Topics Covered: Plagiarism, Spreadsheets, Accounting Websites, Computing Environment, CPA Australia, ABC Learning Case, And Financial Reports

What is plagiarism and why is it unfair

Plagiarism refers to an act of stealing the work of others and claiming that work as of its own. Thus, the term plagiarism involves two crucial components such as stealing the work of others and claiming that as own work (Plagiarism.org, 2017). The plagiarism is strictly prohibited in the academics and the universities have severe penal provisions for students committing plagiarism. The universities provide for heavy penalties in the cases of plagiarism because the students committing plagiarism would have obvious and undue advantage over the honest students. This is because the student committing plagiarism can easily get better marks than the student preparing work with honesty. In that case, it would be unfair for the honest students. 

Pasting the spreadsheet in the world file showing the row and column headings require special skills. There are two primary methods of pasting the spreadsheets into the word file showing the row and column headings as demonstrated below:   

In this method, first one needs to take formula view by pressing short key Ctrl+grave accent (~). Then go to page layout tab, headings tab, and then check the print box. Now after doing this, copy the table from Excel and paste using paste special option in the word file. The special needs to be done choosing paste as picture option.  

The alternative to the above is taking a screen shot of the Excel file and pasting it in the word file as picture. In this case, the formula view is to be taken as described above and then screen shot needs to be taken. Screen shot can be taken by pressing print screen button on the keyboard.  

The CPA (Certified Public Accountant) is the leading professional accounting body in Australia. The CPA Australia is responsible for development and supervision of the accounting and auditing profession in the country (CPA, 2017). There can be found many resources on the website of CPA Australia for the accounting professionals and students pursuing their career in the accounting and auditing field. The sources provided on the website are different subjects like accounting, financial planning, taxation, corporate laws etc. For example, the financial planning toolkit provided on the website could be handy resource. This toolkit contains various financial calculators, budget planner, guidance on tax subsidies etc (CPA, 2017).

The computing environment of an office is built up of the hardware and software resources and various processes being accomplished by using those hardware and software. The primary hardware resources used in the offices are computer desktop, keyboard, CPU, printer, scanner, data cables, and modems (APME et al., 2004). The CPU is perhaps the most important hardware tool in the while computing environment. The CPU enables software programs to perform computational tasks. Further, within an office of a professional accountant, the printer is also considered an essential hardware resource because it is used in printing the reports and documents. The data cable and modems are required to build network within the computing environment to connect different systems with each other (APME et al., 2004).

Ways to paste spreadsheets in Word document

The data cables like WAN (Wide Area Network) are used in connecting the computers of the office to the internet which is very important in an office. Further, LAN (Local Area Network) is used in connecting the office computers with the each other which is necessary to make processing effective and easier (Chron, 2017). Further, there are many useful software programs that should comprise in the computing environment of an accounting firm. The popular software programs are Office 365, Sage Peachtree, and QuickBooks. The Office 365 provides use of various Microsoft office automation tools such as Microsoft word and spreadsheets. Further, the Sage Peachtree and QuickBooks are the accounting software programs that automate the accounting and financial reporting processes (Cpafirmsoftware, 2017).

The innovations in the field of information technology have contributed significantly in automating the office procedures and making the work simple, effective, and efficient. However, it has also give rise to new risks related to theft of data and money. Therefore, the computing environment of the office should also have suitable measures for data security. The antivirus software programs and firewalls should be used to make the computing environment safe (Sciencedaily, 2017).     

ABC Learning was one of the fastest growing companies in Australia before it went insolvent in 2008-09. The company was engaged in the business of running and maintaining the childcare centres in Australia. The business of the company was growing at a rapid pace. In the year 2006, the company showed high growth prospects when the stock’s price went high to $8.60 at the end of the year (CPA, 2017). Further, the operations of company were expanded outside Australia in other parts of the world including the UK and USA. The company went for acquiring childcare firms in UK and USA at the large scale. In the acquisitions the company paid huge amount, way greater than the net assets acquired. It resulted in the accumulation of large amount of goodwill. The assets of the company were overstated. The company concealed the true picture by manipulating the financial statements. The financial statements of the company were being prepared ignoring the fundamental principles of accounting and this was the primary reason of company’s failure. In the year 2008-09, the company’s stocks price decreased record low to $0.54 and the company went into liquidation (CPA, 2017). The key lesson taken from the failure of ABC Learning was that ignorance of the fundamental principles in preparing the financial statements will put the company in danger of failure.         

List of relevant accounting websites

The primary components of the financial statements and reports are statement of income, balance sheet, and the cash flow statement. The statement of income presents the company’s profit/loss position. The balance sheet is prepared to show the position as regards the assets and liability of the business. Further, the third crucial component of the financial statements is the statement of cash flow. The statement of cash flows is prepared to show the position as regards cash inflows and outflows of the business (Longenecker, 2009).   

It is essential to analyze the profitability of the business to adjudge the financial performance. However, the analysis of profitability does not provide view of the liquidity position of the business which is also as crucial as the profitability. The analysis of cash flows is carried to adjudge the liquidity position of the business (Longenecker, 2009).  

The ethics plays a crucial role in building good foundation of the business and helps in sustaining long term growth. In regards to preparation of the financial statements, many ethical issues are encountered (Duska, Duska, Ragatz, 2011). Some ethical issues observed in the case of ABC Learning are listed as below:

• The financial reporting process of the company needs to be transparent and the fundamental principles of accounting should be followed in preparation of the financial statements.
• It is imperative for the accounting professionals to discharge their duties adhering to the principles of ethics.

Further, the fraudulent financial reporting practices should be avoided by the companies in preparing the financial statements.     

The current assets are the assets, apart from cash, which the firm believes to covert in cash within a time period of 12 months. On the other hand, the non-current assets comprise the items of assets which the firm believes to convert in cash over the period that extends 12 months. The four examples of current assets are: cash and cash equivalent, prepaid expenses, accounts receivables, inventory, and short term investments. The four examples of non-current assets are: land, building, machinery, furniture, and long term receivables (Accountingexplained, 2017).     

References

Chron. 2017. Difference between LAN & WAN in Wireless Routers. Retrieved March 16, 2017, from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-lan-wan-wireless-routers-73466.html

Cpafirmsoftware. 2017. Accounting Software for CPA firms. Retrieved March 16, 2017 https://www.cpafirmsoftware.com/software-reviews

APME, Classe, J.G., Thal, L.S., Kamen, R.D., & Rounds, R.S. 2004. Business Aspects of Optometry: Association of Practice Management Educators. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Sciencedaily. 2017. Computer Security: Reducing risks of malware infections. Retrieved March 16, 2017 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131216142931.htm

Longenecker, J.G. 2009. Small Business Management: Launching and Growing New Ventures. Cengage Learning.

Duska, R., Duska, B.S., Ragatz, J.A. 2011. Accounting Ethics. John Wiley & Sons.

Tracy, A. 2012. Ratio Analysis Fundamentals: How 17 Financial Ratios Can Allow You to Analyse Any Business on the Planet. RatioAnalysis.net.

Plagiarism.org. 2017. What is Plagiarism? Retrieved March 16, 2017, from https://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism/ 

CPA. 2017. Toolkit. Retrieved March 16, 2017, from https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/professional-resources/financial-planning/toolkit

CPA. 2017. ABC Learning collapse case study. Retrieved March 16, 2017, from https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/professional-resources/education/abc-learning-collapse-case-study

Myaccountingcourse. 2017. Adjusting Entries. Retrieved March 16, 2017, from https://www.myaccountingcourse.com/accounting-cycle/adjusting-entries

Accountingexplained. 2017. Non-current assets. Retrieved March 16, 2017, from https://accountingexplained.com/financial/non-current-assets/