COVER STORY
The Era of Accounting Outsourcing
-- Vineetha VK and Jisha George
Administering the accounts of any business is a crucial function. It needs a lot of care, as simple mistakes can be hazardous. In today's complex business world, a business can achieve the best results only if it follows the rule of optimum utilization of available resources. Here comes the role of accounting outsourcing. It simply means hiring a service-provider, either nationally or internationally, and entrusting the whole or a part of accounting work to it/him. Thus, today, it is an era of accounting outsourcing and many businesses have achieved much due to it. Accounting outsourcing helps a business explore new directions and, thus, become popular everyday. The article tries to find the reasons behind this popularity.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Financial Performance of Steel Authority of India Limited : An Empirical Study
-- V Dheenadhayalan and S Kandasamy
The financial health of any business organization decides its future. By analyzing financial ratios, we can get not only a clear picture of the present position of the firm but also of all futuristic dimensions of its business. For better understanding and conceptualizing these ratios, an attempt has been made in this regard with Public Sector Enterprise steel giant in India, Steel Authority of India Limited.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
ACCOUNTING
Accounting Roles, Skills and Career Aspirations : The Paradigm Shift
-- B Sujatha
The accounting profession has undergone a paradigm shift with the changing business environment in terms of roles that have evolved, skill sets required and career aspirations of those who have chosen this profession. This article throws light on how the profession has evolved in tune with the changing business dynamics, the emerging roles in the profession, skill requirements in demand, and implications for the future.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
ACCOUNTING
Accounting Ethics
-- Mahesh Bendigeri
This article attempts, by making use of real-life examples, including the Enron/Arthur Andersen debacle, to examine the ethical responsibilities of individual accountants as well as accounting firms. Ethical principles play an important role in determining an accountant's responsibility. An effort is also being made to explore the major types of practices in which accountants engage—auditing, managerial accounting and tax accounting—and the responsibilities associated with those practices. The article analyzes the ethical responsibilities of accounting firms and the hurdles faced by them in fulfilling these responsibilities.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Adding Value
-- Jeff Buckstein
Across the country, accountants are working in business valuation and reaping the lucrative benefits of this expanding field. Professional accountants have priceless experience and knowledge which give them authority in the valuation field.
© 2008 CGA Magazine. Originally published in cga-canada.org, July-August 2008. Reprinted with permission.
AUDITING
Optimizing Internal Audit
-- Massimo Cecere
The article provides 10 easy solutions that can help companies optimize this important function and become an employer of choice. Internal audit function should make sure that the group is well structured and has the resources to achieve the internal audit objectives.
© 2008 CA Magazine. Originally published in www.CAmagazine.com, April 2008. Reprinted with Permission.
AUDITING
Performance Audits 40 Years on
-- Colin Sutherland
This article deals with the author's experiences in completing such audits in both private and public sectors for over five decades, and ending with the Performance Audit of Knowledge in the knowhow sector.
© 2008 CA Magazine. Originally published in www.CAmagazine.com, April 2008. Reprinted with Permission.
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Trust but Verify
-- L Shankari
This article draws a sketch of various types of frauds committed in India and abroad. It also details the role played by the forensic accountant in unearthing the fraud during the investigation process and outlines the modus operandi of forensic accountants in tackling cyber crimes.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
FINANCIAL REPORTING
Fair Value Reporting of Financial Instruments
-- Aparna Hawaldar
Since the turn of the century, the Financial Accounting Standards Board has been moving away from the traditional historical cost method to fair value accounting. There has been an intense discussion about the efficiency of fair value accounting of financial instruments. One of the opinions has been that it creates an unjustifiable volatility in reported earnings often leading to credit crisis. The debate basically revolves around the issues of relevance and reliability. The challenges of employing fair value accounting are complex. The abruptness by which the active markets disappear only aggravates these difficulties. The pressure to give up-to-date information to the investors has been building up, which has resulted in the demand for some valuation models.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
FINANCIAL REPORTING
Creative Accounting : Magical Way of Rethinking
-- Sumeet Gupta and Amiya K Mohapatra
Creative Accounting is an accounting practice that follows accounting standards but slightly deviates from the spirit of those standards. The intention is to influence the interested parties towards the interpretations. Creative Accounting, also called aggressive accounting, is the operation of financial numbers, usually within the orbit of the law and accounting standards but not providing a "true and fair" view. A distinctive aim of Creative Accounting is to inflate profits, smoothing of financial results, assets and liabilities manipulation, etc. This article studies the various Creative Accounting practices being followed by organizations to manipulate figures. It also explains how the organizations use these tactics to make the figures more impressive and attractive.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
WORKING CAPITAL
Trend Analysis of Working Capital & Sales of Dabur India Limited
-- Vikas Shrotriya
Any investment in Working Capital (WC) must be justified by the sales of the organization. Management of WC in synchronization with sales is of immense importance. Impressive WC ratios are not the only indicators of efficient WC management. There should be positive and strong correlation between WC and sales, so that any increase or decrease in one is supported by increase or decrease in another. Efficient WC management has least deviations in projected and actual values of WC and sales. This article discusses the degree of association between WC and sales of Dabur India Limited. It also highlights the deviations in working capital and sales as a comparison between the projected and actual working capital and sales.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
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