In modern finance, it is proven that shareholder wealth maximization is the superior goal of a firm and shareholders are the residual claimants; therefore maximizing shareholder returns usually implies that firms must also satisfy stakeholders such as customers, employees, suppliers, local communities, and the environment first. Also, a firmās value can not be maximized if the management board or shareholders ignores the interest of its stakeholders. Thus, the main goal of a firm is to maximize shareholder wealth but it does not mean that management should disregard stakeholders. To begin with, it is necessary to understand what is shareholder wealth and why maximizing shareholder wealth is a superior objective? Maximizing shareholder wealth is defined as maximizing purchasing power as wellĀ Continue reading
Business Finance Concepts
Basic Concepts of Earnings Management
Over the past two decades there has been collapses in corporate sector affecting various companies including Enron, American International Group (AIG), HIH Insurance and National Bank of Fiji. Due to these collapses, the need for proper management of the earning or revenue generated by the company has become the very significant part as main objective of every company. Along with this objective, managers of the organization have different incentives to manage the earning of the company. Management of earnings means structuring the financial transactions and statements in the manner so as to have maximum benefit. It tries to mislead the users of the financial statements by presenting the earnings as budgeted or thought by the management instead of presenting theĀ Continue reading
Value Added Statements ā Definition, Advantages and Disadvantages
Meaning and Definition of Ā Value Added Statements The main thrust of financial accounting development in the recent decades has been in the area of `howā we measure income rather than `whoseā income we measure. The common belief of the traditional accountants that profit is a reward of the proprietors has been considered as a very narrow definition of income. This was so because previously the assets were assumed to be owned by the proprietor and liabilities were thought as proprietorās obligations. This notion of proprietorship was accepted and practiced so as long as the nature of business did not experience revolutionary changes. However, with the emergence of corporate entities and the legal recognition of the existence of business entities separateĀ Continue reading
Value Added ā Concept, Definition and Uses
Meaning and Definitions of Ā Value Added The traditional basic financial statements are balance sheet and Profit & Loss account. These statements generate and provide data related to financial performance only. They do not provide any information which shows the extent of the value or the wealth created by the company for a particular period. Hence, there arose a need to modify the existing accounting and financial reporting system so that the business unit is able to give importance to judge its performance by indicating the value or wealth created by it. To this direction inclusion of Value Added statement in financial reporting system is useful. The Value Added concept is now a recognized part of the accountantās repertoire. However, theĀ Continue reading
Audit Theories ā Theories of Demand for Audit
Audit refers to an examination of the financial reports of a firm by an independent entity. The separation of business ownership and management in modern society has created a need for accountability; causing the role of audit to change as the needs of stakeholdersā change. Audit, in itself, caters to the relationship of accountability; independent from other parts of the firm to provide a true and fair view of the financial reports of an organisation. Whereas, the āvalue relevanceā refers to the auditorsā ability and responsibility to provide reasonable assurance that financial statements are free of material misstatement, either due to fraud or error; or both. Audit theories provide a framework for auditing, uncovers the laws that govern the auditĀ Continue reading
Activity-Based Costing for Small and Service Industries
Activity Based Costing (ABC) is an accounting method that assigns costs to activities according to their use of resources, rather than products or services. This enables resources and other related costs to be more accurately attributed to the products and the services which they use. It does not change or eliminate any costs, in the other way; it provides detailed information on how costs are consumed. The main benefits of Activity Based Costing are providing understanding into the fastest growing and least visible element of cost-overhead. We can also improve profitability by monitoring total life-cycle cost and performance so that we can improve the effectiveness of budgeting by identifying the cost of different service levels. In addition, ABC costing doesĀ Continue reading