Smackey Dog Foods free essay sample

Introduction Smackey Dog Foods, Inc. is a small, private company which specializes in manufacturing and selling natural dog foods. Their new boutique division, Best Boy Gourmet has grown significantly due to recent product demand. The company started small and is operated by sisters Sarah, Kim, and Jillian. Sarah serves as the President and General Manager. Kim is the Production Operation Manager overseeing the inventory, production, and shipment of the dog food with the help of her assistant, Henry. Jillian is in charge of Sales with a team of 12 salesmen in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. The business is based out of their hometown of Chicago. In an attempt to expand the business, Sarah has applied for a loan of $150,000 with a local bank. Currently, Smackey Dog Food Inc. We will write a custom essay sample on Smackey Dog Foods or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page already has an outstanding loan of $150,000 which is secured by the production equipment that was purchased with the money from the loan. Smackey Dog Food Inc. ’s goal is to secure a second loan that would be secured by the company’s corporate accounts receivable. The bank is requiring a set of audited financial statements before issuing the second loan. Therefore, Smackey Dog Food Inc has contacted my firm, Keller CPAs, to perform the audit. My firm had no prior experience with auditing dog food manufacturers, but we decided to venture out and accept the audit at the end of the year. Assigned to the lead the audit are Pete, Ben and Maureen. Pete is a very experienced auditor that I have worked with on several audits. Ben and Maureen were assigned field auditors to assist myself and Pete. Ben has been with my firm for one year with no prior auditing experience to Keller CPAs. Maureen has 5 years prior experience as an auditor before joining our team. We at Keller CPA have researched and benchmarked the industry to qualify a knowledgeable opinion of our new client, Smackey Dog Food Inc. Discussion Smackey Dog Foods, Inc. is a privately owned company and is not subject to SEC regulations. However, their accounting standards and financial statements must be in conformity with GAAP. During the first stage of the audit, I did research on the dog food industry to better familiarize myself with the risks currently associated with this industry, such as current economic conditions and how they have affected this industry, competition, and the audit procedures that are usually involved in the audit of this type of business. I also developed and presented an engagement letter to Smackey outlining my firm’s fees, the time-line for the audit, and the assistance that will be needed from the staff of Smackey during the audit, and other services that will be performed. Once all the lose ends were tied up with the client, we started performing preliminary analytical procedures which helped us better plan and design the audit and assess risks involving fraud, control, inherent, business and acceptable audit risks. During this process, the following key issues were identified: The Sales Manager, Jillian, is not very familiar with accounting and has started estimating sales in order to get her teams’ sales commissions to them in a more timely manner. These projections are normally off by an average of 11%. The new product line, Best Boy Gourmet, has a short 3 day consumption deadline and, therefore, has a high waste volume. A former employee has a pending lawsuit against the company for wrongful firing. Smackey Dog Food’s largest customer is facing a lawsuit and possible store closures in order to fund the legal fees. They are also unable to pay their invoices within the usual 30 days and Smackey’s accounts receivable are increasing in age. 9% of the company’s accounts receivables are over 61 days old and none have been written off or evaluated for collectibility. There is no formal inventory control system in place and one person, Henry, has full access to the inventory with no checks and balances in place to prevent waste and/or theft. With these issues identified, I knew which areas to focus on while performing tests of controls, substantive tests of transactions, analytical procedures, and test of details of balances. While making observations during field work, Ben and Maureen actually saw an employee take previously thrown away dog food out of a dumpster and place it in Henry’s vehicle. I knew from this incident, that Smackey Dog Foods, Inc had a major weakness in their internal controls with inventory and possibly an outright problem with theft. My team was present at the physical inventory count to help ensure the accuracy of the count and we performed various analytical procedures on he inventory such as comparing the gross margin percentage, the inventory turnover, and unit costs of inventory with those of the previous years. We also ensured that all expired/obsolete inventories was disposed of and not counted as we were aware of an issue that Smackey was having with the handling of returned inventory. In order to confirm the accounts receivable balances, I decided to use positive confirmations since this was my first time auditing the company and the collateral for the loan would be the receivables. The confirmations helped to verify the accuracy and existence of the accounts. I also calculated the Receivables Turnover Ratio in order to better evaluate the overall success of collection on accounts. The sample size that I chose was determined by the factors of tolerable misstatement, inherent risk, control risk, achieved detection risk from other procedures, and the type of confirmation used, negative confirmations require more confirmations. Since such a big emphasis needed to be placed on the Account Receivables and since there was an inherent risk present with the going concern of the major customer, I used a fairly large sample size to conduct my testing. Regarding the pending lawsuit from a former employee, I did research to determine if the employee had a legitimate case by reviewing other lawsuits involving similar circumstances. It is of my opinion that the lawsuit will be unsuccessful, but have disclosed this information in the footnotes of the financial statements. After completing all analytical tests, observing, and making inquiries of the employees of the company, we completed our final report and included all material weaknesses in internal control that may have affected the accuracy of the financial statements. Some recommendations that we made to management were to: Install a warehousing inventory system that will help limit the company’s exposure to waste and theft. Establish a JIT (just-in time) ordering system for raw materials for the Best Boy Gourmet line so that waste will be reduced. Segregate the duties of Henry, the warehouse manager†¦one person should not be in control of both the physical inventory and the accounting for the inventory. Establish criteria for determining a valuation account for A/R and for writing off accounts with an Allowance for Uncollectible Debt. Sales commissions should only be paid when earned and should be based on actual sales figures. Management could further their expertise by enrolling in business, accounting and supervising seminars. Shift duties between the partners so that sales staff are managed by a more hands-on manner and are better monitored for performance. Conclusion In conclusion, it is of the opinion of Keller CPAs that Smackey Dog Foods, Inc. does not have adequate internal controls in place and material misstatements were found in the financial statements due to these internal weaknesses. We do not suspect fraud by management, but have discussed with management the possibility of theft by a certain employee. My firm realizes the responsibility it has to ensure that the bank has accurate financial information when deciding to approve or not approve the second loan to our client. We have taken all steps necessary to identify any misstatements. I have been made aware of some relationships with my staff and employees of the client, but assure that independence was maintained throughout the audit process. We do feel that Smackey Dog Foods, Inc. is a successful company and has great potential if they will implement the changes my firm has suggested. Reference Auditing and Assurance Services: An Integrated Approach, 13th Edition, by Arens, Elder and Beasley.

Free Essays on Evolution of Telephones

After the invention of the telephone instrument itself, the second greatest technological advance in the industry may have been the invention of automatic switching called Strowger switches, after Almon Brown Strowger, who invented the system because he didn’t trust his town’s human operators were connecting correct calls. Long-distance telephony was established in small steps. Â · The first step was the introduction of the long-distance telephone, originally a special highly efficient instrument permanently installed in a telephone company building and used for calling between cities. Â · The invention at the end of the 19th century of the loading coil (a coil of copper wire wound on an iron core and connected to the cable every mile or so) increased the speaking range to approximately 1,000 miles. Â · Until the 1910s the long-distance service used repeaters overcome with the invention of the triode vacuum tube, which amplified electrical signals. And until Direct Distance Dialing became available, all long-distance calls still required the assistance of an operator to complete. By adding a three-digit area code and developing more sophisticated switching machines, it became possible for subscribers to complete their own long-distance calls. The introduction of radio into the telephone set has been the most important recent development in telephone technology, allowing first the cordless phone and now the cellular phone. In addition to regular telephone service, modern cellular phones also provide wireless Internet connections, enabling users to send and receive electronic mail and search the World Wide Web. Answering machines and phones with dials that remember several stored numbers (repertory dials) have been available for decades, but because of their expense and unreliability were never as popular as they are today. Multifunctional telephones include automatic answering and message-recording capability. Videophone... Free Essays on Evolution of Telephones Free Essays on Evolution of Telephones After the invention of the telephone instrument itself, the second greatest technological advance in the industry may have been the invention of automatic switching called Strowger switches, after Almon Brown Strowger, who invented the system because he didn’t trust his town’s human operators were connecting correct calls. Long-distance telephony was established in small steps. Â · The first step was the introduction of the long-distance telephone, originally a special highly efficient instrument permanently installed in a telephone company building and used for calling between cities. Â · The invention at the end of the 19th century of the loading coil (a coil of copper wire wound on an iron core and connected to the cable every mile or so) increased the speaking range to approximately 1,000 miles. Â · Until the 1910s the long-distance service used repeaters overcome with the invention of the triode vacuum tube, which amplified electrical signals. And until Direct Distance Dialing became available, all long-distance calls still required the assistance of an operator to complete. By adding a three-digit area code and developing more sophisticated switching machines, it became possible for subscribers to complete their own long-distance calls. The introduction of radio into the telephone set has been the most important recent development in telephone technology, allowing first the cordless phone and now the cellular phone. In addition to regular telephone service, modern cellular phones also provide wireless Internet connections, enabling users to send and receive electronic mail and search the World Wide Web. Answering machines and phones with dials that remember several stored numbers (repertory dials) have been available for decades, but because of their expense and unreliability were never as popular as they are today. Multifunctional telephones include automatic answering and message-recording capability. Videophone...

U.S. History 1945 to 1992 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

U.S. History 1945 to 1992 - Essay Example Divisions emerged in Poland and Germany, there was formation of COMECON and NATO, and America utilized economic and military intervention to defeat Communist forces in Turkey and Greece. America wanted the European and Asian countries to adopt capitalism while the Soviet Union wanted to expand Communism. The Cold War had begun by 1949, as America and the Soviet Union confronted each other economically and politically without engaging in war. The Marshal Plan saw the United States affirm its economic dominance by providing financial aid to countries in Europe that decided to adopt capitalism. It would also mean that the United States would trade with these countries. In the 1950s, the United States was sending monetary aid to China and Korea to help fight communism. Back at home, American politics were totally against communism and the government’s political wing created a loyalty program that ensured that the Americans drove out all communists even in Hollywood. The American citizens were against communism and it was considered a great evil for one to be a communist. America recovered from the great depression, many jobs were created, and prosperity was experienced in the American society because people had the money to spend. This demonstrated that America’s capitalism doctrine was superior to communism. During the John F Kennedy era, the government put a lot of emphasis on foreign policy, as it planned t o quell communist expansion around the world. However, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the struggle for African American to gain equal rights with the White people, characterized the Kennedy era. It was unfortunate that America believed in free people and it was trying to free other countries while the country was plagued by racial inequality. The Cold War was significant in the fight against racial segregation and bringing change for the black people and other minority groups. After President

Product Design Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Product Design - Assignment Example Although the basic design concept of producing a product in answer to a consumer need has remained relevant and valid, so much has changed in the objectives, processes, methodologies and techniques to arrive at the end product. Kassi reports that in the beginning of the old era some 250 years ago, the focus was more on product quantity than quality as the demand for products was not yet developed and the production processes were crude. Certainly, there was emphasis on cost reduction but this was without regard to the quality of the end product, an attitude that was carried through till the beginning of the scientific era and on to the period when industries began mass producing. The scientific managers carried forward their time-motion studies, process analysis and queuing theories which consequently became seeds for the moving assembly line, linear programming and statistical sampling that were being used in mass production. This mass production system became vogue up to the latter part of the 20th century, by which time the market has fully bloomed and demand has ripened for new products. This heightened demand signaled the beginning of quality in production, but the moving production line was not up to par with the costs it involved. Hence, new methods were sought and thus began the use of computing, automation and lean production systems that ushered in such concepts as just-in-time, CAD design, electronic data interchange and TQM, among other late concepts. (Kassi, 2008). Inside that process of evolution, equally evolving was product design as it is now known. It is the aim of this paper to take a close look at product design and examine its role in the modern configuration of business, particularly as it is being promoted to take on a responsibility in achieving competitive advantage for a business firm. Product Design As a general concept, product design would simplistically refer to the process by which new products are designed and produced. But Achenie et al (2003) look at product design as a series of steps leading to the completion of a product that is ready for use. The steps involved are define the needs, generate ideas to meet the needs, select the best idea and manufacture the product (Achenie et al, 2003). On the other hand, Synthesis Engineering Services may be a biased information source for this research but it would be worthwhile to look at their conceptual presentation of the steps in product design. Their presentation shows a very clear picture of the whole process from identifying the bright idea to defining the requirements to information gathering and planning to design to prototyping to production (Synthesis, 1996). This sequence is, in fact, aligned with what Luecke (2003) offers as a process involving the generation of ideas, evaluation of these ideas, development of the selected ideas and conversion of the ultimately chosen ideas to useful products. It is easy to see that product design is the key process, if not a strategy, in the overall effort of an organization to achieve outstanding end results. Cresswell et al (2004) agrees that it is in product design where new products or product improvements emanate and take form. Looking at it another way, product design is the driving force of a company’s initiative at creativity and innovation. Luecke (2003) believes that, if innovation is what will put the

Sykes Enterprises Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 14

Sykes Enterprises - Essay Example Convergys Corporations and TeleTech Holdings Inc. have been the major players in the industry that have captured a larger segment of the market leading to small companies like Sykes Enterprises focusing on cost-competitive strategies rather than quality competitiveness. The mission of Sykes is to provide its customers with competitive rates so that it can provide its customers with the lowest rates. Sykes’ strategy is to compete with the industry leaders on cost. It has to thus ensure that its operations stay profitable for it to continue its operations. Its mission and objectives are aligned with the amount of competition in the market and allow Sykes to target the same companies its competitors are targeting, however, offering the lowest rates in town. There is no need to review the mission and objectives, but the strategy needs re-working. It is obvious that Sykes can take more than one action to improve its revenues and build a profitable business. The closure of its operations in India has resulted in the consolidation of its costs in the United States. The competitors of Sykes have resorted to opening up call centers in South East Asian nations such as the Philippines to counter the high turnover costs and possible wage rises in Indian cities due to growing economies. One of the strategic alternatives for Sykes could be to introduce a culture of hiring fresh graduates and providing them training and binding them with contracts to serve Sykes for a period of two years. This would result in a significant drop in turnover for a temporary period. Reduction in the hiring and firing costs will result in lower running costs that will allow Sykes to offer lower rates to its customers. It would be wise for Sykes to continue its contracts with various towns and cities and gather benefits in taxation and other utilities offering employment in return. The reduction in taxes would result in lower deductions in the revenues. The reduction would improve the profitability, though not necessarily the revenues.

A Review On Enterprise Resource Planning Systems Information Technology Essay

A Review On Enterprise Resource Planning Systems Information Technology Essay INTRODUCTION An enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems is that they integrate across functions to create a single, unified system rather than a group of separate, insular applications. As ERP system is providing optimal solutions and strong control over the company operations, every business is looking forward for this adoption. Since currently available ERP softwares are charging at higher level of licencing and supporting costs, businesses are in the necessity of finding an open source alternative. This document provides the feasible open source alternative option to the current market leader in the proprietary ERP SAP ECC. Open Source ERP Systems: The following are the popular open source ERP systems available in the latest market. Though there are many number of open sources are available like Opentaps, Ofbiz, ERP5, and so on here only considered few which are moderately fulfil business requirements in compare with SAP solutions. Adempiere This is one of the major ERP leaders in the open source technologies and has been resulted most successful in small and medium industry users mainly in Retail, Trading, Manufacturing and service sectors. [Adempiere Release Manual]. This is highly motivated and active community based software and is in the top 5 positions according to sourceforge.net. Compiere In the current era, Compiere is the most popular open source ERP+CRM application. It is a comprehensive solution for SMEs. This provides solutions in Distribution, Retail, Manufacturing and Service industries with highly adaptable and easy to use enterprise class applications. In ERP, first time Compiere started revolutionary design through which applications are enabled with easy customization and extension without any programing. Openbravo This is more commercial oriented open source ERP. ERP solution provides a robust application which integrates distribution, inventory, E-commerce, accounting and point of sale workflows. This has been received continuously best open source awards in 2009 and 2010 from Infoworld and many more recognitions from various Organizations. It is developed in java and oracle, postgres SQL databases can be used. OpenERP(Farmer TinyERP) This is comprehensive suite for all operations of an Enterprise. It follows the modular approach which helps customer to initiate one application and then add others as they go. This is designed through a famous 3 tier MVC architecture. Written in Python and Database is PostgreSQL. Clients are required to install flash components in their web browser to access. OpenPro OpenPro is a leader in licensed Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software using open source technology and also this is the first web based ERP software started on demand in the market since 1988. This software designed as a platform independent and is written in open source php. Over the years, Software has shown continuous improvements by providing advanced features along with application stabilization. This is recognized as best suited for the larger businesses. Open Source ERP Pros and Cons The following are the advantages and disadvantages of above open source alternatives. ADempiere Advantages: Architecture Model driven Architecture Active data dictionary reducing 80% coding work in customization Browser/Server + Client/Server Database independent : PostgresSQL/Oracle/ (MySQL) Function Structure Provides ERP, CRM, POS. Manufacture module Multi Organization, Multi currency, Multi accounting, Internationalization Market Top 5 in SourceForge.net. Existing customer / user base. Rich practice in real business environment, rather than a guinea pig in the library. Community Highly motivated and active. Global support. Disadvantages: Community No formal political structure to make decisions. No specified road map. Lack of sufficient funding, cant afford core developers. Market Not very well-known to the general public. Customer / user base is small compared to SAP. Implementation Not simple enough for quick implementation which is important for small-sized enterprise. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is shifted from licensing costs to lack of expertise local support in some countries. Compiere Advantages Multi company and complex corporate hierarchy support Multi currency and multi language support Delivers fully integrated ERP product with complex warehouse management processing and etc. Rich internet applications by using ajax integration and this delivers functionality, usability, responsiveness and personalization through a Web browser The system uses a centralized and active application dictionary to store meta-data and rules to managing custom solutions Easy upgrades without programming which sustains the customer customization through upgrade tool Provides complete application level security Vendor independent Stable and well tested No information hiding , full transparency of coding by open source Extraordinary wide reach, no starting costs Model driven architecture, Application directory is available Any sql database is supported Disadvantages Not currently complete opensource, since the choice of Oracle database. Based on thick client Java Swing GNU licence needs derivative work to be returned. OpenBravo Advantages Easy integration with other applications since it supports REST and SOAP services. Provides training, support, consulting, outsourcing options to partners and clients at lower costs means lower total cost of Ownership. Web based ERP Revolutionary architecture Unique combination of MVC and MDD, innovative approach to build and maintain software coding. Scalability Openbravo can scale irrespective of the size and sector of the company Easy installation and No vendor/supplier lock in Modularity without any maintenance issues application can be easily extended. Disadvantages Even an ordinary person can write a PHT client class for REST service. This leads to security issues and shows the doubt on code reliability Currently at lower Support and maintenance cost, future is not guaranteed since OpenBravo is commercial focused. Loose coupling between database integration in coding perspective. OpenERP (Farmer TinyERP) Advantages It has majority of all other application advantages. Modular structure helps to easy adoption of new applications Certain customization can be done through web browser in online SAAS services are available Very small footprint, windows installer of just 85MB, installation will done in minutes time. Ease of use Advanced technology usage Very Innovating software double entry management in inventory control Internationalization 72% scored from Independent experts group evaluation in Open source erp softwares. Disadvantages OpenPro Advantages Applicable for all sizes of businesses Written on open source PHP First web based software, mature , reliable and faster Since web based, clients or users or sales representatives can access system from anywhere remotely through a web. No maintenance cost Shorter implementation time Disadvantages No frequent updates for open source whereas available for OpenPro commercial products. No support at free of cost. Need to pay More commercial oriented rather than open source. Evaluation of Open Source ERP System Functional Fit Flexibility Support Continuity Maturity Customization Flexibile upgrades Internationalization User Friendliness Architecture Scalability Security Interfaces Operating System Independence Database Independence Programming language Support infrastructure Training Documentation Project structure Community activity Transperancy Update frequency Other lock in effects Development status Reference sites In order to select the best open source alternative hierarchically structured criteria has been chosen. All open source alternatives information has been categorized into 5 groups and compared with each of other along with the need of company requirements. The following comparison table gives the clear picture of selected ERP system. ERP System Implementation Strategy Implementation is the key process for which company needs to identify a strategic approach. As per Guido Capaldo Study, proved that a planned oriented approach is required for estimating the capabilities that firms should have in order to select the more appropriate implementation strategy. Implementation process divided into 5 phases for smooth execution. Each phase has its own deadline to successful completion. Phase 1: Strategic Planning Project Team: Forming a project team with first line employees from each department and senior management. SMART objectives will be prepared for entire team and team members will be assigned with specific task. Activity tracker will be designed to track each activity such as timelines, training plan formulation, objective finalising. Examine current business processes: Team should examine their individual department business processes whether they are ready to automate or to identify any gaps which need to be fulfilled. Set Objectives: Clearly defined objectives needs to be set. Since implementation is a major task, setting S.M.A.R.T objectives are more crucial. In order to define an objective, team should be able to understand the scope of the business. Develop a project plan: Team should develop a project plan with the clearly defined objectives, timelines, and training procedures with each team member individual responsibilities stated. Result of this, all team members todo list will be clearly defined. Phase 2: Procedure review Review Software Capabilities Train on each and every aspect of OpenERP software. Project team dedicatedly review the software capabilities. Ensure that there are no any technical gaps. Identify manual processes Project team should identify the manual processes for automation and also documented well for the rollout steps. Develop standard operating procedures This is one of the critical success factors for smooth implementation of an ERP. Every aspect of the business needs to be well documented as per SOPs. Ensure that properly updated when SOP changes. Phase 3: Data Collection and Clean up Convert Data Identify the data which needs to be converted Collect new Data Review all data input Cleanup data Phase 4: Training and Testing Pre-test the database Verify Testing Train the trainer Perform final testing Phase 5: Go live and Evaluation Develop final go live checklist Evaluate the solution

The Night of the Scorpion and Vultures Poem Comparison Essay -- essay

Both poems manage to conjure up powerful pictures and emotions in the reader's mind. Many descriptions can be quite vivid and sinister, then suddenly the poet will lead the reader on an entirely different path changing their perception of the poem altogether. Leaving them wondering, ?How will the poems develop, thus rendering both poems rather impulsive and unpredictable. 'Night of the Scorpion' and 'Vultures', both have an abrupt change of scene, somewhere in the middle. For example, in `The Night of the Scorpion` you start off feeling strangely caring and sorry for the scorpion. Whereas, it turns out that the scorpion really isn?t that gentle when it fights back. Making you completely change your mind. The same feelings occur with the `Vultures` poem, at the start we feel that the vultures represent something dark and sinister and then they turn into two loving birds, and aswell with the commandant, who kills people for a living, yet clearly loves his children who he goes home to each night. It really shows how different people/animals can behave in different circumstances. In 'Vultures' the charnel house seems quite laid back, seeing as the poet doesn?t burst with emotion at the horrors of the place. In fact he altogether seems to give the impression he?s not all that bothered. It?s like he?s stepped back from his own views and opinions, so as to just put the relevant facts into the poem. What?s surprising, if a little weird, is the way two people seem to be in love actually in the charnel house itself. Even though, that place would usually cause images of death and violence to enter your mind. The stanza itself begins with the word 'strange' set alone on a line. Catching your attention from the very beginning making you t... ...ilderness. Finally, I think that the ending of 'Vultures' has two very twisted sides to it. The whole tone of the poem and the use of imagery are negative and depressing, yet the diabolical creatures can still have love between them. The same with the commandant, in stopping to buy sweets for his child, shows his care for his child no matter what atrocities he has had to accomplish throughout his day. In one way I think the poets believe there are some horrors that cannot be overcome in the world, but then again, these people making such acts of atrocity can share love and care amongst themselves. These contrive to make an overall impression, one that?s negative with an unexpected positive twist. The message of 'Night of the Scorpion' seems much simpler, it is one of love and loyalty. It also ends on a very positive note, which seems less thought provoking and vivid.