ACCA考试付出的代价是什么？必看！

正确答案：
(b) There are several benefits for Hugh Co in choosing a voluntary financial statement audit.
An annual audit will ensure that any material mistakes made by the part-qualified accountant in preparing the year end
financial statements will be detected. This is important as the directors will be using the year end accounts to review their
progress in the first year of trading and will need reliable figures to assess performance. An audit will give the directors comfort
that the financial statements are a sound basis for making business decisions.
Accurate first year figures will also enable more effective budgeting and forecasting, which will be crucial if rapid growth is to
be achieved.
The auditors are likely to use the quarterly management accounts as part of normal audit procedures. The auditors will be
able to advise Monty Parkes of any improvements that could be made to the management accounts, for example, increased
level of detail, more frequent reporting. Better quality management accounts will help the day-to-day running of the business
and enable a speedier response to any problems arising during the year.
As a by-product of the audit, a management letter (report to those charged with governance) will be produced, identifying
weaknesses and making recommendations on areas such as systems and controls which will improve the smooth running of
the business.
It is likely that Hugh Co will require more bank funding in order to expand, and it is likely that the bank would like to see
audited figures for review, before deciding on further finance. It will be easier and potentially cheaper to raise finance from
other providers with an audited set of financial statements.
As the business deals in cash sales, and retails small, luxury items there is a high risk of theft of assets. The external audit
can act as both a deterrent and a detective control, thus reducing the risk of fraud and resultant detrimental impact on the
financial statements.
Accurate financial statements will be the best basis for tax assessment and tax planning. An audit opinion will enhance the
credibility of the figures.
If the business grows rapidly, then it is likely that at some point in the future, the audit exemption limit will be exceeded and
thus an audit will become mandatory.
Choosing to have an audit from the first year of incorporation will reduce potential errors carried down to subsequent periods
and thus avoid qualifications of opening balances.

正确答案：
(c) A number of opportunities appear to exist in the downstream supply chain.
As already mentioned above, Perfect Shopper can revisit its contract distribution arrangements. At present, distribution to
neighbourhood shops is in the hands of locally appointed contract distributors. As already suggested, it may be possible to
contract one integrated logistics company to carry out both inbound and outbound logistics, so gaining economies of scale
and opportunities for branding.
One of the problems identified in the independent report was the inflexibility of the ordering and delivering system. The
ordering system appears to be built around a fixed standard delivery made every two weeks, agreed in advance for a three
month period. Variations can be made to this standard order, but only increases – not decreases. Presumably, this
arrangement is required to allow Perfect Shopper to forecast demand over a three month period and to place bulk orders to
reflect these commitments. However, this may cause at least two problems. The first is that participating shops place a
relatively low standard order and rely on variations to fulfil demand. This causes problems for Perfect Shopper. Secondly, any
unpredictable fall in demand during the three month period leads to the shop having storage problems and unsold stock. This
potentially creates problems for the shop owner, who may also begin to question the value of the franchise. Hence Perfect
Shopper might wish to consider a much more flexible system where orders can be made to match demand and deliveries
can be made as required. This would also remove the requirement for a three monthly meeting between the franchisee andthe sales representative from Perfect Shopper. Investments in IT systems will be required to support this, with participating
shops placing orders over the Internet to reflect their requirements. This move towards a more flexible purchasing arrangement
may also make the outsourcing of warehousing and distribution even more appealing.
Perfect Shopper may also wish to investigate whether they can also provide value added services to customers, which not
only simplify the ordering system but also allow the shop managers to better understand their customers and fulfil their
requirements. The supply chain may legitimately include the customer’s customers, particularly for franchisers. This is already
acknowledged because Perfect Shopper produces tailored marketing material aimed at the end-consumer. Point of Sales (PoS)
devices feeding information back to Perfect Shopper would allow sales information to be analysed and fed back to the
shopkeeper as well as allowing automatic replenishment based on purchasing trends. However, this may be culturally difficult
for independent neighbourhood shopkeepers to accept. Furthermore, it would potentially include information outside the
products offered by Perfect Shopper and the implications of this would have to be considered. However, a whole shop sales
analysis might be a useful service to offer existing and potential franchisees.
Customers are increasingly willing to order products over the Internet. It seems unlikely that individual shopkeepers would be
able to establish and maintain their own Internet-based service. It would be useful for Perfect Shopper to explore the potential
of establishing a central website with customers placing orders from local shops. Again there are issues about scope, because
Perfect Shopper does not offer a whole-shop service. However, Michael de Kare-Silver has identified groceries as a product
area that has good potential for Internet purchase. In his electronic shopping potential test any product scoring over 20 hasgood potential. Groceries scored 27.

正确答案：
(d) Default surcharge
Although the VAT return was submitted on time (i.e. within one month of the end of the tax period), part of the quarterly VAT
liability has not yet been paid. As a result this payment will be made late and a surcharge liability notice will be issued on
the company. The surcharge period will run from the date of the notice until the anniversary of the end of the period for which
the VAT was paid late (i.e. until 31 March 2007). During this period any further default will extend the surcharge period and
any further late payments of VAT will attract a surcharge penalty of 2% on the first occasion, rising to 15% for successive late
payments.
Mis-declaration penalty
As the return understates the VAT payable, a potential mis-declaration penalty arises. The amount understated exceeds 30%
of the sum of the true input tax and output tax, known as the gross amount of tax (GAT) ((30% of (87,500 + 55,000) +
40,000) = 54,750). There has, thus, been a significant understatement of the true VAT return liability, resulting in a penalty
rate of 15% of the VAT which would have been lost had the error not been discovered. However, where an under declaration
arises out of a true error i.e. there is no intention to evade tax involved, and it is voluntarily disclosed, then a mis-declaration
penalty is not normally imposed. Although the company is still within the ‘period of grace’ allowed by HMRC for the correction
of errors in the next following VAT return, it would be advisable for Trent Limited to notify HMRC of the error immediately, in
writing, unless it has a ‘reasonable excuse’ for the error having occurred.
Default interest
Default interest is chargeable when an assessment to VAT arises for an amount that has been under declared in a previous
period, whether as a result of voluntary disclosure or as identified by HMRC. Interest is charged on a daily basis from the
date the under declaration should have been declared (i.e. 1 May 2006) to the date shown on the notice of assessment or
notice of voluntary disclosure. As given the size of the error the de minimis relief for voluntarily declared errors of less than
￡2,000 is not applicable, the only way for Trent Limited to minimise the interest charge is by means of early disclosure and
payment of the additional VAT due.

正确答案：