REFLECTION PAPER

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We are handed a reflection paper on which we are required to respond to three questions.
The first of these questions is, besides earning a profit, what other objectives might a
business have? How can Accounting play an important role in these objectives?
According to the topic that we tackle in accounting, Accounting can be defined as a
process that assists businesses in maintaining their large numbers of transactions in an
efficient manner by recording the transactions and posting the balances of each account
to their respective ledgers. In addition to maximizing profits, a company may have other
objectives such as improving vendor relations, increasing customer satisfaction, and
expanding its operations. Effective accounting process management can ensure that all
transactions related to vendor payments are carried out in an efficient manner, such as
timely payment to vendors and suppliers, allowing the relationship between the business
and the vendor to improve. Accounting also contributes to the growth of a company by
recording all expenses and revenues in the books of account, which can later be used by
the company to make decisions about long-term investments. In accounting, this is a
topic that isn't talked about very much. This is a bad thing, because good relationships
with vendors usually mean less work in accounting records. Even though less work
means a better bottom line, those who have to deal with suppliers on a regular basis don't
have to deal with as much stress and frustration as they used to. Customer satisfaction can
be defined as a metric that determines how satisfied customers are with a company's
products, services, and capabilities, among other things. Customer satisfaction
information, such as surveys and ratings, can assist a company in determining how to best
improve or change its products and services to meet customer needs. Companies can
expand their operations by implementing a growth strategy. Practices such as opening
new locations, investing in customer acquisition, and expanding a product line are all
examples of how to grow a business. The industry and target market of a company have
an impact on the growth strategies that are implemented.

The second question is posed in the context of a specific circumstance, the question is, a
new manager of a retail company suggests that the company should prepare its Statement
of Profit or Loss on the basis of cash receipts and cash expenditures (except for the
acquisition of fixed assets, such as plant and equipment). He argues that managers,
investors, creditors, and others are more interested in cash receipts and disbursements
than in accrual-based accounting. Do you think he is correct? Every company maintains a
separate set of books in order to produce financial statements that are essentially
comprised of an income statement and a balance sheet, respectively. Preparation of
financial statements includes the preparation of the balance sheet, the income statement,
the retained earnings statement, the cash flow statement, and the cash flow statement, all
of which are components of a continuous process that includes several processes.
"GAAP" is an acronym that stands for "Generally Recognized Accounting Principles," or
accounting principles that are widely accepted in the accounting field. It was decided to
create this collection of standards in order to aid publicly traded firms in the production
of their financial statements. It is critical that all organizations conform to a set of rules
and norms in order to maintain openness and transparency. According to GAAP, every
firm should only maintain its books in accordance with the accrual principle in order to
guarantee uniformity across all platforms when it comes to financial records.
Furthermore, every firm should closely stick to the accrual technique in order to know
their correct profit for a certain period of time without over or under recognizing earnings
or expenditures. In contrast to the new manager, I feel that the income and expenditure
accounts should only be kept in line with the accrual method of accounting. It is not a
guarantee that stakeholders will be interested in an accounting system that is based on
cash.

A situational inquiry, as is the third, is likewise posed here. The question is the manager
of your company told you to go out to the warehouse and count merchandise inventory.
He said that owner is coming for a meeting next week and the manager wanted to put on
a good show. He asked you to make the inventory higher by counting the first and last
row twice. The higher ending inventory will result in higher net profit. What should you
do? Inventory management is the process of determining the value of products already on
hand and available for sale to consumers in the marketplace. The phrase "merchandise
inventory" refers to the process of determining the value of items that are currently on
hand and available for sale. In some cases, the product may be raw materials, while in
others, it may be a completed product that has been manufactured. It is advised to the
businesses of the total number of things that have been completed and that have been
designated as the finished product. They are often referred to as current assets in the
financial world. Several criteria have been devised by the Institute of Management
Accountants to ensure that accountants may make a positive contribution to the
advancement of society. These criteria are available on the Institute of Management
Accountants' website. These criteria are based on the concepts of credibility, honesty,
competency, and confidentiality, among other things. There are three types of goods
inventories: physical inventories, virtual inventories, and virtual inventories with a virtual
inventory. This is the unprocessed material. Unfinished products are items that must be
added to a finished product in order for it to be sold after it has been completed. Finished
products are those that have been completed. A erroneous and inflated number for ending
inventory has been sought by the company's management in order for the company to
declare a higher profit during the period in question. As a consequence of reduced cost of
products sold, it is more advantageous to record the final inventory value at a higher
value. This leads in a larger profit. It is possible that the accountant would be in breach of
the ethical rules that accountants are expected to follow, as well as in violation of the law,
if a larger inventory was recorded. Using their influence, management is influencing the
warehouse worker to act in a way that might have a negative impact on the company's
bottom line and reputation. In order to benefit personally, the company's management
employs techniques that have proven to be a disaster for the organization. In addition,
profit may be gained by following positive media outlets rather than negative media
outlets, and vice versa. Consequently, in such cases, workers should tell the higher
authority, and they should inform them of any techniques that management should be
advising the employee to adopt in order to create a profit via unethical practices. This
should be conveyed to upper-level management as well as the audit committee as soon as
feasible if the accountant is unable to comply with the manager's orders.
SOURCES:
 https://smallbusiness.chron.com/other-objectives-besides-profit-important-businesses-
25492.html
 https://www.iasplus.com/en-gb/standards/ias/ias1
 https://www.brightpearl.com/inventory-management-system