Assignment:
Examine the Walmart's accounting and finance practices. This should be a formal business report that provides both specific processes and strategies involving budgeting, costing, capital decision making, capital acquisition, and cost of capital structure. These processes and strategies are to be supported with management accounting concepts.
Problem 1. For the budgeting process and procedures, describe the existing practices and assessments (i.e., offering opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of the existing practices in reference to management accounting concept as well as supported by references). Link budgeting to the performance measurement system.
Problem 2. For the Management Accounting System (MAS), analyze how management accounting information was collected, stored and prepared, and most important, analyze how the information is disseminated to various parties. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the accounting software currently used by the company. Also focus on the pricing aspect to illustrate how the company's MAS works.
Problem 3. Identifying the costing system being used (e.g., ABC), provide an evaluation of the system. The strengths and weaknesses of the system should be reflected upon in reference relating to management and financial accounting concepts.
Problem 4. The capital decision making process is related to the type and evaluation of investment appraisal techniques currently used by the organization. Provide an example on a specific major project of the company to give clarity.
Problem 5. Look at the credit rating as well as several factors that could have possibly influenced the company's decision on capital structure. Analyse the capital structure of Walmart and provide some rationale why Walmart has been operating at the existing debt/equity ratio.
Highlight relevant concepts for budgeting. Link each of the above aspects to the company's profit maximisation objective.