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Budgeting and Accounting RelationShip (http://iiaa.ir/index.php/short-article/english-articles/189--budgeting-and-accounting-relationship-.html)







I. INTRODUCTION

Both budgeting and accounting are fiscal systems or processes that involve the planning, allocating, and disbursing of monetary resources. This results in an interrelationship and a need for coordination between these two fiscal disciplines. Generally, budgeting is regarded more in terms of planning and enacting a fiscal plan. However, these planning and enactment processes are dependent upon the accounting of past-year and current-year expenditures/revenues.

Accounting focuses on the recording, classifying, and interpreting of financial transactions. These accounting processes are dependent on the budgeting of expenditure authorizations (appropriations) being enacted by the legislative branch.

This write-up focuses more on the budgeting aspects and how accounting relates to it. The Department of Finance (Finance), Fiscal Systems and Consulting Unit offers the State Fund Accounting Course re-director (http://www.dof.ca.gov/FISA/FSCU/Training.htm) emphasizing accounting with lesser emphasis on the budgeting process.

II. STATUTORY LINK BETWEEN BUDGETING AND ACCOUNTING

In the State of California, there are statutory requirements for an accounting system that will provide data for the budget process – for both the past-year presentation in the Governor’s Budget as well as monitoring budgeted resources for the duration of the life of appropriations. Among these statutes, the following three provisions require a specific linkage between the accounting and budgeting systems.

Government Code Section 13337(a) provides:

"The budget required by the State Constitution . . . . shall contain a complete plan and itemized statement of all proposed expenditures of the State . . . and of all estimated revenues, for the ensuing fiscal year, together with a comparison, as to each item of revenues and expenditures, with the actual revenues and expenditures for the last completed fiscal year, the estimated revenues and expenditures for the existing fiscal year, and the budgeted revenue and expenditures for the next fiscal year."

Government Code Section 13300 provides the following regarding Finance’s role:



“The department shall devise, install.....a modern and complete accounting system....to the end that all revenues, expenditures...be properly, accurately.....accounted for....and there shall be obtained accurate...records, reports, and statements of all the financial affairs of the state.
This system shall be of a nature so as to permit a comparison of budgeted expenditures, actual expenditures, and encumbrances and payables,....and estimated revenue to actual revenue, which is compatible with a budget coding system, developed by the department.
This system shall include a program cost accounting system which accounts for expenditures by line item, program, governmental unit and fund source.......”

To comply with this Government Code Section, Finance developed and continues to maintain the State’s uniform accounting system, as outlined in the Uniform Codes Manual and the State Administrative Manual. Finance also maintains the California State Automated Reporting System (CALSTARS).

Government Code Section 12460 provides:

“The Controller shall submit an annual report to the Governor containing a statement of the funds of the state, its revenues, and the public expenditures during the preceding fiscal year. The annual report shall be prepared in a manner that will account for the revenues and expenditures on the same basis as that of the Governor’s Budget and the Budget Act.”

To comply with this Government Code section and the State Administrative Manual requirements, departments submit year-end financial statements to the SCO. The SCO then publishes the Budgetary/Legal Basis Annual Report and the Budgetary/Legal Basis Annual Report Supplement.

III. Governor’s Budget

A. Departmental Input

Traditionally, the initial budget submission by a department includes the past-year presentation of expenditures, revenues and fund condition statements (for governmental cost funds). The fiscal data in the budget presentation must agree with the amounts reported in the Schedule 10s (Supplementary Schedule of Appropriations) and the Schedule 10Rs (Supplemental Schedule of Revenues and Transfers). Both the Schedule 10 and the Schedule 10R are input forms sent by Finance to departments with a cover Budget Letter instructing them to record the same expenditures, revenues, and transfers reported in their year-end financial statements to the State Controller’s Office (SCO). These schedules are used to accumulate statewide totals for expenditures and revenues for the past, current, and budget years and to produce summary schedules included in the Governor’s Budget.

Typically, departmental budgets are amended one or more times after the initial submission. Any changes to budgets for the past-year data need to correspond to changes being reported to the SCO via amended year-end statements, changes made by departmental letters correcting statements, and changes made by the SCO.

A chart, available in PDF Format, (http://www.dof.ca.gov/fisa/bag/summary.pdf) summarizes the use of data from financial statements to prepare the past-year portion of summary statements for revenues, expenditures, and fund conditions for the Governor’s Budget.

In most departments, appropriations for the current year are typically shown fully expended in the Governor’s Budget. However, if accounting or budget estimates records indicate savings will be realized or that deficiency funding will be needed, expenditures may need to be adjusted, as appropriate, for the budget.



Reconciling Budget and Controller’s Numbers for the Past-Year

The Government Code, beginning with Section 12400, sets forth the duties and requirements of the SCO. Included in these duties is the maintenance of appropriation accounting, reporting of expenditures and revenues, and the Annual Report to the Governor.

The SCO Annual Report contains statements that reflect the financial condition of all funds. It is prepared in compliance with State laws and accounting procedures and is in conformance with the Budget Act and other financial legislation. It is compiled from the SCO accounts, which are on a cash basis, and are updated at year-end with financial statements received from various State departments. Department's year-end financial statements contain assets, liabilities, and accruals not in the SCO accounts. This brings the SCO accounts, for reporting purposes, to the same basis as the accounts maintained by the departments.

Departments are instructed to use their year-end financial statements as the basis for preparation of budget documents for the Governor's Budget. Therefore, revenues, expenditures, and fund balances displayed in the Governor's Budget should agree with the SCO Annual Report for the past year. Departments are responsible for the consistency of this data and any differences must be approved by Finance.

Finance designates an administering organization for each fund and the organization is responsible for preparing the fund condition in the Governor's Budget. Since Finance prepares the fund condition (Summary Schedule 1) for the General Fund, Finance reconciles with the SCO General Fund data to ensure that the past year balance is as accurate as possible. Departments are required to follow that same process for other funds if they are designated as the administering organization for the fund.

IV. Enactment of the Budget

Finance’s process to track legislative changes and veto actions to the Budget Bill involves very little interaction between the accounting and budgeting processes. The accounting link essentially begins with the enactment of the Budget Act and the recordation of appropriations (accounts) in the systems of the departments and the SCO.

V. Administration of the Budget

Upon enactment of the Budget Act, the departmental accounting offices and the SCO record the initial appropriation authorizations. Early in July, Finance sends a Budget Letter instructing departments (with multiple funding sources) to remove payables from the main support item and to schedule program detail in the subsidiary items. This step is necessary to accommodate program cost accounting by program and fund source of the CALSTARS system and other automated systems.

Also, during the course of the operating year, adjustments may be made to the budget authorizations. Typically, the adjustments are authorized by specific provisional language in individual items, by general control sections in the Budget Act, or other legislation. These adjustments are usually prepared on Budget Revisions (Std. Form 26) or Budget Executive Orders. Finance approves Budget Revisions and prepares Budget Executive Orders. Copies of these documents are then sent to the SCO and to departments.

Some of the reasons for budget adjustments are:



Various statewide adjustments to be allocated by Budget Executive Orders
Receipt of unanticipated federal funds
Unanticipated reimbursements
Transfers of funds within an appropriation
Legislation enacted after the Budget Act
Deficiencies
Technical errors and corrections

During the year, departments incur expenditures and post them to budget authorization accounts. Expenditures at the mid-year point are used in estimating the current-year expenditure amounts presented in the Governor’s Budget. At the end of the fiscal year, disbursements, encumbrances, and payables are reported in year-end financial statements. Then, as mentioned previously, these statements are used for the past year presentation in the subsequent Governor’s Budget.




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What is E-commerce?

Electronic commerce or ecommerce is a term for any type of business, or commercial transaction, that involves the transfer of information across the Internet. It covers a range of different types of businesses, from consumer based retail sites, through auction or music sites, to business exchanges trading goods and services between corporations. It is currently one of the most important aspects of the Internet to emerge.

Ecommerce allows consumers to electronically exchange goods and services with no barriers of time or distance. Electronic commerce has expanded rapidly over the past five years and is predicted to continue at this rate, or even accelerate. In the near future the boundaries between "conventional" and "electronic" commerce will become increasingly blurred as more and more businesses move sections of their operations onto the Internet.

Business to Business or B2B refers to electronic commerce between businesses rather than between a business and a consumer. B2B businesses often deal with hundreds or even thousands of other businesses, either as customers or suppliers. Carrying out these transactions electronically provides vast competitive advantages over traditional methods. When implemented properly, ecommerce is often faster, cheaper and more convenient than the traditional methods of bartering goods and services.

Electronic transactions have been around for quite some time in the form of Electronic Data Interchange or EDI. EDI requires each supplier and customer to set up a dedicated data link (between them), where e-commerce provides a cost-effective method for companies to set up multiple, ad-hoc links. Electronic commerce has also led to the development of electronic marketplaces where suppliers and potential customers are brought together to conduct mutually beneficial trade.

The road to creating a successful online store can be a difficult if unaware of e-commerce principles and what ecommerce is supposed to do for your online business. Researching and understanding the guidelines required to properly implement an e-business plan is a crucial part to becoming successful with online store building.

What do you need to have an online store and what exactly is a shopping cart?

Shopping cart software is an operating system used to allow consumers to purchase goods and or services, track customers, and tie together all aspects of ecommerce into one cohesive whole.

While there are many types of software that you can use, customizable, turnkey solutions are proven to be a cost effective method to build, edit and maintain an online store. How do online shopping carts differ from those found in a grocery store? The image is one of an invisible shopping cart. You enter an online store, see a product that fulfills your demand and you place it into your virtual shopping basket. When you are through browsing, you click checkout and complete the transaction by providing payment information.

To start an online business it is best to find a niche product that consumers have difficulty finding in malls or department stores. Also take shipping into consideration. Pets.com found out the hard way: dog food is expensive to ship FedEx! Then you need an ecommerce enabled website. This can either be a new site developed from scratch, or an existing site to which you can add ecommerce shopping cart capabilities.

The next step, you need a means of accepting online payments. This usually entails obtaining a merchant account and accepting credit cards through an online payment gateway (some smaller sites stick with simpler methods of accepting payments such as PayPal).

Lastly, you need a marketing strategy for driving targeted traffic to your site and a means of enticing repeat customers. If you are new to ecommerce keep things simple- know your limitations.

Ecommerce can be a very rewarding venture, but you cannot make money overnight. It is important to do a lot of research, ask questions, work hard and make on business decisions on facts learned from researching ecommerce. Don't rely on "gut" feelings. We hope our online ecommerce tutorial has helped your business make a better decision in choosing an online shopping cart for your ecommerce store.

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Preface

The history of accounting is as old as civilization, among the most important professions in economic and cultural development, and fascinating. That’s right, fascinating! Accountants invented writing, developed money and banking, innovated the double entry bookkeeping system that fueled the Italian Renaissance, were needed by Industrial Revolution inventors and entrepreneurs for survival, helped develop the capital markets necessary for big business so essential for capitalism, turned into a profession that brought credibility for complex business practices that sparked the economic boom of the 20th century, and are central to the information revolution that is now transforming the global economy. Twenty-first century accounting will resemble rocket science and will continue to be among the critical professions of the new century. Accountants have not excelled in public relations, but their story is fascinating. And here it is.

There are no household names among the accounting innovators; in fact, virtually no names survive before the Italian Renaissance. It took archaeologists to dig up the early history and scholars from many fields to demonstrate the importance of accounting to so many aspects of economics and culture. This book covers the great events. From merchants and scribes long before writing and money, to today’s global information networks.

Accounting history is summarized in seven chapters. An overview places accounting in perspective. In some ways accounting hasn’t changed since Paciolli wrote the first textbook in 1494. On the other hand, accounting has led the information revolution. Many aspects of 21st century accounting will be unrecognizable by today’s professional leaders. Understanding the role of financial needs today and in the future requires an understanding of the past. The role of accounting in the ancient world is coming into clearer focus with new archaeological discoveries and innovative interpretations of the artifacts. It is now evident that writing developed over at least five thousand years—by accountants. The roles of trade, money, and credit also have long and complex histories. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of double entry bookkeeping. It was central to the success of the Italian merchants, necessary to birth of the Renaissance. The Industrial Revolution depended on inventors and entrepreneurs, not accountants. It is the survival of their firms that required innovative accounting and, later, the development of a profession. Big business, particularly the railroads, required capital markets that depended on accurate and useful information. This was supplied by the expanding accounting profession. The earliest of the Big Eight started in mid-nineteenth century London. Turn of the century America saw the rise of really big business, governable because of improvement in cost accounting. But the Crash of 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression demonstrated problems with capital markets, business practices, and, yes, considerable deficiencies in accounting practices. Many aspects of current accounting practices started with the flood of business regulations from the Roosevelt administration. The earliest electronic computers were funded to assist the World War II efforts. By 1950 massive efforts were begun to automate accounting practices, a continuing process. A global real-time integrated system is a near reality, suggesting new accounting paradigms replacing double entry and generally accepted accounting principles.

Why read this book? What we do today in accounting is based on a 10,000-year history. Understanding this history is necessary to comprehending the linkages of accounting to career potential, financial regulation, tax, accounting systems, and management decision issues. This history also is a powerful tool to predict the accounting of the next generation.

Overview—Accounting Toward the 21st Century: Where are we Now? How Did we Get Here?

Accounting at any point in time and place can represent the level of civilization then and there. As civilization began around villages and developed into empires, scribes invented record keeping systems and kept running inventories of wealth, trade, and tribute payments. Accountants invented writing using abstract record keeping as temple (and later imperial) wealth and complexity expanded. Double entry bookkeeping played a crucial role of Italian merchants’ superior trading skills. Would the Renaissance have been possible without double entry?

Business history involves long-term processes that incorporated dozens of specific innovations. For example, the Industrial Revolution included many inventions from Watt’s steam engine to Hargreave’s spinning jenny. Equally important were the entrepreneurs who used the inventions successfully, often combining several innovations to create a successful business, and the changes to society associated with a new urban labor class. The concept of time took on a whole new meaning. This was a revolution not because it occurred quickly, but because it changed civilization in fundamental ways. The middle class (that’s most of us) is a direct result, as is the associated mind set—the work day, commuting, a standard of living well above subsistence, and so on. Accounting’s role was primarily one of business survival, which led to economic innovation.

Railroad history is tied directly both to the Industrial Revolution and the development of capital markets to finance large business enterprises. After all, the locomotive was a steam engine turned sideways to drive wheels. The business people organizing the first railroads were big thinkers, planning the use of technology that did not exist. Railway surveying, roadbeds, tracks, rail bridges, tunnels, locomotives, and freight and passenger cars did not exist (except for prototypes). Capital markets were expanded and new contractual arrangements invented to finance railroad construction and operations. The railroads also introduced new accounting problems, like how to deal with a vast infrastructure that wears out or becomes obsolete.

The inventors and the entrepreneurs of the Industrial Revolution were not cost accountants. But the entrepreneurs that survived the inevitable depressions were. Continued success (and avoiding bankruptcy) required accounting expertise. Beginning in the 19th century the rise of the accounting profession benefited business and investors, especially big business, banks, and other institutional investors. Accounting expertise added both knowledge and credibility to complex financial transactions.

The first mammoth monopoly was Standard Oil, organized as a holding company in 1870. The first billion-dollar corporation was U. S. Steel, formed in 1902. Henry Ford’s moving assembly line turned the automobile industry into a gigantic industry. Autos are useful to analyze the dominance of American big business in the first half of the 20th century and many of the problems in the second half. These include several accounting topics—both successes and stubborn problems.

British and American cost accountants and engineers developed calculations and reporting techniques that allowed the corporate moguls to control vast business empires from corporate headquarters. Part of the process was to buy out or destroy competitors, part of the business history. It is not clear that these practices were illegal or considered unethical. In any case, accountants were willing participants. The cost accounting (and to a lessor extent, auditing) techniques were essential to the dominance of American industry in the first half of the 20th century.

Monopoly practices, price fixing, speculation, and market manipulation are part of the Big Business story. So are the market collapse of 1929 and the Great Depression. This massive market failure led to bigger government and increasing regulation, including the securities markets and accounting. Accounting is highly regulated directly because of government response to perceived market and accounting abuses. The role of government is subject to continuing debate, but there is no doubt about the direction of government in the 20th century. The Reagan Revolution may have slowed down the process, but certainly didn’t reverse it.

The current world of business and accounting is based on the computer and the Information Revolution, which has been ongoing for nearly 50 years and is exploding into the 21st century. The computer proved to be a perfect fit to business. Computers efficiently crunch the repetitive transactions of accounts receivable and payable, inventories, and payrolls. IBM had the vision early and Big Blue dominated the history of business mainframes and became a billion dollar blue chip multinational. Technology exploded and new industries (and billionaires) created: personal computers, networks and the Internet, and "killer applications" software such as the electronic spreadsheet. The explosion continues as business and accountants struggle to keep pace with incredible technology progress.

Capital markets are complex, global, operate 24 hours a days, and rely on accounting information. The role of accounting expands as technology advances. Soon, virtually any information can be transmitted instantaneously across the globe. Who will be up to the challenge? The visionaries will most likely succeed, those with 20th century blinders likely to drop by the wayside.

To understand accounting today and predict tomorrow, one must know the history of accounting. That accounting history parallels the rise and development of civilization. Accounting has been surprisingly inter-connected with technology. The accounting-technology-civilization connection is the focus of this book.

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Accounting problems faced by a company no matter how big or small it is, is always a difficult task. There are problems like why the balance sheet would not tally or what amount should one charge for profit and what should be the tax figures? The amount to take for depreciation and the assets, for which depreciation should be charged, is confusing. The owner loses sleep over the fact that he has to do the calculation on all this and at the end of it also make the balance sheet tally with the right amounts. Errors are present in any scenario. There could be mechanical errors, practical errors or simply typing mistakes.

A simple zero could make a lot of difference to the profit and the expectations for the future. Accounting needs to be done with an open mind which is not affected by stress or tension. This does not happen when an entrepreneur starts to do his own accounting. He is bound to make mistakes, plenty of mistakes. Accountant New York (http://www.nycbookkeepers.com/ourservices.html) makes this entire process look simple and easy.

Normally the owner is in a hurry to finish up the accounting work so that he can put his mind to better use like how to amalgamate the business or further growth strategies. A simple mistake would take hours to trace and at the same time make the owner go crazy when he is trying to figure out what when wrong. There are many reasons why the owner should not take up accounting work and always hire accountant New York.

First, the work is so intricate that he would needs lots of time to do it. Second, is that it needs professional help because only if one has learned the basics of accounting will one be able to do a fair job of accounting. Third, the businessman should not take the risk of showing the wrong profit figures because this would mean false representation of facts. He could be jailed and fining under the law. Fourth, accounting needs to be clear so that anyone can understand the status of the business and take an informed decisions whether to invest in it or not. Fifth, the owner can know the truth worth of the business and how much it has grown in the past years. This would help him make an informed decision of whether to sell the business or shut down and file for chapter 11. It would also help in negotiating the price with buyers interested to takeover. If the business is doing well, then it would help the owner on deciding which avenue to grow and which to curb to increase profits and reduce costs.

Accountant New York would be a solution to all these problems at the same time, because of the recession charge rates equal to peanuts. The business would do great under his guidance and nothing not even the economic downturn would affect its growth. Accountant New York is a god sent, and an innovative solution to the recession.

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There are numerous competitions that are currently going on around the world, but many of us don't know to life’s growth. As a responsible company, Competitions Around the World: Online Competition, Contest, Drawing Competition, Writing contest (http://www.competearoundtheworld.com) plays a vital role in bringing individuals, rich or poor, who may not have access to the global community, a chance to have an opportunity to participate, and win a competition.

Both where to find them. In this scenario, Competitions Around the World: Online Competition, Contest, Drawing Competition, Writing contest (http://www.competearoundtheworld.com) offers you a resource full of information on various categories of competitions that is going on through out the world. Whether it is on writing, dancing, painting, drawing, mathematics, science, quiz, music, photography, poetry, or no matter what it is or where it may be, if you can name a competition this site finds it for you.

In this way, anyone, from a small village to a big city, can have access to find what they want. A healthy competition is a great way to build confidence, appreciate talent, and help to create new innovative ideas, while contributing winners and losers of competitions come away with valuable experience. This experience increases interest in their chosen field or talent, as well as encourages creativity and innovation. While winners want to win more, losers strive to beat the winners after realizing their mistakes. This healthy environment gives a great boost for new talent, benefiting all of our society. Competitions also are instrumental in building a reputation for participants in their fields, both as individuals or as a group.

The goal of this site is to obtain all information about current competitions around the world, for both online and onsite competitions. This site wants to be a valuable resource for everyone in the future. The specialty of this site is that it bans all competitions that are not suitable for general audience, i.e., adult, sex, sweepstake, and lottery. Further this site follows strict guidelines and ensures reviewing of all reported competitions before making it available for the public.

It is a known fact that each and every individual has a unique talent. This site aims to play a role in bringing out that talent, providing a comprehensive resource of information to find competitions and competitors. This is purely a confidence building site; again, through healthy competitions. Practice makes perfect, people make mistakes and by correcting mistakes, improvement and success is achieved. Competition in this world is a continuous process, whether its business, studies, or career everyone has some sort of competition in his or her life, and competing with others is a never ending job. Even before our birth we competed along with other sperms to get first place into our mother’s ovary. So we all have won a great competition even before our birth! Every one of us is a winner, a born winner, but we lose that confidence as we grow older, and we forget our past successes. Competition is one of the best ways to identify the talent, innovation and growth for this world. This site aims to play a small role in that growth, by providing this rich resource. All you need it to log on to our website and join your preferred category of competition and win prizes and accolades from all over the world. This site and all its resources are offered freely to all who are interested.

[مژگان]

Now that you've finished your studies you are looking for accounting degree employment. Theoretically, you should not have too much trouble in this search. There are many unorganized businesses out there which could use a professional accountant. A certified public accountant does just that: keeps track of financial transactions and records in the business.

The majority of business owners ask themselves if they should hire an accountant or not. Having an unorganized business is not an option, because that would lead to bankruptcy. Of course there is also the possibility to use an accounting software, but not anyone can use that either. The best thing to do is to look for a person with an accounting degree.

The first obvious choice for a business owner would be to look for a professional in an accounting firm. This has the advantage that you can find accountants who are well trained and experienced. This is not mandatory though, and you can as well hire an accountant who works on his own. This should be your own decision based on what type of accounting job you need.

How can one become certified public accountant? In America, you need to meet a few requirements, as in most of the countries worldwide. Usually, you need about 150 accounting college hours. You will also have to pass an exam. But this is only if you want to become a certified public accountant.

If you, however, are at the other end of the deal, meaning a business owner, you have more than one option when hiring an accountant. You can do it as a long term arrangement, or, as some business owners do, with the only purpose of him paying the taxes. But why hire a professional accountant with the sole purpose of paying taxes?

The answer is simple. Accountants are the ones who know best how to increase business deductions and maximize profit. You could be familiar yourself with some of these procedures but accountants are those who know them all. In the end, it's your choice whether you permanently want to hire an accountant, hire one for short periods of time, or even learn accounting yourself.

If you decide that you want to hire an accountant make sure you check his qualifications. You can work with a local accountant or look for one in an accounting firm.

Whatever you decide, you have to make sure that the respective person has an accounting degree. And hiring a professional to keep your financial situations in order is a very wise thing to do. You need to have the correct tax returns if you want not to get in trouble with the law. After all, there are many professionals out there who are looking for accounting degree employment.

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Have you ever wondered if there was a way out of this mundane business world where you could get all the benefits you require at prices that are so low, you could almost double your profits? Or do you get stressed out with the amount of work you have to do everyday that you can’t concentrate on growing your business? Sometimes accounting practices are so difficult that a small to medium term entrepreneur would take hours trying to figure them out and get the balance sheets, profit and loss statements tally. Accounting outsourcing (http://www.impacctusa.com/impaccts_expertise.html) comes to the rescue in such situations.

Small time businessmen don’t have the capital to employ a CPA to manage their accounting work. They have to make all the necessary calculations on their own like how to calculate the inventory, the amount of provision to give to bad debtors and the amount of tax to pay based on the profits. These are such crucial topics that one mistake here and there and the entire accounting statement going for a toss and with it goes the impression the business would make on a lot of market players. Plus if the owner keeps thinking and concentrating on just these problems, he won’t be able to do anything else with his time and would have a lot of stress and tension because he is not experienced in dealing with these kinds of problems. Then the business would suffer and profits would sink lower. This can be put to a stop if the entrepreneur would make just one calculated decision on accounting outsourcing. This would help him in countless ways but more importantly would give him good services at really cheap prices, prices which he can afford to pay.

Accounting outsourcing services can be profitable in countless ways to a businessman, and the following are just a small number of advantages. First and foremost, they are available at really cheap prices. This makes not only small and medium time owners attracted towards them but also big business houses consider them as an alternative. Most of the firms have already gone into outsourcing and they have shown really good results. They enjoy the tax freedom given by both governments since both governments want to supplement trade.

Accounting outsourcing makes the businessman stress free. This is highly important and a required criteria, if the business wants to get ahead in this age of competition. The entrepreneur would have more time to think of how to grow, which firms to merger with or which firms to acquire so that they make the profits and the business go soaring high. The businessman would also get the opportunity to go global since most of this accounting outsourcing work goes to developing countries who give them at dirt cheap prices.

Accounting outsourcing would help the owners to revalue their business because they get the advice of a third person. The perspective would help regain the business control and give them a fair net asset valuation of the business. This would help the entrepreneur know exactly where he stands and where to go form now.

[مژگان]

The basic concepts of accounting as we understand them today were first published in Italy in 1494 by Luca Pacioli (1445 - 1517.) He described them in a section of his book on applied mathematics entitled Summa de Arithmetica, geometria, proportioni et Proportionalita. Pacioli was a Franciscan monk whose life and work was dedicated to the glory of God. Accounting is the process of measuring and recording the financial value of the assets and liabilities of a business and monitoring these values as they change with the passage of time. When we refer to a business we could be referring to an individual, a company or any other entity for which accounting records are to be kept (for example a church, club or other non-profit organisation.)
The assets of a business are those things that belong to the business that have a positive financial value i.e. items that could be sold by the business in exchange for money. Examples of assets include land, buildings, vehicles, stock, equipment, rare gold coins, bank accounts with positive balances and money owed to the business by its debtors.
The liabilities of a business are those things that belong to the business but unlike assets have a negative financial value i.e. items that will require the payment of money by the business at some point in the future. Examples of liabilities include unpaid bills, unpaid taxes, unpaid wages, rusty motor vehicles, stock that has passed its use-by date, overdrawn bank accounts and money owed by the business to its creditors.
The equity of a business is defined as the value of the assets minus the value of the liabilities. In other words the equity is the financial value that would be left if all the assets were sold and the money from the sale was used to pay off all the liabilities. Another way of expressing this is to say that the equity is the amount of money that would be released if the business was to be wound up.
The assets, liabilities and equity of a business are all financial measurements that relate to a particular point in time. The financial statement that is used to present this information is known as the balance sheet. The balance sheet is a statement of the assets, liabilities and equity of a business as they exist at a particular point in time.
The relationship between the assets, the liabilities and the equity can be represented algebraically by what is commonly known as the accounting equation. If we use the letter A to represent the assets, the letter L to represent the liabilities and the letter P to represent the equity then the accounting equation is

P = A - L
This equation states that the equity is the value of the assets minus the value of the liabilities. This equation is more commonly written as

A = L + P
This equation states that the value of the assets is equal to the value of the liabilities plus the equity. This is just another way of saying the same thing. Because the equity is defined as the value of the assets minus the value of the liabilities then this equation is always true by definition.
A balance sheet is commonly divided into two sections. One section shows the value of the assets and the other section shows the value of the liabilities and the equity. Each section will be broken down into more or less detail depending on the intended use of the balance sheet. Because the accounting equation is always true the totals of each of the two sections of the balance sheet should always be the same i.e. the balance sheet should always be in balance.
The financial measurements we have looked at so far are used to describe the financial position of a business at a particular point in time. For this reason the balance sheet is also known as the statement of financial position. It presents a summary of the business' financial position at a particular point in time. However in order to gain a complete financial picture of a business we need to recognise that the financial position of the business is undergoing constant change.
As a business engages in various commercial activities such as buying, selling, manufacturing, maintaining equipment, paying rent and other expenses, borrowing, lending or investing then the value of the assets, liabilities and equity will change and these changes will have an effect on the balance sheet. The only thing we can be sure about at any point in time is that the accounting equation A = L + P will always apply. In other words even though the balance sheet is always changing from day to day we can be certain that it will always balance or should do so if it has been prepared correctly.
Recognising that the financial position of a business is constantly changing leads us to the definition of two additional financial measurements that relate to a period of time (unlike assets, liabilities and equity that relate to a particular point in time.)
The income of a business is the sum of those things that increase the value of the assets without any corresponding increase in the liabilities or any new investment by the owners of the business. Examples include revenue from the sale of goods, equipment or services supplied, rent or interest received and capital gains.
The expenses of a business are those things that reduce the value of the assets without any corresponding reduction in the liabilities or any capital drawings by the owners. Examples include the cost of stock and raw materials, rent or interest paid, electricity bills, telephone, wages, taxes, dividends, depreciation and donations to charity.
The income and expenses of a business are financial measurements that relate to a specified period of time rather than a specific point in time. The financial statement that is used to present this information is known as the income statement. The income statement is a statement of the income and expenses of a business as they occur during a specific period.
If we use the letter I to represent the income over a specified period of time and the letter E to represent the expenses over that same period we can represent the relationship between the assets, the liabilities, the equity, the income and the expenses by using a modified form of the accounting equation as follows

A = L + P + (I - E)
This equation states that the value of the assets is equal to the value of the liabilities plus the equity plus the excess of income over expenses. Another way of writing this equation is

A + E = L + P + I
This equation states that the value of the assets plus the expenses is equal to the value of the liabilities plus the equity plus the income. This is just another way of saying the same thing. However it is helpful to express it in this way when we come to consider the practice of bookkeeping below.
The income statement is commonly divided into two sections in a similar fashion to the balance sheet. One section shows the total income and the other section shows the total expenses. Like the balance sheet each section will be broken down into more or less detail depending on its intended use. However unlike the balance sheet the totals of each of the two sections are unlikely to be the same. The difference will usually be shown as a separate item at the bottom of the income statement and if the total income exceeds the total expenses it will be given a title such as retained earnings, net profit or excess of income over expenditure. If the total expenses exceed the total income it will instead be called something like retained loss, net loss or excess of expenditure over income.
Income and expenses are financial measurements that relate to the performance of a business during a specified period of time. For this reason the income statement is also known as the statement of financial performance. It describes the performance of a business during a specified period. It is sometimes also referred to as the profit and loss statement.
In order to produce a balance sheet or an income statement it is necessary to have a systematic method of recording all the activities or events that have an effect on the financial measurements (A, L, P, I and E) described above. Traditionally these events were entered by hand into a set of books or accounts. More recently it has become common practice to enter these into a computer accounting system. Each entry is referred to as an entry and the practice of maintaining these entries in the accounts is referred to as bookkeeping. The act of placing a particular entry into an account is known as posting. The total of all the entries in an account is known as the balance of that account. The accounts themselves are referred to collectively as the general ledger or sometimes just the ledger.
Because each business will have different assets, liabilities, income, expenses and equity categories the accounts it uses to record its activities will vary from one business to another. This set of accounts that a business creates in the general ledger is known as the chart of accounts.
Each account in the ledger will be categorised into one of the five types of financial measurements described above (A, L, P, I or E.) Because the accounting equation

A + E = L + P + I
is always true the total of all the A and E account balances in the ledger must be equal to the total of all the L, P and I account balances if the ledger is to represent a logically correct picture of the finances of the business. If this is the case then we say that the accounts are in balance or that the ledger is in balance. For the ledger to remain in balance whenever an entry is posted to an account matching account entries must be posted at the same time to ensure that the total of the A and E account balances remain the same as the total of the L, P and I account balances. For this reason bookkeeping is often referred to as double-entry bookkeeping.
Most postings consist of two entries but there is no reason why there cannot be three or more entries posted at the same time provided that the ledger remains in balance.
Traditionally a report was prepared showing the total of the A and E account balances and the total of the L, P and I account balances to ensure that these totals were the same. This report was known as a trial balance. Because most computer accounting systems will not allow entries to be posted unless the accounts remain in balance this has in many ways obviated the need for a trial balance.
An entry that increases the balance of an A or E account or reduces the balance of an L, P or I account is known as a debit. An entry that reduces the balance of an A or E account or increases the balance of an L, P or I account is referred to as a credit. Traditionally hand-written books were divided into two columns. Debits were entered into the left-hand column and credits into the right. In fact the traditional definition of a debit is an entry on the left-hand side of an account. Conversely a credit was defined as an entry on the right-hand side of an account. In order for the ledger to remain in balance the total debits must equal the total credits.
It is interesting to note that neither of these definitions of debit and credit are intuitive or immediately obvious. Neither can they be deduced easily from their commonly understood meanings. This partly explains why students who are learning accounting for the first time have difficulty understanding the meaning of debits and credits. The traditional definitions come from the commonly established practice of manual double-entry bookkeeping that puts debits on the left and credits on the right.
It is worthwhile repeating the more precise definitions of debit and credit given above as they are derived from the accounting equation since familiarity with them is essential for a proper application of accounting practice to the process of setting up and maintaining a general ledger.
A debit is an entry in a general ledger account that increases its balance if it is an A or E account and reduces its balance if it is an L, P or I account.
A credit is an entry in a general ledger account that reduces its balance if it is an A or E account and increases its balance if it is an L, P or I account

[مژگان]

In this time and age of recession, where business is doing badly there is hardly any hope left for small time business units. The expenses are far more than the profits earned and either they have to wind up or file for bankruptcy. This causes a lot of entrepreneurs to get discouraged and lose all faith in the business world. But bookkeeping help makes them smile all over again. The work done by bookkeeping help is so fast and economical that no matter what cost cutting they would do, they would still not end up saving as much as what they would if they had taken the help of bookkeeping help.

There are plenty of advantages of bookkeeping help (http://www.impacctusa.com/impaccts_expertise.html), one being that it is highly economical. The prices they charge are slashed to almost half of what a CPA would charge. This makes the business save more and at the same time get a far better quality of bookkeeping help than the present. When a business opts for bookkeeping help the space they use for a CPA gets reduced, this saves up on the rent and gives added cost benefit to the firm. Sometimes when the business is doing bad, especially small ones, the entrepreneur himself tries to do all the bookkeeping work done. This makes the business do even worse because first of all the entrepreneur knows nothing or very less about bookkeeping and would make a horrible job of it and second he would spend so much time on it that he would not be able to concentrate on the business making it suffer in return. So not only does the profit go down but also the recording gets mixed up.

Bookkeeping help offers the facility of giving added help to the business. They give the businessmen daily sales charts or weekly inventory report, to show where the business is going wrong and what measures to take so that it gets back on track. The business needs to takes what steps to remain above competition and what tax procedures to follow. Bookkeeping assistance from professionals also tells the company if there is a possibility of fraud or theft. It can be detected through bookkeeping and bookkeeping help can do that through their professional staff.

Sometimes when the business is not doing too well, entrepreneurs rely on window dressing to show false assets or profit figures. The business should beware of such activities and take measures that they don’t practice them even by mistake. With bookkeeping help this problem is solved as they show the true and fair picture always. Since accounting is the face of a business it becomes mandatory that the business follow a good set of rules for bookkeeping. This helps in showing to the world; shareholders, stakeholders, prospective clients, current clients and employees, that the business is a just entity and has potential.

One should remember to always take the service of bookkeeping help because it is only beneficial to the business.

[مژگان]

Cost Accounting Standards

The implementation of cost accounting standards applicable to colleges and universities was approved by the Cost Accounting Standards Board (CASB) in November, 1994, following prolonged discussions with the Office of Management and Budget, other federal agencies, and organizations representing institutions of higher education that will be impacted by these regulations. According to the final rule adopted by the CASB, the purpose of the Cost Accounting Standard:

is to ensure that each educational institution's practices used in estimating costs for a proposal are consistent with cost accounting practices used by the institution in accumulating and reporting costs. Consistency in the application of cost accounting practices is necessary to enhance the likelihood that comparable transactions are treated alike. . . . . (and) will facilitate the preparation of reliable cost estimates used in pricing a proposal and their comparison with the costs of performance of the resulting contract.

These cost accounting standards became effective on January 9, 1995. After that date, the standards promulgated by the Cost Accounting Standards Board are applicable to educational institutions that receive negotiated federal contract or subcontract awards in excess of $500,000.
Cost accounting provisions have been incorporated into OMB Circular A-21 and "for greater consistency and uniformity" have been extended to all awards--contracts and grants--in excess of $500,000 made to institutions that are major recipients of federal research funds.
Full coverage of the federal cost accounting regulations involves 19 standards which have been applicable since the 1970's in the private sector and for nonprofit organizations that meet the $10 million threshold in terms of government contracts. Only four cost accounting standards will be applied to universities. Briefly, these four cost accounting standards require:

(1) Consistency in estimating, accumulating, and reporting costs;
(2) Consistency in allocating costs incurred in like circumstances for the same purposes;
(3) Identification and exclusion of specifically identifiable unallowable costs
(4) Consistency in the selection and use of a cost accounting period.

Universities must formally disclose their cost accounting practices. The University of Michigan was among the first group to file the Disclosure Statement and ensure compliance with these standards beginning July 1, 1996.

Adherence to these cost accounting procedures has significant implications for the preparation and approval of budget materials for inclusion in proposals to federal sponsors. The University has to provide assurances: (1) that the pricing of the proposed effort has been undertaken in a manner consistent with the capacity of the University's accounting system to accumulate and report expenditures incurred; and (2) that costs incurred for the same purpose in like circumstances have been treated consistently as either direct or indirect costs. In short, the way that faculty member A in the Physics Department prepares the cost estimates reflected in his or her budget must be consistent with the way in which faculty member B in Mechanical Engineering prepares his or her budget materials.

It is important to note that, while a university can be found in noncompliance only in connection with awards in excess of $500,000 (and as a consequence, be required to make repayments to the federal government for such noncompliance), the consistency in cost accounting practices, in effect, must be demonstrated across-the-board for all activities. Unlike corporate entities that can establish a "government division" to deal only with federal contracts and thereby, limit the coverage of the federal cost accounting standards to that division, the entire accounting and financial management systems of the university are subject to these four standards.

[مژگان]

Accounting does not end with recording transactions. The owner or the management needs useful information about whether the business made a profit or loss or how the financial position at the end of the accounting year compares with that at the start.

From the trial balance all the income and expense items are transferred to the income statement. Further, certain other items are also adjusted before transferring the balances. Consider rent. Now, rent becomes payable at the end of a month. Therefore, following the accrual principle the accountant posts the rent as payable outstanding and adds this amount to the rent expense. The rent payable appears as current liability in the balance sheet and squared off when the actual payment is made.

Similarly, insurance payments are made annually. But, they would not match the accounting year. On the date of the preparation of final statement, there could be some months of insurance remaining prepaid. This amount is deducted from the expense and shown as current asset in the balance sheet. It becomes expense for the next accounting period.

The excess of income over expenses represents profit while the reverse scenario would mean loss. Profit adds to the equity or owners' capital while loss erodes the same. In effect, profit means the assets have increased while liabilities have decreased. Loss means assets have decreased and liabilities have mounted.

To find out the exact position of assets and liabilities, the accountant prepares the balance sheet. Although one would know whether the business made profit or loss or the value of assets and liabilities have increased or decreased, there is a need for a statement that gives complete information about how the financial position was achieved. The Cash Flow statement serves this purpose.

The basic rationale behind the cash flow statement is that all operations of the business are connected with receiving and paying cash. This is also called the cash-to-cash cycle. The firm buys inventories, sells them, incurs expenses and pays off the dues. So, there is always a parallel run between the firm's debtors and creditors. There are also transactions like fresh infusion of capital, paying off loans and making investments.
Therefore, to get the correct picture about how the firm's operations and other non-operative items contributed to the changes in financial position, the cash flow statement is useful.

The starting point for the cash flow statement is the balance of cash at the start of the year. There are three segments in the cash flow statement: Operating, Investing and Financing. For the first segment, we knock off non-cash charges like depreciation and loss on sale of assets to derive the operative profit in cash terms. We also adjust the net increase or decrease in all current assets and liabilities except cash. In the second segment, we include the investments in fixed assets or financial instruments. In the third segment, we show the dividend or withdrawal of capital. The net effect of all the three segments is adjusted with the opening cash balance to get the closing cash balance.
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[مژگان]

In accrual accounting, items are expensed in the period when they are used, not when they are paid. If an item such as a supply is bought but not used in a month, the item is placed in inventory, and expensed when used. Inventory is listed as a current asset, with the assumption that the item will be used in the next twelve months.

Types of Inventories

There are two main methods of maintaining inventories.

· Periodic inventory is placed on the books when paid and valued at the end of the period by taking a physical count of the inventory then. Changes are made to the value of inventory at the end of the period, usually at month end.

· Perpetual inventory is maintained and valued each time a change in the inventory occurs. This requires a system that counts items when they are added or taken from the inventory. The person managing the system will know at any time how many items are in the inventory. For large inventories, this will be a computerized system, but even a manual system that tracks daily changes in inventory can be perpetual.

A physical count is still needed for a perpetual inventory in order to verify the accuracy of the daily transactions. Any adjustments needed are analyzed to see where errors occur. Periodic inventories are used more often for items that are not used often, where it is not necessary to know how many items are on hand at all times.

Examples of Inventory Management

For instance, a small company keeps an inventory of cases of copy paper. The company may use one or two cases a week, and has five on hand at the end of January.

In February, the company buys four cases, charges them to inventory. At the end of February, the company has three cases remaining. Therefore, six were used, and an entry is made to expense six cases in February. For the small amount of supplies, the person keeping the inventory can determine by visual inspection if they in danger of running out.

A larger company might use hundreds of cases per month. It is important to know how many on hand at all times so there are no stock-outs. This would be a good case for a perpetual inventory.

For example, if the inventory is 50 cases at the end of January and five cases are used on February 1, the perpetual system will register that and show that there are 45 cases left. If 10 cases are added on February 2, the system is updated to show 55 cases.

The size and complexity of the inventory will determine whether a business can justify using a perpetual inventory versus the simpler periodic inventory.




The copyright of the article Inventory Methods Used in Accounting in Accounting (http://accounting.suite101.com/) is owned by James Hutchinson (http://www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/hutch900). Permission to republish Inventory Methods Used in Accounting in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

[مژگان]

There is currently an intense debate over the merits of rules-based accounting versus principles-based accounting. In the opinions of these authors, the debate is a waste of time, because for at least 35 years, the law has required adherence to principles-based accounting. The fact that practitioners have ignored the law is one reason for the accounting profession’s current difficult situation.

Law comes into existence not only through legislation, but also by regulation and litigation. Laws from all three sources are binding, one source no less so than another. The authors conclude that a 1969 criminal court case commonly known as Continental Vending made “principles-based accounting” the law. Therefore, principles-based accounting is not new, and it is not just a rule; it is the law. In which case the time is long past when accountants should adhere to principles-based accounting.

Continental Vending

Continental Vending [U.S. v. Simon, 425 F.2d 796 (2d Cir. 1969)] was one of the first major criminal cases successfully brought against auditors. Charges against the auditors involved in the case included the violation of U.S. securities laws by certifying a document the auditors knew to be false. The auditors were engaged to audit Continental Vending Machine Corporation. A Continental affiliate, Valley Commercial Corporation, borrowed a large sum of money from Continental. Valley then loaned the funds to a dominant officer and significant shareholder of both Valley and Continental. The auditors learned that the dominant officer would not be able to repay Valley, and the auditors knew that as a consequence Valley would be unable to repay Continental. Nevertheless, the Continental financial statements showed the receivable from Valley as an asset, with only a relatively obscure footnote explaining the circumstances surrounding the receivable.

Continental never did collect payments from Valley on the receivable in question; in fact, Continental went bankrupt shortly after the financial statements were issued. When the U.S. government brought criminal charges against the auditors, the auditors maintained that they properly followed generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) during the audit and that the footnote also complied with applicable standards. Moreover, several experts testified that the footnote disclosure explaining the receivable from Valley complied with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and that the auditors had followed GAAS.

‘Fairly Presented’

Near the end of the trial, the district court judge instructed the jury that mere compliance with professional accounting standards was not a complete defense. Rather, the critical test was whether the financial statements fairly represented Continental’s financial status. The jury found the defendants guilty. On appeal, the appellate court held that the district court judge did not err in his instructions to the jury. As Professor Robert R. Sterling stated in a January 1973 Journal of Accountancy article: “[T] he courts are telling us that we can no longer defend ourselves on the basis of accepted accounting theory and practice. Instead, we must assure ourselves that the statements are true, correct and understandable to non-accountants.”

The appellate court judge in Continental Vending, in refusing to find error in the district court’s jury instructions, clearly told the accounting profession that “fairly presented … in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles” is two statements rather than one. Furthermore, the clear message was that if one is to prevail over the other, it must be “fairly presented.” “Fairly presented” is principles-based accounting, and “in accordance with GAAP” is rules-based accounting.

One way that court decisions effectively become part of law is by being cited by other courts in future cases. Numerous subsequent cases have favorably cited Continental Vending, including the Second and Ninth Circuit cases of Natelli and Sarno.

A central issue in Continental Vending was whether the auditors could defend themselves by demonstrating compliance with GAAS and demonstrating that the financial statements were in accordance with GAAP. The court held that even if the auditors could prove that they had complied with GAAS and that the financial statements were prepared in accordance with GAAP, this would not be a complete defense to the criminal charge of willfully and knowingly making a false statement. The decision clearly illustrates that the auditor must make sure that the financial statements adequately disclose known material facts.

Code of Professional Conduct Rule 203

Further evidence that accountants must ensure that financial statements are fairly presented, regardless of whether they conform to GAAP, can be found in Rule 203 of the Code of Professional Conduct:


A member shall not (1) express an opinion or state affirmatively that the financial statements or other financial data of any entity are presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles or (2) state that he or she is not aware of any material modification that should be made to such statement or data in order for them to be in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles, if such statements or data contain any departure from an accounting principle promulgated by bodies designed by Council to establish such principles that have a material effect on the statements or data taken as a whole. If, however, the statements or data would otherwise have been misleading, the member can comply with the rule by describing the departure, its approximate effects, if practicable, and the reasons why compliance with the principle would result in a misleading statement.

The last sentence is critical. It requires accountants to depart from GAAP if compliance with the rules would make the financial statements misleading. Therefore, it seems that accounting ethics also require principles-based rather than rules-based accounting. Unfortunately, the accounting profession seems to have been ignoring the last sentence of Rule 203 just as it has ignored the lessons that should have been learned from Continental Vending. Three recent specific examples (Enron, Global Crossing, and Acxiom) will be discussed later in this article.

‘Show Me Where It Says I Can’t Do That’

In April 2003, PricewaterhouseCoopers placed a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal. The advertisement—actually more of a statement of the firm’s support of principles-based accounting—said: “Rules-based systems encourage creativity (and not the good kind) in financial reporting. They allow some to stretch the limits of what is permissible under the law, even though it may not be ethically or morally acceptable. A principles-based system requires companies to report and auditors to audit the substance or business purpose of transactions; not merely whether they can qualify as acceptable under incredibly complex or overly technical rules.” It went on to say: “A rules-based system allows managers to ignore the substance and, instead ask, ‘Where in the rules does it say I can’t do this?’” It appears that, even after more than three decades, PricewaterhouseCoopers has not forgotten about Continental Vending.

The authors are reminded of a speaker at the Federation of Schools of Accountancy conference in Denver in October 2003. Mark Terrell, a former audit partner at KPMG, stated that he decided he had to get out of auditing because if he did not he would be going to jail. He said that he would be going to jail not because of falsified financial statements, but rather for murder. He explained that he had to get out of auditing because if he ever had another client say, “Show me in the rules where it says I can’t do that,” he was going to kill him.

Related-Party Transactions

The accounting profession’s response to the lesson that it should have learned from Continental Vending missed the point. Rather than recognize how critical principles-based accounting had just become to the profession, through a convoluted approach it created yet another rule to deal with the issues of Continental Vending. In July 1975 (six years after the Continental Vending decision and 13 years after the issuance of the misleading financial statements), the AICPA, through its Auditing Standards Executive Committee, issued Auditing Standard 6, titled “Related Party Transactions.” That standard required the following four disclosures:



The nature of the relationship;
A description of the transactions for the period, including amounts, if any, and such other information as deemed necessary to understand the effects on the financial statements;
The dollar volume of transactions and the effects of any change in the method of establishing terms from that used in the preceding period; and
Amounts due from or to related parties and, if not otherwise apparent, the terms and manner of settlement.

These requirements are disclosure standards issued by the Auditing Standards Board (ASB). During the interim between 1969, when the Continental Vending decision was rendered, and 1975, when Auditing Standard 6 was issued, FASB came into existence, replacing the Accounting Principles Board (APB). FASB was charged with issuing accounting standards. Disclosure standards are accounting standards, not auditing standards. What was the ASB doing issuing accounting standards? Apparently the AICPA thought accounting standards were needed to guide accountants that might be faced with issues similar to those faced by the auditors of Continental Vending.

In 1982, seven years after the ASB issued its accounting standard, FASB issued SFAS 57, Related Party Transactions. In that standard, FASB required four specific disclosures very similar to the four disclosures required by Auditing Standard 6:



The nature of the relationships involved;
A description of the transactions, including transactions to which no amounts or nominal amounts were ascribed, for each of the periods for which income statements are presented, and such other information deemed necessary to an understanding of the effects of the transactions on the financial statements;
The dollar amounts of transactions for each of the periods for which income statements are presented, and the effects of any change in the method of establishing the terms from that used in the preceding period; and
Amounts due from or to related parties as of the date of each balance sheet presented and, if not otherwise apparent, the terms and manner of settlement.

These requirements are so nearly identical to those of the auditing standards that the current volume of auditing standards no longer lists the four requirements, it simply refers the reader to SFAS 57.

Condition and Criteria

Internal auditors use what they call “condition” and “criteria.” Condition is the current situation: what actually exists. Criteria is what the ideal situation would be. The internal auditor must determine what to use as criteria. This is done by a careful analysis of the business situation based on the internal auditor’s experience and knowledge. There is no rulebook for the internal auditor to use. Each situation is different and demands different analytical skills. The auditor must decide on the best practice.

To determine criteria, the external auditor turns to GAAP. The external auditor applies those rules, and if the company’s practice can be “squeezed” into the confines of GAAP, the external auditor declares that the practice is “fairly presented in accordance with GAAP.” The external auditor might not agree with the presentation yet support it because it fits within the rules. There is no commitment to the rule for the external auditor as there must be a commitment to criteria for the internal auditor. As Professor Sterling stated in the aforementioned article, an external auditor is unwilling to accuse the client of telling a lie even if he might believe that it is not truthful accounting. Because an Andersen auditor did not have to accuse a client of breaking a rule, and was apparently unwilling to accuse him of telling a lie, the profession is now dogged by the Enron debacle.

“Criteria” in internal auditing would be principles-based accounting. “Criteria” in external auditing would be rule-based accounting. It seems clear that the profession needs principles-based accounting today. It needs external auditors to take some ownership in the criteria that they apply when they profess that the financial statements are “fairly presented.”

Case Studies

Enron. In the well-documented case of Enron, the company was able to hide vast amounts of debt through the use of special purpose entities (SPE). CFO Andy Fastow seemed to be an expert in the specifics of the accounting standards relating to the accounting for SPEs. Unfortunately, he apparently used that knowledge to convince the auditors that what he was doing was comfortably within the rules and that they should therefore issue an unqualified auditors’ opinion. In some cases, apparently, his interpretation of the rules may have been in a gray area, but it appears that Fastow was able to convince the auditors that application of Rule 203 or the lessons that should have been learned from Continental Vending did not apply to Enron’s situation.

Global Crossing. On March 11, 2004, the Wall Street Journal reported that Global Crossing had just reported a quarterly profit of $24.88 billion, which dwarfed the prior record of $6.7 billion, held by Exxon for its fourth quarter of 2003. Global Crossing had been under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It managed to turn things around quickly on revenue of $719 million, or $34.60 of profit on every $1 of revenue—a fantastic profit margin. And that is a net-profit margin, not a gross-profit margin.

To understand how it was able to claim this, remember the equation:


Assets = Liabilities + Owners’ Equity

In bankruptcy, the liabilities are forgiven. Therefore, to keep the equation in balance, either assets must go down or owners’ equity—stock, retained earnings, revenues, expenses, and gains and losses—must go up. Global Crossing chose to increase owners’ equity by increasing “gains.” Without being privy to internal discussions, one might still reasonably assume that the company accountants challenged the auditors to show them “where in the rules” it says that they could not do that. In fact, the rules do recommend that liabilities forgiven in bankruptcy be handled in exactly this manner.

The authors believe that both the in-house accountants and the auditors of Global Crossing would have been well served had they gone back and studied the statements made by the appellate court in Continental Vending. The application of Rule 203, the definition of “criteria” as used in internal auditing, and the lessons of Continental Vending would have clearly indicated that a better reporting approach would have been to take these gains directly to retained earnings rather than through earnings, and avoid a situation where a bankrupt company reports the highest quarterly profit (by fourfold) in the history of American business.

Acxiom Corporation. A November 23, 2004, Wall Street Journal article, “Loophole May Ease Pain of Expensing Option,” discussed a maneuver devised by Acxiom Corporation involving the requirements of a pending rule relating to stock options. The move would allow Acxiom to shift future expenses onto the current year’s financial statements, where stock-option expenses can be relegated to mere footnote disclosures and excluded from net income. The article stated that Acxiom’s treasurer, Bob Bloom, readily acknowledged that the company’s primary reason for accelerating the vesting dates was to “reduce the impact of the upcoming FASB pronouncement.” The article then reported Bloom saying that “he doesn’t see anything wrong with that.” Presumably, Bloom was saying that it was completely within the rules of GAAP. The authors would encourage Bloom to carefully review the message sent by the court in Continental Vending, and Rule 203 of the Code of Professional Conduct.

The authors agree with Glass Lewis & Company analyst Todd Fernandez, whom the same Wall Street Journal quoted as saying, “Acxiom’s move to accelerate the vesting dates for options that were almost in the money sends the wrong signal and isn’t in the best interest of transparency and earnings quality.” The authors would hope that the auditors of Acxiom will stand up and require full and clear disclosure of this earnings manipulation.

Adhering to the Law Is Overdue

Principles-based accounting is not new, it is not just a rule, it is the law. It is past time that all accountants subscribe to and adhere to the law. That means that we must make sure that all financial statements are high quality and totally transparent. Otherwise, auditors and in-house accountants alike will continue to find themselves the subjects of criminal prosecution, as did the auditors of Continental Vending and the accountants of Enron and HealthSouth.