Research Project
Managerial Accounting
Based on Week 3 discussion plus additional research – include in Week 4 assignment
Week 3 discussion 1 managerial accounting aspects of your research topic
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Find a minimum of two peer-reviewed publications about managerial accounting that you can relate to your research paper topic. Briefly summarize each article plus have a sentence or two as to how the article topic and/or concepts do or could impact your research paper topic. Attach copies of the articles that you use for this discussion. One place to look for publications is IMANET.org plus the Big 4 CPA firms websites can be good sources of peer-reviewed publications. You can use articles that you included in your Week 2 Assignment.
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Answer
he American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, that is, AICPA aims at availing financial statements that are understandable and usable by the investors, creditors and investors in the organization such that they can be relied on to make investment decisions such as formulating credit terms or making financial investment decisions. Due to the importance of AICPA to external customers, they must trust it.
From the manuscript, AICPA was formulated as an accounting profession focusing on lenders, investors, and creditors. That means it focuses on the organization’s external stakeholders rather than the internal management of the organization. AICPA are answerable to the client, they do not serve the public interest (Hashim, et.al, 2016). For the AICPA, mostly focuses on creditors, investors and lenders and focuses on the clients. On the other hand, this does not really make any difference concerning the usage of the codes.
From the selected article, the FASB issues a statement allowing diverse institutions to present a comparative financial statement showing the entity's performance in relation to the approved budgets. Besides,the aspect on non-profit organizations as well as some of the budgets and donors for the same (Persson, 2018). According to the attached manuscript, I have learnt that accumulated vacation leave should not exceed 30 days at the end of the calendar year, and any leftover is transferable to sick leave on which there is no limitation as to accumulated amounts.
The FASB, that is, the Financial Accounting Standards Board is a non-profit organization which is responsible for the establishment of financial and accounting standards for companies and organizations dealing with non-profits in the United States of America. In addition, the FASB has the authority of establishing as well as interpreting diverse accepted principles of accounting in companies.
References
Hashim, N., Li, W., & O’Hanlon, J. (2016). Expected-loss-based accounting for impairment of financial instruments: The FASB and IASB proposals 2009–2016. Accounting in Europe, 13(2), 229-267. Retrieved from: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2015/563463/IPOL_STU(2015)563463_EN.pdf
Persson, M. E., Radcliffe, V. S., & Stein, M. (2018). Elmer G Beamer and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants: The pursuit of a cognitive standard for the accounting profession. Accounting History, 23(1-2), 71-92. Retrieved from: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1032373216668882
International Accounting
Based on Week 3 discussion plus additional research – include in Week 4 assignment
Week 3 discussion 2 international aspects of your research topic
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Find a minimum of two peer-reviewed publications about international accounting that you can relate to your research paper topic. Briefly summarize each publication plus have a sentence or two as to how the article topic and/or concepts do or could impact your research paper topic. Attach copies of the publications that you use for this discussion. You can use articles that you included in your Week 2 Assignment if they related to international accounting aspects of your topic.
Nearly every discipline and/or area of interest has an association. For all aspects of accounting, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) website is an excellent source and it is highly recommended that you join this organization while you are a student as the cost of joining is much higher after you cease to be a student. The Big 4 CPA firms websites are excellent sources of current peer-reviewed publications regarding all aspects of accounting.
The International Accounting Standards Boards (IASB) is a source of peer-reviewed publications regarding international accounting.
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Answer
The board gets quite engaged in deliberating lease accounting concerns that gets viewed via the governmental lens, however, gets closely monitoring the leasing project by diverse strategies and approaches given at different governments and institutions (Norwalk, 2010). However, the dilemma for nonprofit organizations' budgets is that donors have the right to allocate their funds according to their interests.
· Weaknesses in governmental and accounting controls as opposed in the principles of non-profit accounting have added to difficulties which have plagues on the institutions of non-profits.
· The individuals and institutions also deal and manage non-profit organizations are expected to have a bigger familiarity with requirements that are unique of financial structures that are of non-profit and practices in accounting.
From the chosen articles, diverse tend to control their assets by the management as a result of the previous occurrences from which diverse future benefits of economy are anticipated towards flow of their governmental agencies (Maas, 2016). Most of the observers as well as the municipal capital markets normally asset that the diverse causes of misapprehension of the actual financial picture in different nonprofit or governmental organizations that use funds accounting as well as the lack of good reporting systems and internal control. The capital assets accounted for in government and not-for-profit organizations since they undertake the position on opposition. Lastly, from the article, GASB an important feature that contrasts the revenue recognition of a non-profit entity versus a budget of government entity. Before recognizing an entity, the criteria to be met is:
· Collectability is supposed to get assured reasonably
· Price of the seller to that of the buyer should be determined or fixed
· Delivery should have taken place or serves offered
· Come to a persuasive evidence of a given arrangement
Maas, K., Schaltegger, S., & Crutzen, N. (2016). Integrating corporate sustainability assessment, management accounting, control, and reporting. Journal of Cleaner Production, 136, 237-248. Retrieved From: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652616304632
Norwalk. (2010). GASB ISSUES SUGGESTED GUIDELINES FOR VOLUNTARY REPORTING OF SERVICE EFFORTS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS (SEA) PERFORMANCE INFORMATION. Retrieved From: https://www.gasb.org/cs/ContentServer?c=GASBCon%3Ftent_C&cid=1176157102416&d=&pagename=GASB%2FGASBContent_C%2FGASBNewsPage
Tax Accounting
Based on Week 4 discussion 1 plus additional research – include in Week 4 assignment
No later than Wednesday, post the financial and auditing aspects of your research topic.
Answer
The principle of revenue recognition is essential in that it helps in ensuring that diverse management reports revenues at the correct amount are accounted for in the right period of accounting. This matching principle helps in the recording of management in the expenses at the right quantities as well as the period of accounting. In 1999 the GASB issued a statement allowing these institutions to present a comparative financial statement showing the entities performance in relation to the approved budgets” (Black, et.al, 2018). Timely and accurate statements offer fundamental data to offer support to decision making as well as fiscal monitoring, prepare for the organization’s tax in time and to prevent any mistakes that could be costly. Generally, there have been different concepts and regulations that have gotten used to leading the fillings of tax, accounting and auditing (Bently, et.al, 2018). These regulations and rules are most prevalent to increase in accounting guidelines and principles which comprise of foundations which are legalistic, complicated and detailed in accounting.
GAAP, that is, the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles consist of rules which are essential and that get followed and set mostly in the accounting strategies and standards for reporting in indifferent stages. Nevertheless, the IFRS, that is, International Financial Reporting Standards that tend to be customary and which get developed by a non-profit and self-governing society known as the International Accounting Standards Boards (Rutledge, et.al, 2016). Besides, it is clear that the aspect of revenue recognition is a GAAP which identifies the distinct conditions whereby revenue does not only get recognized but also determines the best way to account for the same. Basically, revenue also gets recognized once a crucial occurrence has taken place and the amount of the dollar gets measurable easily to the institution.
References
Bentley, J. W., Christensen, T. E., Gee, K. H., & Whipple, B. C. (2018). Disentangling managers’ and analysts’ non‐GAAP reporting. Journal of Accounting Research, 56(4), 1039-1081.
Black, D. E., Christensen, T. E., Ciesielski, J. T., & Whipple, B. C. (2018). Non‐GAAP reporting: Evidence from academia and current practice. Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, 45(3-4), 259-294.
Rutledge, R. W., Karim, K. E., & Kim, T. (2016). The FASB's and IASB's New Revenue Recognition Standard: What Will Be the Effects on Earnings Quality, Deferred Taxes, Management Compensation, and on Industry‐Specific Reporting?. Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance, 27(6), 43-48.
Week 4 Discussion 2 Tax accounting aspects of your research topic
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No later than Wednesday, post the tax accounting aspects of your research topic with a reference list with a minimum of 3 items. A minimum of 3 value-adding postings are required on 3 different days with the initial posting made no later than Wednesday
Answer
Diverse companies tend to control their assets by the management as a result of the previous occurrences from which diverse future benefits of economy are anticipated towards flow of their governmental agencies. Most of the observers as well as the municipal capital markets normally asset that the diverse causes of misapprehension of the actual financial picture in different nonprofit or governmental organizations that use funds accounting as well as the lack of good reporting systems and internal control. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board whereby diverse efforts have been depicted as essential to facilitate the development of a comprehensive expense as well as revenue recognition model (Kidwell & Lowensohn, 2018). I think that the government have had to rely on other attributes to assess equal value, such as benefit and cost recovery, but relying on these attributes produces inconsistent results because it relies in the amount of the transaction.
The second aspect is the statements of Financial Accounting Standards are usually put together to help in addressing financial transparency and accounting issues. The FASB, that is, the Financial Accounting Standards Board is a non-profit company which is responsible for the establishment of financial and accounting standards for companies and organizations dealing with non-profits in the United States of America (Brusca, et.al, 2016). In addition, the FASB has the authority of establishing as well as interpreting diverse accepted principles of accounting in companies.
Also, there are Statements 69 and 92. On 69, it facilitates how acquisitions that tend to carry out a governmental entity, it has to measure the obligations and properties (if any) connected to assimilated object’s asset superannuation duties, using the accounting and financial requirements of Statement 83 (if applicable) (Khumawala, et.al, 2020).
References
Brusca, I., & Martínez, J. C. (2016). Adopting international public sector accounting standards: A challenge for modernizing and harmonizing public sector accounting. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 82(4), 724-744.
Khumawala, S. B., Ranasinghe, T., & Yan, C. J. (2020). Real effects of governmental accounting standards: Evidence from GASB statement No. 53–Accounting and financial reporting for derivative instruments. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 106719.
Kidwell, L., & Lowensohn, S. (2018). Stakeholder participation in the governmental accounting standard-setting process. Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management
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Week 5 discussion 1: Governmental accounting issues
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No later than Wednesday, post governmental accounting issues related to your research topic. A minimum of 3 value-adding postings on three different days are required with the initial posting made no later than Wednesday.
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Answer
According to research, if a client pays in advance; for instance, if one needs a deposit as part of one’s contract, the revenue recognition principle then states that an individual is expected to record the revenue as a certain liability. After completing the given work and the satisfaction of a contract, one is expected to change the recording from a certain liability towards revenue. In that case, revenue gets recognized when the payment gets assured and when it is earned. Different organizations put their emphasis mainly on caring disposition, leadership competencies, and moral character (Rutledge, et.al, 2016). Besides, the focus of the three concepts ensures that a not for profit organization is essential towards proving its responsibility competencies and get to be more competitive without getting driven by profit (Zietlow, et.al, 2018). Different policy trackers summarize some of the vital economic responses which governments are taking to limiting the economic and human effect of the COVID – 19 crisis. The statements of changes, expenditures, and revenues in fund usually balance the income statements by tracking resources which flow in and out of the business.
In addition to the above, when looking at the concept of revenue recognition, the standards of GASB; that is, the Government Accounting Standards Board, offer the expected guidance for the same for any transactions which are non-exchange in statements 36 and 33 (Mnif & Gafsi, 2020). On the other hand, the standards offer guidance that is limited for exchange which has not been re-examined and applied generally via practice and custom. In addition, the project considers the development on either improving or guiding on revenue recognition as it relates to:
. The differentiation between non-exchange and exchange-like transactions.
. Exchange like and exchange transactions that have several elements
. The transactions of exchange with single elements.
.
References
Mnif, Y., & Gafsi, Y. (2020). A contingency theory perspective on the analysis of central government accounting disclosure under the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). Meditari Accountancy Research.
Zietlow, J., Hankin, J. A., Seidner, A., & O'Brien, T. (2018). Financial management for nonprofit organizations: policies and practices. John Wiley & Sons
Week 5 discussion 2: Potential ethical issues and forensic accounting
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Find a minimum of two peer-reviewed publications about ethical issues and forensic accounting (e.g., tax fraud, financial reporting fraud) that you can relate to your research project topic. Briefly summarize each publication plus have a sentence or two as to how the publication does or could impact your research project paper topic. Attach copies of the publications that you use for this discussion.
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As per the FASB; that is, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, diverse financial statement of these organizations explains the liabilities and assets of these companies. The statements also give data as well as information regarding how the donations or even the resources get used plus some of the choices the administrative board of given companies have undertaken to allocate the funds towards a good cause. The manuscript has been essential in that it has explained on how forensic accountants as well as fraud examiners tend to be both in the business of analysing and inspecting diverse financial transactions (Magnanelli, et.al, 2017). When looking at inventory fraud, there are diverse aspects which consist of the receiver of the bribe as well as the individual or parties alleged to commit the fraud. Some of the aspects of inventory fraud include:
i. To request as well as collect financial data for diverse documents dealing with finances.
ii. In the case that there may not be any clear evidence of innocence or guilt, it is advisable that the defendant gets encouraged to make their relevant argument as well as obtain ample information that will be essential in reasonably settling the case.
In addition, the second manuscript explains that it should be noted that IRS laws change continuously and it is always necessary to be informed of what the government allows to declare each year to avoid a problem with the IRS. The IRS, that is, Internal Revenue Service could save a lump sum of cash by improving its determinations which get forged near the prevention of identity theft as well as fraud (Ferrante, et.al, 2019). From the article by Ferrante, it is clear that social security numbers have been reported to be the skeleton to identity theft. That is the reason as to why most individuals pretend to be from the Social Security to guarantee this scam.
References
Ferrante, F. A., & Kim, A. J. (2019). Opportunity Zone Investments: Guidance From the Internal Revenue Service. Journal of Taxation of Investments, 36(4). Retrieved from: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R45152.pdf
Magnanelli, B. S., Nasta, L., & Pirolo, L. (2017). Preventing financial statement frauds through better corporate governance.
Week 6 discussion 1: Unresolved Questions for Future Research
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No later than Wednesday, post a list of at least three unresolved accounting problems that will serve as suggested future research related to your topic. Toward the end of a research paper, a list of suggested future research typically is presented. One research paper is not expected to answer all of the problems. Addressing at least one current accounting problem within your topic area for each of the basic accounting areas (e.g., financial, managerial, tax, auditing and forensic) incorporating both United States (i.e., domestic) and international aspects per research paper meets expectations.
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Answer
The three major unresolved issues in revenue recognition comprise the IRS position in the market, procedures employed in taxation, and Tax Vox. To begin with, the position of the IRS is essential to the economy of the United States. However, the IRS may somehow be unfair to some organizations with their operations in the domestic markets. The IRS is strict about the government's taxes by different companies and individuals in the country. With strict regulations and policies, it does not mean that the institution is doing well in revenue collection among businesses and citizens. Some strictness may somehow force companies to move outside the United States (Rikhardsson & Yigitbasioglu, 2018). High taxation in a period such as COVID-19 is a business problem for many companies operating in the United States.
The procedurally taxing methodology by the government is another issue that will not go away any time soon. The reason is that despite the government collecting taxes, it does not mean that it educates citizens and companies on doing so. The government may introduce policies that may be detrimental to businesses but may take time to communicate about them to different country stakeholders. In turn, dissatisfaction is created, which pushes companies to bankrupt, considering that they have to deal with high taxes compared to their revenues.
Lastly, tax Vox looks into tax policy and administration. The United States does not have a robust Taxpayer Advocacy Service, which exposes the citizens and their businesses to the government's extortion. Such a framework may have protected many citizens, mostly low-earning individuals, from the government's high taxation. More research has to be undertaken in the area to ensure that individuals understand their tax rights.
References
Rikhardsson, P., & Yigitbasioglu, O. (2018). Business intelligence & analytics in management accounting research: Status and future focus. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 29, 37-58.
Week 6 discussion 2 Hypothesis (i.e., your expectations and predictions)
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No later than Wednesday, post one or more hypothesis (i.e., guess as to how the problem will be resolved and/or addressed in the future) regarding what you expect your original research to reveal. Start with your research question as included in your IRB Review Application and revise it based on the work that you have completed subsequently to submitting the application. Briefly explain how the background and history of your research topic lead you from the question (include as part of your posting) to your one or more research hypotheses.
Eight weeks is a very short period of time to complete a research paper. It takes five weeks to build an adequate foundation for you to develop your hypothesis or hypotheses. As you are not writing a dissertation, the classic approach is not taken regarding a hypothesis or hypotheses. You are to make educated guesses as to the current status and future potential changes or debates regarding your topic.
You will present your arguments and/or opinions throughout your report that reflect your educated guesses. You will be adding original writing about your arguments and/or opinions throughout your report related to material that you have collected and included prior to week 6. You are now an expert regarding your topic even though there is still more to learn about your topic. We never stop learning.
One cannot research forever without drawing conclusions and presenting opinions. Conclusions and opinions may change in the future, but you are to present your conclusions and opinions based on the work that you have completed.
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Answer
Revenue recognition is instrumental in building the right economy for a country. Two critical hypotheses focus on the position of the IRS and the COVID-19 to influence the developments of illegal operations of auditors and fraudsters. The two hypotheses are crucial in influencing effective business and economic developments in the country. First, the IRS is a major issue to consider regarding how taxation is undertaken in the United States. Strict regulations eliminate aspects such as tax evasion and illegal businesses (PWC, 2020). The government can identify and track fraudsters to ensure that the economy is not sabotaged at any given time. With the right standards, such as NCPOA and NOCLAR, the government can get a share of the economy in the largest way possible.
However, the main issue is the implications of such policies on the life of citizens. Citizens have to remain with a huge earning despite paying their taxes to the government. The second hypothesis includes COVID-19, which has somehow disrupted developments of the economy across the globe. Businesses are in shambles because they lack the right framework to save themselves from the pandemic due to approaches such as mandatory curfews and lockdowns. Such approaches have encouraged voids and gaps in terms of companies having to interact with their customers. Sales have and continue to dwindle, putting some of the business at risk of closing their manufacturing and sale infrastructure.
Despite the challenges, the government continues to tax individuals and companies, which somehow creates a major development crisis when it comes to their investments. It would be important for the government to consider strategies that are more focused on influencing businesses' support through tax reductions.
References
PWC. (2020). Coronavirus: Impact on the tech industry worldwide. PWC Official Website . Retrieved from https://www.pwc.com/us/en/library/covid-19/coronavirus-technology-impact.html
Week 7 discussion 2: How Concepts Statements impact decision making relative to your research topic
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No later than Wednesday, post how the Concepts Statements impact and/or could impact decision making relative to your research topic. The various standard setting bodies (e.g., FASB, GASB, PCAOB, IASB) all have Concepts Statements. You are required to have a section of your final research report to include your creative analytical thoughts on how the Concepts Statements impact and/or could impact decision making relative to your research topic.
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According to research, concepts statements or rather the conceptual framework when looking at revenue recognition depicts a body of interrelated fundamentals and objectives. These objectives are essential in identifying the purposes as well as the goals of financial reporting plus the fundamentals have been underlying aspects which aid attain these objectives (No, 2018). The Financial Accounting Standards Board framework consists of five concepts which relate to the comprehensive income of financial performance; that is, comprehensive income, losses, expenses and gains and revenues. On the other hand, the International Accounting Standards Board framework comprises of just two; (expenses and income). These statements have been working on a prevalent Conceptual Framework in revenue recognition which promotes the convergence of the IFRS; that is, International Financial Reporting Standards and the United States. Ultimately, the Generally Applied Accounting Principles lead to a single set of global accounting standards of high quality.
In addition to the above, it is significant that the FASB and the IASB share a mutual conception framework so as to facilitate convergence, completion, updating and refinement between the existing FASB concepts statements and IASB framework. The concepts statements addresses:
· Disclosure and presentation
· De-recognition and recognition (Baker, 2017)
· The concepts of financial statements
· The financial statements as well as the reporting entities
· Qualitative features of useful financial information.
From the work above, it is clear that revenue recognition has different concepts frameworks could apply to numerous disciplines, however, when distinctly related to financial reporting. These documents; that is, IASB, GASB and FASB are usually intended to serve the interests of the public by setting certain concepts, qualitative characteristics plus the objectives which guide the selection of phenomena that is economic for the measured and recognized for financial reporting.