Finance & Accounting Essays

In principle, the US has one of the highest rates of corporate tax globally. However, in practice, US corporations pay low taxes. The Government Accountability Office estimates that the average tax burden is 25.2% because corporations manage to escape taxes. This lack of tax payment emanates from the many exceptions and loopholes.

The author of "The Global Reporting Initiative" paper focuses on the GRI which first appeared approximately in 1997, which is the most important scheme of this type. This initiative has set the following priority: to help organizations to adopt sustainability reporting practices.

The company is publicly listed company granting franchises to business owners in the strategically managed Australian home and office market (http://www.harveynormanholdings.com.au). The study veers towards comparing the financial performance of Harvey Norman Australia’s 2010 and 2011 business operations (http://www.harveynormanholdings.com.au).

Many alternatives are available to client X, X can set up a business as a sole trader, or an incorporated company with its payroll system and salary drawing option. X can also invest in government securities by evaluating the risk of investment. If X plans to take more risks to earn higher rewards, X can invest in shares. X also has the option to give the surplus fund to X’s four children.

According to the author, the privacy standards state that any individual has rights over the health information. The rights are as named below: the right to amend the PHI, the right to inspect and copy the PHI, the right to request restrictions on particular uses of PHI, and the right to receive an accounting of the disclosures of their PHI.

The total variable cost normally changes as the activity level changes, while per unit, the variable cost per unit will normally remain the equal over a wider range of activity. Fixed cost will always remain the same when the activity level changes while fixed cost per unit decreases with an increase in the activity level (Hansen, et, al 2006) Mixed cost, have both the component of variable and fixed costs.

There are several different meanings of cybernetics and several experts who have affected the course of cybernetics. Cybernetics takes as its area the configuration or revelation and requisition of standards of regulation and conveyance. Cybernetics treats not things but courses of acting. It doesn't ask "what is this thing?" however "what does it do?" and "what would it be able to do?"

Accounting is a pivotal part in any organization. It shows the financial position of an organization and ability of a firm to settle its debts as they become due.

The gifts made to Bobby and Carla both accrued gift tax liability. Since Allie’s gift was valued less than $14,000, it did not accrue any taxes. Carla and Bobby’s gifts accrued a tax liability of $10,000. On a personal opinion, Steven could have minimized or eliminated this gift tax liability by considering, giving the gift as joint property with his wife.

The Effect of Recession on Dividend Policy Analysis and Discussion The research methodology adopted sought to answer the research questions in an attempt fulfill the research objectives these are: to determine whether there was a change in capital structure during the recession and whether or not this resulted to a change in the dividend payout, to determine whether there was a change in the payout ratios of companies in Saudi Arabia after the recession.

Innovation is the current trend in the world. To stay ahead in the fast race of innovation and technology, practices need to be looked into, new ideas catered and old schools of thought reformed. Innovation is a multi-organizational and multi-departmental process that involves the cooperation of departments like research and development, financial, and marketing; whether the innovation is related to products, organizations or processes.

Can you begin to speculate why this change from the 19th century occurred? (500 words) Spielvogel has noted numerous times in his work about the fact that isolationism was the U.S. foreign policy after World War I. The United States did not want to get involved in any more armed conflicts unnecessarily.

The purpose of this report is to analyze the enhanced standards of accounting for all US public company boards, management and public accounting firms, required by Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The report also examines as to why these new standards are required and necessary.

Cash flows must be assessed on an after-tax basis because these are the available flows to the shareholder. Furthermore, the firm must focus on the incremental cash flows rather than incremental profits as the company looks at the project as a whole. The incremental cash flows constitute the marginal benefit from the project.

The paper tells that toy central financial information should be confirmed to adhere to the generally acceptable accounting principles alongside the value estimates made by the companies’ management. The financial statements of Toy central indicate that the company had experienced difficulties in its corporate governance and consequently financial difficulties.

In terms of internal control, the audit of items 1 and 3 includes the implementation of relevant audit procedures on the proper and complete recording of acquisitions and dispositions of buildings, machinery, equipment, improvements and the like. Depreciation amount should comply with company policies such as 25 years for buildings and 10 years for machinery and equipment (Whittington, 2005).

In today’s complex business environment, the management not only requires day-to-day and accurate information about the costs incurred in the business functioning but also needs to understand which specific costing method will be more suitable for the financial system it follows. Strict adherence to a particular costing method is critically important.

The funding history of the small technology-based firms has been explored and analysed to get an idea of the funding market. Along with this, recommendations have been presented in order to select the best possible source of funds.

Hirschey concurs with the statement and argues that customers are the most significant assets of any customers (2009). This reference makes most companies to bypass the significance of their employees who also contribute to the success of the company. From Mark and Spencer’s annual report, most organizations fail to consider the value of their employees.

The gross profit margin is an analyzing tool which assists in identifying how effectively and efficiently the company is utilizing its raw materials, variable cost related to labor and fixed costs such as rent and depreciation of property plant and equipment.

In the United States, local governments raise revenue to finance their budgets from a number of sources. However, the three most important sources of revenue for local governments are transfers from the state and federal governments, property taxes, and sales and gross receipts.

This is a tax-free method of saving which includes government agencies and self-funded schemes among others; they vary as some organizations may have disability pensions among other benefits which are mainly to the advantage of the employer. Introduction Pension can be defined as a contract of an employee for a fixed amount of money that is payable on a regular basis upon retirement from work (Redhead 2003, pg.

The research is based on the recent International financial crisis of the UK banking system 08/09, which failed to adhere to existing financial and national regulations. The significant impact of the shadow banking system that facilitates complex financial structures, derivatives, and asset securities has resulted in extreme trading risk.

For this, Nokia has given the full devotion to Research and Development. Whatever the markets Nokia has ever tried to target, they get succeeded. The strategies adopted by Nokia are fully in accordance with the market demand that is why Nokia has captured the largest market sector in the history and instead of hard competition, it is still standing in the field of mobile manufacturing companies.

It was expected that the government would save Lehman Brothers and prevent it from filing for bankruptcy but this was not the case. On the contrary, two days after the fall of this giant firm, America International Group (AIG) was bailed out. The government had earlier helped Bear Sterns by taking a portion of its bad investments that were pulling it down and JPMorgan Chase finally bought the firm.

However, rather than merely laying a level of analysis solely upon the minute details of the business process, short-term asset management can be defined and understood within the context of the overall level to which the business entity is able to present a unified and well-informed decision-making structure within the business market.

Why auditor must be objective and independent? Issues such as fraud, misappropriation of company funds and misrepresentation of organizational financial statements are common in different types of the media across the globe. Both private and public companies significantly contribute to the growth and development of the economy in any country, hence; their financial statements ought to be closely audited in order to make sure that they are not characterised by falsehoods.

According to the paper management accounting plays an important part in decision making, planning and controlling for the organizations. The business firm have been seen to implement various accounting techniques, which helps them in attaining profitability. The business environment in which the non profitable organizations operate has changed and new challenges have evolved.

Interest rate in Japan has been low over the past decade with indication that it will remain low. This paper reports on the effects of the low interest on the Japanese banking sector through discussing advantages and disadvantages of the low rates on banks.

Researchers have devoted a lot of attention to CEO duality and firm performance. However, for Kuwaiti companies, this area has yet to be explored. The present study explores the relationship between CEO duality and firm performance in the Kuwaiti context. The conclusion reached in this research work is that financial performance and CEO duality have a negative relationship with each other.

Credit risk estimation is a vital tool in financial analysis and data mining is a very powerful technique used to estimate credit risk systems. Using kernel machine logistic regression techniques using nonlinear probabilistic classification, competitive discriminative ability, and transparent reasoning methods credit risk can be strongly evaluated.

The author states that the purpose of expectation damages is to put the non-breaching party in the position it would have occupied had the contract been fulfilled. Expectation damages can be contrasted to reliance damages and restitution damages, which are remedies that address other types of interests of parties involved in enforceable promises.

The motive of financial accounting is to provide financial information, generally historic in nature, to both internal and external users including owners, lenders, suppliers, employees and to the government and other insurers. In the field of accounting there are Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or GAAP that set the rules for financial statements.

According to the Chairman of Capital City Bank Group, Bill Smith, the bank is unique due to the reason that it concentrates upon banking with those communities where the system of banking can bring a difference. The bank is located in three states; Florida, Georgia and Alabama working through 70 banking locations on a full servicing basis.

For any company, Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) are a means of going public. Going for IPO is considered one of the most vital decisions to be taken by a company in its lifetime. Through IPO, companies intend to raise money by offering shares for the first time to outsiders (Espinasse, 2011, p.1). Recently, Groupon, LinkedIn and Angie’s List decided to go public and released their IPOs.

Information Asymmetry deals with the access and knowledge of information for parties to any given transaction. Information asymmetry, therefore, arises when one party to the transaction has better information than the other. Based on this asymmetry, a person having specific information, therefore, may be an advantage as compared to the party.

MBA Market Place Segmentation Market segmentation can be defined as set of people or organisation that tends to share one or more similar characteristics which cause them to require the same product need and further divide the total market into various segments.

I particularly desire to work in the commodity market, as I always had a strong interest in the sustainable development concept and the energy sector. There are multiple benefits to be gained by working in the commodity market. First of all, it would give me great exposure to the energy sector.

The process of financial planning for asset investment requirements is referred to as the capital budgeting process. First step in the process is to determine the possible investment alternatives that would address the need of the business. After identifying the likely options, the corresponding costs (purchase and installation) and the possible income streams into the future should be estimated, taking note of the years during which they are expected to materialize.

The state requires Elgar Green to generate a yield on equity of 12%. The business will distribute 60% of its earnings to its shareholders. This will show that the dividend which is paid to the investors is $7 per share. The remaining 40% of the earnings is reinvested. The earnings are expected to grow at a constant rate of 4% annually.

Now, the question is how an individual invest. He/she may begin to build up his financial assets in order to pay for long term financial goals. He/she may want assets accessible to make down payments on housing and may also want to guarantee that human capital is low risk by buying disability insurance and term insurance (Schewart, 1999, pp.1-2).

Adaptive Strategy and Business Sustainability – A Report on Rational and Adaptive Strategy Executive Summary Strategies in a business environment are formulated after carefully considering the various alternatives available in a situation and assessing the environment for the external factors and internal factors relating to the strategies under consideration.

As time progressed the gender roles altered and the relationships and roles within the families were no longer confined to gender roles. While sex refers to the biological classification into male and female categories, gender indicates social classification of the masculine and feminine attributes.

According to PHX Corporate documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicates that AMR’s principal office is located in Fort Worth, Texas. The company which operates mainly in the airline industry was incorporated in October 1982. The corporation’s principal subsidiary is American Airlines, Inc. which was founded in 1934.

The Company disclosed that the termination of the Project may result to the demand of the Group’s creditors for debt repayment, which will then give rise to a “material uncertainty regarding the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern” as it will be unable to pay such debts (Annual Report 2011, p.

………………………5 Difference between IFRS and ASPE ……………………………………………………………… 6 Similarities between IFRS and ASPE……………………………………………………………….. 6 Specific Financial Statement Disclosure Issues ……………………………………………….

Some of these variances in presentation can be seen in the comprehensive income statement presentation. There are several examples to illustrate this. IFRS 5, for example, requires that post-tax loss/income be part of the disclosures in the statement of comprehensive income or be put in another income statement’s contents where this is applicable.

This is because of the presence of inflation. Therefore, we must invest dollars we do not need now in profitable interest earning alternatives so that we keep pace with the rate of inflation, and the purchasing power of our investment is retained. Another explanation is that interest is the price for waiting, or deferring present consumption for that in the future.

The recent global financial crisis events began in 2007. On that date, there was a seizure in the banking system, which was instigated by BNP Paribas’ move, to cease its activities in three hedge funds that focused on US mortgage debt. In 2008, credit markets on Wall Street froze, and this indicated that the credit crunch crisis was imminent.

The author of this article analysis essay is a great example that aims to determine the percentage of the sales price Disney nets after discounts and commissions. Discussions arise, such as indicating the type of debt did Disney offers to the public for sale and discuss the various approaches Disney incorporated to ensure successful marketability of these securities.