Posts Categorized: Managerial Accounting

Happiness is owning a small business!

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Financial Accounting, Financial Statement Analysis, Managerial Accounting.

Small business owners in Canada are a happy group, a new survey says. In fact, 62% of Canadian small business owners would describe themselves as “very happy” with only 1% saying they are “very unhappy.” These are just some of the findings from TD’s Small Business Happiness Index, which examined the attitudes and behaviour of… Read more »

Assessing Operational Risk: A New Profession In The Making!

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Canadian Economy, Fraud Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

Have you ever wondered what is the fundamental purpose of a Corporation: You are correct in assuming “To Make a Profit”. Henry Ford once said ” A Business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business”. Let us put ourselves into perspective and see what we are referring to. Looking back a… Read more »

How Low Can the Costs Go?

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, All Articles, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

India has developed the world’s cheapest laptop – a touchscreen device which resembles Apple’s wildly popular iPad but will cost just £23. The prototype was unveiled this week by Kapil Sibal, the country’s human resource development minister, who said 110 million Indian schoolchildren would be the first recipients. Questions: 1.  Find the current exchange rates and calculate… Read more »

New Revenue Recognition Standards on the Way for Contractors

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

Contractors should be educating themselves on the impact of the new proposed revenue recognition standards and the recently published (June 24, 2010) exposure draft pertaining to revenue from contracts with customers. Public comments are due October 22, 2010, and it is expected the standards will be finalized in 2011. Questions: 1. What are some of… Read more »

Mortgage Fairs

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

Given the last year’s trend, is there an end in sight to new record-low interest rates? For example, on July 22, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which provides a snapshot of national average mortgage rates, reported a national average rate of 4.56% with 0.7 points on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. At the same time… Read more »

Bank of America: It Depends On How You Define Materiality

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Fraud Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

Bank of America incorrectly classified as much as $10.7 billion in short-term lending and repurchase deals for mortgage securities as sales. This claim surfaced in a May 13 letter to the SEC where the banking corporation alleges that the transactions were immaterial and that it would be beefing up its internal accounting controls.  This letter… Read more »

What Does It Cost To Make An Apple IPhone4?

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, All Articles, Cost Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

According to market research firm, Apple’s iPhone 4 wireless handset components cost about  $187.51. The iPhone 4 sells for $199 and $299. The most expensive component is the LG display that costs $28.50. According to the consultant, the iPhone has typically hovered around the $170-to-$180 cost range because Apple seems to be trying to hit… Read more »

Risky Medicine for Hospital Financing

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, IFRS, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

In a last-minute change to the financial reforms bill, Congress allowed Wall Street to continue to sell interest-rate swaps directly, rather than isolating these derivatives in separate units. The thinking behind this move is that the interest-rate securities are benign, or at least less dangerous than credit default swaps, which the legislation requires banks to… Read more »

Scrushy Back in the News

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Fraud Accounting, IFRS, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a new review of the convictions in the government corruption case against former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and ex-HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy. Questions: 1. What is the “honest services” fraud law? 2. What is a “quid pro quo” agreement? 3. A judge issued a $2.9 billion civil judgment… Read more »

Supreme Court Rules on Constitutionality of the PCAOB

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Fraud Accounting, IFRS, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 28, 2010, that the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) violates the U.S. Constitution’s separation of powers principle because board members are not appointed by the president.  In a 5-4 decision, the Court stated that the president must have more power to remove PCAOB members. The five-member board… Read more »