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正确答案：
(b) It would appear that JOL’s market share has declined from 30% to (80 – 26)/3 = 18% during the last three years. A 12%
fall in market share is probably very significant with a knock-on effect on profits and resultant cash flows. Obviously such a
declining trend needs to be arrested immediately and this will require a detailed investigation to be undertaken by the directors
of JOL. Consequently loss of market share can be seen to be an indicator of potential corporate failure. Other indicators of
corporate failure are as follows:
Six performance indicators that an organisation might fail are as follows:
Poor cash flow
Poor cash flow might render an organisation unable to pay its debts as and when they fall due for payment. This might mean,
for example, that providers of finance might be able to invoke the terms of a loan covenant and commence legal action against
an organisation which might eventually lead to its winding-up.
Lack of new production/service introduction
Innovation can often be seen to be the difference between ‘life and death’ as new products and services provide continuity
of income streams in an ever-changing business environment. A lack of new product/service introduction may arise from a
shortage of funds available for re-investment. This can lead to organisations attempting to compete with their competitors with
an out of date range of products and services, the consequences of which will invariably turn out to be disastrous.
General economic conditions
Falling demand and increasing interest rates can precipitate the demise of organisations. Highly geared organisations will
suffer as demand falls and the weight of the interest burden increases. Organisations can find themselves in a vicious circle
as increasing amounts of interest payable are paid from diminishing gross margins leading to falling profits/increasing losses
and negative cash flows. This leads to the need for further loan finance and even higher interest burden, further diminution
in margins and so on.
Lack of financial controls
The absence of sound financial controls has proven costly to many organisations. In extreme circumstances it can lead to
outright fraud (e.g. Enron and WorldCom).
Internal rivalry
The extent of internal rivalry that exists within an organisation can prove to be of critical significance to an organisation as
managerial effort is effectively channeled into increasing the amount of internal conflict that exists to the detriment of the
organisation as a whole. Unfortunately the adverse consequences of internal rivalry remain latent until it is too late to redress
them.
Loss of key personnel
In certain types of organisation the loss of key personnel can ‘spell the beginning of the end’ for an organisation. This is
particularly the case when individuals possess knowledge which can be exploited by direct competitors, e.g. sales contacts,
product specifications, product recipes, etc.

正确答案：
(b) Criticisms
The audit committee is chaired by an executive director. One of the most important roles of an audit committee is to review
and monitor internal controls. An executive director is not an independent person and so having Mr Chester as chairman
undermines the purpose of the committee as far as its role in governance is concerned.
Mr Chester, the audit committee chairman, considers only financial controls to be important and undermines the purpose of
the committee as far as its role in governance is concerned. There is no recognition of other risks and there is a belief that
management accounting can provide all necessary information. This viewpoint fails to recognise the importance of other
control mechanisms such as technical and operational controls.
Mr Hardanger’s performance was trusted without supporting evidence because of his reputation as a good manager. An audit
committee must be blind to reputation and treat all parts of the business equally. All functions can be subject to monitor and
review without ‘fear or favour’ and the complexity of the production facility makes it an obvious subject of frequent attention.
The audit committee does not enjoy the full support of the non-executive chairman, Mr Allejandra. On the contrary in fact,
he is sceptical about its value. In most situations, the audit committee reports to the chairman and so it is very important
that the chairman protects the audit committee from criticism from executive colleagues, which is unlikely given the situation
at Gluck and Goodman.
There is no internal auditor to report to the committee and hence no flow of information upon which to make control decisions.
Internal auditors are the operational ‘arms’ of an audit committee and without them, the audit committee will have little or no
relevant data upon which to monitor and review control systems in the company.
The ineffectiveness of the internal audit could increase the cost of the external audit. If external auditors view internal controls
as weak they would be likely to require increased attention to audit trails, etc. that would, in turn, increase cost.

正确答案：
(c) Claims for capital losses
Where the value of shares (a chargeable asset) has become negligible (defined as <5% of the original cost), a claim can be
made to treat the asset as though it was sold and then immediately reacquired for its current market value. This is known as
a negligible value claim.
The sale and reacquisition is treated as taking place at the time that the claim is made or at a specified time (up to 2 years
before the start of the tax year in which the claim was made) if the asset was of negligible value at that time.
As the loss is on unquoted shares, a further relief (s.574 ICTA 1988) allows the loss to be relieved against the total income
of the taxpayer for the year in which the loss arose, and/or against the total income of the previous year.
Losses are first relieved against current year income, with any excess being available for offset against the prior year’s income.
Bob can therefore make a negligible value claim as at 1 December 2004. This will give rise to a loss of ￡14,500
(￡500 – ￡15,000) which will be deemed to arise in the year 2004/05. By doing so, his taxable income for that year will be
reduced from ￡36,875 to ￡22,375.