Creating a Balanced Scorecard LO 12â€“4 Ariel Tax Services prepares tax returns for individual and corporate clients. As the company has gradually expanded to 10 offices, the founder, Max Jacobs, has begun to feel as though he is losing control of operations. In response to this concern, he has decided to implement a performance measurement system that will help control current operations and facilitate his plans of expanding to 20offices. Jacobs describes the keys to the success of his business as follows: “Our only real asset is our people. We must keep our employees highly motivated, and we must hire the ‘cream of the crop.’ Interestingly, employee morale and recruiting success are both driven by the same two factorsâ€”compensation and career advancement. In other words, providing superior compensation relative to the industry average coupled with fast-track career advancement opportunities keeps morale high and makes us a very attractive place to work. It drives ahigh rate of job offer acceptances relative to job offers tendered.” “Hiring highly qualified people and keeping them energized ensures operational success, which in our business is a function of productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness. Productivity boils down to employees being billable rather than idle. Efficiency relates to the time required to complete a tax return. Finally, effectiveness is critical to our business in the sense that we cannot tolerate errors. Completing a tax return quickly is meaningless if the return contains errors.” “Our growth depends on acquiring new customers through word of mouth from satisfied repeat customers. We believe that our customers come back year after year because they value error-free, timely, and courteous tax return preparation. Common courtesy is an important aspect of our business! We call it service quality, and it all ties back to employee morale in the sense that happy employees treat their clients with care and concern.” “While sales growth is obviously important to our future plans, growth without a corresponding increase in profitability issue less. Therefore, we understand that increasing our profit margin is a function of cost-efficiency as well as sales growth. Given that payroll is our biggest expense, we must maintain an optimal balance between staffing levels and the revenue being generated. As I alluded to earlier, the key to maintaining this balance is employee productivity. If we can achieve cost-efficient sales growth, we should eventually have 20 profitable offices!” Required: Create a balanced scorecard for Ariel Tax Services. Link your scorecard measures using the framework from Exhibit 12â€“9. Indicate whether each measure is expected to increase or decrease. Feel free to create measures that may not be specifically mentioned in the chapter but make sense given the strategic goals of the company. What hypotheses are built into the balanced scorecard for Ariel Tax Services? Which of these hypotheses do you believe are most questionable and why? Discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages of implementing an internal business process measure called total dollar amount of tax refunds generated. Would you recommend using this measure in Ariel’s balanced scorecard? Would it be beneficial to attempt to measure each office’s individual performance with respect to the scorecard measures you created? Why or why not?

Which one of the following represents the best effort to reduce the agency problem? Select one: Increasing the salary of the company CEO every time the company opens a new store Giving senior managers bonuses consisting of shares of company whenever the company improves its production efficiency Providing company cars to all managers employed by the firm for more than one year Paying senior managers a cash bonus each year based on the number of people employed by the company

Net Promoter Score (NPS) Upon graduation, you and a friend established a computerconsultancy business. Your business has generally been successful, but you and your colleaguewish to expand the business significantly over the next 3 years. You have always assumed that theservice your firm rendered to clients was of sterling quality. However, up to this point you havenot attempted to measure customer satisfaction. Recently, you prepared and sent to your clients acustomer-satisfaction survey that, among other items, asked the following question: “How likely isit that you would recommend our services to a friend or business associate?” Customers respondedto this question using a 10-point scale, with 10 = “Extremely Likely,” 5 = “Neutral/Uncertain,” and1 = “Extremely Unlikely.” You received 290 responses to this question, which were as follows:[LO 17-5][LO 17-6]Score No. of Responses1 62 83 94 215 236 307 168 729 7010 35Final PDF to printerblo17029_ch17_713-774.indd 769 02/19/18 09:10…

Young Manufacturing Company is a startup manufacturing firm looking to build and develop its balanced scorecard. Gunner Young, the company owner, has told you the following: Our company was built on the shoulders of our hard-working, diligent employees. I believe that the heart and soul of any company is its employees. If our company is going to succeed, we need to continue to hire and train hard-working, passionate, and ethical employees. I also believe in being efficient. Ive noticed that the companies that always find ways to cut production costs and produce their goods faster are the ones that win in this industry. Gunner has also told you that he is mainly focused on maintaining the customers he has rather than seeking out a lot of new ones. At the end of the day, he admits that his companys ultimate objective is increasing the bottom line. a. Working together in a team, list one strategic objective for each performance perspective of the balanced scorecard based on the information Gunner provided. b. For each strategic objective you came up with in part (a), list at least one performance metric. c. Describe the relationships that would be illustrated by a strategy map of Youngs balanced scorecard. d. Describe the relationships that would be illustrated by a measure map of Youngs balanced scorecard.

Each of the following scenarios requires the use of accounting information to carry out one or more of the following managerial activities: (1) planning, (2) control and evaluation, (3) continuous improvement, or (4) decision making. a. MANAGER: At the last board meeting, we established an objective of earning an after-tax profit equal to 20 percent of sales. I need to know the revenue that we need to earn in order to meet this objective, given that we have 250,000 to spend on the promotional campaign. Once I have estimated sales in units, we then need to outline a promotional campaign that conforms to our budget and that will take us where we want to be. However, to compute the targeted sales revenue, I need to know the unit sales price, the unit variable cost, and the associated fixed production and support costs. I also need to know the tax rate. b. MANAGER: We have problems with our procurement process. Our accounts payable department is spending 80 percent of its time resolving discrepancies between the purchase order, receiving order, and suppliers invoice. Incorrect part numbers on the purchase orders, incorrect quantities ordered, and wrong parts sent (or the incorrect quantity) are just a few examples of sources of discrepancies. A complete redesign of the process has been suggested, which will allow us to eliminate virtually all of the errors and, at the same time, significantly reduce the number of clerks needed in purchasing, receiving, and accounts payable. This redesign promises to significantly reduce costs, decrease lead time, and increase customer satisfaction. c. MANAGER: This overhead cost report indicates that we have spent significantly more on inspection, purchasing, and production than was budgeted. An investigation has revealed that the source of the problem is faulty components from suppliers. A supplier evaluation has revealed that by selecting five suppliers with the best quality records (out of 15 currently used), the number of defective components will be dramatically reduced, thus producing significant overhead savings by reducing the demand for inspections, reordering, and rework. d. MANAGER: A large local firm has approached me and has offered to sell us one of the components used in our small enginesa component that we are currently producing internally. I need to know costs that we would avoid if this component is purchased so that I can assess the economic merits of this offer. e. MANAGER: Currently, our deluxe lawn mower is losing money. We need to increase profits. I would like to know how much our profits would be if we reduce our variable costs by 50 per mower while maintaining our current sales volume. Also, marketing claims that if we increase advertising expenditures by 1,000,000 and cut prices by 15 percent, we can increase the number of mowers sold by 25 percent. I would like to know which approach offers the most profit, or if a combination of the approaches may be best. f. MANAGER: We are implementing a major quality improvement program. We will be increasing the investment in prevention and detection activities with the expectation of driving down both internal and external failure costs. I expect to see trend reports for all categories of quality costs. I want to see if improving quality really does reduce costs and improve profitability. g. MANAGER: Our engineering design department has proposed a new design for our product. The new design promises to reduce post-purchase costs and, as a consequence, increase market share. I need to know the cost of producing this new design because it uses some new components and requires some different manufacturing processes. I would then like to have a projected income statement based on the new market share and new production costs. The planned selling price will be the same, or maybe even 10 percent lower. Projections based on the two price scenarios would be needed. h. MANAGER: My engineers have said that by redesigning our two main production processes, we can reduce move time by 90 percent and wait time by 85 percent. This would decrease cycle time and virtually eliminate the need to carry finished goods inventories. On-time deliveries would also increase dramatically. This would produce cost savings of nearly 20,000,000 per year. Market share and revenues would also increase. Required: 1. Describe each of the four managerial responsibilities. 2. Identify the managerial activity or activities applicable for each scenario, and indicate the role of accounting information in the activity.

1. Explain how the organizations culture would influence the design of a new Accounting Information system for a company. 2. An university has various schools and departments that offer various Degree and Diploma courses. The University has been offering courses through two modes of study that include the Full-Time classes and Evening Classes. The university management has been evaluating the possibility of introducing a new mode of study where the university will offer the students the option of selecting 100% online classes option. The University will deploy this 100% online classes option by using Zoom video conferencing software. Other software’s and platforms that the university will use for the 100% online classes mode like google classroom and other softwares. The university has invited you as an expert of accounting information systems to help in the design and implementation of a new revenue transaction cycle system that will be used for the new 100% online classes option mode…

"As global competition increases, businesses are being pressured to reach higher levels of productivity to price their products and services competitively.' Explain how management accountants can play a role in helping management meet these challenges. Correct full answer from experts please help me #####################@$#####$$

Taylor Construction builds custom homes in Dallas, Texas. Brandon Taylor knows that his future depends on the quality of the homes he builds and the service he provides to customers. Most new-customer sales arise from word-of-mouth advertising by former customers.Identify the balanced scorecard perspective for each measure in the exercise. Perspective a. Number of customer complaints Internal business processesCustomerLearning & growthFinancial b. Employee turnover Learning & growthFinancialInternal business processesCustomer c. Net profit per house constructed Learning & growthFinancialInternal business processesCustomer d. Turnaround time on customer design changes Learning & growthInternal business processesCustomerFinancial e. Hours of training per employee Learning & growthFinancialInternal business processesCustomer f. Average labor cost per house CustomerLearning &…

Balanced scorecard Several years ago. United Parcel Service (UPS) believed that the Internet was going to change the parcel delivery market and would require UPS to become a more nimble and customer-focused organization. As a result, UPS replaced its old measurement system,which was 90% oriented toward financial performance, with a balanced scorecard. The scorecard emphasized four "point of arrival" measures, which were 1.Customer satisfaction index—a measure of customer satisfaction. 2.Employee relations index—a measure of employee sentiment and morale. 3.Competitive position—delivery performance relative to competition. Time in transit—the time from order entry to deliver)'.a.Why did UPS introduce a balanced scorecard and nonfinancial measures in its newperformance measurement system? b.Why do you think UPS included a factor measuring employee sentiment?

Austin BBQ has seen rapid growth in the last five years. It started with one store and is now located in 15 different locations across five cities. The CEO has noticed that costs are increasing and so is beginning to standardize practices across the various locations. Which of the following perspectives is most consistent with the CEO's efforts? Group of answer choices 1.Rational System 2.Natural System 3.Open System 4.Operational System

The balanced scorecard for a service company American Express Company is a major financial services company noted for its American Express® card. Some of the performance measures used by the company on its balanced scorecard are listed below. For each measure, identify whether the measure best fits the learning and growth, internal processes, customer, or financial performance perspective of the balanced scorecard. Performance Metric Performance Perspective Average card member spending Number of Internet features Cards in force Number of merchant signings Earnings growth Number of new card launches Hours of credit consultant training Return on equity Investment in information technology Revenue growth Number of card choices

You have a successful shop and feel that the demand for your shop has outpaced your capacity. You have decided to pitch your idea to a venture capitalist (VC). You brought in your income statement as you highlight that last year your gross profit was $500,000. the VC tells you that number is pointless. He asks you for your net profit. What information was the VC looking for? Why?

You recently joined ABC Limited, a small company holding a leading position in an embryonic market. You notice that your boss is very optimistic about the company and argues that ABC Limited's future is ensured. Your boss validates his argument by providing the following reasons. • ABC Limited has sixty percent share of the market due to the lowest cost structure, and • The company has the most reliable and highest-valued products. Required: You are required to write a memo to your boss outlining why the assumptions posed might be incorrect.

Solution Summary: The author explains how the balanced scorecard outlines the steps and actions, that the organization aims to undertake to achieve its goals.

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