ACCT3031 Financial Planning and Control 2021
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ACCT3031
Financial Planning and Control
2021
Question 1
Tout de Suite plc (TdS plc) is a manufacturer of electric bikes and scooters in a burgeoning market. It is composed of three divisions: X, Y and Z. Currently each division produces and markets only its own specific product range, and a coherent corporate policy is applied throughout the company:
• All three of the divisional general managers (DGMs) are held accountable for the profit and return on investment of his/her division.
• Although decision-making is largely de-centralised, matters relating to overall corporate strategy are controlled centrally by head office.
Division X plans to launch a new product but, in a change of policy, is considering outsourcing the product rather than manufacturing it within the division. The DGM of X has shortlisted three possible sources of supply. Although these sources of supply provide an almost identical level of product and service quality, there are differences in terms of the product price they have quoted to
Division X:
Source
Acme plc
Bravo plc
Price Per Unit
£2,700
£2,730
Division Z of TdS plc £2,850
The DGM of Division X intends to nominate Acme plc as his source of supply as it will charge the lowest price. However the DGM of Division Z has attended a Board Meeting of TdS plc and has pointed out that a potentially significant amount of business is involved with the new product and she is keen that its manufacture should be kept within TdS plc. On investigation, the Financial Controller of TdS plc has found:
• If Division Z were selected as Division X’s source of supply, it would buy its basic materials from Division Y.
• 80% of Division Z’s total variable cost of £2,250 per unit represented the cost to Division Z of basic materials to be bought from Division Y.
• Division Y’s variable costs are 50% of transfer price/market price.
• If Bravo plc were selected as Division X’s source of supply, then for each unit sold to Division X, Bravo plc would purchase a component from Division Y at a market price of £600 per component.
• Divisions Y and Z are each operating at less than full capacity.
Required:
As Financial Controller of Tout de Suite plc, you are required prepare a report for your Board of Directors. Your report should consist of three parts, addressing the issues raised in (a), (b) and (c) below:
(a) State which source of supply is the best alternative from a financial perspective when
judged from the viewpoint of
(i) Division X (ii) TdS plc
Appropriate financial analysis must be included (40 marks)
(b) Comment on a) above, given that transfers between all three divisions are likely to become
significant in future. (10 marks)
(c) The CEO of TdS plc draws your attention to an extract of an article relating to outsourcing and corporate sustainable social responsibility, which she feels will be of importance to the TdS plc Board of Directors both now and in the future.
“…costs reduction is no longer a complete indication of performance and should not be attained at the expense of the firm’s sustainable social responsibility and environmental aspects. The question of whether outsourcing is a “blessing” or a “lesson” remains unresolved in the minds of practitioners and researchers alike.”
“…Clearly, production costs are no longer a complete indication of performance... Management control systems should be especially vigilant when outsourcing transfers social and environmental responsibility from one contract to another in a global business context. Monitoring costs cannot be outsourced when it comes to sustainable social responsibility and environmental aspects.”
The ethics of outsourcing: when companies fail at responsibility Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 39 Issue: 5, pp.7- 13, Nelson Oly Ndubisi et al, 2018.
Comment critically on the above statement and advise TdS plc Board of Directors how they may use the “Clarkson Principles of Stakeholder Management”, as detailed below, to probe the potential ethical ramifications of a possible outsourcing decision by adopting the perspective of at least three of the stakeholder groups involved.
(50 marks)
Total (100 marks)
The “Clarkson Principles” of Stakeholder Management |
|
Principle 1 |
Managers should acknowledge and actively monitor the concerns of all legitimate stakeholders, and should take their interests appropriately into account in decision-making and operations |
Principle 2 |
Managers should listen to and openly communicate with stakeholders about their respective concerns and contributions, and about the risks that they assume because of their involvement with the corporation. |
Principle 3 |
Managers should adopt processes and modes of behaviour that are sensitive to the concerns and capabilities of each stakeholder constituency. |
Principle 4 |
Managers should recognise the interdependence of efforts and rewards among stakeholders, and should attempt to achieve a fair distribution of the benefits and burdens of corporate activity among them, taking into account their respective risks and vulnerabilities. |
Principle 5 |
Managers should work cooperatively with other entities, both public and private, to ensure that risks and harms arising from corporate activities are minimized and, where they cannot be avoided, appropriately compensated. |
Principle 6 |
Managers should avoid altogether activities that might jeopardize inalienable human rights (e.g. the right to life) or give rise to risks that, if clearly understood, would be patently unacceptable to relevant stakeholders. |
Principle 7 |
Managers should acknowledge the potential conflicts between (a) their own role as corporate stakeholders and (b) their legal and moral responsibilities for the interests of stakeholders, and should address such conflicts through open communication, appropriate reporting, incentive schemes and, where necessary, third-party review. |
Source: Principles of Stakeholder Management (Toronto: The Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, 1999) in Carroll, A.B. and Buchholtz, A.K. (2015) ‘Business and Society: Ethics, Sustainability and Stakeholder Management’, Cengage Learning, Stamford USA.
Question 2
Ice Dream plc is a manufacturer of refrigeration equipment for the catering industry.
As Financial Controller of Ice Dream plc, you have prepared the following statements for the board
of directors:
Sales
Cost of Sales
Gross Profit
Administration
Depreciation
Marketing
Income Statement
Year Ended 31st October 2020
£m
450
240
210
72
39
63
Allowances for trade receivables Operating Profit
Income from investments
Ordinary Profit
Interest payable
Restructuring costs
Tax
Profit for the year
12
3 3 9 |
186
24
3
27
15
12
Statement of Financial Position
31st October 2020
ASSETS
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment
Marketable investments
Current assets
Inventories
Trade receivables
Cash
Total assets
EQUITY AND LIABILITIES
Equity
Non-current liability: loan notes
Current liabilities
Total equity and liabilities
You have also obtained the following information,
£m
276 21 |
297 105 87 6 198 495 252 150 93 495 |
1. The Marketing costs of £63m relate to the launch of a new product in November 2019 and this launch is expected to confer equal financial benefits on financial years ending 31st October 2020, 2021 and 2022.
2. The allowances for trade receivables have been calculated on a very conservative basis whereas a more realistic basis of calculation has set these allowances at £18m
3. Restructuring costs were incurred on the re-organisation of the business and it is anticipated the benefits of this re-organisation will be obtained for many years into the future
4. Ice Dream plc has a WACC (weighted average cost of capital) of 10%
5. Ice Dream plc’s rate of tax on profits is 25%.
Required:
(a) Calculate Ice Dream plc’s Economic Value Added® (EVA®) for 2020 (40 marks) (b) Compare and contrast Economic Value Added® (EVA®) and Return on Investment as
financial performance measures. (20 marks)
(c) Critically appraise the use of stakeholder approaches to performance evaluation, in contrast to shareholder approaches to performance evaluation, such as those referred to in parts (a) and (b) above, in light of the following statement:
“In August 2019, the Business Roundtableissued a statementthat 181 CEOs of top U.S.
companies, including Apple and Walmart, signed. The letter included the statement, “Each of our stakeholders is essential. We commit to deliver value to all of them, for the future success of our companies, our communities and our country.”
This is a big deal. It’s top CEOs acknowledging that business is not an exclusive exercise in
delivering profit to shareholders. Instead, in many instances, there also is a responsibility to other stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers and the wider society.”
CIMA Insights 2020, By Bryony Clear Hill, Associate Manager — Ethics Awareness, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants
(40 marks)
Total (100 marks)
Question 3
Critically appraise the changing role of management accountants in relation to the following statement:
“MAs’ (management accountants) identity is linked with their image in the public and within the organization and is challenged by increasing demands, conflicting expectations and technological
progress.”
Wolf, Tanja et al (2020), ‘What we know about management accountants’ changing identities and roles – a systematic literature review’, Journal of Accounting and Organisational Change.
2022-05-07