Cost and Decision-Making Analysis

Cheryl Montoya picked up the phone and called her boss, Wes Chan, Vice President of Marketing at Piedmont Fasteners Corporation.

Cheryl: “Wes, I'm not sure how to go about answering the questions that came up at the meeting with the President yesterday.”

Wes: “What's the problem?”.

Cheryl: “The president wanted to know the break-even point for each of the company's products, but I am having trouble figuring them out.”

Wes: “I'm sure you can handle it, Cheryl. And, by the way, I need your analysis on my desk tomorrow morning at 8:00 sharp in time for the follow-up meeting at 9:00.”

Piedmont Fasteners Corporation makes three different clothing fasteners at its manufacturing facility in North Carolina. Data concerning these products appear below:

  Velcro Metal Nylon

Normal annual sales volume 100,000 units 200,000 units 400,000 units

Unit selling price $1.65 $1.50 $0.85

Variable cost per unit $1.25 $0.70 $0.25

Total fixed expenses are $400,000 per year.

All three products are sold in highly competitive markets, so the company is unable to raise its prices without losing unacceptably large numbers of customers.

The company has a very effective lean production system, so there is no beginning or ending work in process or finished-goods inventories.

Using the module readings, the online library resources, and the Internet, research break-even point and costing systems. Analyze the case based on your research and what you have learned so far in the course.

Respond to the following:

Calculate the company's overall break-even point in total sales dollars. Explain your methodology (approximately 2 pages).

Of the total fixed costs of $400,000: $20,000 could be avoided if the Velcro product were dropped, $80,000 if the Metal product were dropped, and $60,000 if the Nylon product were dropped. The remaining fixed costs of $240,000 consist of common fixed costs such as administrative salaries and rent on the factory building that could be avoided only by going out of business entirely (approximately 2 pages):

Calculate the break-even point in units for each product. Explain your methodology.

Determine the overall profit of the company if the company sells exactly the break-even quantity of each product. Present your results.

Evaluate costing systems for this company. Explain if this company should be using a job-order or process-costing system to accumulate costs (1 page).

Be sure to include your calculations in Microsoft Excel format.

Write a 5 page report in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. 

Absorption versus Variable Costing

There are several ways a company can allocate overhead costs to products produced or services provided. Two of these methods are absorption costing and variable costing. This assignment will allow you to explore the two methods of costing and compare/contrast the different uses of each costing system.

Using the module readings and online library resources, research absorption and variable costing. Use your research and/or your experiences as a working professional to complete this assignment.

Respond to the following:

Explain the differences between absorption costing and variable costing.

Explain, with the help of an example, how a company could use a variable costing system, as well as an absorption costing system. You have the option of using the company you work for as an example.

Explain which method is better for the company being discussed.

By the due date assigned, post your response to the Discussion Area. Through the end of the module, review and comment on at least two peers’ responses.

Write your initial response in 300 words. Your response should be thorough and address all components of the discussion question in detail, include citations of all sources, where needed, according to the APA Style, and demonstrate accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation

As a partof the preparation for the 7thInternational Conference on Spatial Structures (to be held in Guildford in 2020), the University is developing an information hub for Spatial Structures. This project is to research on the relevant resources and to produce an appropriate classification to make the platform.

Read the Case Study 1-22 Organizational Reports to Stakeholders on p. 29 in Core Concepts of Accounting Information Systems.

Write a 45- to 175- word response to each of the six questions in the case study.

1-22.  Organizational Reports to Stakeholders

The annual report is considered by some to be the single most important printed document that companies produce. In recent years, annual reports have become large documents. They now include such sections as letters to the stockholders, descriptions of the business, operating highlights, financial review, management discussion and analysis, segment reporting, and inflation data as well as the basic financial statements. The expansion has been due in part to a general increase in the degree of sophistication and complexity in accounting standards and disclosure requirements for financial reporting.

The expansion also reflects the change in the composition and level of sophistication of users. Current users include not only stockholders, but financial and securities analysts, potential investors, lending institutions, stockbrokers, customers, employees, and (whether the reporting company likes it or not) competitors. Thus, a report that was originally designed as a device for communicating basic financial information now attempts to meet the diverse needs of an expanding audience.

Users hold conflicting views on the value of annual reports. Some argue that annual reports fail to provide enough information, whereas others believe that disclosures in annual reports have expanded to the point where they create information overload. The future of most companies depends on acceptance by the investing public and by their customers; therefore, companies should take this opportunity to communicate well-defined corporate strategies.

Requirements

    The mission of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation. Identify several ways that the SEC accomplishes its mission.

    The goal of preparing an annual report is to communicate information from a company to its targeted users. (a) Identify and discuss the basic factors of communication that must be considered in the presentation of this information. (b) Discuss the communication problems a company faces in preparing the annual report due to the diversity of the users being addressed.

    Select two types of information found in an annual report, other than the financial statements and accompanying footnotes, and describe how they are useful to the users of annual reports.

    Discuss at least two advantages and two disadvantages of stating well-defined corporate strategies in the annual report.

    Evaluate the effectiveness of annual reports in fulfilling the information needs of the following current and potential users: (a) shareholders, (b) creditors, (c) employees, (d) customers, and (e) financial analysts.

    Annual reports are public and accessible to anyone, including competitors. Discuss how this affects decisions about what information should be provided in annual reports.

Ideally you should have a number of pieces/genres to choose from and it is appropriate that you include the best examples in your portfolio. Try to choose three distinctive genres and write to the particulars of each form in terms of register, style, content and form. This activity will allow you to develop diverse writing skills that can be used in the workplace as well as at University.
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You also need to develop a critical reflection describing the process tinvolved in developing your portfolio. Comparing and contrasting each piece of writing is a good way in which to address both differences and similarities in style, form, content and register.
This assessment task is designed to enable you to engage in your writing and part of this involves identifying what constitutes good writing, and also the application of good writing principles.
Rationale
The aim of this assessment task is to provide you with the opportunity to: 

• Write ar a level that meets professional expectations with respect to grammar, spelling, sentence construction, accuracy and clarity
• Write effectively across a range of genres
• Write competently in a range of registers, from formal to informal*
• Identify what constitutes good writing in and outside of their professional fields
• Be able to apply good writig principles
* The fact that 3 different genres are required in the portfolio means that there will be shifts in register/tone relevant to the genre undertaken. The critical reflection will also require adopting an appropriate register that ideally is both engaging (requiring a degree of informaity) as well as formal enough to precisely identify the genres undertaken.

Presentation
It is recommended that you choose three of your best pieces of writing practised during the session and they need to be three different genres. It is also recommended that each writing form be a maximum of 500 words each. The three 500 word writing forms should come to a total of 1,500 words. Then set aside another 500 words for your Critical Reflection. All up your word count should be approximately 2,000 words give or take 10%. 

If relevant also ensure that you provide in-text citations and a reference list if you source the work of others and this would normally be applicable to your critical reflection.

Requirements
Make sure your portfolio and your critical reflection meet basic expectations in regard writing fluently and correctly. Drafting, proofreading and editing are essential in creating polished pieces of work and this is important in both your portfolio of writing and your critical reflection

How are data used in your business / organization? Is it basic reporting or advance predictive analysis and data mining? What questions are being answered? How are strategic business decisions being made in your organization? Can you provide an example of a business decision that did or did not leverage data in your organization, what were the results?

If you do not work for an organization right now, do a Google search to find the answers to the questions above for a particular organization (be sure to provide links as a reference). Provide specifics.

Access Restrictions

In a business environment, controlling who has access to business information and at what level is critical for facilitating day-to-day business operations. There are three levels of information access: no access, read access, and read-write access. Use a business of your choice to answer the criteria for this assignment. 

Write a four to five (4-5) page paper in which you:

1. Identify the business you have selected.
2. Create five (5) cases in which the no-access level should be applied within the selected business environment. Explain the reasons for no access.
3. Provide five (5) cases in which the read-access level should be applied within a business environment. Explain the reasons for read access.
4. Provide five (5) cases in which the read-write level should be applied within the selected business. Explain the reasons for read-write access.
5. Determine the type of access levels you would provide to a contractor or consultant.
6. Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Define authorization and access to an IT infrastructure based on an access control policy framework.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in access control.
• Write clearly and concisely about topics related to Security Access & Control Strategies using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.

Compose a letter to your state governor(West Virginia) regarding the death penalty. In this letter, explain your position regarding capital punishment. In your explanation, be sure to draw upon ethical theories, concepts, and reasoning to support your position. State whether or not the death penalty should be abolished and why. The letter should be 1 page in length, double spaced, and free of grammatical errors. Please see the attached for grading rubrics. 

Why is U.S. health care so costly? Why have almost all past cost controls failed? What are the best ways to contain health care costs, and how can we do so without harming access or quality?

The project is for pharmacy student and undertaken in a chemistry lab. the project is about making a new drug and analyze it using Thin layer chromatography, NMR and column chromatography to determine the presence of a pure compound. four experiments are done. first experiment inculded 2-aminobenzimidazole+ 2-bromacetophenone. Second included 2-aminobenzimidazole+ benzyle chloride. Third experiment included 2-aminobenzimidazole+ 2-bromacetophenone but was prepared in a different way than experiment one. experiment four included 2-mercaptobenzothiazol+ benzyle chloride. All three experiments failed to get a pure product when tested for NMR and TLC. Fourth experiment passes to get a pure product from the reaction. ​