Category: business

6-8 pages critical  analysis of an article from current Journal in specified Field.
PLEASE SEE THE ATTACHMENT FOR ALL DETAILS ABOUT THE ASSIGNMENT !!!

For this assignment, research two contemporary accounting topics, such as valuing intellectual capital and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and how these standards differ from Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), and sustainability and environmental accounting.
There are several articles and one video in this week’s recommended resources section of the course guide that can help get you familiar with these terms and aid in your research. If you would like to choose a different contemporary accounting topic not listed, email your instructor to obtain approval prior to starting your paper.
In your paper,

• Define and describe the topics, citing real-life examples of their uses.
• Critique the pros and cons of the topics.
• Assess the popularity of the topics and what type of global companies or individuals use them.
• Hypothesize the future use of the topics; be sure to support your position with facts.

The Contemporary Global Accounting Topics Paper

• Must be four to five pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted

For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.).

• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
• Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
  • For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) as well as Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Ashford Writing Center resources.
• Must use at least four credible sources in addition to the course text.
  • The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
  • To assist you in completing the research required for this assignment, view this Ashford University Library Quick ‘n’ Dirty (Links to an external site.) tutorial, which introduces the Ashford University Library and the research process, and provides some library search tips.
• Must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA: Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.)
  • Direct quotes are a great way to strengthen our assertions and provide support. However, be sure to avoid using excessive direct quotes in lieu of original thought. Direct quotes will not meet the requirement for analysis, application, and critical thinking. Please ensure to not overuse direct quote, so that you can avoid losing points for this.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the APA: Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.

Prior to beginning work on this assignment,

• Read Chapters 12 and 13 in the course textbook, Using Financial Accounting Information: The Alternative to Debits and Credits.
• Read Chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8 in the textbook, Warren Buffet Accounting.
• Read pages 625–626 regarding horizontal analysis in the course textbook, Using Financial Accounting Information: The Alternative to Debits and Credits.
• Read pages 629–630 regarding vertical analysis in the course textbook, Using Financial Accounting Information: The Alternative to Debits and Credits.

For this assignment, you are required to upload your work to your ePortfolio in addition to Waypoint. Learn more about Folio, Ashford’s ePortfolio tool, by viewing the Folio Quick Start Guide (Links to an external site.).
Submit your file to Waypoint using the button below. Then paste the link to your Folio page as a comment in Waypoint so your instructor can access your ePortfolio.
In prior weeks, you learned about the financial statements and financial statement ratios. This week, you will utilize that information, along with Chapter 13 from the course textbook, Using Financial Accounting Information: The Alternative to Debits and Credits, and tips from the textbook, Warren Buffet Accounting, to take a deep dive into one company.
Assume the role of a senior financial analyst who has been assigned to complete a thorough and detailed review for a company of your choice from the list below. Access the company quarterly financial statements (10-Q) for the past two quarters on EDGAR, which is available on the web page, EDGAR Company Filings (Links to an external site.).
Select one of the following companies:
Name
Ticker Symbol
Home Depot
HD
Bloomin Brands
BLMN
Apple
AAPL
Starbucks
SBUX
Gap
GPS
Verizon
VZ
Target
TGT
Cisco
CSCO
Ulta
ULTA
Dollar Tree
DLTR
In your thorough and detailed review, analyze the company’s quarterly financial statements (10-Q) for the past two most current quarters and perform the following:

• Prepare a balance sheet and income statement horizontal analysis for the last two quarters.
• Prepare a balance sheet and income statement vertical analysis for the last two quarters.
• Prepare a liquidity analysis by computing and using the appropriate ratios to assess liquidity.
  • Compute a minimum of three ratios and show your supporting calculations.
• Prepare a solvency analysis by computing and using the appropriate ratios to assess solvency.
  • Compute a minimum of three ratios and show your supporting calculations.
• Prepare a profitability analysis by computing and using the appropriate ratios to assess profitability.
  • Compute a minimum of three ratios and show your supporting calculations.
• Analyze the methods and tips provided in the textbook, Warren Buffet Accounting, to address the following questions:
  • What is your company’s primary revenue, secondary revenue, and gains?
  • What is your company’s primary expenses, secondary expenses, financial activity generated expenses, and losses?
  • What is the revenue trend? Does the 10-K or 10-Q discuss primary revenues, as well as other revenue types?
  • What do the accounting policies say in the annual report (footnotes) regarding the cost of revenue? What are the drivers to the cost of revenue and the trends?
  • Are there any trends in sales and marketing expenses or research and development? Are these amounts reasonable for the type of business?
  • Compare general and administrative expenses to similar companies. Are they reasonable?
  • What is the ratio of net interest income (expense) to income from operations? Is this a safe ratio for the company? Why or why not?
  • What is the income taxes trend? Is the effective tax rate reasonable over time?

Formulate your analysis on the above requirements to discuss the financial health, performance, strengths, and weaknesses of the company, as well as any identified positive or negative trends.
In addition to your written financial statement analysis, you will also need to communicate a high-level summary of your analysis to your selected company’s executive team using Screencast-O-Matic (Links to an external site.). If needed, review the Screencast-O-Matic Quick-Start Guide (Links to an external site.). The summary should be documented with three to five PowerPoint slides, including speaker notes. In addition, include the company’s

• financial health,
• performance strengths and weaknesses, and
• identified positive or negative trends.

Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum, read Chapter 6 in the course textbook, Using Financial Accounting Information: The Alternative to Debits and Credits.
After reading Chapter 6 in the textbook, address the following:

• Discuss how can management control cash. Your discussion should include what tools management may use to control cash.
• Using the same company and annual financial statements that you chose for your Week 1 – Discussion Forum, Reading and Using the Annual Report Case Study, disclose the company’s cash balance, and discuss if you believe the company has too much or too little cash. Be sure to support your opinions with supporting facts.
• Discuss management’s responsibility to establish overall basic internal controls. Provide a real-life example from a work situation where you saw basic internal controls in place.

Your initial response should be a minimum of 200 words. Graduate school students learn to assess the perspectives of several scholars. Support your response with at least one scholarly and/or credible resource, in addition to the text.
Attached is Discussion 1 needed to answer this discussion

Currently, close to half of all taxpayers enjoy an effective federal tax rate of zero percent? In contrast, the top one percent of taxpayers contribute more federal income tax revenues than the bottom ninety percent of taxpayers combined. Should there be a minimum federal tax rate that all taxpayers should be required to pay? If so, how do you think that it should be calculated for different income levels?
In 2011, Barack Obama proposed the “Buffett Rule” tax plan (which was never implemented) which would have required that people making over one million dollars to pay no less than 30 percent of their income in taxes. Discuss this proposal in your analysis of minimum federal tax rates.
ANSWER THE ABOVE DISCUSSION AND THEN REPLY TO MY CLASSMATE’S RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTION AND EXPLAIN WHY YOU AGREE? (A MINIMUM OF 125 WORDS EACH)
                                                CLASSMATE’S POST
I can second the recently posted discussions by fellow classmates Joe, Rachelle, and Rene! The taxes of any kind have been a long-argued issue with American citizens for decades. Taxes are needed to stabilize economies at every level, however, there needs to be a better way of controlling the collections by all citizens. Each of the recent responses imply the same thing, that the poor/ median income families or individuals get taxed and causes a greater effect on their livelihood than the persons who have greater income.
The rich or wealthy seem to have other means of avoiding the same tax issues that the hard-working middle-class people do not have the opportunities to take advantage of. As stated in previous unit’s discussion boards, it sickens me to work endless hours and the deductions are endless when it comes to taxes being taken from the hard work that I put in for me and my family. The government makes out over my work ethic and I get penalized for it by taking more taxes if I work more hours.

Currently, close to half of all taxpayers enjoy an effective federal tax rate of zero percent? In contrast, the top one percent of taxpayers contribute more federal income tax revenues than the bottom ninety percent of taxpayers combined. Should there be a minimum federal tax rate that all taxpayers should be required to pay? If so, how do you think that it should be calculated for different income levels?
In 2011, Barack Obama proposed the “Buffett Rule” tax plan (which was never implemented) which would have required that people making over one million dollars to pay no less than 30 percent of their income in taxes. Discuss this proposal in your analysis of minimum federal tax rates.
ANSWER THE ABOVE DISCUSSION AND THEN REPLY TO MY CLASSMATE’S RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTION AND EXPLAIN WHY YOU AGREE? (A MINIMUM OF 125 WORDS EACH)
                                                CLASSMATE’S POST
I can second the recently posted discussions by fellow classmates Joe, Rachelle, and Rene! The taxes of any kind have been a long-argued issue with American citizens for decades. Taxes are needed to stabilize economies at every level, however, there needs to be a better way of controlling the collections by all citizens. Each of the recent responses imply the same thing, that the poor/ median income families or individuals get taxed and causes a greater effect on their livelihood than the persons who have greater income.
The rich or wealthy seem to have other means of avoiding the same tax issues that the hard-working middle-class people do not have the opportunities to take advantage of. As stated in previous unit’s discussion boards, it sickens me to work endless hours and the deductions are endless when it comes to taxes being taken from the hard work that I put in for me and my family. The government makes out over my work ethic and I get penalized for it by taking more taxes if I work more hours.

View the 50 Top Free Data Mining Software (Predictive Analytics Today) (Links to an external site.) and discuss the following:

1. Explore the various open source data mining tools available online.
2. Provide a detailed analysis of the tool you chose to evaluate and include the following:
   • A brief explanation of the tool and how it might be used to support data mining and analysis techniques used in business.
   • Ease of Use
   • Benefits
   • Drawbacks

View the 50 Top Free Data Mining Software (Predictive Analytics Today) (Links to an external site.) and discuss the following:

1. Explore the various open source data mining tools available online.
2. Provide a detailed analysis of the tool you chose to evaluate and include the following:
   • A brief explanation of the tool and how it might be used to support data mining and analysis techniques used in business.
   • Ease of Use
   • Benefits
   • Drawbacks

Resources: Pastas R Us, Inc. Database & Microsoft Excel®, Wk 1: Descriptive Statistics Analysis Assignment
Purpose 
This assignment is intended to help you learn how to apply statistical methods when analyzing operational data, evaluating the performance of current marketing strategies, and recommending actionable business decisions. This is an opportunity to build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills within the context of data analysis and interpretation. You’ll gain a first-hand understanding of how data analytics supports decision-making and adds value to an organization.
Scenario: 
Pastas R Us, Inc. is a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in noodle-based dishes, soups, and salads. Since its inception, the business development team has favored opening new restaurants in areas (within a 3-mile radius) that satisfy the following demographic conditions:

• Median age between 25 – 45 years old
• Household median income above national average
• At least 15% college educated adult population

Last year, the marketing department rolled out a Loyalty Card strategy to increase sales. Under this program, customers present their Loyalty Card when paying for their orders and receive some free food after making 10 purchases.
The company has collected data from its 74 restaurants to track important variables such as average sales per customer, year-on-year sales growth, sales per sq. ft., Loyalty Card usage as a percentage of sales, and others. A key metric of financial performance in the restaurant industry is annual sales per sq. ft. For example, if a 1200 sq. ft. restaurant recorded $2 million in sales last year, then it sold $1,667 per sq. ft.
Executive management wants to know whether the current expansion criteria can be improved. They want to evaluate the effectiveness of the Loyalty Card marketing strategy and identify feasible, actionable opportunities for improvement. As a member of the analytics department, you’ve been assigned the responsibility of conducting a thorough statistical analysis of the company’s available database to answer executive management’s questions.
Report: 
Write a 750-word statistical report that includes the following sections:

• Section 1: Scope and descriptive statistics
• Section 2: Analysis
• Section 3: Recommendations and Implementation

Section 1 – Scope and descriptive statistics

• State the report’s objective.
• Discuss the nature of the current database. What variables were analyzed?
• Summarize your descriptive statistics findings from Excel. Use a table and insert appropriate graphs.

Section 2 – Analysis

• Using Excel, create scatter plots and display the regression equations for the following pairs of variables:
• “BachDeg%” versus “Sales/SqFt”
• “MedIncome” versus “Sales/SqFt”
• “MedAge” versus “Sales/SqFt”
• “LoyaltyCard(%)” versus “SalesGrowth(%)”
• In your report, include the scatter plots. For each scatter plot, designate the type of relationship observed (increasing/positive, decreasing/negative, or no relationship) and determine what you can conclude from these relationships.

Section 3: Recommendations and implementation

• Based on your findings above, assess which expansion criteria seem to be more effective.Could any expansion criterion be changed or eliminated? If so, which one and why?
• Based on your findings above, does it appear as if the Loyalty Card is positively correlated with sales growth? Would you recommend changing this marketing strategy?
• Based on your previous findings, recommend marketing positioning that targets a specific demographic. (Hint: Are younger people patronizing the restaurants more than older people?)
• Indicate what information should be collected to track and evaluate the effectiveness of your recommendations. How can this data be collected? (Hint: Would you use survey/samples or census?)

Cite references to support your assignment.
Format your citations according to APA guidelines.

Resources: Pastas R Us, Inc. Database & Microsoft Excel®, Wk 1: Descriptive Statistics Analysis Assignment
Purpose 
This assignment is intended to help you learn how to apply statistical methods when analyzing operational data, evaluating the performance of current marketing strategies, and recommending actionable business decisions. This is an opportunity to build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills within the context of data analysis and interpretation. You’ll gain a first-hand understanding of how data analytics supports decision-making and adds value to an organization.
Scenario: 
Pastas R Us, Inc. is a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in noodle-based dishes, soups, and salads. Since its inception, the business development team has favored opening new restaurants in areas (within a 3-mile radius) that satisfy the following demographic conditions:

• Median age between 25 – 45 years old
• Household median income above national average
• At least 15% college educated adult population

Last year, the marketing department rolled out a Loyalty Card strategy to increase sales. Under this program, customers present their Loyalty Card when paying for their orders and receive some free food after making 10 purchases.
The company has collected data from its 74 restaurants to track important variables such as average sales per customer, year-on-year sales growth, sales per sq. ft., Loyalty Card usage as a percentage of sales, and others. A key metric of financial performance in the restaurant industry is annual sales per sq. ft. For example, if a 1200 sq. ft. restaurant recorded $2 million in sales last year, then it sold $1,667 per sq. ft.
Executive management wants to know whether the current expansion criteria can be improved. They want to evaluate the effectiveness of the Loyalty Card marketing strategy and identify feasible, actionable opportunities for improvement. As a member of the analytics department, you’ve been assigned the responsibility of conducting a thorough statistical analysis of the company’s available database to answer executive management’s questions.
Report: 
Write a 750-word statistical report that includes the following sections:

• Section 1: Scope and descriptive statistics
• Section 2: Analysis
• Section 3: Recommendations and Implementation

Section 1 – Scope and descriptive statistics

• State the report’s objective.
• Discuss the nature of the current database. What variables were analyzed?
• Summarize your descriptive statistics findings from Excel. Use a table and insert appropriate graphs.

Section 2 – Analysis

• Using Excel, create scatter plots and display the regression equations for the following pairs of variables:
• “BachDeg%” versus “Sales/SqFt”
• “MedIncome” versus “Sales/SqFt”
• “MedAge” versus “Sales/SqFt”
• “LoyaltyCard(%)” versus “SalesGrowth(%)”
• In your report, include the scatter plots. For each scatter plot, designate the type of relationship observed (increasing/positive, decreasing/negative, or no relationship) and determine what you can conclude from these relationships.

Section 3: Recommendations and implementation

• Based on your findings above, assess which expansion criteria seem to be more effective.Could any expansion criterion be changed or eliminated? If so, which one and why?
• Based on your findings above, does it appear as if the Loyalty Card is positively correlated with sales growth? Would you recommend changing this marketing strategy?
• Based on your previous findings, recommend marketing positioning that targets a specific demographic. (Hint: Are younger people patronizing the restaurants more than older people?)
• Indicate what information should be collected to track and evaluate the effectiveness of your recommendations. How can this data be collected? (Hint: Would you use survey/samples or census?)

Cite references to support your assignment.
Format your citations according to APA guidelines.