ACC 206 All Assignments, Journals and DQs ( Latest Syllabus - Updated Jan, 2015 - Perfect Tutorial - Scored 100% )

Week 1

Overview

Discussions
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1. Cash Flows Information

What information does the cash flow statement provide that you cannot see in the other financial statements (income statement, balance sheet, owner’s equity)? What elements of the cash flow statement do you think are most important for company management to monitor and why? Is this different for investors?

Guided Response:

Review your peers’ posts. Respond to at least two of classmates, letting them know whether you agree with the use of the cash flow statement and why. Additionally, share elements of the cash flow statement that you see as being the greatest interest to investors (as opposed to internal management) and why.

1. Apple's Cash Flow

Go to  http://finance.yahoo.com. Enter in “AAPL” and click on the “get quote” button, and it will bring up information on Apple. On the left hand side you’ll see a section on Financials. Within that section, click on the cash flow. Review the cash flow statement for Apple. How would you summarize Apple’s cash flow position and what does this statement tell you about where the money is coming from and where it’s going? What should Apple do to improve its cash position and why?

Guided Response:

Analyze several of your peers’ posts. Respond to at least two of your classmates, letting them know whether you agree with their posts and what you would add.

Assignment
To complete the following assignment, go to this week's Assignment link in the left navigation. 

Chapter One Problems 

Please complete each of the exercises below. Save the document, and submit using the Assignment Submission button. 

  Week One Assignment: Chapter One Problems 

Week 2

Overview

Discussions
To participate in the following discussions, go to this week's Discussion link in the left navigation.

1. Stock Features

What is "callable preferred stock"? Why do corporations issue such stock? Given the different features that are associated with stock (callable, cumulative, preferred, etc.), what type of stock would you want to buy personally and why?

Guided Response:
Review your peer’s responses. Respond to at least two of your peers, letting them know if you agree with their type of desired stock and whether your answer would change and why based on:

a. Different economic conditions and 
b. Stage of the company (if the company is in a growth phase versus a mature state).

1. Role of Management Accounting 

Review the roles of management accounting within a company. What is the most important role of management accounting? How is that different than financial accounting?

Guided Response:
Review your peers’ posts. Respond to at least two of your classmates, and provide at least two areas that management accountants focus on that your classmates didn’t include. 

Journal
To complete the following journal entry, go to this week's Journal link in the left navigation.

Institute of Management Accounting 
While there are many instances of overlap between financial accounting and management accounting, each group’s primary focus is different. Review the Institute of Management Accounting’s (IMA) website, specifically the “About IMA” and the “Resources and Publications” sections of the website. Are you surprised by the topics that management accountants are focusing on? Why or why not? What interests you more, financial accounting or management accounting?
Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your journal entry.
Assignment
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Chapter Two and Three Problems 

Please complete each of the exercises below. Save the document, and submit using the Assignment Submission button. 
  Week Two Assignment: Chapter Two and Three Problems

Week 3
Overview

Discussions
To participate in the following discussions, go to this week's Discussion link in the left navigation.

1. Issues in Costing 
   
   Describe three issues/problems that a company could encounter when trying to determine the actual cost of a good or service to be used in the cost of goods sold. For each of your issues, provide an example of a company or industry where these issues could be present.

Guided Response:
Review your peers’ posts and respond to at least two of your classmates.  Describe how job order costing or activity-based costing could resolve the issues your classmates mentioned in their posts. 

1. CVP and the Airline Industry 
   
   We’ve all experienced (or heard about) the challenges that the airlines have been facing. Read the Zacks Investment Research article, “Airline Industry Stock Outlook – August 2012.” Identify three factors that are affecting airline company’s ability to break even. For each of your factors, discuss how these have an impact on the breakeven (contribution margin, fixed costs, variable costs, a combination, etc.), and what happens if these factors increase or decrease.

Guided Response:
Review your peers’ posts and respond to at least two of your peers.  In each response, add two factors that your classmate hasn’t included and explain how your additional factors influence the break-even point. 

Journal
To complete the following journal entry, go to this week's Journal link in the left navigation.

Hershey Company 
Go the Hershey website  to learn how to make Hershey chocolate. Review the process and take a look at some of the videos. Pay particular attention to the process steps of milling and pressing, mixing the ingredients, and refining.

In at least one paragraph, describe the costing system that you would recommend Hershey use  to account for its cost of goods sold and why. Include a few product costs you think would be traceable, which costs should be allocated, and how Hershey should account and apply the manufacturing overhead costs.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your journal entry.

Assignment
To complete the following assignment, go to this week's Assignment link in the left navigation. 

Chapter Four and Five Problems 
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Week Three Assignment: Chapter Four and Five Problems

Week 4

Overview

Discussions
To participate in the following discussions, go to this week's Discussion link in the left navigation.

1. Issues in Standard Costs and Budgeting 
   
   Review the Standard costs: wake up and smell the coffee.[j1]  article.

When evaluating performance, many organizations compare current results with the actual results of previous accounting periods. Is an organization that follows this approach likely to encounter any problems? Explain.

Guided Response:
Review your peers’ posts and respond to at least two of your classmates. Describe how job order costing, process costing, or activity based costing could resolve or exacerbate the issues your classmates discussed in their initial posts.

1. Flexible Budgets 
   
   Flexible budgets provide different information than static budgets. Discuss some of these differences. Is a flexible budget always better? Are there times when you’d recommend using a static budget over a flexible budget?

Guided Response:
Review your peers’ posts and respond to at least two of your classmates.  Discuss whether you agree or disagree with the uses of a flexible budget and why.

Assignment
To complete the following assignment, go to this week's Assignment link in the left navigation. 

Chapter Six and Seven Problems 

Please complete each of the exercises below. Save the document, and submit using the Assignment Submission button. 

Week Four Assignment: Chapter Six and Seven Problems 

Week 5

Overview

Discussions
To participate in the following discussions, go to this week's Discussion link in the left navigation.

1. Long-Term Decision Making 
   
   List a few of the issues and considerations businesses should have when it comes to the selection of long-term investments and how those issues impact the various financial statements.
   Guided Response:
   Review your peer’s posts. Respond to at least two of your peers describing how these issues can be overcome by the tools discussed in this chapter and why (i.e., looking at IRR, NPV, cash flow).
2. Responsibilities in Management Accounting 
   
   Review the Rights and Responsibilities of Certified Management Accountants Article: 
   
   Rights & Responsibilities of a Certified Management Accountant
   
   What are some of the ethical responsibilities and obligations that management accountants have within an organization? Provide some examples. Are these responsibilities different than the obligations for financial accountants?
   
   Guided Response:
   Review your peer’s posts. Respond to at least two of your peers outlining the responsibilities that you feel are the most important to management accountants.

Assignment
To complete the following assignment, go to this week's Assignment link in the left navigation. 

Chapter Eight Problems 
Please complete each of the exercises below. Save the document, and submit using the Assignment Submission button. 
Week Five Assignment: Chapter Eight Problems

Final Paper

To complete the following final paper, go to this week's Final Paper link in the left navigation. 

Focus of the Final Paper
You’ve just been hired onto ABC Company as the corporate controller. ABC Company is a manufacturing firm that specializes in making cedar roofing and siding shingles. The company currently has annual sales of around $1.2 million, a 25% increase from the previous year. The company has an aggressive growth target of reaching $3 million annual sales within the next 3 years. The CEO has been trying to find additional products that can leverage the current ABC employee skillset as well as the manufacturing facilities.    

As the controller of ABC Company, the CEO has come to you with a new opportunity that he’s been working on. The CEO would like to use the some of the shingle scrap materials to build cedar dollhouses. While this new product line would add additional raw materials and be more time-intensive to manufacture than the cedar shingles, this new product line will be able to leverage ABC’s existing manufacturing facilities as well as the current staff. Although this product line will require added expenses, it will provide additional revenue and gross profit to help reach the growth targets. The CEO is relying on you to help decide how this project can be afforded  Provide details about the estimated product costs, what is needed to break even on the project, and what level of return this product is expected to provide.

In order to help out the CEO, you need to prepare a six- to eight-page report that will contain the following information (including exhibits, but excluding your references and title page). Refer to the accompanying Excel spreadsheet (available through your online course) for some specific cost and profit information to complete the calculations.
Final Paper Spreadsheet
I. An overall risk profile of the company based on current economic and industry issues that it may be facing. 
II. Current company cash flow

a. You need to complete a cash flow statement for the company using the direct method.
b. Once you’ve completed the cash flow statement, answer the following questions:

i. What does this statement of cash flow tell you about the sources and uses of the company?
ii. Is there anything ABC Company can do to improve the cash flow?
iii. Can this project be financed with current cash flow from the company? Why or why not?
iv. If the company needs additional financing beyond what ABC Company can provide internally (either now or sometime throughout the life of the project), how would you suggest the company obtain the additional financing, equity or corporate debt, and why?

III. Product cost: ABC Company believes that it has an additional 5,000 machine hours available in the current facility before it would need to expand. ABC Company uses machine hours to allocate the fixed factory overhead, and units sold to allocate the fixed sales expenses. ABC Company expects that it will take twice as long to produce the expansion product as it currently takes to produce its existing product.

a. What is the product cost for the expansion product?
b. By adding this new expansion product, it helps to absorb the fixed factory and sales expenses. How much cheaper does this expansion make the existing product?
c. Assuming ABC Company wants a 40% gross margin for the new product, what selling price should it set for the expansion product? 
d. Assuming the same sales mix of these two products, what are the contribution margins and break-even points by product?

IV. Potential investments to accelerate profit: ABC company has the option to purchase additional equipment that will cost about $42,000, and this new equipment will produce the following savings in factory overhead costs over the next five years: 
Year 1, $15,000
Year 2, $13,000
Year 3, $10,000
Year 4, $10,000
Year 5, $6,000

ABC Company uses the net-present-value method to analyze investments and desires a minimum rate of return of 12% on the equipment.

a. What is the net present value of the proposed investment ignore income taxes and depreciation?
b. Assuming a 5-year straight-line depreciation, how will this impact the factory’s fixed costs for each of the 5 years (and the implied product costs)? What about cash flow?
c. Considering the cash flow impact of the equipment as well as the time-value of money, would you recommend that ABC Company purchases the equipment? Why or why not? 

V. Conclusion:

a. What are the major risk factors that you see in this project?
b. As the controller and a management accountant, what is your responsibility to this project?
c. What do you recommend the CEO do?
Writing the Final Paper
1.    Must be six to eight double-spaced pages in length, and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
2.    Must include a title page with the following:

a.    Title of paper
b.    Student’s name
c.    Course name and number
d.    Instructor’s name
e.    Date submitted

3.    Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement.
4.    Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.
5.    Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis.
6.    Must document all sources in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
7.    Must include a separate reference page, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
Carefully review the  Grading Rubric  for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.