Intermediate accounting Essay Example for Free

Intermediate accounting Essay 1. Distinguish between perpetual and periodic inventory system. Why conduct physical inventory? When should, if any a physical inventory count occur? Perpetual inventory system is a system for determining the cost of goods sold by keeping continuous records of the physical inventory as goods are bought and sold. In other words, under the perpetual inventory system – records are kept of the quantity and usually the cost of individual items of inventory throughout the year, as items are bought and sold. The cost of goods sold is recorded as goods are transferred to customers, and the inventory balance is kept current throughout the year, as items are bought and sold. The physical inventory is important because it is an actual amount of all merchandise on hand at the end of an accounting period. The actual physical count of the product must occur after the Pre-Physical Inventory update is run.   It means that no movements of the product can occur until after the actual count is done.   In other words the product is frozen until a physical count is done on the item.   After the actual count the movement of the individual item within the product group can resume while other products are being count. In periodic inventory system, it is a system for determining the cost of goods sold by deducting the ending inventory (based on a physical count of the inventory) from the beginning inventory plus total purchases over the period. 2. Intangible assets have two main characteristics. They lack physical existence and they are not financial instruments. Costs incurred internally to create intangibles are generally expensed as incurred. Explain the procedure for amortizing intangible assets. Intangible assets are a long-term assets that have no physical substance but have a value based on rights or privileges that accrue to the owner. Intangible assets  dont have the obvious physical value of a  factory or equipment; they can prove very valuable for a firm and can be critical to its long-term success or failure. For example, a company such as Coca-Cola wouldn’t be nearly as  successful was it not for the high value obtained through its brand-name recognition. Although brand recognition is not a physical asset you can see or touch, its positive effects on bottom-line profits can prove extremely valuable to firms such as Coca-Cola, whose brand strength drives global sales year after year. In FASB STATEMENT NO. 142, the useful life of certain intangible assets is difficult to judge, particularly assets that involve contracted or other legally set terms. Companies use the useful life of assets to guide their decisions on whether or not to amortize them on their financial statements. The key factor in determining whether to amortize an â€Å"other† intangible asset is its useful life. If it is indefinite, the asset is not amortized. Although the question of whether an asset’s useful life is definite or indefinite may seem straightforward, certain intangibles—particularly those that are a result of contracted or other legally set terms—are difficult to judge. Prior to the issuance of FASB Statement no. 142, the maximum useful life of an intangible asset was 40 years. Could an asset a company was amortizing over a useful life of less than 40 years now have an indefinite life under Statement no. 142? The answer is â€Å"maybe.† Prior to its implementation companies may not have taken all of the three criteria in Statement no. 142—renewability, costs and modifications—into account in making amortization decisions. Further, it was not an option for an asset to have an indefinite useful life, regardless of how a company evaluated the criteria before Statement no. 142. The limit was 40 years. The bottom line? Even those intangibles that weren’t assigned the full 40-year useful life prior to Statement no. 142 should be evaluated against the statement’s criteria. They may have indefinite useful lives as well. References http://www.sdc.on.ca/sdc6/help/Physical%20Inventory%20Process.htm Jennefer M. Mueller. Journal of Accountancy: Amortization of Certain Intangible Assets. DECEMBER 2004 / Volume 198, Number 6.

Bosnia Civil War Essay -- History, The Serbs, Genocide

The genocide in Bosnia started in 1992 and lasted until 1995 and it involved the massacre of the Muslims by the Serbs . The United Nations and the Great Powers of the world failed Bosnia in providing support and aid. To understand what went wrong during the crisis in Bosnia one must first look at the situation that existed there before the conflict. Bosnia is made up of three different ethnicities, the Muslims made up forty-five percent of the population, the Serbs made up thirty-three percent of the population and the Croats consisted of the remaining sixteen percent . The major difference between these ethnicities is not their language but their religions. The Muslims generally practice Islam, the Serbs were traditionally Orthodox and the Croats were mainly Roman Catholic, but the conflict between them was not so much based on their religion as much as nationalism (pg691) . The different ethnicities were not separated within Bosnia; instead they were all mixed together . For exampl e, villages that were made up of mostly Serbs may surround a largely Muslim town . The different ethnicities would not interact with one another on a regular basis but they also were not separated into different and exclusive areas (pg691) . The tensions between these three ethnicities had been steadily rising throughout history but they were generally kept under control by outside forces . They were originally forced to co-exist under the Ottoman Empire, then a Serb monarchy forced them to cooperate and lastly it was Tito who installed order through Yugoslavia . After Tito passed away they each started to embrace the freedom they never had and that is when the violent ethnic conflicts started (pg691) . As well as the different ethnicity another part o... ...to prove themselves because of the failures of previous peacekeeping operations including Somalia. Furthermore, the rules and the structure of the U.N. creates many difficulties that make it hard to accomplish any goals. Lastly, the peacekeepers faced many obstacles that were unable to overcome. There were problems within the actual peacekeeping force that limited what they were able to accomplish, and although the attempted to complete the tasks set out for them it was impossible to do with the resources they were given. The situation in Srebrenica is an example of the impact that the failures of the U.N. have on an actual mission of the peacekeeping operation. The Bosnian civil war is an unfortunate crisis that the U.N. should take as an opportunity to learn from their mistakes, because unfortunately their mistakes cost the lives of a numerous amount of people.

Company †Strengths and weaknesses Analysis Essay

Application Assignment †¢Application Assignment on Situational Analysis and SWOT common to all themespgs MM-112 to MM-122 PART B and C (to be submitted together) (15+ 5 Marks) Company –Strengths and weaknesses Analysis Remember this assignment is in continuity to the previous marketing assignment. Here we do a strength and weakness analysis for our company vis -a- vis competitors. We need to know: A. What special strength/ competence or assets company has to satisfy the needs of customers? B. Who competes with us in meeting those needs and what is their competence, strength or asset? Can we scale our own firm and the major competitors on those competencies and strengths? This kind of an analysis follows a 3-step process. 1Identification of all our Competitors. Competition does not stem only from products or firms that compete directly for your market share but also from any company that satisfies the same customer need. (Refer to the ‘Market concept of competition’ at the end of the assignment ) 2List the areas in which your organization or the competitor has the competence. Needless to say that these areas should be industry relevant. An indicative list of the areas in which a firm can have strength / competence is listed below. Innovation ?Ability to develop innovative products ?Amount of Rs. spent on R&D ?Patents that a company has to its credit ?Technical product or service superiority Manufacturing ?Favorable Cost Structure ?Flexible production operations ?Access to Raw materials ?Quality of work force ?Capacity ?Outsourcing Finance- Access to capital ?Ability to generate funds in the short and long run ?Ability to use debt and equity financing ?Parent firms willingness to finance Management ?Quality of top and middle management ?Knowledge of business ?Culture ?Strategic goals and plans ?Entrepreneurial thrust ?Planning or operation system ?Loyalty ?Quality of strategic decision making. Marketing ?Product quality reputation ?Product differentiation ?Brand name recognition ?Customer orientation ?Breadth of the product line ?Segmentation ?Distribution ?Retailer relationship ?Advertising / Promotional skills ?Sales force ?Service Customer base ?Size and loyalty ?Market share ?Growth of segments served This list is only indicative to serve as a guide to the major areas in which a firm can have strength/ competence. You can add on or delete items to suit to your company and industry. 3Scaling your organization vis – a – vis the competitors on the parameters listed above-The Competitive strength Grid *(Please refer exhibit at the end of the assignment) Once the strengths / assets relevant to the industry have been identified, one has to scale one’s own firm and the major competitors on those strengths. One such grid has been done for the Luxury car market. The left side of the grid identifies the areas in which a luxury car maker can have strengths/ competencies namely product quality, product differentiation etc. On the right side various brands have been scaled with either less than average, average or above average position with respect to the strength/ competence identified. For ex. Cadillac has above average position in product quality, average when it comes to product differentiation and less than average on dealer satisfaction, all 3 areas being key to success in a car market. Assignment questions 1. Identify all the major competitors to your product. (Already done in part A of the assignment) †¢ICICI bank †¢HDFC †¢SBI †¢Deutsche Bank †¢Citibank †¢Goldman Sachs 2. Identify and list all the major strengths/assets/ competencies relevant to your industry. Core competencies: †¢Customer service †¢Risk management & Compliance †¢Strategy & Development †¢Strong leadership and management †¢Sales, marketing and Operations †¢Client base and brand 3. Scale your firm and any two other competitors on these strengths in a Competitive Strength Grid as is shown in the example. HSBCICICI bank Deutsche Bank †¢Customer service †¢Reach to the customer is good †¢Good relationship management †¢Premier clients focused cells †¢Reach to the customer is good †¢Premier clients focused cells †¢Reach to the customer is good †¢Good relationship management †¢Premier clients focused cells †¢Risk management & Compliance †¢Credit Risk †¢Operational Risk †¢Market Risk †¢Credit Risk †¢Operational Risk †¢Market Risk †¢Credit Risk †¢Operational Risk †¢Market Risk †¢Strategy & Development †¢Reach to global markets †¢Presence in emerging economies †¢Specific to one country †¢Reach to global markets Strong leadership and management †¢Business expansions & Leadership support †¢Culture of developing and retaining leaders †¢Strong international management and leadership †¢Business expansions regionally †¢Strong management presence †¢Business expansions & Leadership support †¢Strong international management and leadership †¢Sales, marketing and Operations †¢Consumer / Transactional Sales †¢Advisory / Relationship Management Sales †¢Consumer / Transactional Sales †¢Advisory / Relationship Management Sales †¢Consumer / Transactional Sales †¢Advisory / Relationship Management Sales Client base and brand †¢History and strong brand †¢Your local banker approach †¢Internationally renowned brand †¢Strong regional brand †¢History and strong brand †¢Internationally renowned brand 4. Do you have a competitive advantage superior to that of the competitor in any or more area? Do you see major areas for improvement in any competitive area? The areas of competitive advantage are: †¢Strategy & Development †¢Reach to global markets †¢Presence in emerging economies †¢Strong leadership and management †¢Culture of developing and retaining leaders Strong international management and leadership †¢Client base and brand †¢History and strong brand †¢Your local banker approach †¢Internationally renowned brand Areas for improvement: †¢Larger presence in retail operations in emerging economies †¢Leveraging technology to increase efficiency, access to markets and risk management †¢Innovation by providing weekend banking and banking in non official hours PART C Assignment question 1. Based upon PART A and Part B of the assignment, consolidate the Strengths , Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for your organization into a SWOT Grid.

Tragedy in Colonial Africa by Joseph Conrad’s Heart of...

Darkness. It pervades every corner of this world, casting literal and metaphorical shadow over everything. Creeping in the hearts of humans, drifting across the night sky, under the bed, darkness is a terrifying, yet quintessential concept in our human mentality. And, as such, it presents itself in cultures and stories around the world to explain the unknown and the terrifying. Through the presentation of the struggle with internal and external â€Å"darkness,† both Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart draw upon contrasting viewpoints and cultures, as well as an ironic play of â€Å"darkness† between the Europeans and the Africans, to construe the tragedy unfolding in Colonial Africa. To begin comparing and†¦show more content†¦Europeans could not see the light of society and order in the African peoples because they were too focused on the blinding â€Å"darkness† of uncertainty and the terrifying unknown. They could not make any comparison because they had never known anything quite like it, and therefore thought of African’s as â€Å"dark† and â€Å"mislead.† There is a certain irony to be found in Heart of Darkness, when the pilgrims, the â€Å"light-bringers,† coming to â€Å"spread the Word of the Lord† to the â€Å"backwards and savage† peoples of Africa begin shooting at what Marlow describes as a â€Å"mass of bodies.† Reading thus, a definite sense of irony settles over the observer, â€Å"I pulled the string of the whistle, and I did this because I saw the pilgrims on deck getting out their rifles with an air of anticipating a jolly lark. At the sudden screech there was a movement of abje ct terror through that wedged mass of bodies. ‘Don’t! Don’t you’ll frighten them away,’ cried someone on deck disconsolately.† (p. 62) The European pilgrims view the Africans as even less than human, lowered in darkness to the level of mere game. The irony rests in that the pilgrims give in to the â€Å"darkness† within their hearts and minds, indulging in murderous revelries with the very darkened creatures they wish to â€Å"save and bring light to.† Ironic even still, is the disconnect between European â€Å"light† and African â€Å"light.† The Europeans have a view on what constitutesShow MoreRelated Things Fall Apart Contradicts Stereotypes and Stereotyping in Heart of Darkness1750 Words   |  7 PagesChinua Achebes Things Fall Apart Contradicts Stereotypes in Conrads Heart of Darkness In An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrads Heart of Darkness, Chinua Achebe criticizes Joseph Conrad for his racist stereotypes towards the continent and people of Africa. He claims that Conrad propagated the dominant image of Africa in the Western imagination rather than portraying the continent in its true form (1793). Africans were portrayed in Conrads novel as savages with no language other than gruntsRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesglobalization, both of which can be seen as hallmarks of the opening decades of the twentieth century. This intermingling of the forces and processes that were arguably essential components 2 †¢ INTRODUCTION of two epochs we routinely set apart as centuries suggests the need for flexibility in demarcating phases of world history, and for determining beginnings and endings that accord with major shifts in political and socioeconomic circumstances and dynamics rather than standard but arbitrary