Analysing the Accounting Information

HI5019 T2 2020 Assessment 1: Individual Assignment

1

HOLMES

INSTITUTE

FACULTY OF

HIGHER

EDUCATION

ASSESSMENT DETAILS AND SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Trimester T2 2020

Unit Code HI5019

Unit Title Strategic Information Systems for Business and Enterprise

Assessment Type Assessment 1: Individual Assignment

Assessment Title Analysing an Accounting Information System

Purpose of the

assessment (with

ULO Mapping)

Students are required to:

• Demonstrate theoretical and practical knowledge of Accounting

Information System.

• Articulate the various transaction cycles, financial reporting,

and management reporting systems to technical and non-

technical stakeholders.

• Evaluate various internal control process of an accounting

information system.

Weight 20% of the total assessments.

Total Marks 20 Marks.

Word limit 2000 words ± 10%.

Due Date The written report is due in Week 7, dated 4th September 2020, on

Friday at 11.59.

Submission

Guidelines

• All work must be submitted on Blackboard by the due date along with

a completed Assignment Cover Page.

• The assignment must be in MS Word format, double spacing, 12-pt

Arial font and 2 cm margins on all four sides of your page with

appropriate section headings and page numbers.

• Reference sources must be cited in the text of the report and listed

appropriately at the end in a reference list using Harvard referencing

style.

HI5019 T2 2020 Assessment 1: Individual Assignment

2

• Include a minimum of ten (10) references, at least five (5) from peer-

reviewed journal relevant to the unit.

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS

Analysing the Accounting Information System of HARDA Fashion.

HARDA Fashion sells ready-to-wear fashion clothes to teenagers. The company has a 20-store

chain concentrated in the north-eastern part of the United States of America. Each store has

the experienced full-time staff consist of a manager and an assistant manager. The full-time

staff is paid a fixed salary. The full-time staff is assisted with a cashier and a sales assistant

who have comparatively less experience. The cashier and sales assistant are paid hourly

wages plus the commission based on the volume of sales. HARDA Fashion uses

unsophisticated cash registered with four-parts sales invoice to record each financial

transaction. These sales invoices for the sales transaction irrespective of the payment type.

The record-keeping starts with the sales assistant on the sales floor. The sales assistant fills the

sales invoices manually by providing the following information:

1. Records his or her employee number.

2. Enters the transaction details including clothes item number, description, quantity,

and the unit price.

3. Totals the sales invoice.

4. Calculates the discounts manually when appropriate.

5. Calculates the sales tax.

6. Finalise the sales invoice after calculating the grand total.

The sales assistant then forwards the sale invoice to the cashier and keeps one copy in the

sales book.

The cashier reviews this sales invoice and enters in the cash register. The cash register

mechanically validates the invoice, automatically assigning a consecutive number to the

transaction. The cashier is also responsible for getting credit approval on charge sales and

approving sales paid by cheque. The cashier gives (1) one copy of the invoice to the customer,

(2) retains the second copy as a store copy, and (3) the third for a bankcard, if a deposit is

needed. Returns are handled in exactly the reverse manner, with the cashier issuing a return

slip.

At the end of each day, the cashier sequentially orders the sales invoices and takes cash

register totals for cash, bankcard, cheque sales, and cash and credit card return. These totals

are reconciled by the assistant manager to the cash register tapes, the total of the consecutively

numbered sales invoices, and the return slips. The assistant manager prepares a daily

reconciliation report for the store manager’s review.

HI5019 T2 2020 Assessment 1: Individual Assignment

3

The manager reviews cash, cheque, and credit card sales and then prepares the daily bank

deposit (credit card sales invoices are included in the deposit). The manager makes the deposit

at the bank and files the validated deposit slip.

The cash register tapes, sales invoices, and return slips are forwarded daily to the central data

processing department at corporate headquarters for processing. The data processing

department returns a weekly sales and commission activity report to the manager for review.

Required

Prepare a report to Chief Executive Officer of HARDA Fashion to evaluate its processes, risks,

and internal controls for its revenue cycle. In your report, you need to include the following

items:

1. Identify six strengths in HARDA’s system for controlling sales transactions.

2. For each strength identified, explain what problem(s) HARDA Fashion has avoided

by incorporating the strengths in the system for controlling sales transactions.

3. Identify two situational pressures in a company like HARDA Fashion that would

increase the likelihood of fraud.

4. Explain why some companies would choose to install a distributed computer system

rather than a centralised one.

Assignment Structure

The report should include the following components:

• Assignment Cover Page clearly stating your name and student number.

• Executive summary.

• A table of contents.

• The introduction.

• Body of the report with sections to answer the above issues and with appropriate

section headings.

• Conclusion and recommendations.

• List of references.

The report should be grounded on relevant literature, and all references must be cited

appropriately and included in the reference list.

HI5019 T2 2020 Assessment 1: Individual Assignment

4

Marking criteria

Marking criteria Weighting in

Total Grades

Strengths in HARDA’s system for controlling sales transactions 6%

Problems that HARDA Fashion has avoided by incorporating the

strength in the system for controlling sales transactions 6%

Situational pressures that would increase the likelihood of fraud 2%

Reasons for companies to install a distributed computer system rather

than a centralised one 2%

Research quality 4%

TOTAL Weight 20%

HI5019 T2 2020 Assessment 1: Individual Assignment 5

Marking Rubric

Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory

(80-100%) (70-79%) (60-69%) (50-59%) (0-49%)

Strengths in HARDA’s

system for controlling

sales transactions (6

Marks)

Present an excellent

discussion of strengths in

HARDA’s system with

supporting evidence

from the case.

Present a very good

discussion of strengths in

HARDA’s system with

supporting evidence

from the case.

Present a good discussion

of strengths in HARDA’s

system without

supporting evidence

from the case.

Present a reasonable

discussion of strengths in

HARDA’s system with

minor errors and/or

omissions.

Present a weak or

inadequate discussion of

strengths in HARDA’s

system with significant

errors and/or omissions.

Problems that HARDA

Fashion Limited has

avoided by incorporating

the strength in the system

for controlling sales

transactions (6 Marks)

Correctly identify all

problems that HARDA

Fashion has avoided with

supporting evidence

from the case.

Correctly identify most

problems that HARDA

Fashion has avoided with

supporting evidence

from the case.

Correctly identify most

problems that HARDA

Fashion has avoided

without supporting

evidence from the case.

Correctly identify most

problems that HARDA

Fashion has avoided with

minor errors and/or

omissions.

Fail to identify the

problems that HARDA

Fashion has avoided.

Situational pressures that

would increase the

likelihood of fraud (2

Marks)

Present an excellent

discussion of situational

pressures that would

increase the likelihood of

fraud.

Present a very good

discussion of situational

pressures that would

increase the likelihood of

fraud.

Present a good discussion

of situational pressures

that would increase the

likelihood of fraud with

minor errors and/or

omissions.

Present a reasonable

discussion of situational

pressures that would

increase the likelihood of

fraud with errors and/or

omissions.

Present a weak or

inadequate discussion of

situational pressures that

would increase the

likelihood of fraud with

errors and/or omissions.

Reasons for companies to

install a distributed

computer system rather

than a centralised one (2

Marks)

Present an excellent

discussion of reasons for

installing a distributed

computer system instead

of a centralised one.

Present a very good

discussion of reasons for

installing a distributed

computer system instead

of a centralised one.

Present a good discussion

of reasons for installing a

distributed computer

system instead of a

centralised one with

minor errors and/or

omissions.

Present a reasonable

discussion of reasons for

installing a distributed

computer system instead

of a centralised one with

errors and/or omissions.

Present a weak or

inadequate discussion of

reasons for installing a

distributed computer

system instead of a

centralised one.

Research quality (4

Marks)

An extensive amount of

high-quality evidence

from peer-reviewed

journal articles and other

sources was included and

used effectively to

support discussion.

A broad range of quality

peer-reviewed journal

references and other

sources was included and

used effectively to

support discussion.

An adequate range of

peer-reviewed journal

references was included

and used to support

discussion.

An adequate range of

peer-reviewed journal

references was included

and used to a basic extent

to support discussion.

Little or no peer-

reviewed journal

references were included,

and these were rarely

used to support

discussion effectively.

HI5019 T2 2020 Assessment 1: Individual Assignment

6

Academic Integrity

Holmes Institute is committed to ensuring and upholding Academic Integrity, as Academic

Integrity is integral to maintaining academic quality and the reputation of Holmes’ graduates.

Accordingly, all assessment tasks need to comply with academic integrity guidelines. Table

1 identifies the six categories of Academic Integrity breaches. If you have any questions about

Academic Integrity issues related to your assessment tasks, please consult your lecturer or

tutor for relevant referencing guidelines and support resources. Many of these resources can

also be found through the Study Sills link on Blackboard.

Academic Integrity breaches are a serious offence punishable by penalties that may range

from deduction of marks, failure of the assessment task or unit involved, suspension of

course enrolment, or cancellation of course enrolment.

Table 1: Six categories of Academic Integrity breaches

Plagiarism Reproducing the work of someone else without attribution.

When a student submits their own work on multiple

occasions this is known as self-plagiarism.

Collusion Working with one or more other individuals to complete an

assignment, in a way that is not authorised.

Copying Reproducing and submitting the work of another student,

with or without their knowledge. If a student fails to take

reasonable precautions to prevent their own original work

from being copied, this may also be considered an offence.

Impersonation Falsely presenting oneself, or engaging someone else to

present as oneself, in an in-person examination.

Contract cheating Contracting a third party to complete an assessment task,

generally in exchange for money or other manner of

payment.

Data fabrication and

falsification

Manipulating or inventing data with the intent of supporting

false conclusions, including manipulating images.

Source: INQAAHE, 2020