Analysing an accounting information systems
HI5019 T2 2020 Assessment 1: Individual Assignment 1 HOLMES INSTITUTE FACULTY OF HIGHER EDUCATION ASSESSMENT DETAILS AND SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Trimester T2 2020 Unit Code HI5019 Unit Title Strategic Information Systems for Business and Enterprise Assessment Type Assessment 1: Individual Assignment Assessment Title Analysing an Accounting Information System Purpose of the assessment (with ULO Mapping) Students are required to: • Demonstrate theoretical and practical knowledge of Accounting Information System. • Articulate the various transaction cycles, financial reporting, and management reporting systems to technical and non- technical stakeholders. • Evaluate various internal control process of an accounting information system. Weight 20% of the total assessments. Total Marks 20 Marks. Word limit 2000 words ± 10%. Due Date The written report is due in Week 7, dated 4th September 2020, on Friday at 11.59. Submission Guidelines • All work must be submitted on Blackboard by the due date along with a completed Assignment Cover Page. • The assignment must be in MS Word format, double spacing, 12-pt Arial font and 2 cm margins on all four sides of your page with appropriate section headings and page numbers. • Reference sources must be cited in the text of the report and listed appropriately at the end in a reference list using Harvard referencing style. HI5019 T2 2020 Assessment 1: Individual Assignment 2 • Include a minimum of ten (10) references, at least five (5) from peer- reviewed journal relevant to the unit. ASSIGNMENT DETAILS Analysing the Accounting Information System of HARDA Fashion. HARDA Fashion sells ready-to-wear fashion clothes to teenagers. The company has a 20-store chain concentrated in the north-eastern part of the United States of America. Each store has the experienced full-time staff consist of a manager and an assistant manager. The full-time staff is paid a fixed salary. The full-time staff is assisted with a cashier and a sales assistant who have comparatively less experience. The cashier and sales assistant are paid hourly wages plus the commission based on the volume of sales. HARDA Fashion uses unsophisticated cash registered with four-parts sales invoice to record each financial transaction. These sales invoices for the sales transaction irrespective of the payment type. The record-keeping starts with the sales assistant on the sales floor. The sales assistant fills the sales invoices manually by providing the following information: 1. Records his or her employee number. 2. Enters the transaction details including clothes item number, description, quantity, and the unit price. 3. Totals the sales invoice. 4. Calculates the discounts manually when appropriate. 5. Calculates the sales tax. 6. Finalise the sales invoice after calculating the grand total. The sales assistant then forwards the sale invoice to the cashier and keeps one copy in the sales book. The cashier reviews this sales invoice and enters in the cash register. The cash register mechanically validates the invoice, automatically assigning a consecutive number to the transaction. The cashier is also responsible for getting credit approval on charge sales and approving sales paid by cheque. The cashier gives (1) one copy of the invoice to the customer, (2) retains the second copy as a store copy, and (3) the third for a bankcard, if a deposit is needed. Returns are handled in exactly the reverse manner, with the cashier issuing a return slip. At the end of each day, the cashier sequentially orders the sales invoices and takes cash register totals for cash, bankcard, cheque sales, and cash and credit card return. These totals are reconciled by the assistant manager to the cash register tapes, the total of the consecutively numbered sales invoices, and the return slips. The assistant manager prepares a daily reconciliation report for the store manager’s review. HI5019 T2 2020 Assessment 1: Individual Assignment 3 The manager reviews cash, cheque, and credit card sales and then prepares the daily bank deposit (credit card sales invoices are included in the deposit). The manager makes the deposit at the bank and files the validated deposit slip. The cash register tapes, sales invoices, and return slips are forwarded daily to the central data processing department at corporate headquarters for processing. The data processing department returns a weekly sales and commission activity report to the manager for review. Required Prepare a report to Chief Executive Officer of HARDA Fashion to evaluate its processes, risks, and internal controls for its revenue cycle. In your report, you need to include the following items: 1. Identify six strengths in HARDA’s system for controlling sales transactions. 2. For each strength identified, explain what problem(s) HARDA Fashion has avoided by incorporating the strengths in the system for controlling sales transactions. 3. Identify two situational pressures in a company like HARDA Fashion that would increase the likelihood of fraud. 4. Explain why some companies would choose to install a distributed computer system rather than a centralised one. Assignment Structure The report should include the following components: • Assignment Cover Page clearly stating your name and student number. • Executive summary. • A table of contents. • The introduction. • Body of the report with sections to answer the above issues and with appropriate section headings. • Conclusion and recommendations. • List of references. The report should be grounded on relevant literature, and all references must be cited appropriately and included in the reference list. HI5019 T2 2020 Assessment 1: Individual Assignment 4 Marking criteria Marking criteria Weighting in Total Grades Strengths in HARDA’s system for controlling sales transactions 6% Problems that HARDA Fashion has avoided by incorporating the strength in the system for controlling sales transactions 6% Situational pressures that would increase the likelihood of fraud 2% Reasons for companies to install a distributed computer system rather than a centralised one 2% Research quality 4% TOTAL Weight 20% HI5019 T2 2020 Assessment 1: Individual Assignment 5 Marking Rubric Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory (80-100%) (70-79%) (60-69%) (50-59%) (0-49%) Strengths in HARDA’s system for controlling sales transactions (6 Marks) Present an excellent discussion of strengths in HARDA’s system with supporting evidence from the case. Present a very good discussion of strengths in HARDA’s system with supporting evidence from the case. Present a good discussion of strengths in HARDA’s system without supporting evidence from the case. Present a reasonable discussion of strengths in HARDA’s system with minor errors and/or omissions. Present a weak or inadequate discussion of strengths in HARDA’s system with significant errors and/or omissions. Problems that HARDA Fashion Limited has avoided by incorporating the strength in the system for controlling sales transactions (6 Marks) Correctly identify all problems that HARDA Fashion has avoided with supporting evidence from the case. Correctly identify most problems that HARDA Fashion has avoided with supporting evidence from the case. Correctly identify most problems that HARDA Fashion has avoided without supporting evidence from the case. Correctly identify most problems that HARDA Fashion has avoided with minor errors and/or omissions. Fail to identify the problems that HARDA Fashion has avoided. Situational pressures that would increase the likelihood of fraud (2 Marks) Present an excellent discussion of situational pressures that would increase the likelihood of fraud. Present a very good discussion of situational pressures that would increase the likelihood of fraud. Present a good discussion of situational pressures that would increase the likelihood of fraud with minor errors and/or omissions. Present a reasonable discussion of situational pressures that would increase the likelihood of fraud with errors and/or omissions. Present a weak or inadequate discussion of situational pressures that would increase the likelihood of fraud with errors and/or omissions. Reasons for companies to install a distributed computer system rather than a centralised one (2 Marks) Present an excellent discussion of reasons for installing a distributed computer system instead of a centralised one. Present a very good discussion of reasons for installing a distributed computer system instead of a centralised one. Present a good discussion of reasons for installing a distributed computer system instead of a centralised one with minor errors and/or omissions. Present a reasonable discussion of reasons for installing a distributed computer system instead of a centralised one with errors and/or omissions. Present a weak or inadequate discussion of reasons for installing a distributed computer system instead of a centralised one. Research quality (4 Marks) An extensive amount of high-quality evidence from peer-reviewed journal articles and other sources was included and used effectively to support discussion. A broad range of quality peer-reviewed journal references and other sources was included and used effectively to support discussion. An adequate range of peer-reviewed journal references was included and used to support discussion. An adequate range of peer-reviewed journal references was included and used to a basic extent to support discussion. Little or no peer- reviewed journal references were included, and these were rarely used to support discussion effectively. HI5019 T2 2020 Assessment 1: Individual Assignment 6 Academic Integrity Holmes Institute is committed to ensuring and upholding Academic Integrity, as Academic Integrity is integral to maintaining academic quality and the reputation of Holmes’ graduates. Accordingly, all assessment tasks need to comply with