Contemporary Issues in Auditing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Contemporary Issues in Auditing - Assignment Example An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe our that our audit will provide a reasonable basis for our opinion. Our audit procedures will include test of of documentary evidence supporting the transactions recorded in the transactions, tests of physical existence of inventories, and direct confirmation of receivables and certain other assets and liabilities by correspondence with selected customers, creditors, legal counsel, and banks. At the conclusion of our audit, we request certain written representations from you about the financial statements and other related matters. Our fees for this audit will be based on the time spent by various members of our audit staff at our regular rates, pus direct direct expenses. We will notify you immediately if any circumstances we encounter that could significantly affect our initial audit fee estimate f In order to us to work as efficiently as possible, it is understood that your accounting staff will provide us with the prior year's trial balance on or before January 15, 2008, and also with the schedules and and account analysis described on the separate attachment. It is standard operating procedure tha... ..................... February 20, 2008 Delivery of audit report......................... March 5, 2008 Our fees for this audit will be based on the time spent by various members of our audit staff at our regular rates, pus direct direct expenses. We will notify you immediately if any circumstances we encounter that could significantly affect our initial audit fee estimate f8,000. In order to us to work as efficiently as possible, it is understood that your accounting staff will provide us with the prior year's trial balance on or before January 15, 2008, and also with the schedules and and account analysis described on the separate attachment. If these arrangements re in accordance with your understanding, please sign this letter in the space provided and return to a copy to us at your earliest convenience. Very truly yours,----------------------------------- Carter and Corbin Chartered Accountants Accepted by: ____________________ Date Ethical Part cover 15% - The information that should be passed to the new auditors- clearance from previous auditor To the Stockholders, Rentokill Initial London November 28, 2007 Dear sir/maa'am: It is standard operating procedure that a new external auditor must contact your company's former external auditor. Thus, please send us recommendation letter addressed to your prior

Disipline in Schools Essay Example for Free

Disipline in Schools Essay The definitions of ‘violence’, ‘bullying’ and ‘indiscipline clearly incorporate a wide range of behaviors which can alter depending on both the context within which the behaviors are enacted, and, indeed, with whom they are directed towards. Discipline in schools is now passing through an extended eclipse. The problem of indiscipline permeates all facets of our life. It has, in fact brought us down to the knees Each day there are thousands of kids who go to school and get picked on in some way or another. Those same kids will probably come home and tell nobody about the pain that they are going through inside. There are numerous causes and solutions for this problem that we are facing in our schools. One main cause is that those doing the discipline problems suffer from bad parenting. I believe that parents need to be responsible for their children. They’re the ones who raised the child and filled them with their beliefs of what’s right and wrong. When a principle calls home about a child misbehaving and the parents do nothing , that just lets the child know that it’s alright for him or her to do it again. The parents will cause the child to form the mindset that he or she can do it again because they know that they won’t get reprimanded for their actions. Even if their child doesn’t get punished at home, that will lead the child to start acting out of control at school. Therefore, parents must take responsibility for their children’s behavior. The child needs to be teached that there will be consequences not only at school but homes as well for any discipline problems to be solved.

Global sourcing

Global sourcing Question 3 Introduction Global Sourcing is the procurement of goods and services from independent suppliers or subsidiaries from multinational companies which are located abroad and are made for further development of consumption in the multinationals home country or a third country (Cavusgil et al, 2007). International companies are increasingly looking to maintain their competitive advantage in their industry, and are therefore internationalising their supply-chain activities such as engineering, procurement, logistics, and even marketing. The issues For understanding the issues or risks managers face nowadays in global sourcing one has to divide the activities in two main segments, which is the flow of goods and information. The first reason for a company to source an activity of their value chain globally is generally perceived because of cost saving. Trent and Monczka (2003) noted a saving of 15 percent when successfully implementing global sourcing strategies of material cost, comparing to local and regional sourcing practices. Levy (1995) uses the term ‘disruptions for the issues in the global sourcing activities of a firm, and thus within the supply chain. Levy argues that the disruptions in the flow of goods are primarily caused by unstable demand, defective and late deliveries and internal production problems. Furthermore, there are challenges in language, culture, inventory management, lack of technology, trade regulations, currency fluctuations, and quality assurance. All these disruptions result in the extension of costs, which was the reason to source globally in the first place. Cavusgil et al (2007) identifies risks in global sourcing such as environmental factors, weak legal environment, risk of creating competitors, over-reliance on suppliers, and the erosion of morale amongst home-country nationals. Managers of the supply-chain are according to Levy (1995) underestimating the cost of global sourcing, which means they do not include the disruptions when making a decision on to outsource or not. Secondly, managers often view the supply-chain as a static flow of controls instead of a complex and dynamic one. Thirdly, managers tend to outsource when a company is on its maturity but then neglect the demand volatility. And lastly, managers tend to treat supply-chain crises as one-time events instead of part of the instability of the supply-chain. Learning the hard way For example, Boeing is facing major delays in manufacturing its new 787. The aircraft manufacturer is in its never ending race with Airbus to present its new passenger aircraft. Boeing has its suppliers all over the world and with Boeings specific needs and design some suppliers were given a far greater responsibility for design, and there was no control on their work from our side (Weitzman, 2009). Or even a more compelling example of supply-chain failure is the near extinction of Land Rover in 2002 than owned by Ford that almost had to stop production because the supplier of its chassis had gone bankrupt. It said that it needed six to nine months to find an alternative supplier, putting 11,000 jobs at risk. It is mentioned in the Financial Times article that having dual-suppliers will cost around  £12m just for the chassis (Milne, 2008). Critical Success Factors Global Sourcing In the study of Trent et al (2009) the critical success factors of global sourcing were identified. These factors are personnel with the right skills and knowledge, the availability of information, the awareness of potential global suppliers, time, and global capabilities of the supplier, interested in global contracts, global sourcing support, and direct visits. These critical success factors seem logical, and thus a firms global supply chain might seem water proof, but there will always be disruptions. Imagine the sharp fluctuations a firm can come across; when the firm is importing its goods from Singapore for example per ship, and the fluctuations demands the firm to use an air-freight to deliver the goods and meet the demands, the transportation costs can run ten times higher than the sea-freight deliveries, thus totally eroding the cost-advantage of manufacturing the goods in a lower-cost labour country (Levy, 1995). Conclusion Disruptions will always be part of the supply-chain of any firm in any industry. However, a careful planning of every step in the supply-chain should be routine. When sourcing globally, one has to think carefully of what to source and what to keep on board. When sourcing globally just for the cost advantage, one will find a lot of challenges along the way. Global sourcing should be part of the firms strategy, not an emergent strategy, but a proactive attitude. When implementing new supply-chain activities, disruptions should be taken into account, in order to reduce the chance of errors. This should include flexibility of suppliers payment, a back-up for the JIT (just-in-time) deliveries, a well-managed inventory system, excellent training activities for maintaining quality, and continuous improvements to keep the competitive advantage over other firms. Question 4 Introduction Businesses operating in an international context encounter different issues than firms operating solely in their home market, the domestic businesses. International firms enter new economical conditions, different political systems, laws and regulations and different cultures (Cavisgil et al, 2007). Cavusgil et el (2007) note that international firms find themselves in uncontrollable variables factors of which the firm has little control.   Most companies internationalise at a certain stage, the point at which they are going international has several reasons. The motivations can be reactive and proactive. These can be named push-, pull-, and drift factors. Push factors indicate the firms position in a saturated market, meaning declining demand, increasing fierce competition, or products that reached maturity and need a little push. Pull factors are proactive movements of the firm to move across borders because foreign markets promise faster growths, higher profits or less legal re straints and less competition. Drift factors are rather ad hoc or accidental. Firms that operate first solely in their domestic market receive large orders from international firms, which makes them decide to pursue an international adventure. Advantages and disadvantages For domestic firms to go international it means they have to take lots of new aspects into account. The risks are substantial. The commercial risk concerns the risk of weak partners, poor timing of entry and underestimation of the operational scale. Secondly, the currency risk which includes currency fluctuations and taxations. Thirdly, the country risk involves the legal issues, political stability and economical situations. Fourth is the cross-cultural risk, which basically means the lack of understanding each others cultures. These four main topics indentify the risk of the international business, or rather should be taken into account when going international. The advantages are rather attractive as well. The firm can expect substantial increases of sales, market share and higher profits. Also, the firm increases its economies of scale and can therefore expect to reduce their cost-per-units. It enters more diversified markets, and can therefore learn from new markets and adapt and adopt accordingly. By being an international firm, it bolsters itself against fluctuations in the economy and becomes a stronger player throughout their domestic market and internationally. The disadvantage of the firm exporting is the lack of understanding of the foreign markets, fewer opportunities to learn about the new customers, their competitors, and the lack of communication (Cavusgil, 2007). Illustrations of domestic to international business and back Johanson and Vahine (1977, lecture slides) designed the Uppsala Internationalisation model in which stages firms go across borders. This starts from exporting, to licensing production, than to joint ventures and eventually sole ventures, illustration the steps firms undertake gradually. Through this model Wal-Mart, using the push method, entered several markets by jumping to sole ventures, without the necessary research to succeed in a country. In its domestic market, it is a successful concept made for the American lifestyle. When it entered Mexico, it built massive parking lots like in the US, but only to found out later that most Mexicans do not have a car. In Brazil, where most families do their shopping once a month on their payday, Wal-Mart built the aisles to narrow to establish havoc (Cavusgil et al, 2007). These are the examples of jumping, literally, into new markets without understanding of what is going on. Would it team-up by licensing to a local supermarket chain its success rate would have been much higher. In contrast with these Wal-Mart examples Carrefour, a French supermarket chain, spent 12 years understanding the Chinese market just to become the largest foreign retailer with presence in 25 countries; which is a much more gradual entry. In its domestic market, General Motors is facing serious competition and a declining market share which it is losing to Japanese carmakers and others. Its reason to maintain Vauxhall and Opel seems like their lifeline for developing solid competition for smaller fuel-efficient cars in its domestic market. Both Ford and Chrysler now with Fiat have the technology to develop these engines, had General Motors sold Vauxhall/Opel it would have lost its part of its knowledge in small fuel-efficient cars in its domestic markets and its presence in the European Market. On the contrary, Honda, with its sole focus on its engine, entered the US with small cars after the push from a high level of competition in Japan. It started however with export to the US and moved in manufacturing Honda in 1982, being already superior in quality in every auto market segment, better fuel efficiency, and better priced. Honda moved after being ready to move, and had time to study the US-market and it needs. The oil crises in the eighties helped significantly in US customers in persuading buying fuel efficient smaller cars (Klier, 2008). Conclusion Nowadays, the world is getting flatter and flatter (Friedman, 2005), meaning that the worlds resources are within an arm length for nearly all firms, provided they need the right network, skilled labour force and strategy to enter foreign markets. Collaboration between companies is often used to harness themselves against more intensifying competitors, who are obtaining knowledge, and cost advantages as well through collaboration. This continuous cycle makes the world a smaller place to do business in. Eventually all domestic businesses have some international activities, either in exporting, importing or knowledge. The world nowadays is too small to be comfortable in your own market, where you will face saturation and perhaps even decline.

probability of brest cancer :: essays research papers

Probability of Breast Cancer A National Cancer Institute (NCI) report estimates that about 1 in 8 women in the United States (approximately 13.3 percent) will develop breast cancer during her lifetime. This estimate is based on cancer rates from 1997 through 1999, as reported in NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program publication SEER Cancer Statistics Review 1973–1999. This publication presents estimates of the risk of developing breast cancer in 10-, 20-, and 30-year intervals. Each age interval is assigned a weight in the calculations based on the proportion of the population living to that age. The 1 in 8 figure means that, if current rates stay constant, a female born today has a 1 in 8 chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer sometime during her life. On the other hand, she has a 7 in 8 chance of never developing breast cancer. Because the SEER calculations are weighted they take into account that not all women live to older ages, when breast cancer risk becomes the greatest. A woman's chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer is:* from age 30 to age 40 . . . . . . . 1 out of 252 from age 40 to age 50 . . . . . . . 1 out of 68 from age 50 to age 60 . . . . . . . 1 out of 35 from age 60 to age 70 . . . . . . . 1 out of 27 Ever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 8 In evaluating cancer risk for a cancer-free individual at a specific point in time, age-specific (conditional) probabilities are more appropriate than lifetime probabilities. For example, at age 50 a cancer-free black woman has about a 2.5-percent chance of developing breast cancer by age 60, and a cancer-free white woman has about a 2.9-percent chance. Among the racial/ethnic groups studied by SEER**, non-Hispanic white, Hawaiian, and black women have the highest levels of breast cancer risk. Other Asian/Pacific Islander groups and Hispanic women have lower levels of risk. Some of the lowest levels of risk occur among Korean and Vietnamese women.

Vichy France and Eisenhower

Eisenhower’s moral reasoning in handling the Darlan situation involved several key principles of a ‘traditional ethic’ for the military profession. Specifically, Eisenhower demonstrated ‘service to country subordinating personal interest to mission accomplishment’ and ‘promoted and safeguarded the welfare of subordinates’ in making decisions regarding this politically sensitive case. Eisenhower was well aware going into the Torch campaign of the strategic significance of allied victory in the early stages of the war.The potential for French reaction and Vichy government resistance to invasion of their North African colonies was all too real. Eisenhower clearly understood that Darlan would be a key strategic ‘center of gravity’ for controlling potential Vichy resistance. As Churchill noted, â€Å"Kiss Darlan’s stern if you have to, but get the French Navy†(page 354). As a result, the Darlan deal Eisenhower orches trated resulted in a cease-fire agreement between French and Allied forces in exchange for appointing Darlan as military governor or high commissioner of North Africa, much to the outrage of the British and American governments.In analyzing Eisenhower’s moral reasoning in getting to such a deal, there are two specific principles of the ‘traditional ethic’ to consider. The first is the principle of service to country where personal interests are subordinate to requirements of the profession and to mission accomplishments. Eisenhower was given orders from his civilian bosses, to include FDR, to ‘use whatever means necessary to resolve the French problem’. He accordingly knew that Darlan, once the Giraud option failed, was his only option.He understood the decision on the deal would be politically controversial but that to accomplish the mission, it was necessary. In this case, Eisenhower demonstrated the moral courage to make a tough decision where â⠂¬Ëœleadership would not equate to likership† and he expected that criticism would ensue. The second moral principle Eisenhower demonstrated was to promote and safeguard the welfare of his subordinates as persons, not merely asSoldiers, Sailors or Airmen. Here Eisenhower kept in mind what he needed to do to save the lives of his men, not the careers of statesmen. He maintained a Soldier’s perspective, not a political perspective. With regards to Darlan, he knew â€Å"this guy can stop the fighting and nobody else can† (page 355). He also understood that winning the favor of Darlan would directly impact the success of Torch by allowing uncontested access to key terrain and facilities.For example, he knew that use of airfields at Tunis and Bizerte, both French controlled, would help achieve overarching goals in North Africa and again save the lives of his men. On the surface, Eisenhower’s actions in handling the Darlan deal may point to poor and hasty decisi on making from a novice Allied Commander early in the war. Further analysis reveals Eisenhower’s skills and ethical reasoning were largely at play. Ultimately, he believed the deal would save the lives of his men, accomplish the mission and he was willing to assume risk and accept blame for it.

20 Pairs of One-Word and Two-Word Forms

20 Pairs of One-Word and Two-Word Forms 20 Pairs of One-Word and Two-Word Forms 20 Pairs of One-Word and Two-Word Forms By Mark Nichol Many common words and phrases are identical except for a strategic letter space apart and â€Å"a part† come to mind and though knowing which form to use in a sentence is often obvious (as in that example), the difference can be subtle. Here are some of the less clear-cut pairs: 1. Ahold/a hold: Ahold is a variant of the noun hold, used in such sentences as â€Å"I’ll get ahold of you later.† But when you mean to refer to an actual grip on something, use two words: â€Å"She really has a hold on you.† If it’s hard to decide which form to employ, try this test: If you can insert an adjective between a and hold, the two-word form is appropriate. 2. Already/all ready: Use the former when you need an adverb, as in â€Å"I told you already.† The latter form is correct in sentences such as â€Å"We’re all ready for the party.† 3. Alot/a lot: These two forms are interchangeable except in one significant respect: The one-word version is wrong. It is used often in informal writing and may one day be standard, but until you get the official memo, refrain from using it if you want to be taken seriously as a writer. 4. Alright/all right: See item number 3. 5. Altogether/all together: The one-word form, an adverb, suffices to mean â€Å"completely† or â€Å"in total,† as in â€Å"Altogether, we saved $100 on the deal.† (It also means â€Å"nude† in the idiomatic phrase â€Å"in the altogether.†) The phrase is appropriate for sentences such as â€Å"We are all together in this.† 6. Anybody/any body: The one-word form is a pronoun used in such constructions as â€Å"He doesn’t get along with anybody.† The two-word adjective-noun form is applicable in limited contexts, such as in the sentence â€Å"Any body in motion responds to gravity.† 7. Anymore/any more: The one-word form is used as an adverb in sentences such as â€Å"We don’t go there anymore†; the two-word form consists of the adjective any and the noun more, as in â€Å"I just can’t eat any more of that pie.† 8. Anyone/any one: The one-word form is a pronoun, synonymous with anybody, used as in â€Å"Anyone can make that claim.† â€Å"Any one† consists of the adjective any and the noun one, as in â€Å"Any one of you might be next.† 9. Anyplace/any place: The adverb anyplace is a synonym for anywhere: â€Å"She won’t let me go anyplace without her.† The latter usage is an adjective-and-noun phrase that describes a location: â€Å"He doesn’t want to go to any place he can’t smoke.† 10. Anything/any thing: Anything is the likely usage: â€Å"I don’t remember anything.† The two-word adjective-noun form is generally separated by an another adjective: â€Å"She’s just does any little thing she wants.† 11. Anytime/any time: To describe with what frequency something might occur, use the one-word adverbial form: â€Å"Stop by anytime.† The two-word adjective-noun form is preceded by the word at: â€Å"You may leave at any time.† 12. Anyway/any way: Anyway is a synonym for anyhow: â€Å"We didn’t want to go anyway.† The two-word adjective-noun form is preceded by the word in: â€Å"That doesn’t change the results in any way.† 13. Awhile/a while: The noun phrase â€Å"a while† and the adverb awhile are virtually interchangeable in a sentence, though you should precede the two-word form with the word for: â€Å"I think I’ll sit here for a while† and â€Å"I think I’ll sit here awhile† mean the same thing. 14. Cannot/can not: Cannot is virtually the only proper alternative. The second usage is wrong except in the correct awkward construction in the sentence â€Å"I can not go,† meaning â€Å"I can decide not to go.† 15. Everyday/every day: The one-word form is an adjective meaning â€Å"ordinary,† used to describe something usual as in â€Å"These are my everyday clothes.† The two-word phrase, an adverb, is used in such sentences as â€Å"I go there every day† to explain how something is done. 16. Everyone/every one: To refer to everybody, use one word: â€Å"Everyone’s a critic.† To emphasize a single individual or item, use two words: â€Å"Every one of them is broken.† 17. Everything/every thing: Everything is the default choice: â€Å"You’ve ruined everything.† The two-word adjective-noun form is usually divided by an additional adjective: â€Å"Every little thing she does is magic.† 18. Maybe/may be: The first choice is an alternative to the adverb perhaps; the second is a verb phrase used in such sentences as â€Å"It may be that she was right after all.† 19. Overtime/over time: As one word, this means work done beyond a regular shift: â€Å"I’ve worked overtime several days this week.† As two words, it refers to the passage of time: â€Å"Over time, we’ve seen dramatic changes.† 20. Sometime/some time: The one-word form is an adverb describing vagueness about when something will happen, as in â€Å"I’ll get around to it sometime.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Handy Expressions About HandsHow Long Should a Paragraph Be?Comma After Introductory Phrases