, as gathered from the six month long diaries, which have vehemently distorted the normal operations of the company, while still providing necessary and possible recommendations that can be implemented in order to rectify these changes. 2.2. Most of the issues that arise out of the entire business operations results from a given set of employee mistake both intentional and erroneous that resulted to eventual significant damages to the business as a whole. Employees like Joe would intentionally distort company’s cash book and credit accounts in order to come up with balanced bank reconciliation statements, he also engaged in loss of income. 2.3. The proposed recommendations for the case at hand are meant to help resolve the aforementioned issues at hand. 3.0 Methodology 3.1 The case study at hand is provided in relation to firm A to Z Vehicle Hire. The case provides notable information pertaining to the unfolding of events immediately after the formation of the company from the three previous separate entities. Information related to the composition of management and employee is given and a further six months diary that sets out events that resulted to damages at the end. 3.3. It is important to note that the set of proposed recommendations are mainly a product of analysis gathered in the course of studying AAT levels 2 and 3 as well research-based evaluation. 4.0 Introduction 4.1 The report focuses on A to Z Vehicle Hire, which is a relatively small regional car and van hire firm that was formed as a result of merging three previous separate entities; AA Milnes Car Hire located in Northfield; Vans to Go located in Southdown; and Midway Minibuses located in Midway. 4.2 The mission of the newly created A to Z Vehicle Hire rests with being the foremost vehicle hire entity within the region at hand. It is set to provide a wide number of vehicles for hire within the region. 4.3 The formation of the company is as a result of gentleman agreement that seeks to identify the three as equal partner but with Alan; the immediate owner of the company as a silent partner. In essence, the formation of the company comes as a result of filling a gap that both Peter and Mo could not previously cover. The merger seeks to expand the activities of the company in providing hire services in a much wider areas as before. 4.4 Two of the partners; Mo and Peter are expected to undertake daily operations of the entire firm while Alan, who has now resorted to retirement, is a silent partner. This means that the two active partners will receive salaries plus profits while Alan will only be entitled to a third of the profits made within a particular operational period. 4.5 It is however important to note although the agreement was verbal and agreed upon by the three parties involved, the need for a formal partnership agreement has been overlooked. While the three could now be real friends, there origin of friendship results from their personal attributed like love for football and their engagement in similar line of business. 4.6 The company offers a wide array of vehicles that range from personal cars, Lorries, vans and even minibuses. The business model allows for either self-drive or company driver. Only customers that have a positive review for the past three transactions are allowed credit accounts. 5.0 A to Z Vehicle Current Accounting Structure 5.1. A to Z Vehicle Hire is made up of different set of personnel that are each tasked with different duties. The major employee is the Accounts Manager- Chandra Sorah, MAAT, who has a 10 years experience in accounts office supervision and understands challenges faced by smaller businesses. He is also AAT certified. Then, there is the Head Accounts Clerk-Kate Gloss, who is tasked with the responsibility of overseeing deposit returns, hiring processess and documentation as well as formulation and management of credit accounts for trustworthy customers. The other notable employees are the Wages and Accounts Clerk-Sue Li; Accounts Clerk’s-Mark Ancher and Precious Jones; as well as General Office Assistant- Joe Khan. 5.2. Other employees include; 20 company drivers, 9 mechanics and single cleaner. 5.3. Apart from the internal stakeholders that are composed of the owners and the employees, the hire firm, just like any other entity has external stakeholders that influence the course of operations. These external stakeholders include; - Customers; these are stakeholders that wish to understand the future sustainability of the company in order to establish whether or not they will continue business. - The Bank; is a stakeholder that will seek to know whether the quarterly reports prepared represent a true and fair view of operations that might prompt additional financing. They are also interested to know whether the entity is able to repay outstanding loans as well as accrued interests. -Her Majesty Revenue and Customs (HMRC) - is interested with the company’s annual reports for taxation purposes since it is the main UK tax collection agency. It is also an institution that seeks for companies like A to Z to fill in returns related to value added tax (VAT) whenever the fall due. -Suppliers: is interested to know whether the company will be positioned fairly to comprehend whether or not to continue supplying materials into the future. This information will be gathered from the company’s annual report. 5.4 The hiring firm is also subject to external forms of compliance in regards to how to conduct their business operations. - Company’s Act 2006: is a compliance set in place to ensure that entities operate within the stipulations found within the UK rules and regulations. - Health & Safety Act: is a compliance that requires all companies to adhere to safe work practices in regards to how the way employees conduct their day-to-day duties. - Environmental Protection Act 1990: is a stipulation requiring companies to execute their operations in a more environmental friendly manner. It requires them to practice proper environmental safety by way of reducing harm to the environment altogether. - Money Laundering Regulations Act 2007; is a stipulation put in place to ensure the protection of the overall UK financial system. It requires larger and small business entities to come up with formulations that prevent chances of laundering money in the market. 5.5. The overall management of the company is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring to prepare and disclose annual accounts that reflect a true and fair picture of the company’s financial condition. These annual reports should be formulated in a way that will ensure to avail the different stakeholders like investors, suppliers and creditors with information necessary for making sound decisions regarding relations with the firm. In addition to the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statements, the management team of A to Z should prepare statements in changes of equity so that sufficient information is availed. The three most required statements are discussed as follows; - Balance Sheet; provides a list of assets, liabilities and equity and their respective amounts. These accounting items are analysed in order to establish the financial soundness of the company. - Income Statement; which is also popularly known as the profit and loss statement indicates the revenues collected and the net income meant for sharing within a particular operational period. The Accounts Manager should prepare this in order to determine the equal amounts of the net income that should be distributed amongst the three partners in hand. - Cash flow statement- postulates the manner for which the financial performance of a company is likely to affect the overall financing and investing activities. 5.6 The importance of the aforementioned annual reports is paramount. This is ascertained to the fact that information they provide can be vehemently used to check and rectify possible financial issues within a particular operational period. 5.7 Internal Systems of Controls: - Cash & Banking Policies: of A to Z postulate that only cash should be accepted as a form of payment when bank deposits and cheques are not possible at the time of transaction. 5.7.1. The aforementioned internal control has however been jeopardised especially by one Peter; accepting cash a form of payment for a three nights with the company’s minibus. The money was kept in the cash tin within the office where petty cash was being kept. Despite the fact that the customer was Peter’s regular one, still he breaches the internal controls in relation to money payments. 5.7.2 In another month, Peter still resorted to accepting cash as a form of payment from the customer and proceeded to keep it in his pockets for personal use. Although his intentions were to replace the money after making withdrawals from the bank, he still cannot breaches the money-handling policy, which later affects the preparation of the quarterly reports. - The Bank Reconciliation; is another form of internal control put in place to oversee the activities of company in relation to preparation of reports. It requires only the Accounts Manager to conduct bank reconciliation on monthly basis and possible alterations reported to the partners immediately. 5.7.3. The internal control policy is however breached when Chandra allows Mark to undertake the process despite him not being the Accounts Manager hence not qualified to handle the situation. This instance happens in February when Mark struggled to complete the reconciliations and because of his inefficiency he ended up altering the company’s cash book in order to balance-off the accounts. He did this by altering customer credit account that later was shown on bank statement. 5.7.4 The above alteration however was noted by a customer- Roberts the Builders, who telephoned company involving the errors on his bank statements. Despite the fact that Kate knew of this error, she failed to report to the Accounts Manager but rather choose to remain quiet about the matter. The decision not to inform the partners of possible errors indicates that Mark had acted fraudulently in the name of the company. - Partnership Agreement; in place is only informal in nature in the sense that the three gentlemen shook hands after agreeing on the best way to conduct the operations of the company. A physical document is however necessary for references purposes and also to protect their individual interests whenever the need arises. 5.7.5. Despite the fact that the “gentlemen agreement” was indeed binding on their part still, it was not enough. - Accounting and Other Information Technology (IT) System Policies; in place requires that only the company’s five computers should be operating the Sage Accounting software. It further states that only business related software should be loaded onto these computers and not other software should be loaded without approval from the Accounts Manager or even partners. It also requires that all software and hardware should be used for business related functions. In fact, while the employees are allowed to use the internet for limited personal use in electronic mails during the short breaks, the company does not promote use of its for social media purposes at all times. 5.7.6 Despite this clearly laid-out structures, in April, Joe went ahead and posted on Facebook about the poor performance by Martin Fowler a player of the local football club and, who also happened to be a customer at the company. This was clearly a breach of IT policy and should have attracted punishment. 5.8.0 Fraud: 5.8.1 Fraud is defined as any form of activity that an individual or group of people might engage in order to dishonestly acquire specific material gains. In a company setting, employees might undertake activities that might be directed towards acquiring company resources through illegal ways. They might also acquire these material gains from the customers without them knowing at the first glance. It can also be done to damage reputation of individual employee, manager or even the entire company at large. 5.8.2 A good example of fraudulent behaviour can be perceived in the course of bank reconciliation by Mark where he had to distort the company’s cash book as well as well as the customer accounts. In the event that the activities of the firm were being conducted by external auditors, then it would have passed as a fraud as Mark would have been charged with data manipulation to represent the company in a way that does not conform to its financial position. 5.8.3 In yet another case that happened in May, Sue had been given false address by a customer that prompted the customer’s credit company to indicate that the card had been used fraudulently. The case involved the hiring of Daimler limousine, which also resulted to enormous loss of income within the period. This is because it lost the hiring revenues, the petrol costs involved as well as the monies that were to be paid for 10 hours of work to the driver. 5.8.4 The fact that the initial agreement was made in an informal manner and without any form of physical documents, there is a likely risk that one of the partners would have acted in their own accord to fraud others for self-gain. It is possible that one of the partners would have seen the loophole present in the agreement and chose to manipulate events in their own favour. 5.9.0. Training 5.9.1 Even though the company is fond of employing well experienced and qualified personnel to conduct their operations, it does not have a clear guideline on how to promote internal training for career development of its existing employees. 5.9.2 A perfect example of poor training opportunities for the existing employees is perceived when, in April, Sue requested to attend the HMRC training course session for Real Time Information that would in turn affect in the way organisation is conducted and management of payroll. The Accounts Manager is said to have reluctantly agreed to the request. Even after Sue had completed the two- day course and offered to train others in the company, Chandra rubbished-off the proposition stating it was not necessary for others to gain such knowledge since they do not conduct payroll-related activities. 6.0 Ethical Review 6.1 In the UK operating environment, companies are required to embrace the rules and regulations as stipulated by the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT). These stipulations are in the form of key principles for which accounting systems should at all times comply with in order to uphold the professional standards. 6.2 The Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) has provided five distinctive principles that business should adhere to in order to uphold elements associated with ethics and fairness in operations. These key principles are discussed as follows; Professional Behaviour: which calls for adherence to proper laid out laws and regulations in order to avoid any possible course of action that might be detrimental to the accounting reputation. Confidentiality; is a principle that calls for the secrecy of pertinent accounting information that is provided as a result of professional and business-related activities. The information is deemed sensitive and should not be disclosed to any third-party unless it is an obligation by the underlying legal requirements. It is expected that entities formulate individual policies that will ensure to prevent possible sharing of information. Objectivity; is an ethical principle encouraged to entities to prevent possible aspects of biasness, conflict of interest or even undue influence over other employees. Integrity; principle requires that the business-related activities be conducted in more straightforward and honest manner to allow for equity amongst the parties involved in the relations. Professional Competence and Due Care; is a principle that requires technicians to conform to professional knowledge and skills at a given degree that is deemed ethical for business clients. The clients should be provided with services and products that match to the level of money spent at any given moment in time. 6.3 In the course of applying the above principles to the activities of A to Z Vehicle Hire, some of the activities that unfolded within the period resulted to disregard of the accounting practice trying to achieve the element of ethicality. 6.4 A perfect example of ethics distortion can be perceived when Mark was tasked with the responsibility of preparing bank reconciliations despite that he lacked the professional competence and did not practice due care as he engaged in the manipulation of accounting items to balance-off accounts. Notably, the fact that Mark’s illegal and inappropriate behaviour was not executed, it was also improper for the Accounts Clerk to cover the incidence for him by not reporting the manipulation of data to the Accounts Manager and the partners at the end. This shows a lack of objectivity and a breach of confidentiality aspect for that matter. 6.5 The fact that some employees took off sick leave despite the fact that he wanted to use the time for personal indicate a lack of professional behaviour as well as poor integrity for that matter. 6.6 In another incident, the company’s account clerk discussed with a client in the prospective of opening another similar business without taking into consideration that such a move was detrimental to the activities of the firm. In fact, the fact the accounts clerk discussed with the client on such an idea might indicate that he lacks the aspect of confidentiality and might try to share information without the consent of the Accounts Manager or even the partners at hand. 7.0. Sustainability Review 7. 1 Sustainability of business operations is one of the most sought after course that seeks to establish the probability of conducting current practices in a future period. Customers are far much concerned with the aspect of sustainability because it offers them hope that they will continue to access the products and services being offered in future period. Suppliers would like to understand the capacity of a business to sustain operations in order to make important decisions pertaining to whether or not they will engage in future trading processess especially on credit terms. 7.2 Most of the business operations and tasks including accounting engage in sustainability practices by way of enforcing triple-bottom line techniques in their immediate undertakings. 7.3 Triple bottom line is a form of sustainability practice that focuses on three fundamentals, which are in fact laid out clearly in the Brunt land Commission of the United Nations. These three aspects are discussed as follows; People: who represent the social equality at large and requires that an entity take effective measures to conduct business operations that are fair and ethical to the laws of labour as well as the immediate surrounding communities. Planet; requires that the business undertakings are focused on environmental sustainability practices. It stipulates that while conducting day-to-day operations, a business should ensure to act in ways that do not harm the environment for where they execute operations. This is inform of minimal pollution that will likely affect plants and animals altogether. Profits; are majorly related to the aspect of economic sustainability. It ascertains to the manner for which business entities can sustain their operations in relation to the underlying economic situations. In fact, it relates to the capacity of a business to uphold going concern so that it can operate into the future period. 7.4 Taking into consideration the triple bottom line requirements, A to Z can be seen to be making efforts to conform to sections of it but also fails in other. For instance, in relation to the profit aspect, there is significant loss of income that is brought about by mere negligence on the part of employees. In fact, most of the loss of income arises mainly when an employee sets to undertake a task they are not competent to pursue their making errors that, in turn, affect the collection of revenues in the end. However, in relation to people and which rests with employee-base, the company is seen to be making efforts to provide annul leaves and although minimal, some training chances for some of the notable employees whenever the need arises. It can be noted that the owners value their employees. On the contrast, on two occasions the Accounts Manager has refused to assimilate interns from a local school into the company. This has the ability to affect the operations of the company in a negative manner since it portrays the company as only interested in furthering their interests at the expense of the surrounding community. 7.5 On a positive note though, the social sustainability is propelled when Chandra agrees to offer a minibus to a local scouts group to undertake an educational experience tour. This shows that the company is willing to offer charity whenever the need arises. It also helps to build a good rapport between the company and the surrounding community, which is likely to result to exemplary performance in future. 7.6 In regards to environmental sustainability, it can be noted that A to Z Vehicle Hire has resorted to utilising the new machine purchased by Alan before retiring to recycle water used in the car wash. So far, this shows the level of awareness on the part of the partners and the employees. 8.0 Recommendations 8.1 The events stipulated within a six month diary after the formation of the company indicates that the company, although has stringent efforts to ensure elimination of possible challenges, still faces a great number of them. These weaknesses are discussed as follows; 8.2 Improvement on Poorly Laid-out Partnership Agreement 8.2.1. It is important to note that the formation of the business was as a result of gentlemen agreement hence there was no proper documentation for purposes of future references. Thus, it is recommended that a formal and legal process be followed to prepare the documentation relating to this agreement in order to make it more binding in the long run. This is especially because a formal and well-written agreement might prevent possible future exploitation by some of the partners. The formal agreement will also come in handy in the event of a future dissolution as it operates under Uniform Partnership Act, which indicates how both assets and liabilities held at the time of dissolution should be distributed. 8.3 Improvement on Poorly Laid-out Work Practices 8.3.1 Despite the fact that A to Z has put different measures in place including workforce policies aimed at overseeing the duties of the different employees within any given moment in time, still the policies are not adhered at all. In fact, the partners especially Peter led the way in not adhering to these stipulations at all. Peter takes cash payments at two different occasions despite understanding this form of payment is not permitted at all. Subsequently, Chandra, despite being the chief creator of these policies, does not appear to adhere to them at all. He allows the bank reconciliation activities conducted by Mark, who is not even qualified for this purpose. At the end, the entire negligence results to fraud and unsatisfied by customers especially because their accounts have been erroneously affected by this miscalculation. 8.3.2 It is therefore recommended that A to Z engage in the hiring of more staffing personnel that would allow different tasks handled by different competent people. This way, there will be little or no room for fraudulent behaviour on the part of the employees. Taking a closer analysis at the events that resulted to these inappropriate behaviours emanated from the fact the absence of an employee resulting to another being assigned the task without ensuring that they are properly skilled to handle such tasks. 8.3.4 It is also recommended that proper and frequent in-house training be offered to employees in order to equip them with skills necessary for executing their tasks in a more professional and integral manner. 8.3.5. These proper training should also be done in order to allow the employees gain significant knowledge needed in discerning elements of fraudulent behaviours and the importance of maintaining ethical standards while executing tasks. 8.4 Improvement on Poor Customer Relations 8.4.1 There has been more than one incidence for which customers have stated dissatisfaction in the manner for which matters are handled in the company despite the fact that there is a policy requiring employees to guarantee satisfaction. A perfect example is when Mark wrongfully charges a customer accounts in order to balance-off the bank reconciliation statements. In another instance, a customer indicates that his account had not been credited with refunds even after three weeks of concluding transactions had elapsed. The customer is a loyal one and losing him might affect the company in a negative manner. 8.4.1 It is recommended that A to Z adopt modern customer-relations systems that provide a platform for receiving and process customer complaints in a short time possible to prevent possible dissatisfaction with these rather pertinent and important customers to the business 8.5.0 Improvement on Poorly Implemented Internal Controls 8.5.1 There has been a notable occurrence that has resulted to a lack of control in accounting function with the wrongful filing of bank reconciliation statements being the major within the six-month period. 8.5.2 Thus, it is recommended that the company’s management and owners hire an internal auditor to constantly check on possible distortion of accounting facts. The major tasks will be to ensure that all accounts preparation and disclosure have been done in a true and fair way. 9.0 Adoption of Modern Electrical Cars 9.1.0 It is recommended that in a bid to remain environmental sensitive, A to Z should invest in hybrid cars, vans and minibuses in order to cut down on possible emissions of toxic gases to the environment. The adoption of this technology will position the entity at par with the sustainability requirements proposed in the triple bottom line document. 10.0 Costs-Benefit Analysis Recommendation Cost Benefit Improvement on Poorly Laid-out Partnership Agreement The proper and formal process related to formulation of a more effective partnership agreement involves legal fees that should be paid for purposes of formulation of binding contracts. Since the business is small in size , the partnership will be simple in nature and legal costs will range between £200-£350, with a maximum charge of £400 The formal partnership will be helpful in closing any possible gaps that might allow for possible exploitation of individual partners especially in relation to dissolution. It will also provide a source of reference for future purposes. Improvement on Poorly Laid-out Work Practices The hiring of more workforce might is certain and involves the following; Internal auditor- whose salary might range between £45,000 and 54,000 per annum, additional accountant with a salary that ranges between £40,000 and 45,000 per annum The additional workforce will come in handy to assist the business in conducting its day-to-day operations. They will help to easily monitor the manner for which policies are conducted within the business. They are also likely to offload the duties of those in their annual leaves. Improvement on Poor Customer Relations The costs related to this will be the hiring of a customer complaint officer who will undertake duties related to providing immediate feedback to any complaints within the shortest time possible. The cost of hiring such an employee ranges between £20,000 and 22,000 per annum The benefits associated with this recommendation rests with satisfied customers that will continue to conduct business with the company. There will also be minimal complaints since immediate feedback is provided to the necessary departments with an aim of rectifying the issue at hand. The personnel will also improve on the existing company reputation due to little or no form of complaint especially in regards to refunds Improvement on Poorly Implemented Internal Controls The costs associated with this recommendation rests with the hiring of internal auditor that will help oversee the different activities of the firm and propose necessary changes as and when they become due. The immediate hiring costs for this personnel is between £45,000 and 54,000 per annum The benefits associated with improvement on existing internal controls will ensure that all employees conduct duties that they are qualified for hence eliminate possible fraudulent behaviours and even preparation of erroneous annual and quarterly business accounts. Adoption of Modern Electrical Cars The major costs associated with this recommendation involves the replacement of the current fleet of vehicles with the electrical cars that costs between £4000-£6000 The hybrid car also depreciates at a much faster rate in comparison to the fuel-based vehicles. In implementing this recommendation, A to Z will enjoy benefits of operating under an environmental friendly manner. These cars will also cut down on petrol costs for the company and as a result prompting high levels of revenues. The technologically-based cars will also attract potential clients that will desire to hire such cars and thus, prompting improvement in the level of profits. Read More