Wednesday, November 27, 2019

The Balance Sheet Essays - Accounting, Business Economics, Business

The Balance Sheet Although the balance sheet was first implemented just a couple of centuries ago, it has quckly developed and sophisticated to become nowadays a widely used and powerful tool in the hands of professional users, well known and popular even among the mass public. In spite of its prominence, or may be because of it, the balance sheet can not be easily and fully described in a few words, but still, if we leave aside its various functions and forms and any other subjective factors, we can state that the balance sheet is a summary of an enterprises' assets, liabilities and equity at a specific moment of time. To simplify this description even further we could say that the balance sheet shows an entity's possessions, obligations and others' debts to it. The objective point of view however is often too restrictive, and the most simple things many times prove to be rather complex... Among the thousand more complex definitions appended to the balance sheet one of my favorites is the definition given by .... according to which the balance sheet is a statement meant to communicate information about the financial position of an enterprise at a particular point in time, summarizing the information contained in accounting records in a clear and intelligible form, giving information about the financial state of an enterprise and indicating the relative liquidity of the assets, showing the liabilities of the enterprise (i.e. what the enterprise owes and when these amounts will fall due), able to assist the user in evaluating the financial position of the enterprise, being however only part of the data needed by users. Or to summarize this long description with which I completely agree, I could say that although the balance sheet is one of the most outstanding instruments in the hands of financial analysts, managers, investors and other users, its importance should not b e over emphasized, it has to be viewed along with many other documents, and it is far from being the perfect and the super financial document. In order to get a more clear, complete and fair picture of the balance sheet, apart from reviewing the definitions given by the experts in this field, we would need to consider as many sides and issues of the subject as possible. Being objective we should have a look at the etymology of the word balance, the history of this document, its theoretical essence and the basic concepts of accounting implied in it, its forms in the accounting practise. In our attempt however not to become over-objective or scholastic, we should also review the aims and purposes of the balance sheet and the extent to which they are fulfilled, the users of this financial statement and their contradictory needs, the negative aspects and restrictions of the balance sheet, and finally the trends of its further development. In short, we have to go further into the matter... The history of the so called financial statements, and the balance sheet among them, can be traced back to Renaissance Italy, where along with the double - entry book - keeping they first evoked to respond to the growing more and more complex needs of the accounting connected with the economic development of the society at that period (expansion of trade activities, development of banking, etc.) and with the transition from the owner - manager model towards limited companies or the breakdown of ownership from control. Obviously these historical events called for the development of new methods and new documents, reflecting the changes. Naturally the word balance itself has also an Italian origin (bilan, bilanz) though it is formed up of two latin words: bi - double and lanx - scales. Even from here it becomes obvious that the balance sheet is a sheet or summary of two different aspects of one and the same thing: an entity's financial position. Further to this aspect, we can take a look at the definition of the balance sheet given by John Arnold, Tony Hope and Alan Southworth: The balance sheet is the most inituitive and easily understood document of accounting. Most of us at some stage in our lives will be required to compute a listing of our possessions. Such a listing of

Saturday, November 23, 2019

How to Write an English Term Paper

How to Write an English Term Paper How to Write an English Term Paper If you want to know how to write your English term paper well, you should study at least a couple of guides, including the one offered by your university. It is also helpful to review a sample term paper to have a practical example of how the suggestions and advice in the guides apply. Start your English paper by writing an outline. As you begin writing the outline of your term paper, think of the things that you would want to explore in it or what you are expected to explore in the paper. The outline will provide you with an algorithm of how to arrange information in your term paper. It also includes some major points that you would have to explore deeper before writing the term paper. The first section of your term paper outline should concentrate on writing the general introduction of your term paper. It is at this section where you are to write explanatory remarks on what the term paper is to explore, the purpose of writing that term paper and the kind of resources that you shall use to explore the arguments of your essay while providing evidence for the solutions that you will be providing in your paper. As you examine the topic of your English term paper, you will definitely come up with the main idea which you would want to use to support the thesis statement of your paper. Once you know the main arguments that you shall be using in the term paper, organize the outline such that each of the main ideas are in separate paragraphs. You should also organize the main ideas so that their flow will bring out the main points of your paper in the best way possible. The purpose of such an outline is to provide visual clues that will help you in writing the actual paper. Preparation is a very important stage in writing any kind f paper, especially the long ones. When organizing the ideas in your term paper, remember that they should be placed in a logical order. You should try to put your ideas and the evidence that supports your ideas in an order where one section of the term paper will provide the background information of the topic while other sections will explain the significance of the issues that the term paper is discussing. The other sections of the English term paper will then explain the point which you want to make. While writing your term paper, ensure that you embrace clarity so that all points that you write are presented in clear and very easy to understand way.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Risk Management Overview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Risk Management Overview - Essay Example Risk Management is a systematic process of managing risk exposures. Risk and uncertainties affect business and investment in a number of ways. There are two possible outcomes for the risks- may be gains or loss (Merna and Al-Thani, 2008, p. 4). Fig-1 gives background information about these two possible outcomes of risks. Risk management considers not only the threats but also the opportunities that are possible gains out of risks. Risk can be taken positively or negatively. Perceiving it in positive way will be an approach to manage it and if that it is done effectively, risk can be utilized. If it is ignored and no management activities are performed, it will bring loss instead of gains. An organization can be said to have good organization wide risk management system if its risk management activities are starting from the very starting point of the projects, if risk management is integrated with other managerial function and finally if all stakeholders are actively involved in the risk management processes (Cooper, Grey, and Raymond, 2005, p. 15). According to Culp (2001), risk management is an organizational process that is separated in to five general activities that are 1) identifying the risks and determine the tolerance, 2) measure risks, 3) monitor and report risks, 4) control risks, and 5) oversee, audit, tune and re-align the risk management process (p. 210). This is depicted in the figure- 2. Risk management process comprises of set of actions taken by individuals or firms as an endeavor to alter the risks arising from their business. Each stages like identification an control are ultimately a forward-looking process as the main target is to manage risks and thus to achieve overall business success. Risk management and its functional areas may deal with both insurable and non-insurable risks like risk due to bad management or risk due to fashion change etc. According to Merna and Al-Thani