Facebook becomes articles hoster soon

Facebook officially announced that an agreement had been reached with newspaper publishers, so it therefore becomes news host.

The press has just found a new form of distribution of its news, Facebook has decided to take the step and directly broadcast the articles in its interface. It is possible that this announcement may not be to Google News, which until then was the rain or shine in this sector.
A dozen major publishers embark

Recent pressures between the world of the press and Google, which threatened to delist the sites not accepting its rules, will undoubtedly enabled newspaper publishers to understand that we should not bet all on Google News, even though a huge part of their audience comes from this news feed.

A dozen publishers therefore has signed a historic partnership with Facebook that the social network can broadcast their news directly. As of today, Facebook will therefore highlight items of some US sites, but also Europeans! Sites National Geographic, The Atlantic, New York Times, NBC News and BuzzFeed will therefore publish their news directly on the platform of social network but also Spiegel, BBC News, The Guardian and Bild in Europe.

Advantages and disadvantages of "Instant Articles»

Called "Instant Articles," but this system has advantages and disadvantages for the press, especially in the long term. The benefit will be understood is that these newspaper publishers find themselves in the midst of news flow on Facebook and can potentially be read by 1.4 billion people. The distribution of naturally should explode.

The disadvantage is that more visits will also mean less revenue paradoxically, because until now when an article was posted on Facebook by a newspaper editor, the user clicked the link and was taken to the official website which raked in consequently advertising revenue. With "Instant Articles," the user will open the news from Facebook ...

Eventually this could lead to a dependence of the press with respect to third party companies like Google and Facebook whose economic survival is based only on signed contracts between the various protagonists. On this point Facebook has reassured there is no question for him of diverting advertising revenue of Press Publishers. A spokesman explained that statistical analysis systems comptabiliseront visitors and that the sites in question will be paid the fair value of their audience. However, it is true that the sites will lose a key point in the strategy of a website, they will lose the notion of "bounces", since it will be impossible to click on an item alongside ... resulting from While lesser extent, by a loss of income.

Calculation of Unit Costs under FIFO Method

Calculation of Unit Costs—FIFO Method. The Choate Corporation employs a process cost system to accumulate costs for its Product CHOA. Inventories, costs, and production data for the month of October are shown below.

Sept. 30 Oct. 31
Raw materials 100,000 lbs. 80,000 lbs.
Raw materials cost $100,000
Work in process inventories:
All materials, 40%, complete as to labor and
overhead 20,000 units
Cost $ 84,000
All materials, 33i/3% complete as to labor and
overhead 30,000 units
Finished goods inventory 40,000 units 24,000 units
Cost $448,000
Purchases of raw materials 440,000 lbs. @ $1.10 per lb.
Transferred to production 460,000 lbs.
Production ratio: 2 lbs:l unit of CHOA
Completed during the month 220,000 units
Materials and units are costed on the fifo method
Direct labor $1,198,800
Factory overhead 421,800

Required: (1) Equivalent production units for materials, labor, and factory overhead.
(2) Unit costs for the three cost elements.
(3) Cost of units transferred to finished goods inventory, using the FIFO method,
(4) Cost of ending inventory work in process, in detail.
(5) Number of units sold and the cost of the finished goods inventory on October 31 using the: (a) FIFO method; (b) average cost method; (c) cost difference per unit and in total.

Cost of Production Report under FIFO Method of Process Costing

Cost of Production Report — FIFO Method:

 Syracuse Ceramics, Inc. operates three departments in the production of its product — Molding, Painting, and Firing. During the month of August, the Painting Department transferred 12,400 units to the Firing Department, lost 500 units, and had 800 units in process at the end of August. There were 2,400 units in process on August 1 in the Painting Department. The remaining units started in the Painting Department during August were received from the Molding Department. The costs incurred during the month of August in the Painting Department were: Materials -$5,886 ; Labor- $7,830 ;and Factory Overhead- $1,134. 

The work in process inventory on August 1 was $6,656, and the costs transferred to the Painting Department from the Molding Department amounted to $23,797.80. The Painting Department work in process inventory was three fourths complete on August 1 and one fourth complete on August 31.

Required: A cost of production report for the Painting Department for the month of August, using the first-in, first-out (FIFO) method of accounting for beginning inventories. All computations are to be carried to four decimal places where necessary.

Calculation of Cost of Production under Average costing Method of Process Costing

Cost of Production Report with Average Method. The Shawnee Supply Company manufactures a single product on a continuous plan in three departments. On November 1 the work in process inventory in Department 2 was:

Cost in preceding department          $ 1 3, 1 30
Materials — Department 2                 None
Labor — Department 2                      $ 500
Factory overhead — Department 2      $ 50
Units in process 5,000
Costs in Department 2 during November were:
Labor                                           $14,200
Factory overhead                           $ 3,450


During November 70,000 units were received from Department 1 at a unit cost of $2,641. There were 68,000 units completed in Department 2, of which 60,000 were transferred to Department 3, and 8,000 were on hand in Department 2 at the end of the month. There were 4,000 units still in process, estimated to be one half complete as to labor and factory overhead. The balance was lost within the department, and its cost is to be absorbed by all the finished and unfinished production of the department.

Required: A November cost of production report for Department 2, using the average costing method for opening work in process inventories.

Managerial Principles for Successfully Managing Change

The trend leading toward increased application of Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is the pursuit of increased quality consciousness . Global competition permits consumers to purchase products and services from the highest quality providers in the world. 

In many product and service markets, quality has become one of the most indispensable criteria applied by consumers in buying decisions. BPR is a useful tool for increasing quality because it focuses attention on processes associated with poor quality and indicates ways in which quality can be improved by replacing, changing, or eliminating those processes.

The third trend resulting in increased BPR usage is the increase in price competition caused by globalization. To successfully compete on the basis of price, firms must identify ways to become more efficient and, thus, reduce costs. BPR can be used to improve efficiency, particularly when a process needs a major overhaul or a new generation of technology is needed.

Because BPR is a methodical way to revolutionize business practices, formal steps can be defined; however, creativity is an important element of the method.

Five critical diagnostic questions recommended by the evidence-based management model

While students will noty be able to list the questions verbatim, they should be able to capture the essence of three of the following questions.

1. What assumptions does the idea or practice make about people and organizations? What would have to be true about people and organizations for the idea or practice to be effective?

2. Which of these assumptions seem reasonable and correct to you and your colleagues? Which seem wrong and suspect?

3. Could this idea or practice still succeed if the assumptions turned out to be wrong?

4. How might you and your colleagues quickly and inexpensively gather some data to test the reasonableness of the underlying assumptions?

5. What other ideas or management practices can you think of that would address the same problem or issue and be more consistent with what you believe to be true about people and organizations?

Basic model for understanding and comparing interpersonal conflict handling styles

The basic model for understanding and comparing interpersonal conflict handling styles identifies five different styles by their locations on two dimensions: concern for self and concern for others. The desire to satisfy your own concerns depends on the extent to which you are assertive or unassertive. Your desire to satisfy the concerns of others depends on the extent to which you are cooperative or uncooperative. The five interpersonal conflict handling styles thus represent different combinations of assertiveness and cooperativeness, as follows: avoiding style--unassertive, uncooperative; forcing style--assertive, uncooperative; accommodating style--unassertive, cooperative; collaborating style--assertive, cooperative; compromising style--intermediate level of cooperativeness and assertiveness.

The compromising style should not be used early in the conflict resolution process for several reasons. First, the people involved are likely to compromise on the state issues rather than on the real issues. The first issues raised in a conflict often aren't the real ones, and premature compromise will prevent full diagnosis of exploration of the real issues. Second, accepting an initial position is easier than searching for alternatives that are more acceptable to everyone involved. Third, compromise is inappropriate to all or part of the situation when it isn't the best decision available.

 

Lenovo P780 and Lenovo P770's all abouts

The Lenovo P780 is described as "a extra stylishness smartphone" by Bryant in a behind-the-scenes almost phone-less public notice. It shows the basketball player holding the China-bound device by the very aim.

The one-minute record doesn't make into the authoritative Lenovo P780 specs either, but the it will be inflicted with a 5-inch spectacle, 8MP camera, and 4,000 mAh battery, according to Engadget and GizChina.

That must get on to pro Bryant-style battery stamina by satiated shape.

The WCDMA device is furthermore understood to be 9.9mm thick and boast a insightful upset screen with the intention of allows gloves and non-capacitive styluses to be used.

Lenovo P780 vs P770

The Lenovo P780's battery life and camera solution are be inflicted with certainly been upgraded ended the P770 develop.

Last year's Android smartphone by the Chinese company had a less important 3,500mAh battery, a 5MP camera, and a dual-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A9.

There's thumbs down authoritative word on the P780 CPU, but in all likelihood it will be inflicted with a quad-core MediaTek chipset and 1GB of RAM, according to the newest rumors.

Lenovo is understood to be launching the extra smartphone in porcelain shortly this month, but the Beijing company hasn't announced diplomacy to relief this dual-SIM device outside of its family territory.

Bryant could be lone of the hardly any Americans to mess about around with the Lenovo P780 if with the intention of remains the justification.

Display     Type     IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M insignia
Size     720 x 1280 pixels, 5.0 inches (~294 ppi pixel density)
Multitouch     Yes
Sound     Alert types     Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
Loudspeaker     Yes
3.5mm jack     Yes
Memory     Card slot     microSD, up to 32 GB
Internal     4 GB, 1 GB RAM
Data     GPRS     Yes
EDGE     Yes
Speed     HSDPA, HSUPA
WLAN     Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth     Yes, v3.0
USB     Yes, microUSB v2.0, USB On-the-go
Camera     Primary     8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels, autofocus, LED sparkle

Management Representations in auditing

The auditor should obtain written representations from management that: 

(a) it acknowledges its responsibility for the implementation and operation of accounting and internal control systems that are designed to prevent and detect fraud and error;
(b) it believes the effects of those uncorrected financial statement misstatements aggregated by the auditor during the audit are immaterial, both individually and in the aggregate, to the financial statements taken as a whole. A summary of such items should be included in or attached to the written representation;
(c) it has disclosed to the auditor all significant facts relating to any frauds or suspected frauds known to management that may have affected the entity; and 

(d) it has disclosed to the auditor the results of its assessment of the risk that the financial
statements may be materially misstated as a result of fraud.
 

“Representations by Management” provides guidance on obtaining appropriate representations from management in the audit. In addition to acknowledging its responsibility for the financial statements, it is important that management acknowledges its responsibility for the accounting and internal control systems designed to prevent and detect fraud and error.
 

Because management is responsible for adjusting the financial statements to correct material misstatements, it is important that the auditor obtains written representation from management that any uncorrected misstatements resulting from either fraud or error are, in management’s opinion, immaterial, both individually and in the aggregate. Such representations are not a substitute for obtaining sufficient appropriate audit evidence. In some circumstances, management may not believe that certain of the uncorrected financial statement misstatements aggregated by the auditor during the audit are misstatements.

Auditors position in respect of Accounting System and Internal Control

Management is responsible for maintaining an adequate accounting system incorporating various internal controls to the extent appropriate to the size and nature of the business. The auditor should reasonably assure himself that the accounting system is adequate and that all the accounting information which should be recorded has in fact been recorded. Internal controls normally contribute to such assurance.

The auditor should gain an understanding of the accounting system and related internal controls and should study and evaluate the operation of those internal controls upon which he wishes to rely in determining the nature, timing and extent of other audit procedures.

Where the auditor concludes that he can rely on certain internal controls, his substantive procedures would normally be less extensive than would otherwise be required and may also differ as to their nature and timing.

Precautions should be taken with Test Checking Techniques

Generally, a large manufacturing concern is associated with a large volume of transactions. Also, the nature of the transactions is determined by the nature of the business. Depending upon the product lines, the sales mechanics may be different for different products - some may be to dealers and agents, some to wholesalers and some others even to retailers and consumers directly. Sales and purchase operations may stretch even to overseas markets. There may be various forms in which such a concern can raise bank finance, like letter of credit, packing credit, overdraft, bills discounted, etc. Basically, in a large manufacturing concern the problem is the problem of volume and variety.

In the circumstances when necessarily the test check technique has got to be adopted for audit work, it should be done by taking certain precautions so that a reliable idea about the truth and fairness of the accounts can be obtained by the auditor. The precautions that should be taken may be the following :

(i) The transactions of the concern should be classified under appropriate heads and may be stratified if wide variations are there between transactions of the same kind.

(ii) Systems and procedures for entering into and processing a transaction right from the beginning to the end should be studied in a sequential order. It involves questions of authorizations, documentation and recording and evidencing the same.

(iii) The whole of the system of internal control in the areas of accounts and finance should be studied and evaluated for its efficiency, soundness and capability for producing reliable accounting and financial data. This can be done by studying the controls and internal checks, evaluating their general soundness in the context of the business of the concern and testing their actual operation. If, and only if, the auditor is satisfied about soundness of the controls and their operation in actuality, can he decide to have test checks. For testing the operation of the control system, he should select a few transactions and check them in depth by the application of procedural tests.

(iv) A properly thought-out test check plan should be prepared and the objective of each check should be clearly understood by the auditing staff. For example, each voucher may be checked by the test check method for a number of objectives - one may be to ensure that the cash payments are properly authorised and acknowledged, others may be to see whether the amount actually payable has in fact been paid and whether the payment has been debited to the proper account. If there is a mix-up in the objectives or the objective is to test a number of variables in one test scheme, the result may not be helpful. Hence it requires a clear definition of the audit objective related to the particular test check plan.

(v) The transactions falling under each test-check plan should be selected in a manner so that bias cannot enter in the selection. For the purpose, selection should be made by reference to the random number tables.

(vi) Identification of the areas where test check may not be done. For example, if there are only 20 overseas sales in the year, it would be preferable to have them all thoroughly checked.

(vii) The number of transactions to be selected for each test-check plan should be predetermined. This can be done by deciding upon the degree of reliance that should be placed on the test-check result and the confidence that can be placed - the result to be obtained should be veering round the degree of reliance set up. Once the degree of reliance and the confidence level required in the audit for expression of the opinion have been decided, the number to be tested out of the given population can be easily known by reference to the statistical tables.

(viii) Errors that may be found may be material or immaterial in the context of the particular audit. Since errors of immaterial nature are not likely to distort the overall truth and fairness of the accounts, it is necessary to decide upon the criteria to judge what constitutes a material error. Further investigation of immaterial error may be avoided and only the material errors may be properly and thoroughly investigated.

What needs before Expression of opinion by an Auditor?

The auditor must gather sufficient competent evidential matter as a basis for forming his opinion on :

(a) the truth and fairness of the accounts and also their compliance with the provisions of the related laws, rules and regulations;

(b) the proper keeping of the accounting records, and other records and related registers of the client.

These broad objectives may be amplified as follows :

To determine whether :

(1) all assets and liabilities are properly stated and classified on a basis consistent with that of the previous year;

(2) proper disclosure is made of securities for liabilities and of assets charged or secured;

(3) the client has complied with the provisions of the applicable laws and documents created under them, loan agreements and other documents to which he is a party;

(4) income and expenses are properly classified and disclosed and are properly matched. They relate to the period in which they are reported and have been determined on a basis consistent with that of the previous year;

(5) all contingencies and commitments are properly disclosed;

(6) no material omissions have been made in the financial statements;

(7) no material error or inaccuracy in reporting or disclosing income, expenses, assets and liabilities has been created in the financial statements;

(8) the books and records have been properly kept in accordance with the requirements of the client.

The expression of opinion on the overall balance sheet and profit and loss account involves initially forming an opinion on each of the balance sheet or profit and loss items; it is necessary first to decide what are the essential conditions or prerequisites for each balance sheet or profit and loss account item in order to give a true and fair view of the particular assets or liabilities or item of income or expense being represented. These conditions are well established and may be illustrated by reference to the areas of sundry debtors and sales revenues.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Continuous Audit

Continuous audit : A continuous audit is one in which the auditor’s staff is engaged continuously in checking the accounts of the client the whole year round or when for this purpose the staff attends at intervals, fixed or otherwise, during the currency of the financial period. Strictly speaking, when auditor’s staff attends the audit work at fixed intervals it may be strictly called interim audit. This is when an audit is conducted up to a particular date within the accounting period. The auditor may attend to audit the figures for a month or for a quarter, as the work may require. It would differ distinctly from the final audit in the extent of the work carried out; verification of assets, for example would be left until the final audit. In case of continuous audit, the work is conducted throughout the course of the financial year but is not taken to a specific accounting period, as is an interim audit. It might be that during the course of the continuous work interim figures are being audited, but the significant factor here is that the auditor will be engaged continuously on the audit throughout the financial period. Staff may be in residence throughout the period or may come and go at irregular intervals, but most of the time, the audit staff is present at the location. Thus, in case of continuous audit, the audit staff is resent as the client’s premises almost during the entire accounting period.

Advantages :

(1) Errors are discovered earlier with the result that there is adequate time for making the necessary rectification.

(2) Because of the frequent attendance of the auditor, the opportunities of committing frauds are reduced.

(3) Fraud, if perpetrated, is detected sooner with the result that size of the fraud is limited and also the chances of recovering the amount lost are improved. 

(4) The attendance of the audit staff acts a moral check on the client’s staff.

(5) The client’s accounts are always kept up-to-date.

(6) Since audit can be carried on throughout the year, there is more time for detailed checking of the accounts when the audit is taken up at the close of the year.

(7) If the audit of routine transactions is completed before the close of the year, the final accounts can be prepared and reported upon much earlier.

(8) If the auditor carries on a continuous audit, he remains constantly in touch with the client’s affairs thereby able to carry out his duties efficiently.

(9) In the case of continuous audit, the work of the auditor is greatly facilitated since he is in a better position to plan out his engagements and take up the job at his convenience, avoiding the pressure at the close of the financial year when most of the business firms usually close their accounts.

Disadvantages :

(1) There is a danger that the records of transactions after they have been audited may be altered either innocently or fraudulently.

(2) The examination of an item left incomplete on a visit for being undertaking on the next visit may be overlooked.

(3) A continuous audit may involve good deal of waste of time and effort if the size of the concern is small.