Please reply to DIscussion 1 and Discussion 2 in your own words:

Discussion 1: Virgin Atlantic Airways positions itself as a very high-quality airline. Their mission to deliver high quality and exception service is, in my opinion, not reflected on its website. The website depicts Virgin Atlantic as a fun, cool airline to fly with. Much of this vibe is from a direct influence from Virgin Records. David Aaker, author of Strategic Market Management goes on to describe Virgin as “a feisty, fun-loving, rule-breaker” (2014, p. 158).

Virgin Atlantic Airways is known for being a first mover in innovation. Virgin was the first airline to offer individual TV screens for its passengers (Virgin Atlantic Airways, 2018). In 2008, Virgin was the first airline to power a commercial jet solely on biofuel (Virgin Atlantic Airways, 2018). Despite Virgin’s features, it is committed to keeping its prices reasonable.

Virgin Atlantic Airways brand-building program is unique. Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Records and Virgin Atlantic Airways, has continuous used the money received from Virgin Records for signing popular artists and used it to build Virgin Atlantic Airways (Virgin Atlantic Airways, 2018). This influence of money from a previous business is why more brands cannot emulated Virgin’s brand-building programs.

Discussion 2: Virgin Atlantic Airlines brand identity is associated with “its image of service quality, value for money, being the underdog, and having an edgy personality” (Aaker, 2014, pg. 158).

No, all potential dimensions are consistent within their brand identity. They are a company who through their consistent innovation and caring attitude coupled with the exceptional ways they find to deliver their customer service have stayed completely inline with their brand identy.

The identity has been brought to life through the personality that the brand has emulated. Virgin Atlantic has a personality that “spans some extremes, from competent to a feisty, fun-loving, rule-breaker” (Aaker, 2014, pg. 158).

Virgin Atlantic has many proof points. Virgin Atlantic goes above and beyond at providing superior service to its customers to include “sleeper seats, in-flight massages, limo service, individual TVs” (Aaker, 2014, pg. 158). They provide more value for your money by offering a little more bang for your buck, “Virgin’s Upper Class is priced at the business class level, mid-class offered at full-fare economy prices…” (Aaker, 2014, pg. 158). As the underdog, they join markets who have large brands that have been around for quite some time. They position themselves as a company who “cares, innovates, and delivers an attractive, viable alternative to customers” (Aaker, 2014, pg. 158). Much of their “edgy” personality has been accredited to founder and owner Richard Branson and his own colorful personality.

More brands should emulate Virgin’s brand-building programs. That may be easier said then achieved. The company’s brand identity seems to stem heavily from Richard Branson who has successfully immersed his own values and personality into the core culture of the company. This would be a difficult thing for other brands to copy if they do not have similar attributes within their company’s wheelhouse.

4. Sky Metals, Inc. is a metal fabrication firm that manufactures prefabricated metal parts for customers in a variety of industries. The firm’s motto is “If you need it, we can make it.” The CEO of Sky Metals recently held a board meeting during which he extolled the virtues of the corporation. The company, he stated confidently, had the capability to build any product and could do so using a lean manufacturing model. The firm would soon be profitable, claimed the CEO, because the company used state-of-the-art technology to build a variety of products while keeping inventory levels low. As a business press reporter, you have calculated some ratios to analyze the financial health of the firm. Sky Metals' current ratios and quick ratios for the past 6 years are shown in the following table: 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2015 Current ratio 1.2 1.4 1.3 1.6 1.8 2.2 2.2 Quick ratio 1.1 1.3 1.2 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.4 What do you think of the CEO’s claim that the firm is lean and soon to be profitable?

Find an article on a company that has experienced financial fraud. What are some of the key points of the article? What did you learn after reading this article?

Explain to us what the company should have done differently. Be sure to reference the website and the company

Briefly summarize a meaning of WACC for Truman’s CEO: what WACC measures, how it can be used for the purposes of capital budgeting and what are the possible issues that CEO needs to be aware of prior to implementing WACC into capital budgeting processes at Truman?

The Human Resources Department has been up and operating for 18 months now. The CEO has asked for a report on the efficiency and effectiveness of the department. Prepare an outline of the steps that you would take to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of the department for the CEO.  

Sunland Company began operations on January 2, 2019. It employs 11 individuals who work 8-hour days and are paid hourly. Each employee earns 12 paid vacation days and 7 paid sick days annually. Vacation days may be taken after January 15 of the year following the year in which they are earned. Sick days may be taken as soon as they are earned; unused sick days accumulate. Additional information is as follows.

Sunland Company has chosen not to accrue paid sick leave until used, and has chosen to accrue vacation time at expected future rates of pay without discounting. The company used the following projected rates to accrue vacation time.

New attempt is in progress. Some of the new entries may impact the last attempt grading.Your answer is partially correct.

Prepare journal entries to record transactions related to compensated absences during 2019 and 2020. (If no entry is required, select "No Entry" for the account titles and enter 0 for the amounts. Credit account titles are automatically indented when amount is entered. Do not indent manually. Round answers to 0 decimal places, e.g. 5,125.)Compute the amounts of any liability for compensated absences that should be reported on the balance sheet at December 31, 2019 and 2020. (Round answers to 0 decimal places, e.g. 5,125.)

Steven Black and Christopher Green are seeking funds to support the programmed growth of their deluxe Hot Dog menu-restricted restaurant. First year (2019) Sales were $705,000. Sales are projected to increase to $1,320,000 in 2020. The business operating financial model indicates that each hot dog “meal” will sell for $3; and the variable cost of producing the “meal” (CGS) will be $1.50. The company needed $400,000 in assets to support its 2019 operations and expects to need $100,000 MORE (a total of $ 500,000) to support projected 2020 Sales.

      2019                      2020 (projected)

            Sales                                                   $ 705,000 _________

            COGS (Meals x CGS)                              352,500                    __________    

            Gross Profit                                             352,500 ________

            Fixed Operating Costs (ignore taxes)        200,000                    __________

            Net Profit                                           $152,500                     $ ______

Prepare (fill in) the 2020 projected Income Statement above.

Calculate the company’s Return on Assets (ROA), its asset intensity (asset turnover ratio), and its Gross Profit and Net Profit Ratios for each year

                                                                        2019                                           2020

Return on Assets __________ ____________

Asset Turnover ____________ ________________

Gross Profit Margin _______________ _________________________   

Net Profit Margin ______________ _____________________

Given the 2019 calculations above, and the 2020 projections, use the VOS screening model standards below for profitability and pricing to evaluate the attractiveness of an investment in Steven and Christopher’s business.

                                    High                            Average                                    Low

Gross Margin                >50%                           10%--50%                                 <20%

AT margin                     >20%                           10%--20%                                 <10%

Asset Intensity         3.0+ Turnover                    1.0—3.0 Turnover                    <1.0 Turnover

Return on Assets           >25%                           10%--25%                                 <10%

COMMENTS/EVALUATION (You should include comments about what the company could do to make the investment more attractive to investors)

Margins:

Use of Assets:

How would your EVALUATION change if the 2019 Asset level will support Annual Sales growth of 50% per year in 2020? (That means the company had excess capacity in 2019 and more assets would not be required to support shortterm projected growth.)

PLEASE HELP ME. THANK YOU.

Metlock Company has not yet prepared a statement of cash flows for the 2020 fiscal year. Comparative balance sheets as of December 31, 2019 and 2020, and a statement of income and retained earnings for the year ended December 31, 2020, are presented as follows.

Knowing that the company's former CFO and CEO not only got in trouble for fiduciary responsibility violations but IRS issues as well, you plan to write a report with your senior accountants to go over the main differences between the roles of financial accounting, cost accounting, and tax accounting as some of the prior accounting department misdeeds seemed to come from not keeping these separate.

1. In chart form, distinguish between these 3 segments of the accounting function, each of them along these 4 criteria:
   • The legal or regulatory bodies and guidelines that must be abided by.
   • Typical kinds of reports created and the stakeholders interested in each report.
   • Issues that, if not addressed properly, could land the company in trouble again.
   • The particular kinds of training/education that employees in each of these departments should have.

You are recently employed as a graduate consultant in a management consultancy firm. One of your firm’s clients is currently evaluating its
budgeting system. The CEO of your client had recently attended a seminar on Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC) in private organizations and would like to know whether the TDABC is suitable for the company. Your manager has asked you to prepare a report for the client.

Questions:

1) A description of your firm’s client and what functions or activity are there in business?

2) A description of the TDABC and its features 4-5 features

3) In what ways TDABC is different from Activity-Based Costing 3-4 difference.

4) Difference between traditional costing systems and TDABC 3-4 difference