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8 pages/β‰ˆ2200 words
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Style:
APA
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Accounting, Finance, SPSS
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Essay
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English (U.S.)
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Writing Assignment 3: Capstone Research Project

Essay Instructions:

Assignment 3: Capstone Research Project
Assume you are the partner in an accounting firm hired to perform the audit on a fortune 1000 company.  Assume also that the initial public offering (IPO) of the company was approximately five (5) years ago and the company is concerned that, in less than five (5) years after the IPO, a restatement may be necessary. During your initial evaluation of the client, you discover the following information:
The client is currently undergoing a three (3) year income tax examination by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). A significant issue involved in the IRS audit encompasses inventory write-downs on the tax returns that are not included in the financial statements. Because of the concealment of the transaction, the IRS is labeling the treatment of the write-down as fraud.
The company has a share-based compensation plan for top-level executives consisting of stock options. The value of the options exercised during the year was not expensed or disclosed in the financial statements.
The company has several operating and capital leases in place, and the CFO is considering leasing a substantial portion of the assets for future use. The current leases in place are arranged using special purpose entities (SPEs) and operating leases.
The company seeks to acquire a global partner, which will require IFRS reporting.
The company received correspondence from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requesting additional supplemental information regarding the financial statements submitted with the IPO.
Write an eight to ten (8-10) page paper in which you:
Evaluate any damaging financial and ethical repercussions of failure to include the inventory write-downs in the financial statements. Prepare a recommendation to the CFO, evaluating the negative impact of a civil fraud penalty on the corporation as a result of the IRS audit. In the recommendation, include essential internal control procedures to prevent fraudulent financial reporting from occurring, as well as the major obligation of the CEO and CFO to ensure compliance.
Examine the negative results on stakeholders and the financial statements of an IRS audit which generates additional tax and penalties or subsequent audits. Assume that the subsequent audit and / or additional tax and penalties result from the taxpayer’s use of an inventory reserve account, applying a 10 percent reduction to inventory over three (3) years. 
Discuss the applicable federal tax laws, regulations, rulings, and court cases related to the inventory write-downs, and explain the specific relevance of each to the write-down.
Research the current generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) regarding stock option accounting. Evaluate the current treatment of the company’s share-based compensation plan based on GAAP reporting. Contrast the financial benefits and risks of the share-based compensation stock option plan with the financial benefits and risks of a share-based stock-appreciation rights plan (SARS). Recommend to the CFO which plan the company should use and provide the correct accounting treatment for each.
Research the reporting requirements for lease reporting under GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Based on your research, create a proposal for future lease transactions to the CFO. Within the proposal, discuss the use of off-the-balance sheet financing arrangements, capital leases, and operating leases, and indicate the related business and financial risks of each.
Create an argument for or against a single set of international accounting standards related to lease accounting based on the global market and cross border leases of assets. Examine the benefits and risks of your chosen position.
Examine the major implications of SAS 99 based on the factors you discovered during the initial evaluation of the company. Provide support for your rationale.
Analyze the potential for a material misstatement in the financial statements based on the issues identified in your initial evaluation. Make a recommendation to the CFO for the issuance of        restated financial statement restatement. Identify at least three (3) significant issues that can result from the failure to issue restated financial statements.
Examine the economic effect of restatement of the financial statements on investors, employees, customers, and creditors.
Use at least five (5) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar websites do not qualify as academic resources. You have access to Strayer University’s Online Library at https://research(dot)strayer(dot)edu or iCampus University Library Research page at https://icampus(dot)strayer(dot)edu/library/research.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
This course requires use of new Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). The format is different than other Strayer University courses. Please take a moment to review the SWS documentation for details.
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow SWS or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
Apply the proper accounting rules and make recommendations to ensure compliance with generally accepted accounting principles.
Determine the appropriateness of decision making in terms of professional standards and ethics
Apply advanced federal taxation concepts to business situations.

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Capstone Research Project
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Capstone Research Project
1 Evaluate any damaging financial and ethical repercussions of failure to include the inventory write-downs in the financial statements.
Inventory write-downs are the costs of operation that management or organization has incurred. They are documented through different forms of financial statements in a company. Investors might overestimate their earnings if they fail to include inventory write-downs in the different forms of financial statements, which is one of the ethical concerns in the operation of organizations. Moreover, the omission of inventory write-downs might raise ethical issues, such as loss of confidence among shareholders, a cover-up of the different consequences of fraud, and overcompensation of the top executives. Therefore, it is worth to mention that fraud of financial statements might cause reduction of value for the corporation’s stock.
IRS defines the treatment of a write-down as one of the forms of fraud, especially after the establishment of a cover-up on a transaction. Arguably, most corporations have applied inventory write-downs as a way of lessening taxable revenue and conceal the failures of top-level management. A civil fraud consequence by IRS results in seventy-five percent of unpaid federal tax as a result of financial fraud (Federal Tax Procedures, 2012). A portion of an underpayment of tax that has no any form of association with fraud might result in accuracy consequence. Furthermore, a company might suffer from devaluing of resources value, thus, making it less attractive to the different venture capitalists.
Accounting Information System (AIS) is one of the relevant techniques of gathering and recovering financial information to the relevant stakeholders in order to guide their decisions. Importantly, the process helps in detecting and addressing any form of fraudulent dealings in the business setting as a way of enhancing performance and profitability. According to Deliotte (2014), one of the major requirements in the audit process is separate disclosure of the relevant income statements for the inventory write-downs being low persistence. Besides, it is imperative to provide sufficient information that can facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the underlying issues and have an effect on the significant events in the auditing process.
One of the involved risks of failing to include inventory write-downs is that the investors might overestimate their proceeds persistence, which is one of the major ethical issues in the business environment. Moreover, such an incident might result in various financial and ethical problems, such as loss of brand values, goodwill, excessive compensation of the manager, loss of confidence among relevant stakeholders in the management team, and concealment of different forms of fraud penalties. In most cases, the accountants, who condone lesser full reports cause violation of the accounting standards. Besides, the workers breach trust and ethical standards of professional behavior.
2 Prepare a recommendation to the CFO, evaluating the negative impact of a civil fraud penalty on the corporation as a result of the IRS audit.
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