Internal check is an arrangement of duties of members of staff in such a manner than the work performed by one person is automatically and independently checked by the others. According to ‘F.R.M.De PAULA’, “Internal check means practically a continuous internal audit carried on by the staff it self, by means of which the work of each individual is independently checked by other members of the staff.” According to ‘D.R. DAVAR,’ “Internal check is a system or method introduced with defined instructions given to staff as to their sphere of work with a view to control and verification of their work and also maintenance of accurate records as the ultimate aim.” Objectives of Internal Check To exercise moral pressure over staff. To ensure that the accounting system produces reliable and adequate information. To provide protection to the resources of the business against fraud, carelessness and inefficiency. To distribute the work Continue reading
Financial Management Tools
Important Considerations in Determining Capital Structure of a Company
The determination of capital structure involves additional considerations in addition to the concerns about EPS, value and cash flow. A firm may have enough debt servicing ability but it may not have assets to offer as collateral. Some of the most important considerations are discussed below: 1. Assets – The form of assets held by a company are important determinants of its capital structure. Tangible fixed assets serve as collateral to debt. In the event of financial distress, the lenders can access these assets and liquidate them to realize funds lent by them. Companies with higher tangible fixed assets will have less expected costs of financial distress and hence, higher debt ratios. Companies have intangible assets in the form of human capital, relations with stakeholders, brands, reputation etc., and their values start eroding as the firm faces financial difficulties and its financial risk increases. 2. Growth Opportunities – The nature Continue reading
Evaluating a Company’s Capital Structure using Ratios
A business organization may be financially sound today but it may loose strength tomorrow because of losses. Therefore it is necessary to maintain a judicious balance between the owned capital and borrowed capital. The following ratios have been calculated to analyze the capital structure of a company. 1. Capital Gearing Ratio Capital Gearing Ratio of an organization measures the relationship between equity share capital to preference capital and loan capital. ‘Capital gearing’ refers to the ratio between the variable cost bearing capital and fixed cost bearing capital of the organization and helps to frame the capital structure of the organization. Capital gearing may be of three types: High Gearing Capital, which indicates the excess of interest bearing long-term finance over the equity funds; Low Gearing Capital, which indicates the excess of equity funds over the interest bearing long-term finance; and Evenly Geared, which indicates the equality between the interest bearing Continue reading
Assessment of Fixed Capital Requirements
The fixed capital of an industrial concern is invested in fixed assets like plant and machinery, land, buildings furniture, etc. These assets are not fixed in value; in fact, their value may record an increase of decrease in course of time. They are fixed in the sense that without them, the business of the concern cannot be carried on. This means that the fixed capital is used for meeting the permanent or long-term needs of the concern. While making an assessment of the fixed capital requirements, a list of the fixed assets needed by the concern will have to be prepared, say, by promoter. Having compiled a list of the fixed assets which will be required, it is not difficult to estimate the amount of funds required for the purpose. The prices of land are generally known, or can be easily ascertained. A contractor can be relied upon to give Continue reading
Objectives and Scope of Internal Audit
Internal audit is and self-governing assessment function established by the management of an organisation for the review of the internal control system as a service to the organisation. It separately examines, evaluates and reports on the sufficiency of internal control as a involvement to the correct, economic and successful use of resources Scope of Internal Auditing The possibility of internal auditing currently embraces wider concepts of community governance: risk and power – recognizing that organize exists within an organization basically to manage risk and advance valuable governance . The most significant vary is that the internal auditors are estimated to modify their mindset: from faultfinders to advisers. Internal auditors should take care of the auditee as their consumer. As with a client, the internal auditor should obviously communicate with the auditee, engage management in the audit development process, consider organizational risks that are prospective areas of audit anxiety, work with Continue reading
Types of Costing Systems
Some costs are direct while others are indirect, direct costs can be identified to a specific products but indirect costs which are not identifiable to specific products, need to be allocated on some objective and rational basis for product costing and pricing which can be justifiable to customers. Costing systems are the systematic allocation of cost to products. It can be used for planning, decision making and control purpose as well. Budgeted figures are used for costing of products as actual prices are not known at time when prices are decided. Important Types of Costing Systems 1. Absorption Costing System Absorption costing system is the method of allocating overheads (Fixed and variable) to products based on pre-determined absorption rate. To find the pre-determined rate total budgeted overhead cost is divided by activity level. The basis on which costs are allocated are subjective and difficult to justify. Absorption costing system gives Continue reading