Diploma in Business Management:Order ID : 524241

Questions:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Task 1:  Give some examples for the following costs:

Direct cost

The examples of direct cost are as follows

  • Direct materials
  • Consumer able materials
  • Freight in and freight out
  • Commission on sales

Indirect cost

The examples of indirect cost are as follows;

  • Administrative salaries
  • Accounting and legal expenditure
  • Office expenses
  • Rent
  • Telephone expenses

Fixed cost

Below listed is the examples of fixed costs;

  • Depreciation
  • Amortization
  • Interest expense
  • Insurance

Variable cost

The examples of variable cost are as follows;

  • Production supplies
  • Direct materials
  • Piece rate labour
  • Commissions paid to sales person

Step cost/Semi variable cost

The examples of semi variable cost are as follows;

  • A production line may need $5,000 labour to staff at a minimum level each day. The basic $5,000 of daily cost will incur at all level of volumes which represents the fixed element of semi variable cost since overtime generally varies the level of production.
  • At the time of compensating, the sales person there is generally salaried component of fixed cost and commission of variable cost.

 

Task 2: Classifying costs and Monitoring process for actual expenditure:

Part a:

A company incurs the following costs (as shown under ‘Workings’) during a manufacturing process. Identify them with one of the cost elements (direct material, direct labour or other costs) by ticking the appropriate column. Also indicate by a tick whether it is a direct or an indirect cost.

Workings:

Costs Direct material Direct labour Overhead/

Other cost

Direct cost Indirect cost
1 Raw materials ü
2 Electricity ü
3 Foreperson’s salary ü
4 Telephone calls ü
5 Machine operators’ wages ü
6 Rent and rates for factory premises ü
7 Insurance on machinery ü ü
8 Maintenance materials ü
9 Cleaners’ wages ü
10 Gas ü
11 Telesales wages ü
12 Nuts and bolts ü

Part b:

  1. Complete the following variance report.
PRODUCT BUDGETED

SALES

ACTUAL

SALES

VARIANCE

 

Qty             $ Qty             $ Qty             $
Product X 100 20 000 120 26 000 20 6000 F
Product Y 150 18 000 160 17 600 10 (400) A
Product Z 200 40 000 190 36 100 10 3900 A
Total 450 78000 470 79700 40 9500
  1. Complete the missing figures in the following cost of production report for product X.

Cost of production report

Budget

$

Actual

$

Variance

$

Direct material 8 950 8300 650(U)
Direct labour 17 900 18 260 360 (F)
Factory overhead 6300 6 420 120(F)

 

Part c:

From the information given, calculate and write down all possible variances (units or dollar amounts as applicable) in the variance columns stating whether they are favourable (F) or unfavourable (U).

Task 3a: Dissemination of budgets and financial plans

List the ways by which dissemination of budget and action requirements takes place.

Effective dissemination can be performed in the following ways;

  • Disseminating the relevant details of the agreed budget and financial plans to the team members in order to provide support and ensuring that the team members can capably execute the required roles which is associated with the management of finance
  • Determining and accessing the resources and systems so that one can manage the monetary administration within the work team (Weil, Schipper and Francis 2013).

Task 3b:

Give some examples of budgets, and explain which parties these should be discussed with.

Examples of budgets are as follows:

Master budget: Master budget comprises the aggregate of the company’s individual budgets, which is designed to offer the complete picture of its financial activity and health. Master budgets are regularly used in large organisations in order to keep all individual managers aligned with the information.

Operating budget: An operating budget is helpful in projecting and forecasting the projected business income and expenditure over the course the period (Saunders and Cornett 2014).

A manager may be able to compare the reports obtained from the operating budget to form a judgement on the organisations overspending on supplies.

Financial budget: A financial budget can be defined as the budget, which is used to present the strategy for management of assets, cash flow, income and expenses. A software organisation may use the financial budget to determine the value in relation to the public stock offering or merger (Deegan 2013).

Week 2: Case Study – Task 4

Performance indicators

Rural fire services consist of a number of volunteers who are drawn from the local communities.  These volunteers are trained by the State’s fire brigade.  They are called upon to assist the permanent staff in case of emergency.  Depending on the training and their capability they are provided with protective clothing where the well trained volunteers get a full set of uniform and the beginners get an identifying cap.  These volunteers also help in fund raising activities.  The money collected goes into funding the unit.

Performance indicators linked to the activities of an organisation are necessary for the organisation to assess its performance.  The performance indicators used by commercial organisations are motivated by the need to make a profit for them to survive and provide returns to the investors.  The performance indicators for not-for-profit organisations are some what different to those of commercial organisations.  Not-for-profit organisations are those organisations that provide services for organisation members or for other people but not interested in profits.  This is mainly due to the fact that these organisations survive on grants and donations.  Examples of such organisation include charities, churches and political parties. Some not-for-profit organisations are substantial organisations such as the International Red Cross that has a large budget and complex operations while others such as local sports teams are run for a local community.

What might be some of the performance indicators used to assess the performance of such units?

You might investigate such a unit or look at other not-for-profit groups and review how they go about measuring performance.

 

Task 5:Performance Indicators.

Explain whether the items in the ‘Workings’ area are financial or non-financial performance indicators.

Monitoring performance is important for non-profit organisation, which is as important to other organisations as well. Below stated are three commonly used key performance indicators by Non-profit organisation as benchmark tools;

  • Programme efficiency ratio: This ratio is computed by dividing the entity’s programme service expenditure, which represents the amount of money spent directly to expand the mission of non-profit organisations by its total sum of expenditure. This measures the organisations spending capacity on its primary mission instead its administrative cost (Freeman et al. 2014).
  • Operating reliance ratio: This ratio consist of measuring effectiveness of non-profit organisation towards paying its expenses from the revenues generated by its programmes and dividing unrestricted program revenue from the total expenditure. The operating reliance ratio may be one or greater than one if the programs organised by them are able to sustain and manage the organisation expenditure and cash flow.
  • Fund raising efficiency ratio: This ratio is used by non-profit organisation to evaluate the efficiency of NPO’s in raising money (Freeman et al. 2014). It is computed by dividing the unrestricted contributions from the fundraising expenses, which represents the amount of money spent by non-profit organisation to raise the unrestricted amount of contributions.

Workings:

Items Financial Non-Financial Reason
1 The absenteeism in the paint shop of Rubber Toy Manufacturing Company caused a loss of 28 productive hours in the past week. ü The absenteeism caused by labour is an non-financial performance indicators caused to the company since it cannot be recorded in the financial statement and does not carry any monetary value. Thus, such financial indicator are generally characterised in the form of unrealised loss of working hours.
2 The gross profit to sales ratio of the cosmetic section of XYZ Department Stores was 60% for May. ü The gross profit to sales ratio is a financial performance indicator since it is directly related to the business transactions.  The gross profit ratio represents the amount of profits which is generated by the sale of products or services. The gross profit to sales is used to examine the ability of the business to generate sellable product in a cost effective manner.
3 There was one reported accident in the cutting section of Dale Furniture Manufacturers during the month of June. ü The reported accident can be characterised in the form of non-financial performance indicator since it is not related to the business transactions. It is assumed that the accident caused does not resulted in significant monetary loss.
4 Accounts receivable as at 31 December was 15% of the sales for the year. ü Accounts receivable is the money which the company receives for providing goods and service to the customers. The accounts receivable is the financial indicators received in this context and accounted for 15% of the company’s sales during the year.
5 Net profit to sales ratio of XYZ Department Stores was 8% for May. ü The net profit ratio is the financial indicator of XYZ which comprises 8% of the may sales. The net profit ratio to sales represents the remaining amount of profit after considering all cost of production

 

 

Task 6: Classification of work description:

Identify the following as Trading (T), Manufacturing (M) or service (S) business.

  • Grocery Store: Trading
  • Furniture wholesaler: Trading
  • Legal firm: Service
  • A plumber: Service
  • A dentist: Service
  • A bakery: Manufacturing
  • A food processing factory: Manufacturing
  • A restaurant: Service
  • A super market: Trading
  • A doctor surgery: Service
  • A shoe store: Trading

 

Task 7: Fees Budget

The Suburat Medical Centre, located in an affluent suburb, provides a 24-hour medical service to the

residents. A recently recruited employee has been asked to help the management with the

preparation of a fees budget for January 20X1and is provided with the following information:

  • Forty-five per cent of patients pay in cash when services are performed, and those insured claim refunds from their medical funds. The fee charged to the patients is $25.
  • Fifty-five per cent of the patients are accepted on bulk billing, where the fee charged is $19.
  • The number of patients expected for consultation/treatment in January 20X1 is 1700.

Show how the fees budget will be prepared.

 

Workings:

Suburat Medical Centre
Fees budget – January 20X1
$
Fees receivable in cash 19125
Fees receivable from bulk billing 13005
Total fees 32130

 

Task 8: Sales Budget and production budget

The projected sales in units for Parker and Company for the month of January 20XX is

  1. The inventory of finished goods on 1 January 20XX was 6,000. The company expects

the ending inventory for January to be 7000 units and expects to maintain it at that level for

the coming months. The sales for February and March are each expected to increase by 10%

over the previous month. Prepare a production units budget for these three months.

 

Workings:

Parker and Company
Sales budget (units) – 20XX
  January February March
Sales 12000 13200 14520

 

Parker and Company
Production budget – 20XX
  January February March
Desired ending inventory 7000 7000 7000
Add:  Sales for period 12000 13200 14520
19000 20200 21520
Less:  Opening inventory 6000 7000 7000
Production requirement 13000 13200 14520

 

Task 9: Expense budget

Prepare a selling expense budget for the month of February 20XX for Dajan& Co. The salesfor

February are expected to be $120000. The bases to be used for budget purposes are asfollows:

  • Annual fixed expenses are allocated equally to each month.
  • Sales staff salaries are equal to 4% of sales.
  • Depreciation of sales vehicles is an amount of $18000 per annum.
  • Sales staff insurance is 2.5% of total sales staff salaries.
  • The advertising budget is currently $19200 per annum.
  • Sales vehicle maintenance costs the organisation 2% of sales revenue.
  • Freight out is calculated at 0.65% of revenue.

Workings:

Item $
Salaries 4800
Depreciation 1500
Staff Insurance 3000
Advertising 1600
Vehicle Maintenance 2400
Freight 780
Total 14080

 

 

Week 3:

Task 10: Preparing P & L and Balance sheet using Spreadsheet:

Complete the following P & L and Balance sheet.

P & L Statement IBC Pty Ltd

July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014

 

Gross sales 346,400
Les: sales returns and allowances 1,000
A. Total Business Income
Cost of Goods Sold:
Beginning Inventory, July 2012 160,000
Add:
Direct material 90,000
Direct labour 50,000
Factory overhead 2,000
Less:
Closing inventory, June 2013 100,000
B. Cost of Goods Sold
C. Gross Profit (A-B)
Expenses
Salaries 68,250
Utility bills 5,800
Rent 23,000
Office supplies 2,250
Insurance 3,900
Advertising 8,650
Telephone 2,700
Travel and entertainment 2,550
Dues and subscriptions 1,100
Interest paid 2,140
Commission paid 1,250
Owner’s drawings 11,700
D. Total expenses
 
Net Profit (C-D)

 

 

 

 

Balance Sheet IBC Pty Ltd

July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014

 

Assets
Cash 8,450
Accounts Receivable 65,000
Inventory 19,550
Land 65,000
Buildings 32,500
Plant & equipment 32,500
Less: Accumulated depreciation (16,900)
Goodwill 22,100
A. Total Assets
Liabilities
Accounts payable 44,200
Bank overdraft 1,000
Short term loans 15,000
Mortgage 35,000
B. Total liabilities
C. Net Assets (A-B)
Owner’s equity
Opening equity 66,500
Retained profit 66,500
D. Total owner’s equity

 

P & L and Balance Sheet:

In the books of IBC Pty Ltd
Profit and loss Account
For the year ended 30 June 2014
Particulars Amount Amount Particulars Amount Amount
To Beginning inventory 160000 By Sales 3,46,400
Add: Direct material 90000 Less: Sales return and allowance 1000 3,45,400
Direct labour 50000 By Closing stock 100000
Factory overhead 2000 142000
Cost of goods sold 302000
To Gross profit 1,43,400
4,45,400 4,45,400
By gross profit 1,43,400
To Salaries 68250
Utility Bills 5800
Rent 23000
Office supplies 2250
Insurance 3900
Advertising 8650
Telephone 2700
Travel and entertainment 2550
Dues and subscription 1100
Interest paid 2140
Commission paid 1250
Owners drawings 11700 133290
To net profit transferred to capital a/c 10,110
1,43,400 1,43,400
In the books of IBC Pty Ltd
Balance Sheet as on July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014
Liabilities Amount Amount Assets Amount Amount
Opening equity 66500 Cash 8450
Retained earnings 66500 Accounts receivable 65000
Accounts payable 44200 Inventory 19550
Bank overdraft 1000 Land 65000
Short term loans 15000 Buildings 32500
Mortgage 35000 Plant and equipment 32500
Less: Accumulated depreciation 16900 15600
Goodwill 22100
228200 228200

 

 

Task 11:

Prepare a Profit & Loss Statement and a Balance Sheet from the following Trial Balance.

Trial Balance of Marco’s Café

As at 30 June 2014

Account Name Debit

$

Credit

$

Cash at bank 20 000
Accounts Receivable 134 000
Inventory 40 000
Prepayments(Asset) 3 000
Plant and equipment (P & E) 430 000
Accumulated Depreciation-(P & E)

(put this amount as negative under asset)

20 000
Accounts Payable 71 000
Accrued Expense(Liability) 3 000
Loan from bank 29 000
GST payable 10 000
Capital 100 000
Retained Profit(OE) 100 000
Reserves(OE) 10 000
Long Term Loan 150 000
Sales 550 000
Purchases 320 000
Electricity 15 000
Rent 41 000
Advertising 27 000
Interest Expense 13 000
1 043 000 1 043 000

 

 

P & L Statement

As at 30 June 2014

In the books of Marco Café
Profit and loss Account
For the year ended 30 June 2014
Particulars Amount Amount Particulars Amount Amount
To Purchase 320000 By Sales 550000
To gross profit 230000
550000 550000
To Electricity 15000 By gross profit 230000
Rent 41000
Advertising 27000
interest Expense 13000 96000
Net profit 134000
230000 230000

 

 

Balance sheet

As at 30 June 2014

In the books of Marco café
Balance Sheet as on June 30, 2014
Liabilities Amount Amount Assets Amount Amount
Capital 100000 Cash at bank 20000
Retained earnings 100000 Accounts receivable 134000
Reserves 10000 Inventory 40000
Long term loans 150000 Prepayment 3000
Accounts payable 71000 Plant and equipment 430000
Accrued expenses 3000 Less: Accumulated depreciation 20000 410000
loan from bank 29000
GST Payable 10000
Add: Net profit 134000
607000 607000

 

 

Week 4:

Task 12: Sources of Finance

You are owner of a manufacturing company. Due to increased competition in the marker you are planning to open a new product line. This involves a certain amount of investments and requires capital. You are planning to approach financial institutions to apply for financing. What are the different sources you can manage finance for your business?

Types of business finance are as follows;

Business loans: Traditional business loan route is the most popular options of obtaining funds for business looking to expand and the business will have the opportunity of retaining the equity in their business.

Equity offerings: Under such situations, business can sell stock directly to the public. Depending upon the circumstances equity offerings can help in raising the desired amount of funds (Hoskin, Fizzell and Cherry 2014). The structure of the offering can take several forms and may require careful oversight by the organisations lawful representative.

Banks and other commercial lenders: Banks and other forms of commercial lenders are considered as the popular source of business financing. Once the business is in progress profit and loss statement, cash flows, budgets and net worth statements if provided may help the company to borrow additional amount funds for expansion.

Commercial finance organisations: Commercial financing organisations can be considered when the business is unable to obtain funds from other commercial sources (Weil, Schipper and Francis 2013). These organisations may be dependent on the quality of the collateral to repay the amount of loan than the record of accomplishment or profit projection of the business.

Task 13: Clarification of budgets and financial plans:

In a retail environment where floor staff may have scope to vary the price of products sold what

information might the store management need to pass to various sales work groups in respect to

issues such as cost and discounts that might impact on sales budgets being achieved?

 

Cost relevant information like cost of products and discount which are relevant which is common to all alternatives, which one may choose. The sales management can modify the price list for the distribution channel by quoting to the potential buyer. Providing cost relevant information may help in moving stock and increase the short term sales which encourages the distribution channel to perform the functions which benefits the discounts issuer as well.

Task 14: Financial plans and negotiation for changes

 

What are the potentially positive impacts of consultation and agreement on budget goals between

management and staff responsible for achieving required budget goals in respect tonsuring budget

goals are met?

 

Positive impact of consultation and agreement between the management and staff are as follows;

  • Budgeting enables managers and staff to perform better forecasting: It is obligatory for the managers to constantly scan the business environment so that it can identify the changes, which will create a positive impact on the business (Hope and Fraser 2013). Vague generalization concerning the future of the business is eliminated through sufficient managers and staff coordination.
  • Budgets enables the managers and employees by offering yardstick for performance evaluation: The process of budgeting helps in providing better motivational impact by involving managers and staff in the budgeting process (Chen, Rennekamp and Zhou, 2015). This helps in achieving managers to strive for and achieve the business goals and objective.
  • Budgeting helps in establishing communication amid the management and staff: Well-crafted budgets helps in promoting communication between both the top

management as well as the bottom level of staff. Managers and owners can convincingly implement the realistic plan of generating profit.

 

Task 15: Risk management and Prepare Contingency Plan

Part a: What is risk management? Explain the various methods available for treating risk.

 

Risk management can be defined as the procedure of identification, assessment and prioritization of risk along with the coordination and economical implementation of resources to minimize and control the impact of unfortunate events (Hopkin 2017). The major objective of risk management is to assure that uncertainty does not repel the attempt from attaining business goals. There are various methods of treating risk, which are as follows;

  • Identification of relevant elements in the external environment, which give rise to uncertainty. This may consists of the social, regulatory, cultural, financial and political environment as external stakeholder’s forms key to the organisational drivers.
  • Analysing the relevant stakeholders in order to determine their motives and required means of establishing communication and consulting with them.
  • Establishing the scope and boundaries of risk evaluation by defining the organisational part, activities with goals and objectives in order to specify the nature of decision which needs to be undertaken depending upon the extent of risk evaluation outcome (Lam 2014).
  • Gaining an agreement on the possibilities and purposes for the risk management process.

 

Part b: What is involved in selecting the appropriate contingency plan?

Guidelines involved in preparing contingency plan are as follows;

Maintaining the business operations: Contingency plan involves taking a close look at the needs to deliver the minimum level of services and functionality in upholding the business operations.

Defining the times: Contingency plans involves taking important decision during the initial hours of the plan regarding the plans to be implemented. Breaking down the plans on weekly or monthly basis will enable the management to have less likely omission of relevant details.

Managing risk: The management must look for opportunities to cut down the risk wherever possible. This may help in reducing or eliminating the need for full contingency plans in certain areas.

Identifying the operational inefficiencies: It helps in providing standard to documents in the planning process and discovering the opportunities for improving the performance.

Communication: communicating the plans to everyone in the organisation helps in assigning the roles and responsibilities related to the plan.

 

Task 16: Risk Management

Can risks be avoided in an organisation?  Explain your answer.

Risk can be avoided in an organisation through following ways:

  • Communicating the plan to everyone in the organisation
  • Informing people of their roles and responsibilities concerning the plan
  • Providing sufficient and required training to the people so that they fulfil the roles and responsibilities adequately
  • Reviewing the plan regularly especially if the plans involves important technological, operational and personal changes
  • Distributing the revised plans throughout the company and ensuring that the old plans are discarded
  • Keeping the copies of plans off-site and in such a place where the users of plans can easily locate as and when required (Ruiz-Torres, Mahmoodi and Zeng 2013).
  • Analysing the efforts to control risk by comparing the original plans with the performance level laid down in the contingency plan.

Task 17: Succession planning:

Describe the steps involved in ‘Succession Planning’.

Succession planning can be defined as the systematic approach to building leadership talent to ensure continuity of leadership (Blum et al., 2014). Steps involved in succession planning are as follows;

  • Linking strategic and workforce planning decision: This step is concerned with recognising the long-term vision and direction concerning the future requirement of goods and services. Under this step, it uses the data collected to connect the succession planning which brings values to the organisation.
  • Assessing gaps: This step consists of recognising the core competencies and technical competency requirement, which is required to determine the existing level of supply with the expected demand (Grau 2014). Succession planning helps in developing business plans, which is based on the long-term talent needs, and not merely replacing the position.
  • Identifying the talent pools: Succession planning involves using the pool of candidates to develop the position required. In other words, it helps in identifying the critical competencies from multiple levels of external sources of talent.
  • Creating succession strategies: This step involves identifying the recruitment strategies for recruiting and locating bonuses through using special programmes. It helps in identifying the development strategies through planned job assignments.
  • Implementing succession strategies: This step is concerned with implementing recruitment strategies though retention bonuses in order to improve the quality of work life programmes.

 

Week 5

Task 18: GST Calculations

John is the owner of a fish and chips shop in Parramatta. His total sale for the month of February was $24,000 including GST. His purchase was $18,000 for the same month. Calculate the following.

(i) GST received

(ii) GST paid

(iii) Net GST payable

 

 

Particulars GST rate Value without GST GST Input tax credit Balance payable
On input 10% 18000 1800 1800
On final sale 10% 24000 2400 2400 2400
Net GST Payable 600

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Task 19: GST and Cash Flow Statement

A company forecasts the following transactions during the next financial year which will affect its

cash flow. (All ATO dues and ATO credits are expected to be settled during the year.)

$
Cash sales, 10% GST not included

Credit sales for year, including 10% GST

Cash receipts in respect of credit sales — budget year

Cash receipts in respect of credit sales — previous year

Cash purchases, 10% GST not included

GST payable to ATO

GST input credit from ATO

Wages

Other payments, including 10% GST

80 000

176 000

140 800

11 000

90 000

12 000

24 000

120 000

33 000

Prepare a budgeted cash flow statement assuming that the opening bank balance was $30,200.

Workings:

Cash Receipts: $ $
Cash sales 80000
GST receipts on cash sales 8000
Credit sales – budget year 140800
Credit sales – previous year 11000
Total Cash receipts 239800
Cash Payments:
Purchases 90000
GST payments on cash purchases 9000
Wages 120000
Net GST payable to ATO 12000
Other payments 30000
Total Cash Payments: 261000
Cash surplus/(deficit) (21200)
Opening bank balance 30200
Closing bank balance

 

9000

Task 20: Preparing Sales Budget

Gardening tools Pty Ltd manufacture and sell lawn mower and water pump. The production cost is as follows:

Lawn mower: $278

Water pump: $190

The company sells the products by adding a mark-up of 120% on lawn mower and 150% on water pump. Due to increased competition, the company has decided not to increase the unit sales price in next year’s budget. The products are sold in Bunning warehouse and Yourlocal Hardware Store. Actual sale (in no. of units) for both the products in those outlets from January to March 2013 is as follows:

January February March Total
 

Bunning Warehouse

Lawn mower 120 134 159 413
Water pump 70 81 78 229
 

Your local

Hardware Store

Lawn mower 105 123 111 339
Water pump 51 67 68 186

For January to March 2014, Gardening tools Pty Ltd is estimating that the overall sales for their products will increase in Bunning warehouse but may decrease in Yourlocal Hardware Store. The marketing and sales team is making the following forecast:

  1. Sales for both the product will increase by 15% over same period last year in Bunning warehouse in February and March. But due to late summer, only in January it will increase by 6% over last year sales in the same outlet.
  2. Yourlocal Hardware Store is facing significant competition from Bunning due to their aggressive pricing policy and losing customers. Therefore the sales team is estimating a 5% decrease in sales for lawn mower and 3% decrease in water pump sale in that outlet comparing to same period last year.

Based on the above facts the marketing team has requested you to calculate the estimated sales budget (in $) for January to March 2014 for both the product and area wise.

 

Answer Template:

Gardening tools Pty Ltd

Sales Budget

January to March 2014

 

January February March Total
Bunning warehouse Lawn mower Unit sales 127 154 183 464
  Unit price 334 334 334 1001
    Total sale 42434 51408 60999 154840
  Water pump Unit sales 74 93 90 257
  Unit price 285 285 285 855
    Total sale 21147 26548 25565 73259
  Total   63581 77956 86563 228100
Yourlocal Hardware store Lawn mower Unit sales 100 117 105 322
  Unit price 334 334 334 1001
    Total sale 33277 38981 35178 107436
  Water pump Unit sales 49 65 66 180
  Unit price 285 285 285 855
  Total sale 14099 18522 18799 51420
  Total   47376 57503 53977 158856
Grand total   110956 135459 140540 386955

 

 

Task 21: Operating Expenses Budget

Parker and Company expects to spend $20,000 on general administration expenses in the month of

January 20XX. In February, these will be 90% of the January expenses; in March, 105% of January’s

expenses. The selling and distribution expenses total is expected to be 5%, and financial expenses

1%, of each month’s sales.

Prepare the operating expenses budget for the three months January to March

Sales amount are in $150,000, $175,000 and $180,000 in January,  February and March respectively

Workings:

Parker and Company
Operating expenses budget – 20XX
  January February March
$ $ $
General and administration expenses 20000 18000 21000
Selling and distribution expenses 7500 8750 9000
Financial expenses 1500 1750 1800
Total 29000 28500 31800

 

Read the following statements and write if you agree or disagree with the statements. Your analysis must be supported by argument.

  1. Cash flow management means managing the cash moving in and out of your business.

Cash flow management not only manages the cash inflow and cash outflow of the business, it also helps the business to estimate the cash balance at a certain point of time. Thus, the business can take preventive measure for any future shortfall  and also plan properly to use the future surplus through cash management system.  Hence, the stated statement cannot be agreed.

  1. Cash outflows usually occur after cash inflows.

If any business does not raise any cash balance through cash inflow, then it has to incur the expenses in credit. Hence, it is very necessary to raise cash funds through cash inflow for paying off the expenses in cash, which, in other terms, is referred as cash outflow.

  1. Two important benefits of cash flow management are to identify future cash flow problems and to reduce the amount of time between inflows and outflows.

            Cash Flow management estimates the future cash inflow and cash outflow. Thus due to present business activities and future planning of the business, if the business would suffer from future cash flow problem, cash flow management can help to identify the problem effectively.  Moreover, through proper cash flow management system, the business can decrease the collection period of credit sales and pay off the creditors faster. Hence, it can reduce the amount of time between inflows and outflows.

  1. Three of the following are some of the most important components of cash flow. Which one is not?

A   Stock

B   Trade creditors

C   Fixed assets

D   Trade debtors

Stock is such component, which cannot create significant impact on the cash flow directly.

  1. Too much stock may negatively affect your sales ability and your relationship with customers.

When any business firm holds too much of stock, then it indicates that the firm is unable to sell the stocks on time. Moreover, due to storage for longer period, the quality of stocks may get inferior also. If such stocks are sold in the market, then the firm would fail to satisfy the customers in terms of product quality. Hence, it can be stated that too much stock may negatively affect the sales ability and customer relationship.

 

 

Week 6

Task 22: Part a: Accounts Receivable Collection Schedule and Cash Flow Statement

              Part b: Create an EXCEL file and complete the calculations through using formula

Stock & Co., a manufacturing company, need to produce a cash flow budget as part of an

overdraft application with their bank. The following are some of Stock’s budgeted figures:

Credit sales

$

Purchases

$

Wages

$

November 39 000 26 975 3 185
December 41 600 31 200 3 900
January 23 400 52 650 3 600
February 37 700 53 300 3 470
March 27 300 58 175 3 380

Budgeted cash at bank on 1 January is $5590.

Though credit terms of sale are payment by the end of the month following the month of supply, Stock & Co. can expect half of the sales to be paid on the due date, with the other half being paid during the following month. Creditors are paid during the month following the month of supply. Wages are paid in the month they are owed.

Utilising the following tables for format, prepare a cash budget for the quarter 1 January to 31 March 20XX.

 

Workings:

Accounts Receivable Collection Schedule
January February March
Receipts from sales in: $ $ $
November 19500
December 20800 20800
January 11700 11700
February 18850
TOTAL COLLECTIONS 40300 32500 30550
Cash flow plan
January February March
$ $ $
Balance b/fwd. 5590 11090 -12530
Cash receipts (from credit sales) 40300 32500 30550
Total Funds Available 45890 43590 18020
Payments
Accounts Payable 31200 52650 53300
Wages 3600 3470 3380
Total Payments 34800 56120 56680
Balance c/fwd. 11090 -12530 -38660

 

What went wrong?

The main problem, which the company will face in the future, is the shortage of cash balance.

What are the consequences of those wrongs?

Due to the shortage of cash, the company would not be able continue its operational activities for longer period. In the coming periods, it might not have enough cash to pay off its suppliers and employees also, which may lead the company to become insolvent.

What managerial actions can be taken to rectify the errors?

The shortage of cash balance would mainly occur due to longer credit collection in comparison to credit payment period. The company fails to collect the credits sales amount as per the credit term, whereas, it has to pay its creditors within the following month and wages within the month.  Hence, it should collect adequate cash through credit collection to pay off the monthly wages and suppliers. Moreover, it would be more helpful, if the company convince its supplier to provide longer credit period.

What organisational protocols should be followed for reporting if loss is inevitable?

The company should maintain provisions for reporting if loss is inevitable.

What support can be provided to the team members to ensure that proper management of finances is in action?

The higher management should implement budgetary control system to ensure that proper management of finances is in action. The team members can easily measure their own performances through the control system and evaluate the performances in accordance to the management planning and protocols.

Task 23: Asset Management – Managerial Decisions

You are the owner of a small business. In the new financial year you are planning for business expansion. As part of that you are required to acquire new equipments and IT equipment to increase your production level. You have approached this issue to your Chief Financial Officer (CFO). CFO advised that there are three options available to acquire new equipment: Buying, leasing or hire purchase. All have some advantages along with disadvantages. Identify the advantage and disadvantages of them and recommend which one is preferable if you are to buy new IT equipment.

Purchasing of Equipment:

Advantages: The Company will have full ownership of the equipment’s. It can sell the equipment’s, if required in future.

Disadvantages: For purchasing the equipment, the company will have to invest lump sum amount of cash funds. Moreover, it has to incur maintenance costs annually to maintain the productivity of the equipment’s. If the IT equipment has become obsolete quickly, the company would not get long-term return from the capital invested in the equipment’s.

Leasing of Equipment:

Advantages: For leasing the equipment, the company does not have to spent higher amount at a time in comparison to purchasing. As IT equipment has become backdated quickly, lease agreements will help the company to replace such backdated equipment in exchange of very lower amount.

Disadvantages:  The Company has to pay annual lease amount for the equipment’s. It will increase the annual fixed expenses and the company has to earn the lease amount through its sales. At the end of the lease period, the company cannot generate any cash inflow by selling the equipment. Moreover, like purchase, it has to maintain the equipment within the period of lease agreement.

Hiring of Equipment:

Advantages: The hiring cost uses to be much lower than purchase or lease options. The equipment can be easily replaced, if it becomes obsolete at any point of time. Moreover, in most of the cases, the maintenance cost of the equipments under hiring agreement is borne by the owner of the equipment.

Disadvantages: The company has to pay the hiring charges monthly or quarterly and thus the fixed expenses would also increase for hiring agreement. The company would not get any salvage value of the equipment after the end of hiring agreement. Moreover, the rent agreements are made for shorter period, after which the rent amount is often get increased.

            From the above discussion, it can be stated that it is better to obtain the IT equipments through lease agreements. It would not cause higher cash outflow at one time, like purchase,

and not very frequent cash outflow, like rent agreement. Moreover, as the lease agreement are made for longer periods, the lease amount does not increase rapidly like rent agreement also.

Week 7:

Task 24: Cash flow analysis – Managerial Decision: Metropolitan Furniture

Peter works in the accounts unit of the Metropolitan Furniture Manufacturing.  He was asked to prepare a prop101028osed budget for the forthcoming quarter.  He consults with the sales manager and finds that:

Estimated sales are as follows:

February          :           $265,000

March              :           $255,000

April                :           $290,000

                                    May                 :           $250,000

June                 :           $280,000

In consultation with the production manager he estimates that the cost of goods sold is to be budgeted at 40% of the sales figure.  The salaries are expected to be $75,000 per month. When sales exceed $270,000 in any one month, the sales team is entitled to an additional 4% commission on the excess sales over this figure. Other expenses are estimated to be $25,000 per month.

The owner of the organisation is concerned about the cash flow which was not thought of before. The owner is of the opinion that the collection of cash from sales is slow and this could possibly lead to cash flow problems to the organisation.  As Peter has never forecasted cash flow before he sets about collecting information on this.

Peter estimates that 70% of the total sales are going to be cash sales where the bill is settled when the goods are purchased or delivered.  20% of the month’s sales) settle the accounts owed in the month following sales.  Others (i.e. 10% of the month’s sales) settle in the month after.

Additional information for Cash Flow Statement:

The organisation gets a month’s credit on its purchases.  That is, the accounts for the purchases (COGS) made in one month is settled in the following month.

All salaries are paid in the month as they are incurred.

The additional commission is paid in the month after the month in which it was earned.

Other expenses are paid in the month they were incurred.

The bank balance at the beginning of the first month is estimated to be $30 000.

Required:

  1. Show the profit and loss calculations for April, May and June of operations.
  2. Show the cash flow projection calculations for April, May and June.
  3. Show amended figures if sales were to increase by 10% in each month and the cost of goods fell from 40% to 35% through a better long-term purchasing agreement with the supplier.
  4. Does Peter need to suggest any contingency plan at this stage?

 

Workings:

Profit and Loss calculations
April May June
$ $ $
Sales 319000 275000 308000
Less Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) 111650 96250 107800
Gross Profit 207350 178750 200200
Sales Salaries 75000 75000 75000
Commission 1960 200 1520
Other expenses 25000 25000 25000
Total expenses 101960 100200 101520
Net Profit 105390 78550 98680
Cash flow projections
April May June
$ $ $
Opening Cash 30000 125300 196040
Plus cash in:
This month 223300 192500 215600
From last month 56100 63800 55000
From two months ago 29150 28050 27500
Total Cash available 308550 284350 298100
less cash out:
salaries 75000 75000 75000
Commission 1050 1960 200
Other expenses 25000 25000 25000
COGS 112200 111650 96250
Total cash out 213250 213610 196450
Closing cash balance 125300 196040 297690
Amended Profit and Loss calculations
April May June
$ $ $
Sales 319000 275000 308000
Less Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) 111650 96250 107800
Gross Profit 207350 178750 200200
Sales Salaries 75000 75000 75000
Commission 1960 200 1520
Other expenses 25000 25000 25000
Total expenses 101960 100200 101520
Net Profit 105390 78550 98680
Amended Cash flow projections
April May June
$ $ $
Opening Cash 30000 125300 196040
Plus cash in:
This month 223300 192500 215600
From last month 56100 63800 55000
From two months ago 29150 28050 27500
Total Cash available 308550 284350 298100
less cash out:
salaries 75000 75000 75000
Commission 1050 1960 200
Other expenses 25000 25000 25000
COGS 112200 111650 96250
Total cash out 213250 213610 196450
Closing cash balance 125300 196040 297690

Task 25: Constructing a Cash Flow Statement

Constructing a Cash flow statement:

Calculate the total cash inflows and cash outflows and the net cash position at the end of December from the following information:

Use the space provided and shows all line items.

XYZ Pty Ltd.

December 2014

Particulars Amount ($)
Cash receipts from customers 235,000
Cash paid to suppliers and employees 121,570
Interest paid 34,120
Income tax paid 29,910
Purchase of Subsidiary X, net of cash acquired 550000
Purchase of property, plant and equipment 450,100
Proceeds from sale of equipment 20,000
Interest received 12,550
Dividends received 35,654
Proceeds from issue of share capital 250,000
Proceeds from long-term borrowings 250,000
Payment of finance lease liabilities 90,000
Dividends paid 135,700
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 430,750

Answer Template:

Particulars $ $
Cash & Cash Equivalents at beginning of Period 430750
Total Cash Inflow:
Cash Receipts from Customers 235000
Purchase of Subsidiary X, net of cash acquired 550000
Proceeds from Sale of Equipment 20000
Interest Received 12550
Dividends Received 35654
Proceeds from Issue of Share Capital 250000
Proceeds from Long-term Borrowings 250000 1353204
Total Fund Available   1783954
Total Cash Outflow:
Cash paid to suppliers & customers 121570
Interest paid 34120
Income Tax paid 29910
Purchase of Propertly, plant & equipment 450100
Payment of Finance Lease Liabilities 90000
Dividends paid 135700 861400
Cash & Cash Equivalent at closing of period 922554

 

 

Task 26: General knowledge: Manage your business cash flow

Read the following statements and write if you agree or disagree with the statements. Your analysis must be supported by argument.

  1. The purpose of cash flow planning is to ensure that the cash balance is enough to meet current and future financial requirements.

As cash balance is such current asset, which is very necessary to operate the daily business activities, the business firms has to maintain cash flow planning to meet the current and future financial requirements. Otherwise, the firm may fail to pay off its creditors and shut down its operation for lack of cash balances. Hence, the statement, stated above, is fully agreeable.

  1. When preparing a cash flow budget you will need to:

A   estimate  cash outflows for the period.

B   estimate cash inflows for the period.

C   estimate the future cash position of the business.

D   do all of the above.

The cash flow budget exhibits the estimated cash outflow and cash inflow for the specified period and thus, can predict the future cash position of the business. Hence, cash flow budget can provide all the benefits, stated above.

  1. The cash flow equation is as follows.

Beginning cash balance + estimated sales – estimated purchases = ending cash balance

Cash flow does not include only sales and purchase, but every form cash receipts and cash payments. Hence, the equation, given above, is not correct. It will be correct only if the estimated sales and estimated purchase are replaced by estimated cash inflow and estimated cash outflow respectively.

  1. The sales forecast is not important in the preparation of the cash flow budget.

Sales forecast provides the estimated sales amount, which in return, helps the business firm to ascertain the cash receipt from sales. Hence, it is very important to prepare sales forecast for preparing cash flow budget.

  1. In a retail business the largest cash outflow is generally the cost of goods to be sold?

In a retail business, the products are not manufactured. The products are purchased from suppliers and, then it is sold to customers with a profit margin. Therefore, such business does not have to incur any expenses related to wages or manufacturing overhead. The main expense of the business is only cost of goods sold. Therefore, the cash flow statement exhibits largest cash outflow in terms of cost of goods sold.

 

  1. After the financial plan is developed and implemented, it is important to communicate and distribute it to the relevant people to satisfy the legal requirements. List some examples of relevant people. Explain why it is critical.

The relevant people, whom the financial plan should be communicated and distributed are mentioned below:

1) Employees: Employees should be communicated as they are the main people, who can implement the plans in actual.

2) Shareholders: Shareholders must be informed about the financial plans, as they are real owners of any company.

3) Suppliers: Any purchase related financial planning should be informed to suppliers. Otherwise, they may not accept the new purchase terms.

  1. “It is critical to obtain accountant/financial planner’s advice to profitably operate and extend the business in accordance with the business plan” – Explain

Accountant or financial planners use to account all the business revenue and expenses and ascertain the profit or loss of the firms. As all the financial data is recorded by them, they know the financial trends better than the other senior officers.

Therefore, if any business firm wish to operate profitably and extend the business as per the business plan, then the higher management should consult with its accountant or financial planner. They can provide valuable information to evaluate the potentiality of the business plan and also help to identify the factors, which can increase the profit margins.

Task 27: Petty Cash

 

Required:

Prepare the Pretty Cash Book for the month of January by:

  1. Recording the establishment of the petty cash float in the Petty Cash Book
  2. Recording the payment vouchers in the Petty Cash Book
  3. Balancing the Petty Cash Book on the dates indicated
  4. Recording the reimbursement cheques in the Petty Cash Book

 

 

 

 

 

 


Reference list:

 

Blum, M.E., Post, G.V., Hunter, J.R., Novak, S.W., Woodard, L., Holliday, A.L., Davis, L.G., Clark, E.K., Moon, C.R., Stephenson, L. and Haley, L.L., 2014. THE ESTATE PLANNER’S ROLE IN BUSINESS SUCCESSION PLANNING: A TEN STEP GUIDE.

Chen, C.X., Rennekamp, K.M. and Zhou, F.H., 2015. The effects of forecast type and performance-based incentives on the quality of management forecasts. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 46, pp.8-18.

Deegan, C., 2013. Financial accounting theory. McGraw-Hill Education Australia.

Freeman, R.J., Shoulders, C.D., Allison, G.S., Smith Jr, G.R. and Becker, C.J., 2014. Governmental and nonprofit accounting: Theory and practice. JPAEJOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS EDUCATION VOLUME 20 NUMBER 3, p.441.

Grau, D., 2014. Succession Planning Step‐by‐Step. Succession Planning for Financial Advisors: Building an Enduring Business, pp.147-170.

Hope, J. and Fraser, R., 2013. Beyond budgeting: how managers can break free from the annual performance trap. Harvard Business Press.

Hopkin, P., 2017. Fundamentals of risk management: understanding, evaluating and implementing effective risk management. Kogan Page Publishers.

Horngren, C.T., Sundem, G.L., Schatzberg, J.O. and Burgstahler, D., 2013. Introduction to management accounting. Pearson Higher Ed.

Hoskin, R.E., Fizzell, M.R. and Cherry, D.C., 2014. Financial Accounting: a user perspective. Wiley Global Education.

Lam, J., 2014. Enterprise risk management: from incentives to controls. John Wiley & Sons.

Ruiz-Torres, A.J., Mahmoodi, F. and Zeng, A.Z., 2013. Supplier selection model with contingency planning for supplier failures. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 66(2), pp.374-382.

Saunders, A. and Cornett, M.M., 2014. Financial institutions management. McGraw-Hill Education,.

Weil, R.L., Schipper, K. and Francis, J., 2013. Financial accounting: an introduction to concepts, methods and uses. Cengage Learning.

Question 1: Metropolitan Furniture                                                                        (10 mark)       

Peter works in the accounts unit of the Metropolitan Furniture Manufacturing.  He was asked to prepare a proposed budget for the forthcoming quarter.  He consults with the sales manager and finds that:

 

Estimated sales are as follows:

February $265,000 April $290,000
March $255,000 May $250,000
June $280,000

In consultation with the production manager he estimates that the cost of goods sold is to be budgeted at 45% of the sales figure.  The salaries are expected to be $65,000 per month. When sales exceed $260,000 in any one month, the sales team is entitled to an additional 5% commission on the excess sales over this figure. Other expenses are estimated to be $35,000 per month.

 

The owner of the organisation is concerned about the cash flow which was not thought of before. The owner is of the opinion that the collection of cash from sales is slow and this could possibly lead to cash flow problems to the organisation.  As Peter has never forecasted cash flow before he sets about collecting information on this.

 

Peter estimates that 80% of the total sales are going to be cash sales where the bill is settled when the goods are purchased or delivered.  10% of the month’s sales settle the accounts owed in the month following sales.  Others (i.e. 10% of the month’s sales) settle in the month after.

 

Additional information for Cash Flow Statement:

The organisation gets a month’s credit on its purchases.  That is, the accounts for the purchases (COGS) made in one month is settled in the following month.

 

  • All salaries are paid in the month as they are incurred.
  • The additional commission is paid in the month after the month in which it was earned.
  • Other expenses are paid in the month they were incurred.
  • The bank balance at the beginning of the first month is estimated to be $40,000.

 

  1. Show the profit and loss calculations for the April, May and June
  2. Show the cash flow projection calculations for April, May and June
  3. What Peter is required to advise the owner of the organisation?
  4. Will the business adequate financial provision to pay tax? Why?
  5. If the cash flow statement and the P & L are productive, then what are the relevant people Peter needs to communicate if he establishes a business plan?
  6. If the P & L showing good profit trend and the forecasted cash flow statement returns positive results, then marketing and operational departments may tend to expand their budget and therefore the business may have cash shortage in future. How Peter can monitor financial performance on a continuous basis?
  7. Does Peter require advising the owner about any immediate change in the financial plan? Why?

 

Answer (1):

Profit and Loss calculations
April May June
$ $ $
Sales 290000 250000 280000
Less Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) 130500 112500 126000
Gross Profit 159500 137500 154000
Sales Salaries 65000 65000 65000
Commission 1500 0 1000
Other expenses 35000 35000 35000
Total expenses 101500 100000 101000
Net Profit 58000 37500 53000

 

Answer (2):

Cash flow projections
April May June
$ $ $
Opening Cash 40000 109250 131750
Plus cash in:
This month 232000 200000 224000
From last month 25500 29000 25000
From two months ago 26500 25500 29000
Total Cash available 284000 254500 278000
less cash out:
salaries 65000 65000 65000
Commission 1500
Other expenses 35000 35000 35000
COGS 114750 130500 112500
Total cash out 214750 232000 212500
Closing cash balance 109250 131750 197250

 

Answer (3):

The company should improve its credit collection system and try to collect the credit sales amount faster than the current scenario.

 

 

 

Answer (4):

The net profits of the company are lower than the closing cash balances. Therefore, it can pay off the tax on profit from its current cash balance.

Answer (5):

To implement any new business plan, the management should communicate with the following people:

1) Proprietor or Shareholders

2) Other Departmental Heads

3) Investors

4) Suppliers

Answer (6):

The financial performance can be monitored through the following processes on a continuous basis:

1) Financial Statement Analysis

2) Ratio Analysis

3) Cash Flow Analysis

4) Market Performance Analysis

Answer (7):

The owner of any business firm invests capital in the business for earning profit through business activities. They use to provide funds for expansion of the business. Therefore, it is very necessary to inform the owners for change in financial plan, so that the owner can evaluate the changes in terms of profitability. Moreover, if the plan requires additional capital, the owners can arrange the capital funds from personal source or may raise it through loan from outsiders, if necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

Question 2: Preparation of Cash Flow Statement                                                  (10 mark)

Calculate the total cash inflows and cash outflows and the net cash position at the end of December from the following information:

Use the space provided and show all line items.

XYZ Pty Ltd.

December 2012

Particulars Amount $
Cash receipts from customers 245,000
Cash paid to suppliers and employees 101,570
Interest paid 24,120
Income tax paid 25,910
Purchase of Subsidiary X, net of cash acquired 450000
Purchase of property, plant and equipment 350,100
Proceeds from sale of equipment 120,000
Interest received 22,550
Dividends received 25,654
Proceeds from issue of share capital 250,000
Proceeds from long-term borrowings 250,000
Payment of finance lease liabilities 50,000
Dividends paid 25,700
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 530,750

 

Instruction for the students:

  • Regular inflow and outflow is recorded under operating activities
  • Cash inflow and outflow related to non-current assets are recorded under investment activities
  • Cash inflow and outflow related to interest bearing transactions are recorded under financing activities.
  • For each section add the inflows and then deduct the outflow.

 

 

Operating Activities $ Net Cash Flow $
Cash Receipts from Customers 245000
Cash paid to suppliers & customers -101570
Income Tax paid -25910 117520
Investment Activities:
Purchase of Subsidiary X, net of cash acquired 450000
Proceeds from Sale of Equipment 120000
Interest Received 22550
Dividends Received 25654
Purchase of Propertly, plant & equipment -350100 268104
Financing Activities:
Proceeds from Issue of Share Capital 250000
Proceeds from Long-term Borrowings 250000
Interest paid -24120
Payment of Finance Lease Liabilities -50000
Dividends paid -25700 400180
Total Cash Surplus/Deficit 785804
Cash & Cash Equivalents at beginning of Period 530750
Cash & Cash Equivalents at ending of Period   1316554

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question 3: GST and Cash Flow Statement                                                                                          (10 mark)

A company forecasts the following transactions during the next financial year which willaffect its

cash flow. (All ATO dues and ATO credits are expected to be settled during theyear.)

 

$
Cash sales, 10% GST not included

Credit sales for year, including 10% GST

Cash receipts in respect of credit sales — budget year

Cash receipts in respect of credit sales — previous year

Cash purchases, 10% GST not included

GST payable to ATO

GST input credit from ATO

Wages

Other payments, including 10% GST

90 000

186 000

150 000

11 000

80 000

10 000

20 000

110 000

44 000

 

Prepare a budgeted cash flow statement assuming that the opening bank balance was $30,200.

Workings:

Cash Receipts: $ $
Cash sales 90000
GST receipts on cash sales 9000
Credit sales – budget year 150000
Credit sales – previous year 11000
Total Cash receipts 260000
Cash Payments:
Purchases 80000
GST payments on cash purchases 8000
Wages 110000
Net GST payable to ATO 10000
Other payments 40000
Total Cash Payments: 248000
Cash surplus/(deficit) 12000
Opening bank balance 30200
Closing bank balance 42200

 

Question 4: Cash Flow Statement                                                                                                            (10 mark)

Suppose, a business estimated its 3rd quarter cash collection i.e. $500,000 and during that time its cash payment for purchase is going to be $340,000, other expenses 150,000. The business will also have to pay back its previous loan of $100,000. The business estimated its cash balance at the beginning of the quarter 50,000 and it desires to maintain a cash balance of 60, 000 at the end.

Required: Calculate how much finance it needs to maintain the closing cash balance. (i.e. how much cash it needs to borrow)

Cash Receipts: $ $
Cash Collection for the quarter 500000
Total Cash receipts 500000
Cash Payments:
Payment for Purchase 340000
Other Expenses 150000
Loan Repayment 100000
Total Cash Payments: 590000
Cash surplus/(deficit) -90000
Opening bank balance 50000
Total Cash available before borrowing from lender -40000
Money required to be borrowed to arrive at closing balance 100,000
Closing bank balance 60,000

 

 

To prove your competency, you/your group will utilise current projects or previous any project at your workplace to demonstrate how you have applied the skills and knowledge in your position. Talk to your trainer for the project topic appropriateness before you/your group start. Ideally, use workplace projects to progress both your studies and your projects simultaneously however, case study examples are a suitable substitute where workplace examples cannot be provided.

 

Evidence of the following is essential:

  • Developing a project plan
  • Examples of monitoring arrangements and evaluation of the efficacy of the project plan in addressing project time lines and budget
  • Knowledge of relevant legislation.

 

Developing a Project Plan: Summary Document

Project Title (use SMART method to clarify project title):

Implementation of Accounting Information System in ABX Pvt. Ltd.

List of Activities or WBS (add more to the table for more activities)

 

WBS Task Name
0 ERP implementation
1    Preparation of the project
1.1       Definition of the project scope and objectives
1.2       Identification of the project team
1.3       Involving the stakeholders
1.4       Creation of the business blueprint
2    System architecture design
2.1       Identification of the system environment
2.1.1          Technical infrastructure preparation
2.1.2          Identification of the development environment
2.1.3          Identification of the quality assurance environment
2.1.4          Identification of the training environment
2.1.5          Identification of the production environment
3    Business blueprint
3.1       Analysis of the business process
3.2       Identification of the end to end current business process
3.2.1          Identification of the process integration points
3.2.2          Map ERP process with the business
3.3       Identification of the gaps
3.3.1          Definition of the report
3.3.2          Definition of the program
3.3.3          Definition of the manual process
3.3.4          Definition of the manual process
3.4       Document blueprint
3.5       sign off blueprint
4    Configuration and development
4.1       Configuring the solution
4.1.1          preparation of the unit testing scripts
4.1.2          Configuration of the solution
4.1.3          Unit testing configuration
4.2       Development of the codes
4.2.1          Write technical specification
4.2.2          Preparation of unit testing scripts
4.2.3          Unit testing reports, program and interface
4.3       Signoff configuration and development

 

PC: 1.6 RESOURCES TO BE REQUIRED: (List them and add more bullet points)

§     Request for the proposal is required to be drafted by the organization and sent to the vendors of the project.

§     A detailed proposal is required to be fetched from the ERP vendor clearly listing the hardware and the software required for the implementation of the ERP

§     Getting suggestion from the ERP vendor for the preparation of the modules based on the requirement of the company

§     A cloud solution is required to be chosen for  aligning it with the ERP software and the hardware

§     Training is required to be given to the staffs for using the implemented ERP system efficiently

 

PC PROJECT ISSUED BY: ABX Pvt. Ltd.

 

DATE: 04/02/2017
1.1 Project Purpose/

Justification

 

 

 

To minimize the paper work of the organization and automate the process to keeping account information of the organization. The ERP software can be implemented for keeping track on the expense and the profit percentage of the organization.

Agreed The main objective of the project are as follows:

·                     To reduce the manual paper works and eliminate the human errors

·                     To automate the business management process and reduce the time required for controlling the activity of the organization

·                     To monitor the employee records and manage the supply chain of the business

·                     To prepare invoice for the business and track payment

Broad
Objectives
1.2 Stakeholders The stakeholders associated with the project are as follows:

·                     Project manager

·                     Project sponsor

·                     System Analyst

·                     Database administrator

·                     Designer

·                     System tester

·                     Software engineer

·                     Business analyst

·                     Cloud vendor

·                     Raw material supplier

·                     Quality analyst

·                     Trainer

1.3; 3.7 Scope (In)

(Deliverables)

Item: The product and the version of the ERP is required to be chosen and the methods involved for the implementation of the tools. The location of the deployment of the project is required to be confirmed and the changes required for the software and the interface design is also included in the in scope items of the project. The deliverables of the project are as follows:

·                     To choose the ERP products and the versions

·                     To choose the implementation methods and the tools

·                     To analyse the technical architecture

·                     To test the project rigorously before the deployment

·                     To create a documentation of the project

Exclusions

From Scope

The out scope items included in the development of the project is acceptability of the new information system for the staffs. The adaptability of the staffs for using the new system efficiently is also excluded from the scope of the project.
2.1 Milestones Item Schedule Date
     

ERP implementation

Preparation of the project

System architecture design

Business blueprint

Analysis of the business process

Identification of the end to end current business process

Identification of the gaps

Document blueprint

Sign off blueprint

Configuration and development

Configuring the solution

Development of the codes

Signoff configuration and development

Start

2/6/17

2/6/17

2/21/17

3/14/17

3/14/17

 3/17/17


3/27/17

4/17/17

4/19/17

4/24/17

 4/24/17

 5/10/17

6/8/17

Finish

6/8/17

2/20/17

3/13/17

4/21/17

3/16/17

3/24/17


4/14/17

4/18/17

4/21/17

 6/8/17

5/9/17

6/7/17

 6/8/17

   

Project Completion Date

Thu 6/8/17
2.4 Budget Item Budgeted Cost
   
    Preparation of the project

Definition of the project scope and objectives

Identification of the project team

Involving the stakeholders

Creation of the business blueprint

System architecture design

Identification of the system environment

Technical infrastructure preparation

Identification of the development environment

Identification of the quality assurance environment

Identification of the training environment

Identification of the production environment

Business blueprint

Analysis of the business process

Identification of the end to end current business process

Identification of the process integration points

Map ERP process with the business

Identification of the gaps

Definition of the report

Definition of the program

Definition of the manual process

Definition of the manual process

Document blueprint

Sign off blueprint

Configuration and development

Configuring the solution

Preparation of the unit testing scripts

Configuration of the solution

Unit testing configuration

Development of the codes

Write technical specification

Preparation of unit testing scripts

Unit testing reports, program and interface

Signoff configuration and development

$1,520.00

$288.00

$480.00

$320.00

$432.00

$1,056.00

$1,056.00

$128.00

$288.00

$400.00
$144.00

$96.00

$2,208.00

$288.00

$672.00
$240.00

$432.00

$1,056.00

$192.00

$480.00

$192.00

$192.00

$192.00

$0.00

$2,608.00

$1,008.00

$240.00

$288.00

$480.00

$1,552.00

$192.00

$480.00

$880.00

$48.00

 

   

 

Total Project Budget

$7,392.00
2.5 Assumptions/

Constraints through discussing with team members

(mention which team member provided what suggestions)

The assumptions and constrains that may arise during the development of the project and implement the ERP in the current framework of the business is that it is an It project. Different team members are consulted for getting suggestion from them about the development of the project and they are documented as follows:

Project manager- The implementation of the project would help the organization to gain competitive advantage and manage the business operations efficiently.

Designer- The system is required to have an attractive and simple user interface such that all the users can use the system

System Analyst- The system would be accepted by the users and reduce the need of paper works and thus reduce the number of human errors occurring during the management of the business.  

 

 

3.6

Risks

(mention at least 3 risks of the project)

Item Reduction Strategy
There is risk of protection of the organizational data because the data are required to be stored in the cloud platform

 

Risk of data availability can arise because the cloud server may be unavailable

 

 

 

 

Risk of over-budget may arise due to unavailability of the staffs and the development team

 

 

 

 

The system might not be accepted by the user

Security testing must be done regarding the data stored in the cloud.

 

 

The network connected with the servers and the cloud service must be checked regularly and the must be kept up such that the data is available 24*7.

 

 

The project manager must manage the development team for proper development and a proper communication plan is required to be made.

 

 

A system acceptance test must be done for analyzing the requirement of the user and proper training must be provided for using the system.

1.4

Project Team

Name Roles
3.1

3.2

(Include the number of teams and team leaders) The project team for the development of the project consists of the

Project manager

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Project sponsor

 

 

 

 

System Analyst

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Database administrator

 

 

 

 

Designer

 

 

 

 

 

 

System tester

 

 

 

 

 

Software engineer

 

 

 

 

Business analyst

 

 

 

 

 

Cloud vendor

 

 

Raw material supplier

 

 

 

 

 

Quality analyst

 

 

 

Manages the project and monitors activities of the development team associated with the  development of the project

 

Provides necessary funding for the development of the project

 

 

Analyzes the current framework of the organization and aligns the requirement with the new system developed

 

Manages the database where the organizational data would be stored

 

Creates the system interface design for the makes it simple for increasing the usability of the system

 

Test the system multiple times based on the requirement and the acceptance of the user

 

Creates codes and programs for development of the system

Analyzes the business requirement and creates a requirement document for the proper development of the project

Provides cloud service to customer

 

Supplies hardware required for the running the applications and implement the ERP system

Analyzes the quality of the final software product according to the requirement doc.

 

 

 

 

 

2.3 Relevant Government Legislation and Code of Practices Name of legislation How will it affect your project?
    Work health and safety (WHS)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Electrical safety

 

 

The WHS can be applied in the development process for achieving the standards of safety, welfare and health under the jurisdiction act. This would help to deal with the issue arising for covering the health hazards that the organization might face during the development process.

 

 

It can be applied for keeping the developer safe from shock and standardize the project under international standards like ISO 9000.

5.3

Attachments

List  attachments of any supporting documents , forms, templates

Current or Future Related Projects

Example.

·                     Variance Management Procedures

·                     Organization Structure

·                     Gantt Chart

·                     Flowchart

·                     Risk Assessment and Management Plan

How will it affect your project?
 

Gnatt chart

 

 

 

 

 

Flow chart

 

 

 

 

 

It helps to schedule the development process and the project manager can plan according to the schedule. The time required for the development of the project can also be get from the gnat chart.

The flow chart helps to demonstrate the flow of information for the development of the project.

 

 

 

 

Signatures:

 

 

   
Project Manager

 

  Date
Sponsor

 

  Date

PC: 3.4, 5.1 VARIANCE REQUEST

Project Title: Variance analysis for implementation of ERP in the current business process of ABX Pvt. Ltd.

 

Issued By: Project Manager Requested By: Raw material supplier Change Request No: 1 Date: 04/02/2017

 

Item of Scope Affected Price of the material  and the labor cost required for the deployment of the project

 

Nature of Change Requested The change is necessary for the further development of the project. It adds extra development cost and thus causing a risk for the completion of the project in the proposed budget.

 

 

Reason for Change The reason for the change is the increase in the raw material cost and inflation in the market that affects the development process.

 

 

Impact on Resources It have a negative impact on the resources because the increase in the material and the labour cost would incur extra cost on the project and de-motivate the development team for the proper development of the project.
Impact on Budget The increase in the cost would cause risk of over budget and incur extra development cost.
Impact on Schedule The increase in the material cost affects the project and would take more time for the approval of the extra cost and thus increases the development time of the project.

 

Change Authorised:  Yes

Adjusted Project Completion Date:

6/08/2017

Adjusted Final Budget: 8864-7329= 1535

PC: 2.2 PROJECT GANTT CHART

Simply list the project activities (get the same activities that you have used before) and tasks in column A, select an appropriate time interval (days, weeks or months), allocate the dates to columns B onwards and plot the expected time duration (total time from start to completion) under the appropriate column by selecting shading from the Format/Cells/Patterns menus. When you wish to provide a status report simply colour or shade in black those items that are completed or estimate the percentage complete. This will give you an immediate visual representation as to whether or not you are on schedule. You may wish to add extra columns for assignment of responsibilities etc.

Activity/Task 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Preparation of the project
   Definition of the project scope and objectives
   Identification of the project team
   Involving the stakeholders
   Creation of the business blueprint
System architecture design
   Identification of the system environment
      Technical infrastructure preparation
      Increase in the material cost
      Approval of the cost
      Identification of the development environment
      Identification of the quality assurance environment
      Identification of the training environment
      Identification of the production environment
Business blueprint
   Analysis of the business process
   Identification of the end to end current business process
      Identification of the process integration points
      Map ERP process with the business
   Identification of the gaps
      Definition of the report
      Definition of the program
      Definition of the manual process
      Definition of the manual process
   Document blueprint
   sign off blueprint
Configuration and development
   Configuring the solution
      preparation of the unit testing scripts
      Configuration of the solution
      Unit testing configuration
Development of the codes
Write technical specification
   Preparation of unit testing scripts
   Unit testing reports, program and interface
   Signoff configuration and development
Time / Date 

PC: 2.2 FLOWCHART

Draw a flowchart for your project based on the list of activities that you have within your project. Use the following basic symbols to represent your flowchart. (Delete the symbol picture if you need more space to fit your flowchart in one page)

PC: 5.1; 5.2 POST PROJECT REVIEW

 

Use this form with the project team to assess the project. Summarise the “lessons learned” for use in future projects.

 

Issued By:                                                                Date: 

 

Key Project Stakeholders Consulted: Project manager, Project Sponsor, System Analyst, Business analyst, System tester

 

For each Project Milestone or Phase, identify what worked, what didn’t work and ways to improve the process the next time.

 

Milestone/Phase What Worked What Didn’t Work Ways to Improve
Preparation of the project Preparation of the project plan The requirement of the organization must be documented The stakeholders must be involved
System architecture design Designing the framework of the system The system uses old outdated hardware

 

The designer must have experience and skills
Business blueprint Creation of the architecture for the project The business information must be available The business analyst must analyse the current business process
Analysis of the business process Current business process is analysed Need permission of the organizational data The business analyst must have good market knowledge
Identification of the end to end current business process The business process is defined and documented Permission for accessing the organizational information are not available The business analyst must be familiar with the project and the requirement
Identification of the gaps The gaps of the organization are analysed There may be more gaps in the system The gaps must be reduced and the risk should be mitigated
Document blueprint The blueprint is documented The system analyst is not involved in the documentation The blueprint must be prepared appropriately
Sign off blueprint The blue print is approved The stake holders are not involved The business executives must be involved
Configuration and development The development process is configured The information system must is not aligned with the current business process The software engineer must have good knowledge
Configuring the solution A prototype is created The prototype not have all the functionality The prototype must have functional modules
Development of the codes Programming is created The codes are not checked and needs to be tested The software engineer must have experience
Signoff configuration and development The configuration and the prototype is approved The system is not tested The software engineer and the system analyst must be involved
Signoff configuration and development The project is approved The requirement is not checked All the requirement must be checked

 

 

 

 

 

PC: 2.3 RISK ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT (INCLUDING WH&S)

The purpose of the risk assessment is to measure the risks and categorise them for effective management and control. You may include your project risks that you have mentioned before and can also add some operational risks, Work Health and Safety Risks of your project. Use the template to list and categorise the risks.

FREQUENCY CONSEQUENCE
  Insignificant outcome Minor outcome Moderate outcome Major Outcome Catastrophic outcome
Almost certain Improper result
Likely  

 

Error in the input
Possibly Inappropriate training to the staffs
Unlikely Over budget  

 

 

 

 

Rare  

 

 

 

 

Unavailability of the development team

 

 

 

 

 

PC: 4.3 PROJECT DOCUMENTATION & NECESSARY SIGN-OFFS

Project Sign-off Sheet

Project Name:  Implementation of ERP in current business process of ABX Pvt. Ltd. Project Manager:
Start Date: 06/02/2017 Completion Date: 08/06/2017
Project Duration: 3 month Sponsor:
Project Goal/objectives: To automate the accounting operation in ABX Pvt.Ltd.

 

Project Deliverables:

To complete the project within the proposed time duration and budget

To benefit the organization and help to gain competitive advantage

 

Client(s):

Abx Pvt. Ltd.

By signing this document, I acknowledge that I have delivered all the stated deliverables at the agreed to quality levels. By signing this document, I acknowledge that I have received all the stated deliverables at the agreed to quality levels.
Project Manager Name and Signature:

 

Sponsor Name and Signature:

 

Date: Date:

 

 

PC: 4.2 TRANSITION OF PROJECT TEAM TO NEW ROLES

Project Team Transition Template
Team Member Name Current Project Current Role Next Project Next Role
Project manager ERP implementation Monitors the progress Managing the payroll of the employees Monitors the progress and maintains the expense
System analyst ERP implementation The current system is analysed Managing the payroll of the employees Analyses the requirement of the employees
Business analyst ERP implementation The business requirement is analysed Managing the payroll of the employees The employee records are analysed
Raw material supplier ERP implementation Supplies the resources required for the development Managing the payroll of the employees The resources are analysed
Project sponsor ERP implementation Allocates the funds for the development of the project Managing the payroll of the employees The budget is calculated
Trainer ERP implementation Providing proper training to the staffs Managing the payroll of the employees Providing proper training to the staffs

 

 

Appendix: Attach Project Images, Pictures, or any other attachments



Answers:

Introduction:

            Elegance fast fashion is an upscale women and men-clothing boutique. Name itself defines essence of inclusion and defines the boutique. Clothing selection of Elegance includes personal style services, this include a detailed style assessment, and this will insure that the customers are well dressed. Elegance fast fashion is a woman owned business and it would carry contemporary or casual apparel and ready to wear designer and accessories for women. It comes with products that would be suitable for women to meet busy life style. The organization would provide services such as personal shopping, alterations, style assessments. It would provide the customers with special ordering and by personal appointments. Educational emphasis and innovative style assessment of Elegance would help women in enhancing their living standard by developing their personal lifestyle and thereby enhancing the reputation as truly unique business (Allison et al. 2014).

Situational Analysis:

SWOT Analysis:

Strength-

  • Business model, which the organization would be operating on, would comprise of physical store and online store having a variety of payments option and wide range of clothes (Barry et al. 2014). It would also include fashion accessories ranging from international and local manufacturing brands
  • Product quality- it has a design team delivering best quality products to the consumers
  • Outstanding customer service- the customer servicing facility would definitely count as strong strength for Elegance fast and fashion.

Weakness-

  • This newly to be opened business does not have the financial capacity to engage in the kind of publicity and the major weakness is that Elegance is new clothing store in one of the busiest street in Marybyrnong VIC, Australia.

Opportunity-

  • The fact that the store would be opened in Marybyrnong VIC, Australia would come with the opportunity that are unlimited for selling items to large number of people.
  • Organization is well positioned to take the opportunities that come their way

Threat-

  • Arrival of new clothing store in the same location would act as threat to the Elegance Fast Fashion.
  • Business might be impacted by change in regulations and increase in input price is upward sloping

4 C’s Analysis:

            Company– physical location of stores in the community would offer closer access to the target customer base. Organization intends to gain market share by providing apparel to underserved market and focusing on niche positioning, southern hospitability, special promotion and the brand that it is selling (Blackburn et al. 2013).

            Customers- target market of organization are middle to upper middle class woman and man that make the online apparel purchase frequently.

            Competition– Some of the competitors that would be faced by Elegance would be existing fashion stores in the area Marybyrnong VIC, Australia.

            Collaborators– currently, Elegance is solely operated by only owner, has no strategic partners, and is alliance with online clothing industry.

Issues Identified:

  • Various privacy questions are raised concerning personalized recommendation and high tech sales through smartphones.
  • Online sales might results in dissatisfaction with purchase and this would result in lost customer loyalty.
  • Hesitancy of consumers in purchasing apparel

The e-Marketing Schedule – Gantt chart or Timeline for the e-Marketing Plan:

Task name/activities Duration March 2017 Aril 2017 May 2017 June 2017 July 2017
Preparation 3 weeks Marketing Department
Specifications 2 weeks
Planning 3 weeks Planning team
Architecture 1 month
Designing detail 34 days Development team
Test planning 2 weeks Marketing team
Quality planning 3 weeks Quality team

From the above chart, it can be noticed that continuous monitoring is required for implementing the strategies. Many parameter are included in this section, which comprise of customer satisfaction, and selling standard quality designer products.

The e-Marketing Strategies & Action Plan-

            E marketing strategies would involve starting fashion advice blog, which would prominently display website link with logo and business name. It intend to use social media outlets, which would drive people to the fashion product line displayed on organization’s website.

            Organization focus would be on quality designer clothes provided to men and women intending to meet busy life style. It would be produced with sustainability in mind and bringing brand that can stand out in the market. Plan of elegance is to leverage the heritage of Australia and love for fabric. Plan is to build the market strategy that is closely aligned with the personal relationship of the target market (Finch 2016). Elegance has custom designed program that would help in delighting the customers who in turn would spread word of mouth.

            Product strategies-organization has developed the product strategy after analyzing the history of client. This is done by developing the particular and customized designs segment and style color.

            Price strategies– Elegance fast fashion would maintain a flexible pricing strategy and would base the product line carrying in their brand image and quality as western wear apparel. Standard practice of key stoning is utilized by the organization.

            Promotion strategies– advertisement would be placed in media outlets by laying out plan that is appealing to targeted customers. Price promotion would have positive effect as the target market comprise of vale conscious shoppers. Promotion plan is creative while being conservative (Feldman and de Mello  2015).

            Distribution strategies– Retail location will be the foundation of building customer base. A direct mail program would focus on targeted customers spotlighting promotions and in house sales.

Costing and Budget-

Elegance Fast Fashion
Fiscal Quarter 2017 ($millions) 2018 ($millions) 2019 ($million)
March
Revenue 550 870 1907
EPS(Earning Per Share) Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable
Dividends Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable
June
Revenue 890 987
EPS(Earning Per Share) Not Applicable Not applicable
Dividends Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable
September
Revenue 790 1021
EPS(Earning Per Share) Not Applicable Not Applicable
Dividends Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable
December
Revenue 981 1109
EPS(Earning Per Share) Not Applicable Not Applicable
Dividends Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable
Totals
Revenue 3211 3987
EPS(Earning Per Share) Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable
Dividends Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable
organizational budget    
personnel plan
year 1 2 3
Owners $45,000 $65,321 $67,654
associate $45,000 $47,000 $50,000
 designs team $56,000 $60,000 $62,000
Administrative staff $35,000 $42,100 $45,000
Tax staff (Seasonal) $23,421 $25,430 $26,000
Total $204,421 $239,851 $250,654
Number of personnel      
Owners 1 1 1
associate 1 1 1
 designs team 1 2 3
Administrative staff 2 3 2
Tax staff (Seasonal) 1 2 2
Total 6 9 9

Technical Issues-

  • Website content & search ability-Robust ordering platform of company features an easy to use of graphic interface. This would provide the customers with facility that enable them to quickly see high-resolution images of the products they are intending to offer. Since the company is operating on online capability along with opening physical stores, it needs to source an apparel distributors and whole sellers (Hankerson and Sanandaji 2014).
  • Customer registration & logging security (for customers and staff) – Users faces difficulty with logging and while registration. Technical issue are one of challenging types of security issues. Integration of data makes assurance that there is consistent and correct. Sometimes the information must be kept from unauthorized parties. Privacy is a major concern to users, there should be trust in turn, which is likely to increase customer loyalty, and this is manifested through increased customer purchases (Hiduke and Ryan 2013).
  • Coupon codes, rewards for old clients, discounts- there are many coupon codes that are applied. Customers can save few amounts by spending given amount on the fashion brands.
  • Multimedia- online retailers faces difficulty in tracking the experience visitor across multiple devices over the course of consumer buying cycle.
  • Autoresponders- Internet are ever changing landscape and the mechanism of autoresponders are considered being too risky by many service providers. These autoresponder shave become impossible. Scammers influence some of the tactics, which the business is employing.
  • Order forms and feedback forms- Order and feedback forms are considered a win-win situation, it can be collected for payments securely, and making sales and this would advance payment integration. Sometimes, issues are related to payment system and this might not be secured as
  • Access level to online resources- Issues relating to access level to online resources is that it allows user to view reports and it cannot be uploaded requested documents, users need to have full increment. There are limited options for areas of product (Stimpson and Smith 2015).
  • Credit card transaction- In some of cases, credit card transactions are declined which might be due to verification if details of cards. Sometime the payment gateway is down and the data cannot be handle. Merchant account setting requires additional setting which the customer might not be willing to supply.
  • Website hosting- Effective websites are always evolving and dynamic and integrated into marketing system. It might happen that the outlook of website might be completely wrong to outsiders. Website might not be uploaded to the right folder on hosting account and a valid index file might not be uploaded into the directory. An old version might be loaded to the website. There may be issues relating to link that is incorrect and sometime files may be case sensitive for few users (Longenecker et al. 2014).
  • Website publishing- While publishing website, issues might be related to host and they might not found. There is possibility that index cannot be found and it might happen that user protocol might not support it. Uploading process might face difficulty
  • Technical staff (size and requirement)- Staffs of an organization might not be able to make most of new technology. Issues might be related to cloud, big data, virtualization user system, interoperability, social networks, creating value. Moreover, while making cloud plan, organization might not be able to create portal applications and this might hold back the company in future.

Monitoring strategy-

For creating online stores, it is essential for the organization to have own website. Search engine optimization techniques could be employed, which will help in making the website highly visible and ranked (McKenzie and Woodruff 2013). Elegance fast fashion intends to employ event-hosting techniques and organize conference and seminars that would give lesson about people how to dress.

E marketing evaluation-

  • In case e marketing, most important factor whether customer is returning to a website are presence of user-friendly features and convenience of use. Concerning this, the method used for evaluation are usability testing, which is used for making improvement and finding problem in a website. Under the, the evaluation is done using user testing and cognitive walkthrough.
  • Evaluating digital marketing tool- It should include the goals to determine that whether the targeted projections are hitting using this goals.
  • Revising the targeted customer’s profiles- A good online marketing plan is founded on a series of well-constructed profiles of customers, which outline specific customer that would be reached through campaigns. Demographics of targeted customers, web activities and interest should be evaluated.
  • Evaluating website effectiveness- This needs to be evaluated in terns of usability, sales performance.
  • Evaluating website performance- performance of websites should be evaluated suing several parameters such as sales, number of visits on websites by customers and many others.

Conclusion:

Elegance fast fashion is a small designer stop shop for both men and women it would have both online and physical stores. However, there are some issues concerning online stores, which have been addressed. There are various issues faced by an e commerce business in terms of security risks and in this regard, small business should become aware of security risk and should install multilayered protocols and come up with detailed and open privacy policies. Marketing and monitoring strategies has been developed in aligned with the industry.

Reference:

Allison, T.H., McKenny, A.F. and Short, J.C., 2014. Entrepreneurial rhetoric and business plan funding. Communication and language analysis in the corporate world, pp.21-35.

Barry, K., Baumgardner, J., Matveeva, T., Paseka, J., Schmidtlein, E., Stump, M. and Zhang, S., 2015. Business Plan.

Blackburn, R.A., Hart, M. and Wainwright, T., 2013. Small business performance: business, strategy and owner-manager characteristics. Journal of small business and enterprise development20(1), pp.8-27.

Dumas, M., La Rosa, M., Mendling, J. and Reijers, H.A., 2013.Fundamentals of business process management (Vol. 1, p. 2). Heidelberg: Springer.

Feldman, L. and de Mello e Souza Meth, C., 2015. TAP into Purpose; A Promotional Plan for a Small Business.

Finch, B., 2016. How to write a business plan. Kogan Page Publishers.

Hankerson, M. and Sanandaji, T., 2014. Small business activity does not measure entrepreneurship. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences111(5), pp.1760-1765.

Hiduke, G. and Ryan, J.D., 2013. Small business: an entrepreneur’s business plan. Cengage Learning.

Longenecker, J., Petty, J., Palich, L. and Hoy, F., 2013. Small business management. Nelson Education.

McKenzie, D. and Woodruff, C., 2013. What are we learning from business training and entrepreneurship evaluations around the developing world?. The World Bank Research Observer, p.lkt007.

Mohapatra, S., 2015. Business school education and technology–a case study. Education and Information Technologies20(2), pp.335-346.

Rothaermel, F.T., 2015. Strategic management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Schaper, M.T., Volery, T., Weber, P.C. and Gibson, B., 2014. Entrepreneurship and small business.

Stimpson, P. and Smith, A., 2015. Business Management for the IB Diploma Coursebook. Cambridge University Press.

Thébaud, S., 2015. Business as Plan B: Institutional foundations of gender inequality in entrepreneurship across 24 industrialized countries.Administrative Science Quarterly60(4), pp.671-711.