Question 1 Andersen was once a thriving global institution that focused on providing accounting services to public companies. Before its solvency, Andersen was attributed to significant changes in the accounting industry as it introduced automation in accounting services including other achievements (Sellers, Fogarty, & Parker, 2012). From a business environmental perspective, Andersen began as an accounting firm in 1914 which later expanded to providing consultancy and auditing services. Moreover, a technological aspect (as mentioned above) of accounting was introduced in 1950s that contributed to the significant changes that the firm encountered. After the split of the firm (Andersen Consultants (AC) and Arthur Andersen (AA) firms), it implied that some of the initial strategies that were documented in 1914, had taken a new direction as AC was more concerned with providing consultancy services to large corporations and AA with auditing and consultancy to small companies. From an organizational architecture perspective, Andersen’s firm depicted an enormous evolvement and especially after introducing the practice of partnerships with other companies (Sellers, Fogarty, & Parker, 2012). On top of that, the splitting of the original Andersen firm had a direct change in the leadership management. In a nutshell, the entirety of change in the Andersen firm could be attributed to its desire to expand its services to consultancy and auditing. The inclusion of involving partners
What makes a large organization like Wal-Mart financially successful? One could say it is the result of outstanding personnel or perhaps a strong determination to succeed. These factors certainly contribute. However the key to financial success in organizations lies in good accounting. Since early civilization began, accounting has been an important part of our financial transactions. In today’s world our use of modern accounting systems and accurate financial statements are critical components that make modern organizations successful. To facilitate understanding of this point one must understand how
The purpose of accounting is to record the financial information, such as transactions and performance, related to a business. The accounting profession has been in existence for as long as business transactions have occurred. It wasn’t until 1494, however, when Luca Pacioli, a Venetian merchant, wrote Summa de Arithmetica, Geometrio, Proportioni et Proportionalita. His writings described a two-entry system of debits and credits, which became the basis for modern accounting systems. Three centuries later, with the emergence of the Industrial Revolution and the development of corporations, the profession of being an accountant became a necessity to keep track of the rising costs and cash flows. As a result, the American Association of Public
In businesses today, it is imperative that the accounting system be tied into every aspect of a business and integrated within all of the information systems in use. Therefore, before any system is updated or changed, the accounting system must be considered and analyzed for compatibility and integration. Kudler Fine Foods hired a consulting firm to “assist in the selection and installation of a
The architectural design of a firm varies greatly. In 1950, the business environment of Arthur Andersen included using the computer effectively for automated bookkeeping. Structure and regulation of the markets, helped Arthur Andersen to develop into a well-respected and reputable auditing company. The federal law in the 1930s requiring companies to turn over their financial statements yearly to an independent auditor not only strengthened Arthur Andersen, but also helped with their impeccable reputation. Arthur Andersen’s strategy included quality audits with a well-managed staff and profits. Promotions and rewards were plentiful when auditors made sound auditing decisions. In the 1990s, Arthur Andersen’s organizational architecture and strategy focused on generating new business, cost cutting, and performance evaluations along with decision rights over its business (Brickley, Smith, & Zimmerman, 2009).
At the end of the last century, accountants began to organize and become a profession as state societies and boards of accounting debuted. At that time a few companies began to issue financial statements; however, there were no established standards, codes of ethics, or generally accepted principles. Practitioners wishing to represent the economic reality of an entity had to rely on professional judgement. Over time, the profession evolved so that committiees emerged to address these issues, and practitioners voluntarily abided by their guidance.
Management accounting is a political technology, constantly evolving to meet demands of stakeholders of a company and to facilitate competitive advantage. A management accountant acts as a tool to devise and implement strategies. Pre-1920, decision-making processes were executed using strictly financial instruments such as cost profit analysis. “The growth of modern corporation, between 1880 and 1925 provided stimulus for development in innovative management accounting practices” (Kaplan, 1984). Due to the prominence of the world trade organisation and international monetary fund, trade barriers have
While Andersen started off as a stable environment, once changes started being made to the main focus of the company many changes were expedited. While still successful in it’s auditing business, other opportunities arose that allowed for quicker and more dynamic revenue growth. This strategic shift from auditing only to offering a number of other services (automated bookkeeping, information technologies, consulting, corporate staffing) eventually led to a rift within the company, the
The purpose of the predecessor-successor auditor communication is to inform the successor auditor of the nature of the industry and specific attributes of the client to help determine if the successor auditor wants to take them on as a client. It is the responsibility of the successor auditor, with the client’s permission, to initiate communication with the predecessor
Arthur Andersen LLP is one of the “Big Five’ accounting firms. The firm was accused of shredding documents and getting rid of e-mail messages that pertained to their audit of Enron. This occurred after finding out that the Securities and Exchange Commission had begun an investigation of Enron’s accounting. The firm was
Firstly, it is crucial to acknowledge of the Positive Accounting Theory. According to Deegan & Samkin (n.d.), Positive Accounting Theory explains and predicts accounting practice and does not seek to determine particular actions. For instance, which accounting policies will be choosen by firms and how newly proposed accounting standard will be reacted to by firms (Deegan & Samkin n.d.). In the same report, the author claims the first aspect of Positive Accounting Theory, which is “Explanation” means providing reasons for observed practice. For example, positive accounting theory pursues to explain why historical cost accounting continues being used by firms and why convinced firms switch between a numbers of accounting techniques. The second factor, which is “Prediction” indicates that the theory predicts “unobserved phenomena” (Deegan & Samkin n.d.). The author clarifies that this phenomena is not necessarily a future phenomena, they
I was first introduced to the world of business through a book called Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of Enron. At the time, though I had difficulty understanding all the complicated underlying causes for the energy giant’s collapse, I was struck by the fact that Arthur Andersen, Enron’s auditor, failed to fulfill their obligations to conduct proper audits, and ultimately lost their CPA licenses. This made me interested in the role of auditors and the reasons behind their significant—though not always positive—influence. It also motivated me to learn accountancy at the University of Hong Kong upon graduating from high school.
During my time at Accounting Firm X I learned many lessons that apply not only to accounting and the principles and practices associated with that subject, but also to life as a professional in a real world work setting. The purpose of this essay is to highlight my experiences at Accounting Firm X to shed light upon key learning experiences that can contribute to a holistic educational experience. In this essay I will first describe my goals and expectations. Next, I will go in to detail about my daily routine and how these exercises contributed toward the overall experience. I will then explore the overall lessons learned from my time spent at the firm.
The following decade, McKinsey experienced slower growth due to competition from BCG as well as the overall economic and social environment in Europe and the US. This led the firm to realize the need for knowledge management, client impact, and developing multiple career paths for the firm's consultants to create growth in the future. As the company made these changes, it increased their capacity to support the strategic objective of changing McKinsey into a firm focused more on clientele services.
The first cultural change was that Andersen embarked on a path that valued consulting service which charged hefty fees ahead of auditing in 1990s. Compared to its original major service, auditing that required accountants to insist independence of judgment, consulting should cater to clients’ requirements and fix problems from client’s perspectives. The situation that two roles mixed in Andersen made top managers decide to sell more consulting service which earned higher profits.
The case of Enron Corporation and Andersen, LLP can be noted as one of the most infamous fraud scandals in US history. Investors lost millions of dollars and ruined the public’s trust. Enron was once the seventh largest public company in the United States and Andersen LLP was the world’s largest and most respected business organizations. Enron’s stock prices soared to approximately $100 to less than $10 in 2001. How did these two big giants fall into oblivion and what could have been done to avoid the disaster of these companies?