The Passing of the Emancipation Proclamation as the Result...

The Passing of the Emancipation Proclamation as the Result of Lincoln’s Desire to Undermine the Southern Economy Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation completed the most significant u-turn in American history. Months before, in the Crittendon Resolution, Lincoln had explicitly stated that Union forces would not target Southern plantations, and that the South would be welcomed back into the Union with or without the slave system. At this point, Lincoln regarded slavery as a potentially divisive issue and, as noted by the historians Johansson and Hofstatder, aimed to avoid anything that would associate him as being either for or against its abolition. However, by 1863, Northern forces had†¦show more content†¦The highly industrialised Northern economy was perfectly adapted to the extra demand, and was able to facilitate the production of all the equipment needed. Conversely, the Southern economy was sluggish in its attempts to update its primitive economy, and because of this remained reliant on the slave trade. Thus, in depriving the South of a big proportion of its work force, Lincoln was able to significantly reduce their production capabilities. More directly, the North benefited by being able to acquire the slaves for themselves. This had the advantage of increasing the number gap twice: the Northern soldiers occupying Southern plantations would be free to fight again, and the released blacks themselves could become Northern fighters. Thus, the Emancipation Proclamation was seen not only as a way of weakening the South, but of strengthening the North. In such a way, Lincoln was able to widen the disparity between North and South. From a popular perspective, slavery was seen as a symbol of Southern independence. Being otherwise incapacitated by the ongoing Civil War, the Confederate states’ only outlet was the desire to inflict some form of victory over the domineering North. The obliteration of the slave trade would end any hope of this moral-boosting ambition. With the 1864

Management Accounting Operational Budgets

Question: 1. Discuss the importance of management accounting for your selected organisation and differentiate between management accounting and financial accounting. 2. Evaluate different classifications of costs (types, behaviour, function and relevance) with examples. 3. Explain the meaning of variance analysis and discuss the most commonly derived variances, outlining the problems and limitations. 4. Identify different operational budgets and explain the advantages of preparing different operational budgets. Answer: Introduction Management Accounting is all about giving the right information to the right person at the right time thereby helping the managers in an organisation to make informed business decisions. This better equips the decision makers in their day to day management and control of the functions. The purpose of this report is to throw light on how Management Accounting can help M/s ABC Inc., operating in the manufacturing sector, to improve its operating efficiency by controlling costs and improving profitability. Section I discusses the concept of Management Accounting, its importance and also distinguishes it with Financial Accounting. Section II evaluates the various types of costs, their behaviour, functions relevance. Section III explains the meaning of variance analysis, its relevance limitations. Section IV identifies different operational budgets and the advantages of preparing them. Section I: Management Accounting Importance Relevance Management Accounting can be described as a system of partnering in management decision making by relying on the financial accounting data and presenting it in a manner and format relevant to the requirement of the decision maker. Depending on the need, management accounting reports are generated on a periodic basis viz. weekly/ fortnightly/ monthly etc. For eg. a weekly fund status report can help the treasury function to devise the cash generation plan for the following week. A fortnightly inventory ageing report to the stores manager can help in the procurement planning for the next fortnight. Following are the advantages: Better use of financial data Data shared in a mutually acceptable format gets more acceptance within the organisation Facilitates informed decisions Improves the confidence level of the decision makers There will be more group consensus for every decision taken Management Accounting vs Financial Accounting Difference between both the methods is illustrated in a tabular form below Sl. No. Particulars Management Accounting Financial Accounting 1. User People inside the organization eg. Managers, Employees People outside the organization such as shareholders, Government etc. 2. Purpose Helps in decision making Discloses the end result of the business 3. Is it Optional? Yes No 4. Format No prescribed format There are specific formats for presenting data 5. Periodicity As per need End of every accounting period 6. Reports Detailed reports customised according to need As prescribed by standards such as GAAP or IFRS 7. Rules No legal requirement or rule As prescribed by standards such as GAAP or IFRS 8. Priority focus Current issues and future forecast Past data upto the reporting date 9. Departmental focus Focuses on each department or individual Pertains to the entire organization 10. Flexibility Reporting is flexible according to changing need Reporting requirement is rigid Section II: Costs Types of costs Costs are classified into various categories based on Behaviour Function Relevance Each of these are elaborated below Classification by Behaviour Fixed Cost - Fixed cost is that cost that does not vary with level of production output. This is independent of any business activity or volume of production. Example, Rent, Depreciation Variable Cost - Variable cost is that cost that varies with the level of production output. Example Direct Material, Direct Labor Mixed Cost - Costs which have both fixed and variable components. For example Electricity charges wherein the minimum demand remains fixed based on the connected load and any power drawn beyond a certain limit will vary in proportion to the level of output. All the three above costs can be graphically represented as follows Classification by Function Product cost Product Costs are all those costs incurred towards manufacturing a particular product. Product cost is further classified into the following: Direct Materials All the costs incurred to bring the raw materials into the manufacturing location Direct Labour The cost of labour time spent in manufacturing Manufacturing Overheads All the costs incurred for production of the final product excluding the direct material labour. Period Cost Period cost are all the costs other that the Product cost. Example marketing costs, administrative costs etc. It is the cost of running the business. As these are not necessarily part of manufacturing cost, these cannot be assigned to the products. The above costs can be diagramatically explained as follows Classification by Relevance Sunk Cost Sunk cost is also called as historic cost. This is the cost which has already been incurred and cannot be recovered. This cost is not relevant for decision making. Example fund invested on a project. In practical scenario, an organisation cannot go and restart production of a product which is not profitable only for the sake of justifying the sunk cost incurred in purchasing the equipment which has now become obsolete. Opportunity Cost Opportunity Cost is the cost of the foregone alternative. This helps in really evaluating the various investment opportunities and thereby helps in effective decision making. Though the cost is not incurred in this case, by not selecting an option, the benefit that the company has forgone becomes the opportunity cost. Example, a company has certain spare space in the factory where it can either put up a new manufacturing facility or it can rent it out to outsiders. If it decides to put up a manufacturing facility, then it has to forgo the rent that it would have earned had the space been rented. The foregone rent is the opportunity cost Differential Cost Differential cost refers to the difference between the two available alternatives courses of action. It is the total of all the incremental costs that would be incurred if one alternative is chosen against the other. Differential cost helps in choosing better alternative over the others. In the above example, if a particular fixed cost, say depreciation has to be incurred irrespective of the option selected, then it is not a differential cost. However, consequent to setting up the new manufacturing facility, if the company has to incur Selling Administrative cost or Marketing costs, then such costs are classified as Differential costs. Section III: Variance Analysis Meaning Variance Analysis is the systematic quantitative assessment of the deviations arising in actual performance from the planned performance. This is a very effective controlling tool in any business. Variance Analysis gives clear insights with respect to the deviation of actual performance from plan with specific reasons which led to the deviation. This helps in identifying the root causes, and taking corrective action thereby preventing it from repeating. Types of Variances The main types of variances are explained in the diagram below These broad variances and the further subdivisions are explained below. Sales Variance Sales variance measures change in profit due to a variance in sales. The Sales Volume can be on account of Sales Volume variance Sales Price variance. Sales Volume variance = (Actual Unit Sold Budgeted Units Sold) x Standard Profit Favourable Sales Volume indicates a higher actual profit than the budgeted profit due to more than expected demand for the product in the market Sales Price variance = (Actual price Standard price) x Actual Units sold. A favourable Sales price variance indicates the product has been able to fetch a better price in the market against competition. Material Variance This is the difference between the actual material cost versus the standard material cost. This can be a result of a Material Price variance or a Material Usage variance. Material Price Variance = (Actual Price Standard Price) x Actual Quantity A favourable material price variance indicates a better negotiation done on the material price. It may also indicate an overall fall in material prices due to the effect of market forces. Material Usage Variance = (Actual quantity Standard Quantity) x Standard price. This can be further divided into Material Mix variance Material Yield variance. Material mix variance occurs when there are different type of materials required in the entire production process. In such circumstances, if the costlier material is used less in comparison to the cheaper material due to a change in mix, then it can result in a favourable material mix variance. A positive Material yield variance can be due to lesser usage of material vis a vis the standard design. This may be due to better and efficient usage of machines or due to economies of large scale operation. Labour Variance This is the difference between the Actual Labour cost versus the Standard Labour cost. This can be a result of a Labour Rate variance or a Labour Efficiency variance. Labour Rate Variance = (Actual Rate Standard Rate) x Actual Hours A favourable Labour rate variance indicates an overall fall in the labour rates in the market Labour Efficiency Variance = (Actual hours Standard hours) x Standard Rate A favourable labour efficiency variance indicates an overall improvement in efficiency of the labour employed. This may be due to better supervision and better working environment. Overhead variance This is the measure of variance between the standard overhead expenses versus the actual overhead expense. This may be a result of a wrong estimation of standard overhead or due to real efforts put in by the management team and incurred lesser overheads through operational efficiency and cost saving initiatives. Problems Limitations Though variance analysis is a good tool to identify inefficiencies in the system, the method has certain inherent limitations which are as follows Not practical in non-standard production process/batches Not applicable in industries where there are more overheads than production expenses. Eg. Service sector Analysis can be misleading if standards are not set properly If analysis is not done on a regular basis and learning not applied immediately, the system will not serve its purpose Employees/managers will be more tempted to incorporate budget slack thereby making the whole process ineffective. Possibility of buying substandard quality material resulting in excess consumption/wastage. Section IV: Operational Budget Operational budget is projection of the financial plan of a business for a specified period of time. Operational budget requires planning of all the phases of operations. Types of Operational Budget The most common types of operational budgets are explained below Revenue (Sales) Budget This is a budget of the future sales. It identifies the revenues require by the organisation for the budget period. This involves a detailed market study and potential for penetration and expansion in order to maximise the sales for the period. Production Budget Any manufacturing organisation needs to estimate the volume and timing of production. There needs to be fine balance between excess stock and stock outs as both these extremes will adversely affect the performance. Purchase Budget There needs to be a clear plan with regard to the timing and frequency of purchase of raw materials. Here again a proper balance is required to be maintained in order to avoid extreme situations such as stock out and excessive inventory. Direct Labour Budget The strategy of employing the right quality of labour should be in line with the labour hours required to fulfil the production budget keeping in mind the labour rates and availability. Expense Budget This budget defines the operating expenses required to be incurred during the budget period. The expenses are evaluated broadly based on three criteria namely Fixed, Variable Discretionary Profit Budget Here both the revenue expense budgets are combined to arrive at gross and net profits. In this process the adequacy of revenue vis a vis the expense in evaluated. This helps in allocating managers with their share of organisations performance. Importance of Operational Budget Helps in identifying controllable and discretionary expenses by regular tracking and monitoring A regular review of the actual versus budget helps in projecting future expenses with reasonable level of accuracy. Helps organisations to face the uncertainties and also recover from the unexpected setbacks Operational budgets which get constantly monitored ensure accountability from the managers due to their ongoing involvement. Section V: Recommendation The key success factors for ABC Ltd. are Improving operating efficiency, Controlling costs and Improving Profitability. Management accounting through its process of timely reporting, periodic variance analysis and budgeting perfectly complements towards achieving all three of these factors and beyond. The data is also mostly derived and can be cross checked with the Financial Accounting data. It is hence recommended that a robust Management Accounting system be implemented in ABC Ltd. Section VI: Conclusion ABC Inc., which is in the manufacturing sector has various complexities in the process. Product Quality, On time delivery, Operational efficiency, Timely cash collection, Working capital management, adequacy of raw material, Lean inventory level and focus on Profits are of top most priority. Multiple parameters to monitor and control calls for a team to handle each of the activities which is well informed and is capable of taking objective decision on a day to day basis. A well-defined Operational budget and a regular and ongoing Management Accounting system coupled with Cost focus and regular Variance Analysis can help ABC Inc. in its constant endeavour to improve operating efficiency by controlling cost and improving profitability. References businessdictionary.com, n.d. Management Accounting, [Online], Available at: https://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/management-accounting.html, [Accessed date: March 18, 2016] debitoor.com, n.d. Management accounting - What is Management accounting?, [Online], Available at: https://debitoor.com/dictionary/management-accounting, [Accessed date: March 18, 2016] diffen.com, n.d. Financial Accounting vs Management accounting, [Online], Available at: https://www.diffen.com/difference/Financial_Accounting_vs_Management_Accounting, [Accessed date: March 18, 2016] keydifferences.com, n.d. Differences between Financial Accounting and Management accounting, [Online], Available at: https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-financial-accounting-and-management-accounting.html, [Accessed date: March 18, 2016] accountingexplained.com, n.d. Cost and Cost Classifications, [Online], Available at: https://accountingexplained.com/managerial/costs/, [Accessed date: March 18, 2016] Joseph DeBenedetti, 2016. Types of Costs in Management Accounting, [Online], Available at: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/types-costs-management-accounting-80540.html,[Accessed date: March 18, 2016] Radell Hunter, 2010. Types of Costs in Managerial Accounting, [Online], Available at: https://www.brighthub.com/office/finance/articles/72933.aspx, [Accessed date: March 18, 2016] Laurie L. Swanson, n.d. Managerial Accounting and Cost Classification, [Online], Available at:https://ww2.nscc.edu/swanson_l/ACCT1020/Presentations/Ch%2018%20Managerial%20Accounting.pdf, [Accessed date: March 18, 2016] accounting-simplified.com, n.d. Variance Analysis, [Online], Available at: https://accounting-simplified.com/management/variance-analysis/, [Accessed date: March 18, 2016] tutor2u.com, n.d. Variances - Introduction, [Online], Available at: https:// www.tutor2u.net/business/reference/variances-introduction, [Accessed date: March 18, 2016] accounting-simplified.com, n.d. Limitations of Standard Costing Variance Analysis, [Online], Available at: https://accounting-simplified.com/management/variance-analysis/ disadvantages-of-standard-costing-and-variance-analysis.html, [Accessed date: March 18, 2016] community.plu.edu, n.d. Operational Budgeting, [Online], Available at: https://community.plu.edu/~mgtacctg/operational_budgeting.htm, [Accessed date: March 19, 2016] wysant.com, n.d. Operational Budgeting, [Online], Available at: https://www.wyzant.com/resources/lessons/accounting/operational-budgeting , [Accessed date: March 19, 2016]

Why Did William Win the Battle of Hastings Essay Sample free essay sample

In 1066 king Edward the confessor died without any kids to inherit the throne of England. this meant that Harold Godwinson was crowned as king despite supposidly assuring an curse to william that he would be the following male monarch. However harold faced his place being jeportised because two other determined immature work forces besides wanted to be King. These work forces were Harald Hadrarda and William of Normandy. England was one of the welthiest and most powerfull state in the universe and all 3 of these work forces were prepared to make whatever it took to derive the Crown. The lone manner to make up ones mind who was traveling to be king was to prosecute in conflict. Harold and william both prepared there forces. First Harald hardra from norway invaided England with his viking fleet and fought against harold godwinson at Stanford span. After the Battle of Stamford Bridge ( In which Harald had died. We will write a custom essay sample on Why Did William Win the Battle of Hastings? Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page ) Harold had intelligence that william had eventually invaided and went down to Hastingss to fix to contend William. but this was traveling to be tough. both work forces were despairing to be following King and at that place could merely be one victor. In my sentiment the chief ground to why william won was pinned on fortune. Harold eagarly anticipating this to go on and he and his ground forces waited on the beach strong and prepared for the Norman invaison. William was be aftering to get on the beach and if this had happened Harold would hold slaughtered him. Fortunately for William. the sea was excessively jerky to sail across the channel and so William’s ground forces were waiting in Normandy for the conditions to better before traversing. Luckily for william Hadrada invaided up north and hence Harold went up north. Harold so fought a conflict go forthing his ground forces in a much weaker place than earlier. A major ground to why harold doomed was due to his ground forces was exhausted and weakened in Numberss. The conflict of Stanford span was a ghastly 1 with the Norwegians declining to give up untill the following twenty-four hours were Hardras boy Olav agreed to give himself up and neer return to england. The arm so rested. some beginnings claim that harold had an statement with his ground forces claiming that ahrold had non shared the trophies of conflict out reasonably. prehaps he had insisted on maintaining the Viking fleet which would hold been a enormous

Works of Hemingway and Remarque essays

Works of Hemingway and Remarque essays In both books, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, and All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, the subject of war is seen in two strikingly different perspectives. War was thought to be productive and necessary by the older generation and central political figures, but when one hears the viewpoint of the young men who actually had to encounter it, it is a much different story. War affects the lives of people in ways that the average person cannot even begin to comprehend. The end result of the war produced a group of men coming home, who were so disillusioned and lost that they were referred to as The Lost Generation. Ernest Hemingway can find an example of the Lost Generation in the book, A Farewell to Arms. The main character, Lieutenant Frederick Henry was a prime candidate for the Lost Generation of men. Henry, who was an ambulance driver on the Italian Front found through harsh experiences, that war was not at all promising and glorious as he had thought, but that it was unessicary and truly horrible. After he had become ill and gotten out of the war, Henry felt that there was just no points to it, and he was exhausted. Hemingway wrote many different accounts of post- war experiences, and the lost generation of men that it produced. A book that is filled with references and description of the Lost Generation is All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque. Remarque, who himself had been drafted into the German army, came out completely lost and disillusioned. He went through many different jobs, not knowing what he wanted out of life anymore. Like Remarque, Paul, the main character of All Quiet, went into the war full of hopes and dreams of the life he would someday live. He was just a young boy, and was forced to serve in a war, which he hardly even knew or cared anything about. During the war, Paul went through so many terrible and shocking experiences that he knew woul...

Analysis of The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne Essay -- Nathaniel Ha

Although â€Å"The Birthmark† by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written in the mid-1800s, its themes and ideas are still a part of society today. The 19th century was a time of change, just as this, the millennium, is a time of great change. Hawthorne’s ideas about science, beauty, and life still play a major part in our lives, despite many improvements. Even today, people try to play â€Å"God† and change things that nature has put in place. It’s human curiosity; how much can be changed, how many things can be perfected? The themes in this short story-- religion, gender, and science--were relevant in Hawthorne’s day, and still are many years later. The theme of religion is hidden in the desire to erase the birthmark. In trying to â€Å"perfect† Georgiana, Aylmer is testing God’s creation. He doesn’t believe that how God created Georgiana is perfect, and he is obsessive about making her his idea of perfection. Aminadab, Aylmer’s servant, tries to tell his master to leave the birthmark alone. He tells Aylmer that if Georgiana were his wife, he wouldn’t worry about something so trivial. However, the scientific ideas on Aylmer’s mind won’t let him forget the birthmark. He believes he can remove it with the help of science. Even so, science has no part in creation, according to Hawthorne, and Georgiana’s death after the removal of the birthmark signifies that theory. Her death is Hawthorne’s way of showing that judgment and perfection are God’s duti...

Novel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Novel - Essay Example He does not know if loves or hates his daughter, in fact, it is that the extent of his love for his daughter is something that he does not want, something that he believes he does not deserve, thus, turning into hatred for the innocent girl. He has a very low opinion of himself – â€Å"What could his heavy arms and befuddled brain accomplish that would earn him his own respect, that would in turn allow him to accept her love?† – and he blames Pecola’s stupidity for loving him still (Morrison 161 - 163). The lack of faith in himself may be due to his harsh childhood but the fact remains that his thought processes are different than a normal person’s and continue to badly affect those around him. Seeing his daughter scratch â€Å"the back of her calf with her toe† reminds him of how his wife Pauline had once done the same thing (Morrison 162). It could have been the alcohol, that particular movement, the resemblance between the mother and daughter, the strange kind of love that he had for both or seeing Pecola do the task of washing the dishes which his wife used to do that triggered off his sexual thoughts, â€Å"filled him then with a wondering softness †¦ a tenderness, a protectiveness† (Morrison 162). He reminisced about Pauline and how had been successful in bringing a smile to her face. He wanted to show his daughter how much he loved her and, in his deluded state, he thought showing her physically was the right way to go. From his distorted point of view, he only wanted to please his daughter. The way Morrison writes this portrays Cholly as a predator and Pecola as the prey. In fact, he is even showed to be â€Å"crawling on all fours toward her† (Morrison 162). The girl slips and falls but Cholly turns into a protector and catches her which is a contradiction in itself. He wants to keep Pecola safe but does not have the right idea of how to do that. The girl is young, naà ¯ve and too shocked to protest. The

Introduction to Engineering - Truss Bridge Design Essay

Introduction to Engineering - Truss Bridge Design - Essay Example Introduction to Engineering - Truss Bridge Design This model successfully worked to hold desired load and effectively fulfilled the load resistance qualities that a practical bridge must have. Keywords Truss bridge, bridge competition, bridge model, bridge stability. Introduction Bridge design is the fundamental part of civil engineering and most critical as well. It is designed for transportation of heavy traffic; meanwhile, it is constructed to cope with environmental effects like storms. There are many types of bridges that are being used around the world, among them most common are arch bridges, girder bridges, truss bridges, cantilever bridges, cable stayed bridges, moveable bridges and suspension bridges(SWE, 2012). The type of bridge that we incorporated in our design is the truss bridge. These are the oldest and the most economical bridges found around the world with excellent weight bearing capacity(BuildingBig, 2010). Atypical truss bridge is shown below: Specialty of truss bridges is the triangular elements present in the structure to share the load applied on the bridge by the traffic(JHU). In a typical truss bridge design the horizontal members are responsible for bearing loads as a result of horizontal as well as dynamic compression. In our bridge design we made use of Popsicle sticks to create truss members as well as the base of the bridge. These sticks were joined together by making use of glue. Where required, the sticks were cut to the required lengths for making triangle structures of the bridge. For providing strength to the design, the sticks were stacked over each other in 3 to 4 layers and the whole structure was made which is shown below: Before finalizing the above bridge design, we tested a number of bridge structures before as well by making use of west point bridge design, but all those designs failed while testing. By making use of strategic techniques to design practical bridges based on load distribution errors were reduced and thickness of trusses and other members was increased. This gave stability to the bridge design. After that we started working in the structure of the bridge. For that purpose the first task was to select the appropriate material for constructing truss bridge which goes we ll with our dimensional requirements. Therefore, popsicle sticks were chosen as a preferred material. After that all the sticks were marked at the point of applying glue. Initial step was to design the the bottom frame of the structure in which three layers of sticks were used. Here is the view of one bottom structure. Total two rails were made for the bridge. After structuring the bottom next step was to structure the rectangular truss portion of the bridge. For that purpose first two steps of bottom design were used; to collect popsicle sticks and gluing them together. After that, triangular portions were structured and joined together. These trusses were then connected to the bottom rails as shown below: Last step was to connect the assembly of both the trusses and bottom rails to each other by making use of popsicle sticks and gluing them to the bottom. In this way the final structure was drawn. Results and Discussion In the design of first bridge, total 145 popsicle sticks were used and the resulting weight of the bridge was calculated to be approximately 198.3lbs. The designed bridge