Week Ten EOC; My Plan

During this quarter my knowledge on not only account, but excel have increased significantly. Although this particular course was meant for a hospitality ran businesses, I can definitely see how this would be applicable to all means of business. The majority of what I have learned could be put towards the majority of accounting needs throughout the fashion industry. I knew absolutely nothing about accounting at the beginning of this course but can now say I feel a lot more confident if I were needed to speak on the subject matter. I have also learned all sorts of excel tricks, which could be beneficial towards absolutely any types of work and maybe even running my own small business. As of right now, my plan is to once again, graduate and become a buyer. Although there is a lot of careers in the fashion industry that I would be more than happy with, I truly think a buyer is the position that suits me the most. It would be excellent to be a part of some type of internship prior to be hired so that I can gauge what type of requirements they must meet daily. I have the personality of wanting to see how something goes or works before I encounter it myself, so I believe that the chance of an internship would be highly beneficial to not only myself but my future career. I can only hope that this accounting knowledge I have learned will do the same. I have seen how expensive it can be to run a business and I think that is the one thing I have taken the most from this class.

Week Nine EOC; Book Question

If Dan and Loralei would decide to buy the restaurant, there would be some fixed costs that would come along the way. A fixed cost is a cost that "remains constant despite increases or decreases in sales volume (number of guests served or number of rooms sold) (Dopson 316)". One of the most common fixed costs for this property would be payments for insurance policies. These would remain constant and would have to be maintained if the property was owned. Another example, similar to the insurance policy payments, would be the property taxes. Then there are controllable fixed costs. "Good managers seek to decrease their fixed costs to their lowest practical levels while still satisfying the needs of the business and its customers (Dopson 318)." If Dan and Loralei were to decide to have music and entertainment for their business, this would also be a fixed cost but could be lowered if desired. The rental space in which the restaurant is located may also be a fixed cost. Lastly, the management salaries are a fixed cost. 

However, if Dan and Loralei choose to operate the restaurant some variable costs are also going to occur. "A variable cost is one that increases as sales volume increases and decreases as sales volume decreases (Dopson 316)." The top variable costs for them are going to be food and beverage cost. Cleaning, equipment, payroll and bank interest are going to be some other variable costs.

I think that Dan has a good point when he says that he can reduce the prices of the Watershed. Since they can get it at the right price, that will be a fixed cost that will not change. If they can get their variable costs down to where they need to be it will make more sense for them to obtain the business. I think Dan's ideas are going to be the most profitable because lowering the costs slightly will help to make that 7 cents loss on a dollar become more profitable.

Dopson, Lea R. Managerial Accounting for the Hospitality Industry. Wiley, 09/2008. [The Art Institutes].

Week Eight EOC; Question Four

Answers: 

a.   The total revnue for October 2009 was $545,000 and the total revenue for October 2010 was $583,000. Revenue is important because "ecommend special room restrictions (for example, minimum length of stay requirements) that serve to optimize the total revenue generated by the hotel during a specific time period (Dopson 289)".

b.  The GOP in dollars for October 2009 was $162,000 and the GOP for October 2010 was $184,550. "Gross operating profit (GOP) is, in effect, total hotel revenue less those expenses that are considered directly controllable by management (Dopson 296)."

c.   The percentage of GOP to total revnues in October 2009 was 29.72% and in October 2010 was 31.65%.

d.  The flow-through being achieved by Santi's hotel is 59.34%. This is higher than 50% so there are profits being made. "Flow-through is a measure of the ability of a hotel to convert increased revenue dollars to increased gross operating profit dollars (Dopson 296)".

Dopson, Lea R. Managerial Accounting for the Hospitality Industry. Wiley, 09/2008. VitalSource Bookshelf Online.

Week Seven EOC; Trump and Small Business

Donald J. Trump having won the 2016 election will have a large impact on not only business as a whole, but small businesses. Since having won the current election, several small business owners have been backing him up. In fact, some of the utmost generous donors to the Trump campaign were the small business owners. Trump is expected to start modifying President Barack Obama's health care, or Obamacare and is also going to undo some enviornmental regulations leaving small business owners incredibly positive about his win. One of the most important aspects that will be changing for the better, in small business owners eyes, is the tax changes."Business groups want to see benefits as well for sole proprietors, Roseberg and corporate shareholders whose business income is reported on their personal returns."(sdasd). Trump has been heavily advocating to lower the income tax by 15 percent on all companies. Right now these companies are being taxed at rates as high as 40 percent. This tax law will not be changed without Congress' approval, but with the new republican lead Congress this is looking like it may happen. Trade is also going to change and trump has been planning to renegotiate the North American Free Agreement trade which is currently governing the trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico. "He also wants the U.S. to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is awaiting approval from Congress. But he may face opposition from small-business groups" (Roseberg). Lastly, the minimum wage will be increasing which has be said to be hurtful towards small business companies but some have also said will help increase competition. "The approval of minimum wage increases in Arizona, Colorado, Maine and the state of Washington will likely add momentum to campaigns in other parts of the country" (Roseberg). 

Joyce M. Rosenberg | Associated Press. "Small Business Generally Upbeat about Trump Agenda." Albuquerque Journal. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.

Week Six EOC; Weed in the Workplace

"Ten years ago, if an employee or intern came to work after spending time smoking marijuana, the employer had a simple solution: termination" (Nace). With the legalization of marijuana it is becoming significantly harder for businesses to control the use of it within the workplace. The first problem that can be run into is whether or not a drug test should be conducted since it is now legal."Generally, an employer is permitted to conduct preemployment, random, or reasonable suspicion drug testing provided it has an effective drug and alcohol policy" (Nace). This is causing further problems being that in areas where marijuana has been legalized it is becoming hard to find employees. I personally do not find drug testings prior to being hired necessary, although I do think that random drug tests throughout a employees employment has the potential to be beneficial to the company. If there is suspicion or an employee is suspected to be under the influence while working, they should be subjected to a drug test. Although marijuana is now legal, that should not make the drug permissable to use in a work enviornment. Any type of work whether being retail or the service industry, while being under the influence, could especially hinder a work performance."Showing up to the workplace and claiming that "it's legal" is generally not going to constitute a defense to a positive test" (Nace). Saying that marijuana is legal is not a valid argument to showing up to work high due to the fact that alcohol is also legal but you are not allowed to show up drunk.


http://www.naceweb.org/j022016/marijuana-drugs-in-the-workplace.aspx

Week Four EOC; Question Two

Answers: 

a. The change in cash increased and there for reflected a use of funds. It was increased by $14,000. The differences of sources and uses can be explained in the book by "One tool that can be used to help you identify money inflows and outflows of a hospitality business is to calculate its sources and uses of funds from its balance sheets from last period to this period. Sources represent inflows and uses represent outflows of funds for the hospitality business" (Dopson 147).

b. Net Recievables, "Money owed by customers to a business calculated after subtracting any amounts that may not be collectable" (Dopson 480), also increases resulting in a use of funds as well. The amount that it was increased by was $30,000.

c. Notes payable decreased which ended up becoming a use of funds increasing by $44,000. The book states that "Notes payable are short-term loans (less than a year). If you decrease notes payable by paying back money you borrowed, this is a use of funds for you" (Dopson 151).

d. The retained earnings, "Accumulated account of profits over the life of the business that have not been distributed as dividends" (Dopson 483), increased which resulted in a sourceof funds. This was incrased by $104,000.

e. The total amount of sources and funds ended up totaling to $743,000.

Dopson, Lea R. Managerial Accounting for the Hospitality Industry. Wiley, 09/2008. VitalSource Bookshelf Online.

Week Four EOC; Question Three

Answers:

a. Rachel's cash percent is at 3.7% which is half less than the averages of the chain. What this means is that Rachel is losing more money than the other chains are. "those who operate a business must consistently have sufficient cash on hand to pay their employees, their vendors, and the taxes owed by the business" (Dopson 117).

b. Rachel's inventories are 1% higher than the national average. The book defines inventories as "In the hospitality industry, inventories will include the value of the food, beverages, and supplies used by a restaurant, as well as sheets, towels, and the in-room replacement items (hangers, blow dryers, coffee makers, and the like), used by a hotel" (Dopson 124). This may mean she has more product avaiable on hand than other chains which will mean less spending in the next month.

c. Rachel's accounts payable percentage is a little over 1% higher than the chain's average percentages. This means she owes more money than the other chains typically would. This is important because "the most important sub-classifications of current liabilities include notes payable, income taxes payable, and accounts payable" (Dopson 126).

d.  Rachel's notes payable is also 1.4% higher than the chains averages which means she also has more money owed in this area than she should.

Dopson, Lea R. Managerial Accounting for the Hospitality Industry. Wiley, 09/2008. VitalSource Bookshelf Online.