What did you base your Unit 10 project?

Londina

The AAT suggest:

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An accounting system is any accounting function, manual or computerised, that is completed within an organisation as part of the full accounting requirements of that organisation. For some organisations this will include, amongst other things, payroll, sales ledger, purchase ledger, management accounting and petty cash. In some large organisations a report may be based on the petty cash system (£50,000 a month imprest figure) - whilst it would not be possible to base a project on a small companies petty cash system, because there would not be enough to analyse.

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My experience is within a practice and don't know if I should base it on the way the company is run or on a singular client.

What did you base your project on?

Bluewednesday

I work in practice and I based mine on improving the bookkeeping package of a client that came to us with manual books. I could cover training and fraud within that one title.

Lou1234

I create invoices on Excel based on info from our system (called Filemaker - I work in publishing) that our Sales and Production department use. I print a report and type out the info from the system onto Excel such as price and quantity etc.

Us in the accounts department talked about making the invoicing a bit more computerised and lo and behold I had my project idea! So it is based on computerising our invoicing system.

The new invoicing system has actually been set up and is now in use and it saves me so much time!

SandyHood

I recommend looking at one client

sdv

you might want to try the following limks

[thread=26444]Click Me![/thread]


[thread=23882]Click Me![/thread]


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[thread=19894]Click Me![/thread]

Londina

many thanks everyone for the advices and especially SDV for the useful links!

Let's hope to do this project quickly, so I can forget about it and move on!

Londina

I found also this post, if anyone is interested:

visha wrote: »

Project is the easiest unit of the AAT.

First of all discuss and agree a project topic with your tutor that you would like to write on : -
• Purchase Ledger,
• Sales Ledger,
• Payroll,
• Buyer of material,
• sales to customers,
• IT support,
• Stores,
• management accounts,
• budgeting,
• and the topics are endless.

understand the objective of the project (2 objectives)

1- to identify the competency of the staff of the chosen department and to recommend training for them. (10.1b)
A) How well do they plan their work activity? (10.1a)
b) Is that work activity supervised or confirmed by a secondary check? (10.1e)
c) If that person have a query are you encouraging that employee to come and see you (as you are acting in a managerial capacity)
d) How is the work activity requirements communicated between colleagues, customers, and suppliers. (10.1D)
F) is the activity of the department curtailed when the responsible person is not there? How do make sure that the department functions fully even when some one is on holiday or sick or when the work load is greater then usual. – just before x-mas etc (10.1C) or Ensure that the IT will not fail the primary objective of your department
G) How will you ensure that there is always cover for the objective of your chosen accounting department. (10.1F) in association with the above point of holidays
H) if you encounter a problem that is beyond your authority to sole or instigate a solution (eg suspect someone stealing from company), to whom will you refer the problem to? (10.1 H)

2 Identify a problem in the accounting department and recommend solutions to remedy it.

A) you need to identify a problem in an accounting department and write the impact it will have on your department if it is allowed to continue. (10.2a)
Make recommendation on how to solve that problem. (10.2d)
c) Support your recommendation with a reason, explanation, rational . (10.2E)

The more problems you can find you can manipulate the situations to demonstrate your understanding to show how you will meet the Project’s PC and K&U.

You need to look at a problem and make a recommendation that will increase the effectiveness reliability and speed of that departmental objective. This recommendation should save time and money – COST-EFFECTIVENESS. (10.2 c)

Identify potential areas of Fraud in you department –( eg private telephones, use of company’s stationery for personal use, use of postage stamps for personal use, use of company’s photocopier for private photocopying ) and what’s it’s effect on the company (10.2b)
New requirement – You will need to a Risk Matrix and grade the risk – part of your appendix.

K&U 2 Common types of fraud

• False accounting – present results and affairs in a better light then the reality – bank loan, support share price, attracting investors
• Asset misappropriation – theft of cash, stock, customer’s list. Making false expense claims
• Payroll fraud – ghost employees,
• Collusion between employees and a third party – receiving kick backs from supplier, Related party transactions, gifts and gratuities
• Money laundering – making payment to other then declared person on the accounts
• Credit notes given to customers for inadequate reasons
• Excessive habitual overtime payments without any reason
• High level of sickness absence not investigated
• Faulty goods not returned to suppliers
•

K&U 3 Implication of Fraud
• Significant impact on company profits
• Unusual transactions with related parties
• Loss of customers and potential of future earnings

K&U 7 Methods of detecting fraud within accounting systems

• Management dominated by one person – no effective oversight board.
• High turnover of key accounting personnel or undue pressure on them
• Frequent changes of legal advisers, accountants, and professional advisers.
• Lack of delegation of mundane tasks
• Inadequate segregation of duties
• Lack of effective procedures in payroll, P/L. S/L, Credit control
• Excessive hours worked by key staff
• Failure to take holidays without good reason
• Evidence of life style of an employee
• Lack of take reference when employing new staff
• Lack of stringent internal controls
• Continuing failure to correct major weaknesses in internal controls.
• Loss of records or inadequate documentation of transactions
• Frequent transactions with related parties
• Supplier’s insistence to deal with one person in Sales dept
• Unduly friendly relationships between employee’s and suppliers
• Fixed assets regularly checked against FAR
Finally write an implementation and review (10.2 F) imaging that all your recommendations have been implemented and as a result what has happened.

PLAN
a) Discuss and agree a topic with tutor
b) Create an Organisational Chart
c) Prepare Employee's Training Needs Table – state name, age, past work experience, present work experience, training needs
d) Prepare Employee's SWOT analysis on each Each employee
e) Write a paragraph on each of employee's based on the above two analysis and making sure – covering the mentioned above points under objective 1
f) Prepare an Accounts Dept Contingency Table (employee name, which dept working and which dept will cover)
g) Write a paragraph on contingency for each of accounts dept based on the above analysis
h) Prepare SWOT on each accounting functions
i) Write a paragraph on each of accounts functions based on the above SWOT – make sure – covering the mentioned above points under objective 2
j) Fraud Analysis Matrix
k) Write a paragraph on each of accounts functions based on the above Fraud Analysis
l) Write a conclusion and your recommendations
m) Write a review after the implementation of your recommendations
n) Map against PC & KU
o) Create an index page
p) Write a Terms of reference – effectively mentioning the above objectives 1 and 2
q) Write your Mythology – how did you go about writing your project. – internet site, aat and others, reading books, tutor consultations, mentor consultations, etc
r) Write an Introduction – only descriptive part in your project.- describing your company, number of employees, turnover, company objectives, number of branches, accounting methods, company’s ambition, company’s history etc
s) Write Executive Summary – a brief recommendations covering the above 2 objectives, on the problems found and how that will be solved.
t) Cost/benefit analysis included in project? –don’t forget this – new requirement
u) Diagrams/ charts in appendix – included?
v) Employers/Tutors Authentication letter included?
w) Sign statement- student's own work
x) AAT Student Check List
y) AAC Check List
z) Final Interview/ assessment discussion