Reference no: EM132188431

Respond to each peer initial post and question at the end with a response about 3-4 sentences long.

Peer #1

How does the benefit of a comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR) seem worth the expense from your perspective?

A CAFR is a detailed report of a state's financial conditions. It shows that states activities and balances from each fiscal year. The reason that this is a benefit is that it can show you the position in which the citizens, as well as the stat, is In. It can help to better plan for the next year and how to allocate money correctly.

How could management information systems provide too much information for a decision maker?

If a management information provided a vast amount of information, it can make decision making an extremely hard thing to do. With too much information it could give management more question than they would have had or more insight into the information that could make either or all options make sense as well.

How would you describe the impact of the fiscal strain on one of the cities or nonprofit agencies you selected for the final project? How would the tax codes affect the fiscal strain?

There has been a lot of fiscal strain on the city of Detroit because of the recent bankruptcy that the city went through in 2013. Meaning that the state was on a stick budget and had to go through a finical management to make any major finical decision. Tax codes could affect the financial strain by allowing there to be more money to come into the city to be used.

Is it feasible to only employ people of high integrity or implement a system of internal controls that can prevent fraud, waste, and abuse (FWA) no matter who is employed?

In my opinion, it is more feasible to employ people that have high integrity. But in my opinion, I think that in the long run, it is important that an FWA system as well as higher people with high integrity to overall stop any and all fraud, waste, and abuse from occurring.

Peer #2

1. How does the benefit of a comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR) seem worth the expense from your perspective?

It has the remittal letter that which has personal information. It allows the highlighting of accomplishments and discussion of significant projects.

The availability of individual funds in the CAFR can provide information on more detailed budgetary information, and comparative data which is essential for the CAFR readers. It also contains historical, operational and economic data that allows for the accessing of the financial status of the government.

That is why it is worth the expense. It's not commonly known but contains a detailed account of a government entity financial statues. They are instrumental when it comes to auditing since them, make the auditors work easier.(The Office (1998).They are dense and are well detailed with charts and graphs, therefore, easier to read and get more information. Thus, the expenses are justifiable.

2. How could management information systems provide too much information for a decision maker?

Management information provides information that is up to date and accurate that is necessary for decision making. (Gantt, A. (1963). Central Governments:

Cash Deficits and Surpluses). It gives information on logical analysis. It gives too much information for decision makers by providing information available from data on the operations of a company management information systems provide too much information for a decision maker?

Bookkeeping frameworks are independent and traditional. Bookkeeping data is limited to stewardship and investigation choices that utilization the money related bookkeeping model. Accentuation is on objectivity and dependability of data.

.provision of scenarios those are important in decision making. Plots show the changes in various variables when a decision is made. (Bragg, S. (2013). Management information systems provide projections that are necessary for decision making. They provide sufficient information to indicate if the decision made has had the desired effects for the company.

3. How would you describe the impact of the fiscal strain on one of the cities or nonprofit agencies you selected for the final project? How would the tax codes affect the financial pressure?

Fiscal strain will lead to accumulation of debts by the cities for them to be able to pay off their expenses. Financial pressure will lower the amount of wealth gained and will lead to decreased income by the towns. Tax codes will reduce the fiscal strain of the cities by regulating revenues and the well of the cities.

Financial stress can lead to the bankruptcy of a city. The decline in property revenue will lead to low property values too. Transition to Computers is a unique utilization of PCs in accountancy concentrated on robotizing the record-keeping capacity.

Manual books were supplanted by PC "books." (Gantt, A. (1963)The computerized frameworks held similar positions, introduction toward the bookkeeping cycle, and carried an accentuation on money-related articulations as in the standard view. PCs made bookkeeping capacities quicker, more affordable, and more accurate.

The solution to fiscal strain can only be two way either the city defaults on their debts or they file for bankruptcy. Economic anxiety leads to low employment rates and unemployment at large. The other way the local government of cities can reduce fiscal strain is by increasing taxes and cutting their spending.

4. Is it feasible to only employ people of high integrity or implement a system of internal controls that can prevent fraud, waste, and abuse (FWA) no matter who is engaged?

Yes it is feasible, it might be expensive, but it will ensure that cases of frauds, abuse and wastage of funds in the cities will reduce. Employing high integrity people will only ensure that accountability is achieved. The structure expects to catch all parts of financial occasions pertinent to leaders. The introduction is toward central leadership, not merely budgetary explanations. It's workable and feasible to use high integrity people.

There will be less wastage of resources; funds embezzlement will reduce, and work will generally be done. Both the system and high integrity people will ensure that there are more output and less in put. High integrity people are self-motivated, proactive and go-getters. Therefore, they will ensure that more work is done and done efficiently, and they will ensure accountability from their position and that of others. It might look like a costly affair by the organization, but the results are fantastic for the organization. Therefore, it is viable to use such a strategy.

Peer #3

Costs can either be classified as direct or program and indirect. The purpose of such classification is to identify and assign costs to specific cost objects.

Cost objects can include products, departments, customers, inventory, research and development activities of the organization (Direct Costs and Indirect Costs, 2017). Indirect costs represent expenses that are not directly related to a product or function but rather to several objects that requires cost allocation. Indirect costs are typically necessary for the general operation of the organization like rent, supplies, an office equipment. Direct costs are considered direct because the expense goes directly into a specific function, program, or project.

It is very important for an organization to classify and allocate funds appropriately as to determine the organization's effectiveness, efficiency, and identify areas of improvement. In the case that an organization is operating on donations and grants, it is important to identify the two as it is at the discretion of a donor to only allow funding to be applied to certain things. For many, honesty is expected so attempting to allocate funds outside of its intended use can affect future donations.

In-kind contributions can be tangible goods, services, or time donated in place of cash. In-kind donations is not necessarily the money required to buy goods or services but the actual goods and services themselves such as equipment or computers. In-kind donations should be recognized or valued in monetary terms so when recording the information, it should be recorded for a value equal to the value of the in-kind donations the organization receives. Organizations must make sure that the value placed on in-kind donations are in line with IRS rules and regulations.

Peer #4

Indirect cost is expenses that have been incurred for a standard or shared objective. These expenses are such things administrative and overhead cost, utilities, rent expense, health insurance, salaries, human resource, and accounting and legal fees. (Barnard, 2018). Program cost is those associated with the various programs within the organization.

These costs should not be mixed. Monies received from donors are sometimes made with stipulations to which program the funds will go towards. You do not want to lose the trust of your donor by handling the monies any way you'd like.

Indirect and program cost are off-set by allocation. When the organization does a budget analysis of their funds, they must make sure to allocate funding to each section. An example would be hiring extra personnel to complete a program. You budgeted for the salaries of the new hires but failed to think of the cost of recruiting and training them (Monson-Rosen, 2018).

Propel Nonprofits (n.d.) suggest that after completing the full program-based budget or financial analysis it's worthwhile to take a fresh look for both accuracy and a gut check. Do the formulas, amounts, and financial results match what you expected, or do they surprise you? If there are surprises, first review the data to verify the calculations and choices about allocations and definitions.

In-Kind gifts are considered as contributions given in the form of goods, service or time instead of cash. In-kind donations are valuable to nonprofit organizations, especially if they are central to the organization's mission by providing food and clothing for the homeless. According to MissionBox Staff (2018), these gifts can free up cash for operating essentials (payroll taxes).

Organizations need to be careful when accepting these gifts. Receiving certain gifts might run counter to your organization's mission and values, or you might not be equipped to manage and maintain the cost of a gift, such as real estate.