Cost Benefit Analysis free essay sample

Introduction This section covers 4 areas and should be written about the organisation as a whole not just the key area you will focus on later:- Overview of Business (cover PIC 1. 1, 1. 3, 1. 4) What do they do? How big are they? What external relationships do they have? Who are the key stakeholders? (key customers/ suppliers, staff, shareholders etc) Describe the accounts department structure (include a chart as appendix) How do they link with other departments? Financial Statements (cover PIC 1. 2) What Financial Statements do they produce? Why? – What is the purpose of each? What regulations are followed when preparing them? (internal policy, Co Act, UK GAAP, IFS, FRSSE) Regulations (cover PIC 2. 1, 1. 5) What other regulations do they comply with? ( tax, data protection, industry specific legislation? What happens when regulations change? Software (cover PIC 3. 3, 3. 4) Describe the accounting packages used, include details of what training is given to staff, do they have operational manuals or other written info, do they have help menus. We will write a custom essay sample on Cost Benefit Analysis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Why do they use these systems? What are the alternatives, are they better or worse 5 Review of XX system This section reviews one area of the accounting system.  ( Pick one where there are weaknesses with potential for errors in the accounts). This section has three areas to be covered:- System requirements (Cover EAS 1. 1) Describe the system requirements. E.. g if you are reviewing a sales system you would explain that the organisation wants a system that will record all sales, at the correct date, quantity, price, etc Describe the reports that will be useful e. g. aged debt reports, sales by product, branch, manager etc. Potential fraud (cover EAS 1. 2, 1. 4, PIC 2. 1, 2. 2, 3. 1) Describe what fraud is and what regulations there are over fraud. Describe what potential there is for fraud and what controls there are in place at the moment to mitigate this. Is the resulting fraud risk high or low? You can include the fraud grid from your plan as an appendix. In the report you should write explaining each area in full paragraphs. Other weaknesses (Cover PIC 3. 1, 3. 3, EAS 1. 2, 1. 3, 1. 5) Describe weaknesses where errors are made in the accounts (? x). This could be due to poor training, jobs being rushed, work not adequately supervised or checked, lack of motivation for staff, or poor process and lack of controls. Describe the impact to the business ? x error, time wasted et 6 Recommendations (cover PIC 1. 5, 2. 4, 3. 3, EAS 2. 1, 2. 2, 2. 3, 2. 4) You should have one recommendation for each weakness (high fraud risk or other weakness). For each one describe who will do what, how often, how long will it take. What training will be required, will a manual be written, how will the new policy / procedure be communicated to staff so they know what to do? What are the cost ? x and time taken to set up the new procedure. What are the benefits – save time, reduce risk of errors / fraud, quicker info, better info? Provide a cost benefit analysis with detailed workings in an appendix ( you can use the table from your plan for this). 7 Appendices The appendices should be appropriate to your report and should appear in the order to which you refer to them in the report. Suggested appendices include:- †¢ Organisation chart †¢ Account department chart †¢ Details of interviews with colleagues/ line managers †¢ Bibliography – noting any material referred to – Kaplan notes, books, websites visited. †¢ Fraud matrix (see plan) †¢ Cost benefit analysis (see plan)