MSc/PGDip Finance and Accounting :
2022/23 ASSIGNMENT REMIT – DOCUMENT UPLOAD
ASSIGNMENT TASK:
TASK 1
In your capacity as an Investment Consultant, the Finance Director of Diana Investment Holdings would like your calculations and recommendations about a chain of factory outlet stores the Board is considering. Listed below are the figures for the first event, which will take place next year in central Birmingham.
An organization’s policy dictates that decisions should be based on calculating the Net Present Value (NPV) of cash flows for three years at a cost of capital of 12%. The Payback Period (PBP) must be less than three years, and the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of the project should be sufficient to cushion increases in inflation or interest rates by 5%. Consequently, this provision maintains the internal rate of return at 17%. The investment is made up of £100,000 for the land, £158,000 for the building, and £36,600 for fittings and equipment.
We expect cash flows in year one to be: £600,600 in total sales revenue; £165,900 in costs of Boom products sold; £118,860 in costs of QUID stock sold; £24,780 in staff costs; £35,196 in light and heat; and £134,904 in other overheads. Cash flows in year 2 and 3 are expected to be impacted by 2% due to inflation.
Required:
The following calculations must be made using the above-mentioned information and company policy:
a) Net Present Value (NPV) [13 marks]
b) Payback period (PBP) and Discounted Payback Period (DPBP) – [6 marks]
c) Internal Rate of Return [4 marks]
d) Based on your calculations do you recommend the investment is made and the new outlet store is built? [6 marks]
e) Discuss critically the limitations of the above project appraisal techniques and make any other recommendations to the board [6 marks]
TASK 2
A large amount of time is spent testing prospective new employees at Brave Investment Holdings. As shown in the table below, the results of Test 1 and Test 2 for a group of applicants were as follows:
Table 1:
| Test 1 % (x) | Test 2 % (y) |
| 45 | 53 |
| 46 | 55.2 |
| 68 | 81.6 |
| 71 | 85.2 |
| 34 | 45 |
| 67 | 80.4 |
| 89 | 88 |
| 44 | 54 |
| 32 | 38.4 |
| 78 | 93.6 |
| 18 | 34 |
| 21 | 40 |
Required:
Calculate the Pearson correlation coefficient by applying the appropriate formula to the two variables. [13 marks].
TASK 3
3a)Critically evaluate the importance of decision analysis to a business organisation [8 marks]
3b) As a senior data analyst at Balginder Enterprise Limited, you are involved in research and development (R&D). The company is testing a brand-new drink called Joulie fruit drink to find out what its customers think. To inform your decision-making, the Director has asked you to assess various sampling techniques and their strengths and weaknesses.
You are required:
3bi)To conduct a critical evaluation of probability and non-probability sampling methods and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each method. [10 marks]
3bii) Critically assess both data collection methods, stating the merits and limitations of each method by relating your answer to the above scenario. [10 marks]
TASK 4
(4a) Discuss the functions of descriptive statistics in business analytics – [7 marks]
(4b) As shown in table 2, these variables represent various kinds of fraud that occurred in West Midland from 2018 to 2021. In your report to the Director of Financial Crime, as a forensic accountant and fraud prevention manager in public sector organization you are expected to discuss the variability of fraud committed in West Midland between 2018 and 2021 using the variables shown in Table 2. It is important that your descriptive analysis summarises your data in a meaningful and logical manner. [17 marks]
Table 2: Items of fraud committed in West Midlands between 2018 to 2021
| 2017 | 2108 | 2019 | 2020 | |
| Acc (Y) | 68 | 75 | 65 | 47 |
| PRV | 41 | 38 | 27 | 21 |
| INDEC | 39 | 31 | 25 | 18 |
| RFA | 9 | 7 | 6 | 3 |
| INT | 8 | 6 | 5 | 2 |
| RECOV | 3 | 2 | 1.5 | 1 |
| PROC | 5.2 | 20.5 | 1.8 | 1.5 |
| CTAX | 35 | 26 | 24 | 22 |
| DPAR | 6.4 | 5.3 | 4.8 | 4.1 |
| HOU | 122.4 | 114 | 109 | 98 |
| BUSR | 6.2 | 5.6 | 4.9 | 4.2 |
| ADUL | 68.5 | 65.8 | 59.7 | 45.6 |
| INSUR | 3.9 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 2.4 |
| MAND | 9.4 | 9.4 | 6.8 | 5 |
| WELA | 0.2 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 0.9 |
| SCH | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1 |
| NOCP | 2.2 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.6 |
| GRAN | 36.6 | 32 | 28.6 | 23.4 |
| PAYR | 1.7 | 3.8 | 2.8 | 1.7 |
| EXP | 3.9 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 1.8 |
| RECUIT | 16 | 14 | 12 | 10 |
| PEN | 24 | 8 | 7 | 5 |
| DEBT | 11 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 2 |
| ECOVSEC | 4 | 12.8 | 10.4 | 6.8 |
Variables Interpretation:
AMT = Total fraud amount incurred due to fraud.
PAYR = Payroll
EXP = Expenses
RECRUIT = Recruitment
PEN = Pensions
DEBT = Debt
ECOVSEC = Economic and voluntary sector
PRV = Professional services
INDEC = Insurance
RFA = Travels
INT = Information Technology
RECOV = Administrative support
PROC = Stationary
CTAX = Council tax frauds
DPAR =Disable parking concession
HOU = House fraud
BUSR = Business rates
ADUL = Adult social care
INSUR = Insurance claim
MAND = Mandate Fraud
WELA = Welfare assistance
SCH = Schools frauds (excl. transport)
NOCP = No recourse to public funds
GAN = Grant fraud
TASK GUIDANCE:
- Focus on attention to detail, quality of work and overall academic standards.
- For additional guidance on this assignment, please access the MSc/PGDip Business and Accounting assignment vodcast available on Canvas.
MARKING CRITERIA:
- Please enter the marking criteria here.
E-SUBMISSION GUIDANCE:
- This MSc/PGDip Business and Accounting assignment will require you to submit your work by uploading a document in Word or PDF format to Canvas. Please follow this online guide on document submissions and contact the DICE team on [email protected] if you need any further support.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
- Please enter the learning outcomes to be gained by completing this assignment here.
SKILLS OUTCOMES:
- The skills outcomes to be developed by completing this assignment can be found here.
GENERAL ASSIGNMENT GUIDANCE:
| Teamwork and ITS Assessment | Should this assignment require you to work as part of a team, you will receive an individual grade based upon your performance as well as personalised feedback. The module leader will explain how your individual grade and feedback will be determined. |
| Importance of Word Count and Presentation Timings | Assignment word counts and presentation timings should always be observed. Ignoring a word count increases significantly the risk of your work losing marks because it lacked focus and clarity. Students will be required to state their word count on all submissions. A 10% leeway will be allowed – so the maximum a student should submit will be the word count + 10%. The word count will exclude: The title pageThe contents pageModels, graphs, data tables and other exhibited figures or images Lists of referencesAppendices (these should be kept to a minimum) In addition, timings must be observed for assessed presentations for the same reasons. |
| E-submission | http://www.ucb.ac.uk/handbook/academic-matters/assessment-issues.aspx |
| Cut-off date for late work | http://www.ucb.ac.uk/handbook/academic-matters/assessment-issues.aspx |
| Grading criteria | http://www.ucb.ac.uk/handbook/academic-matters/assessments-fairness-and-marking.aspx |
| Plagiarism | http://www.ucb.ac.uk/handbook/academic-matters/plagiarism.aspx |
| Extenuating Circumstances | http://www.ucb.ac.uk/handbook/academic-matters/assessments-if-things-go-wrong.aspx |
| UCB Referencing Guide | https://portal.ucb.ac.uk/download/referencing/referencing-guide.pdf |
| Access the Assignment Life Cycle | https://ucbirmingham.instructure.com/courses/26756 |
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