Lead project manager, Randi, is meeting with her France-based client, Wellsbrook Visiting Nurses Network, to discuss changes within a project's agreement. Randi's highly-skilled team of male and female multilingual computer programmers and website developers are producing a costly Saas platform for the visiting nurses agency (i.e., nurses who visit international patients at their homes). The project generates necessary income for Randi to pay her employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wellsbrook recently informed Randi that the software must be developed specifically by French-speaking male developers and programmers. However, Randi - who is based in the US - knows Wellsbrook's request is unethical. Wellsbrook's request is not considered illegal or unethical in France, since all of the company's IT staff are male. Randi's project management plan, which described a team of French-speaking developers and programmers satisfying Wellsbrook's needs, was approved by the client and the project is already underway. Wellsbrook, however, now requires that the gender of each project management team members must be added into the PMP's work-breakdown structure and project agreement. If not, the company will terminate the contract, withhold payments and consider services from competing project management firms in the US.

Should Randi comply with Wellsbrook's change request? Explain why or why not.

You have recently been hired by Swan Motors, Inc. (SMI), in its relatively new treasury management department. SMI was founded 8 years ago by Joe Swan. Joe found a method to manufacture a cheaper battery with much greater energy density than was previously possible, giving a car powered by the battery a range of 700 miles before requiring a charge. The cars manufactured by SMI are midsized and carry a price that allows the company to compete with other mainstream auto manufacturers. The company is privately owned by Joe and his family, and it had sales of $97 million last year.

SMI primarily sells to customers who buy the cars online, although it does have a limited number of company-owned dealerships. Most sales are online. The customer selects any customization and makes a deposit of 20 percent of the purchase price. After the order is taken, the car is made to order, typically within 45 days. SMI’s growth to date has come from its profits. When the company had sufficient capital, it would expand production. Relatively little formal analysis has been used in its capital budgeting process. Joe has just read about capital budgeting techniques and has come to you for help. For starters, the company has never attempted to determine its cost of capital, and Joe would like you to perform the analysis. Because the company is privately owned, it is difficult to determine the cost of equity for the company. Joe wants you to use the pure play approach to estimate the cost of capital for SMI, and he has chosen Tesla Motors as a representative company.

1. You used Tesla as a representative company to estimate the cost of capital for SMI. What are some of the potential problems with this approach in this situation? What improvements might you suggest?

You have recently been hired by Layton Motors, Inc. (LMI), in its relatively new treasury management department. LMI was founded eight years ago by Rachel Layton. Rachel found a method to manufacture a cheaper battery that will hold a larger charge, giving a car powered by the battery a range of 700 miles before requiring a recharge. The cars manufactured by LMI are midsized and carry a price that allows the company to compete with other mainstream auto manufacturers. The company is privately owned by Rachel and her family, and it had sales of $197 million last year.

LMI primarily sells to customers who buy the cars online, although it does have a limited number of company-owned dealerships. The customer selects any customization and makes a deposit of 20 percent of the purchase price. After the order is taken, the car is made to order, typically within 45 days. LMI's growth to date has come from its profits. When the company had sufficient capital, it would expand production. Relatively little formal analysis has been used in its capital budgeting process. Rachel has just read about capital budgeting techniques and has come to you for help. For starters, the company has never attempted to determine its cost of capital, and Rachel would like you to perform the analysis. Because the company is privately owned, it is difficult to determine the cost of equity for the company. Rachel wants you to use the pure play approach to estimate the cost of capital for LMI, and she has chosen Tesla Motors as a representative company. The following questions will lead you through the steps to calculate this estimate.

7. You used TSLA as a pure play company to estimate the cost of capital for LMI. Are there any potential problems with this approach in this situation and why?

Please provide steps.

QUESTION 4                       

Do the following contracts fall under the provisions of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) relating to the four consumer guarantees (Ss 54-57)? For each part:

• Answer Yes or No and
• Explain your answer with reference to the relevant ACL section.

Each part is worth 2 marks

1. International Wheat Corporation (IWC) buys a Rolls Royce for $300,000 from Pure Luxury Autos P/L for its CEO, Kristy

2. Steel Fabricators P/L pays $39,000 for a container of tin and steel shipped from the USA with which it will build house frames for a new housing development

3. Charlotte buys a painting for $42,000 from a top-end art gallery

4. Jane purchases a second hand computer from a fellow student at her university residential college for $4,000

5. Mick buys a large trailer from Trailers R Us P/L for $15,000 to be used for political advertising signage in future election campaigns.

U.S Tax law with 2019 revisions:

Problem 7-7
Earned Income Credit (LO 7.2)

Margaret and David Simmons are married and file a joint income tax return. They have two dependent children, Margo, 5 years old (Social Security number 316-31-4890), and Daniel, who was born during the year (Social Security number 316-31-7894). Margaret's wages are $3,000, and David has wages of $14,000. In addition, they receive interest income of $200 during the year. Margaret and David do not have any other items of income and do not have any deductions for adjusted gross income.

Assuming the Simmons file Form 1040 for 2019, complete Schedule EIC and the Earned Income Credit Worksheet A. Enter amounts as positive numbers.

Click here to view the Earned Income Credit table.

Note: List children from oldest to youngest.

The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is a test required for admission into many Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs. Total scores on the GMAT are normally distributed. The Graduate Management Admission Council, who administers the test, claims that the mean total score is 579. (Source: http://www.mba.com/.) Suppose a random sample of 8 students took the test, and their scores are given below.

699, 560, 414, 570, 521, 663, 727, 413

At the 0.05 level of significance, test the claim that the mean score is less than 579.

Set up the curve with the rejection region and critical value. State conclusion in a sentence.

Read:

A Guide to the Good Life:  Irvine, William B.. A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy (pp. 159-172). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.

by William B. Irvine

Chapters 13 & 14

Answer:

In what way is anger beneficial?

What is Seneca's general advice about how to prevent ourselves from becoming angry?

List three pieces of more specific advice given about how to avoid anger.

According to the Stoics, what is a major reason that people are unhappy?

Why is the pursuit of fame in tension with being free?

Describe one piece of advice given by the Stoics for overcoming our obsession with what others think of us.

Problem 3.  You currently make $100,000 a year and expect your salary increase by 10% a year for 20 years.   You are considering an MBA which will cost you $120,000 for the entire education. If you take the MBA, you will have to pay the full tuition today (all upfront) and you will make zero earnings at the end of years 1 and 2.  However, after graduation you’ll have an opportunity to join a premier investment bank, which promises $130,000 a year, which will grow by 15% for 18 years after graduation.  Is the MBA a good deal? Assume a constant discount rate of 15%.  What if rates fall to 10%?  What if rates rise to 17%, how does your answer change?  Show your detailed spreadsheet calculations (Alt#2). Note: salary is paid at the end of each year.

Have you ever felt different, like a social "other"? A social theorist named Georg Simmel once said: "The stranger is close to us insofar as we feel between him and ourselves similarities of nationality or social position, of occupation or of general human nature. He is far from us insofar as these similarities extend beyond him and us, and connect us only because they connect a great many people."

What Simmel is describing is that being a stranger is actually a form of a social relationship. A stranger helps to connect a group of people who see the stranger as not fitting into their group, while also reminding the stranger that they stand outside of the group.

For this extra credit assignment, find or create an image of being a social other with which you identify. Upload the image as an image file (.jpg, .png, .giff). If you create an image through drawing or some other format that is not easily an image, then take a picture of it. Or you may find an image existing on the Internet. To receive the full points for this assignment, the visual must obviously represent social "othering," by displaying a person or persons who are perhaps viewed to be "strangers" in the Simmelian sense described here.

Any one have any idea about this question?

Question 2

You are an auditor on the BLUE Limited (BLUE) audit engagement for the financial year ending 30 September 2019. BLUE is a large hotel company with more than 1000 hotels in Australia and Asia under a range of hotel brands. You are in the process of undertaking audit planning procedures for the BLUE audit. You have noted a number of significant risks outlined below.

BLUE’s revenue is made up of management fees earned from hotels managed by BLUE under long-term contracts with hotel owners, and from the rental of rooms and food and beverage sales from hotels owned and leased by the company directly. In hotels owned and leased directly by BLUE, the company’s practice is to confirm hotel bookings by taking credit card details and collecting payment for accommodation and incidentals at the end of a customer’s stay. You have noted an increasing incidence of corporate clients prepaying for their employees’ accommodation. These have been recorded as revenue when payment has been received.

It has also come to your attention that there have been a growing number of disputes with hotel owners in relation to the amount of management fees being charged. Management fees included a base fee, a percentage of hotel revenue, and an incentive fee based on the hotel’s profitability. Individual contracts negotiated with hotel owners include provisions for percentage increases of the base fee either annually or biannually to take effect at specific dates. Based on your initial review of the correspondence, it appears that BLUE has been applying percentage increases to the base fee charged to hotel owners prior to their effective date as contained in the contracts with individual hotel owners.

BLUE runs a hotel loyalty program which enables members of the program to earn points for every dollar spent on accommodation, food and beverages at BLUE branded hotels. These points may be redeemed at a later date for free accommodation or other benefits. BLUE records a loyalty program future redemption liability on the basis of the number of points expected to be redeemed prior to their expiry multiplied by redemption cost per point. An announcement was made on 30 May 2017 that points earned under the loyalty program would now expire in two years rather than five years from the time they are earned. BLUE’s management subsequently reduced the amount provided in the loyalty program future redemption liability by $80 million based on their estimate of the revised amount required to meet the liability given the impact of the change.

BLUE has embarked on a large-scale software development project in the current year to internally develop improved guest reservation and hotel management systems. An amount of $37 million for the year has been capitalised as software development during the year. Your initial review has revealed that this amount includes repairs and maintenance of a range of BLUE’s hardware incurred during a year.

Required

(a) Considering the information provided, determine the four key account balances and related assertions at risk. Briefly justify your answer. (4 X 5 Marks = 20 Marks)

b) Recommend one audit procedure in relation to each of the assertions identified above (4 X 2.5 Marks = 10 Marks)