Historical Moment Essay Septima Poinsette Clark - 954 Words

Historical Moment Essay Assignment: Septima Poinsette Clark Throughout history there have been many individuals that changed the course of social, economic and public systems for people across Canada and the United States. Segregation has been a long standing issue affecting African American individuals. Segregation is â€Å"the institutional separation of an ethnic, racial, religious, or other minority group from the dominant majority.† (Dictionary.com, 2005). The Civil War become the beginning of the end of segregation, the differences of continuing the norm of having slave states or free states over the power of the national government prohibiting slavery in territories that had not yet become states. Following the Civil War, the millions of formerly enslaved African Americans hoped to join the larger society as full and equal citizens. (Smithsonian National Museum of American History, N/A). Throughout history many white Americans have embraced them, however the ignorance, racism and ideas to sustain them have led to the division. The 1900’s embodied the old customs of the North and South, with the additions of new laws which created the segregated society the fated African Americans to status of second-class citizenship. An example of someone who fought to change these ideals was Septima Poinsette Clark, wanting to change the way African Americans had access to the public system by educating illiterate blacks and gaining full cit izenship and right to vote. Septima Poinsette

What Is Accounting Ethics Free Essays

What is Accounting Ethics? The term accounting ethics are formed by the combination of two different words, namely accounting and ethics. Fortes, (2011) believes that ‘accounting is the collection, measurement, analysis and reporting of events in financial terms. ’ While Karthik, (2010) believes that ‘ethics in its broader sense, deals with human conduct in relation to what is morally good and bad, right and wrong. We will write a custom essay sample on What Is Accounting Ethics or any similar topic only for you Order Now It is the application of values to decision-making. These values include honesty, fairness, responsibility, respect and compassion. Therefore, merging the two together will definitely assist in arriving at a proper definition of the term. Hence, accounting ethics can simply be defined as the general rules governing the accounting profession and setting a standard for the practitioners in making the right professional decisions at all times in order to abide by the rules. Dyson, (2010) believes that â€Å"accounting ethics relate to the moral code or principles expected to be adopted in the preparation of accounts†. It should be noted that the importance of accounting ethics cannot be underestimated as it plays a vital role in the daily professional activities of an accountant. It is obvious that in the process of carrying out duties as a professional accountant, their will be various challenges as to whose interest is to be protected. In such a situation, if there are no ethics in place, it is possible for the accountant to act unprofessional. Origin and background of accounting ethics The history of accounting ethics can be traced to the 15th century when the first known accounting book was published. Luca Pacioli, an Italian mathematician who is also regarded as the â€Å"Father of Accounting† wrote on accounting ethics in his first book. The book titled Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportioni, et Proportionalita, which included two chapters – de Computis et Scripturis – describing double-entry book keeping was published in 1494. Dyson, (2010) states that ‘the first known book on the subject accounting was published in 1494 by an Italian mathematician called Pacioli’. It should be noted however that the publication of this book only brought about the beginning and introduction of accounting ethics and not of accounting itself. Belkaoui, (2004) stated that ‘Luca Pacioli did not invent double-entry book keeping, but described what was being at the time’. He further stated that ‘were we to trace this important science (accounting) back to its origin, we would be naturally led to ascribe the first invention to the first considerable merchants ’. The theories and principles of Pacioli on accounting ethics have been in used from the fifteenth century and the modern book-keeping systems are still based on the principles, although they have had to be adapted to suit modern conditions. Importance of accounting ethics in 2012 The only way by which the importance of accounting ethics can be visible is by the proper enforcement of the ethics on the accounting profession. Several bodies in different countries have been setup to maintain such enforcement. An example is the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in America. This body in the course of its oversight function this year has discovered so many frauds that had gone undetected for many years. Norris, (2012) stated that ‘in 13 of the 23 audits carried out, the board reported that the auditors did not perform sufficient procedures to identify, assess and respond to the risks of material misstatement of the financial statement due to fraud’. This literally means that this year more than fifty percent of firms will have one form of fraud or the other going on in their firms and the only way by which such fraud can be tackled and revealed is by proper enforcement of accounting ethics. References Belkaoui, R. A. , (2004). Account theory. 5th ed. Hampshire: South-Western Cengage Learning Dyson, J. R. , (2010). Accounting for non-accounting students. 8th ed. Essex: FT Prentice Hall. Fortes, H. , (2011). Accounting simplified. Essex: FT Prentice Hall Karthik, N. , (2010). Accounting ethics. Buzzle, (online). Available at: http://www. buzzle. com/articles/accounting-ethics. html. (Accessed 29 October 2012). Norris, F. , (2012). Business day. The New York Times, (online). Available at: http://www. nytimes. com/2012/08/21/business/accounting-board-faults-audits-of-brokerage-firms. html? ref=accountingandaccountants_r=0. (Accessed 26 Oct. 2012) How to cite What Is Accounting Ethics, Papers

Financial Evaluation of Woolworths Supermarkets- Free-Samples

Question: Discusses how the firm's Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Cash Flow Statement could be used to support the decisions of a range of specific Stakeholders of the Firm. Answer: The present study is based on a financial evaluation of Woolworths Supermarkets by considering financial and nonfinancial factors of the company. Cited business is primarily engaged in retailing of groceries along with other household items. At present, the company is operating with more than 111,000 employees for delivering their vast product range inclusive of different levels of generic brands (Gibson, Michayluk Van de Venter, 2013). The company prepares their financial statements by considering Australian Accounting Standards to assist stakeholders in making rational decisions. Further, viable assumptions had made regarding disclosure of their operational activities. Financial analysis of the company shows that profitability of the company is significantly reducing due to which their return on assets and return on equity is adversely affected. Consequently, net worth has been reduced due to a reduction in worth of non-current assets. To cope up with the current financial issues; the company had modified their capital structure by increasing non-current debt and reducing debt (Gitman, Juchau Flanagan, 2015). However; considered strategy is not viable as per their current business situation as they are facing losses. Thus the company is required to enhance equity to reduce their financial obligations and pay the financial cost as per their profitability status. Through the analysis it has been identified that Plant, property and equipment were the key fixed assets of the company. Fixed Assets and investments worth $8371.3 million reduced, $1,793 million driven by important items. Closing inventory worth $4,558.5 million also reduced. Woolworths recognized impairment of plant, property and equipment of $201.3 million pertaining to significant items from continued operations, and $1431.8 million pertaining to discontinued operations. Woolworths also recognized a liability toward benefits that accrue to the employees regarding long service leave and annual leave (Woolworths Group, 2016). Property and plant are valued at cost minus amortization/accumulated depreciation and impairment losses. Inventories are measured at the lesser of net realizable value and cost A similar result has been shown by ratio analysis of the company. Profitability ratios are showing declining trend which shows reducing profit earning capacity of the business. However, operational efficiency has been maintained by a company which can be noticed through receivable turnover and asset turnover ratio. The company had maintained stability in this ratio along with attaining slow pace growth (Woolworths Annual report, 2016). Further, presently company does not have appropriate working capital management strategies as their current ratio, and quick ratio is continuously reducing, and they are lower than ideal ratios. The company should improve their working capital strategies to improvise their liquidity position (van Duijn et al 2016). Due to reducing profit, the company had reducing solvency ratios and had modified their capital structure. The overall study shows that Woolworths is not financially performing well. However, this does not indicate their downfall as the company had developed a sustainable position in the market. Management of business entity is able to revive their business position with better operational strategies. Further, this is the ideal time for investors to purchase equity shares as same has been undervalued in comparison to their market worth. With this investment; investors will be able to attain capital benefits as there is the existence of strong probability regarding improvement in financial performance of the company. References Gibson, R. J., Michayluk, D., Van de Venter, G. (2013). Financial risk tolerance: An analysis of unexplored factors.Financial Services Review. Gitman, L. J., Juchau, R., Flanagan, J. (2015).Principles of managerial finance. Pearson Higher Education AU. van Duijn, A. P., Beukers, R., Cowan, R. B., Judge, L. O., van der Pijl, W., Ro?mgens, I., ... Steinweg, T. (2016).Financial value-chain analysis(No. 2016-028). LEI Wageningen UR. Woolworths Group. (2016). Annual Report. [Online]. Available through: https://wow2016ar.qreports.com.au/home/business-review/overheads-cash-flow-and-balance-sheet.html. [Accessed on 23rd August 2017].