ICAS - Problematic Areas

willjb15

Hi All,

I am nearing the end of my ICAS project - I Hope!!

Just got a few niggly areas my tutor has asked me to "Polish" up on.
Any input on what needs to be in these would be great. List is below

1.5 Very IMPORTANT Review methods of operating for COST EFFECTIVENESS, RELIABILITY and SPEED
Appendix - How should this be written and what should be included.


Thanks in advance,

Will

Malcolm Green

Hi Will,

Looks like the end is in sight!

Let start with the easy bit first of Appendices.

You should simply look at these as a means of providing additional information for the reader to help back up the statements or method of calculations and explanations and overviews you have used in your report.

They must of course all be relevant to your report, and are not counted as part of your total word count.

Also when you are cutting down your report to keep it within the 4,000 words you may find you have to chop out some quite big sections of your work and if you have gone to the effort of typing this up in the first place if you consider it relevant and helpful to support the edited version you have left in the main report this may then make a useful appendices.

I have attached for you a copy of our ICAS report guide which has a section on Appendices to have a look at.

Attachment not found.

As regards layout Appendices the convention is to number these in Roman Numerals i.e. Appendix I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X etc

You would then set out the information you want to show under this heading with it own title and sub headings as required.

Turning now to the assessment criteria for section 1.5 - Review methods of operating for cost effectiveness, reliability and speed.

Looking at the AAT ICAS guidance notes on this:

The learner needs the skills to be able to decide on what an organisation requires from its accounting systems.

They will then need to review the accounting systems to ensure they meet these requirements.

This can be achieved by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the accounting system (not the organisation).

(Well that sounds a bit like a SWOT Analysis which I think would make a good Appendix)

This should include a review of the working methods used within the accounting system to ensure that the optimum results are being achieved especially in terms of cost-effectiveness, reliability and speed.

For this you will need to identify weaknesses and then review them and explain their impact on the organisation.

This should be considered in terms of time, money and reputation (i.e. loss of revenue, time wasting, customer expectations not being met.). Areas where fraud may occur should also be noted.

Potential areas of fraud can include anything that poses a threat of loss to an organisation.

This loss may include, but not be restricted to, monetary based, inventory based or time based frauds.

Examples include fictitious employees or fictitious trade receivables being paid; over-ordering and theft of inventory; or employees who overstate the time they have worked.

Risk of fraud can be graded as low, medium or high – or given numerical grades of 1 – 5 where the more serious the risk is given a higher grade.

I trust you will find this information of assistance and all the best completing your project.