安徽省考生注意：怎么才能避免ACCA考试失分?

正确答案：
(b) Recoverable input tax in respect of new premises
Vostok Ltd will recover ￡47,880 (￡446,500 x 7/47 x 72%) in the year ending 31 March 2009.
The capital goods scheme will apply to the purchase of the building because it is to cost more than ￡250,000. Under the
scheme, the total amount of input tax recovered reflects the use of the building over the period of ownership, up to a maximum
of ten years, rather than merely the year of purchase.
Further input tax will be recovered in future years as the percentage of exempt supplies falls. (If the percentage of exempt
supplies were to rise, Vostok Ltd would have to repay input tax to HMRC.)
The additional recoverable input tax will be computed by reference to the percentage of taxable supplies in each year including
the year of sale. For example, if the percentage of taxable supplies in a particular subsequent year were to be 80%, the
additional recoverable input tax would be computed as follows.
￡446,500 x 7/47 x 1/10 x (80% – 72%) = ￡532.
Further input tax will be recovered in the year of sale as if Vostok Ltd’s supplies in the remaining years of the ten-year period
are fully vatable. For example, if the building is sold in year seven, the additional recoverable amount for the remaining three
years will be calculated as follows.
￡446,500 x 7/47 x 1/10 x (100% – 72%) x 3 = ￡5,586.

正确答案：
(b) Franchising is typically seen as a quick and cost effective way of growing the business but Ramon should be aware of both
the advantages and disadvantages of using it as the preferred method of growth. Franchised chains are argued to benefit from
the sort of brand recognition and economies of scale not enjoyed by independent owner/managers. When combined with the
high levels of motivation normally associated with owner/managed businesses, franchises can be argued to get the best of
both worlds.
Franchising is defined as ‘a contractual agreement between two legally independent companies whereby the franchisor grants
the right to the franchisee to sell the franchisor’s product or do business under its trademarks in a given location for a specified
period of time. In return, the franchisee agrees to pay the franchisor a combination of fees, usually including an up-front
franchise fee, royalties calculated as a percentage of unit revenues, and an advertising conbribution that is also usually a
percentage of unit sales.’
Ramon is considering a type of franchising called ‘business-format franchising’, where the franchisor sells a way of doing
business to its franchisees. Business-format franchising is a model frequently found in the fast food and restaurant industry,
hotels and motels, construction and maintenance, and non-food retailing. Often these franchises are labour intensive and
relatively small-scale operations.
Franchising is seen as a safer alternative to growing the business organically, so while this may be true of well established
global franchises, failure rates among franchised small businesses were greater than those of independent businesses (in one
US study a 34·7% failure rate for franchises as opposed to 28·0% for independents over a six or seven year period). Often
it is the failure of the franchisor that brings down its franchisees. Failure stems from the franchisee not only having to rely on
their own skills and enthusiasm but also the capacity of the franchisor and other franchisees to make the overall operation
work.
The advantages to the franchisee are through gaining access to a well-regarded brand name that will generate a higher level
of demand and use of a tried and tested business model that should reduce the franchisee’s operating costs. Both of these
benefits stem from being a member of a well-established franchised system. Yet La Familia Amable along with many other
franchises will be new and small. These smaller franchises tend to be regional in scope, and fairly unknown outside their
regional market. This has a significant effect on what the franchisees can expect to gain from their franchisors and their
prospects of success. Both parties need to carefully assess the strengths and weaknesses of the system. Companies growing
via franchises need to take the time to understand their business model thoroughly and determine how franchising fits with
their long-term strategy. Care must be taken with the franchise agreement that creates a genuine partnership with the rightbalance between freedom and control over the franchisees.

正确答案：

(W1)
The cost of the labour can be calculated using learning curve principles. The formula can be used or a tabular approach would
also give the average cost of 128 chairs. Both methods are acceptable and shown here.

(b) To reduce the cost gap various methods are possible (only four are needed for full marks)
– Re-design the chair to remove unnecessary features and hence cost
– Negotiate with the frame. supplier for a better cost. This may be easier as the volume of sales improve as suppliers often
are willing to give discounts for bulk buying. Alternatively a different frame. supplier could be found that offers a better
price. Care would be needed here to maintain the required quality
– Leather can be bought from different suppliers or at a better price also. Reducing the level of waste would save on cost.
Even a small reduction in waste rates would remove much of the cost gap that exists
– Improve the rate of learning by better training and supervision
– Employ cheaper labour by reducing the skill level expected. Care would also be needed here not to sacrifice quality or
push up waste rates.
(c) The cost of the 128th chair will be:

正确答案：
(b) Perfect Shopper currently has a relatively short upstream supply chain. They are bulk purchasers from established suppliers
of branded goods. Their main strength at the moment is to offer these branded goods at discounted prices to neighbourhood
shops that would normally have to pay premium prices for these goods.
In the upstream supply chain, the issue of branding is a significant one. At present, Perfect Shopper only provides branded
goods from established names to its customers. As far as the suppliers are concerned, Perfect Shopper is the customer and
the company’s regional warehouses are supplied as if they were the warehouses of conventional supermarkets. Perfect
Shopper might look at the following restructuring opportunities within this context:
– Examining the arrangements for the delivery of products from suppliers to the regional warehouses. At present this is in
the hands of the suppliers or contractors appointed by suppliers. It appears that when Perfect Shopper was established
it decided not to contract its own distribution. This must now be open to review. It is likely that competitors have
established contractual arrangements with logistics companies to collect products from suppliers. Perfect Shopper must
examine this, accompanied by an investigation into downstream distribution. A significant distribution contract would
probably include the branding of lorries and vans and this would provide an opportunity to increase brand visibility and
so tackle this issue at the same time.
– Contracting the supply and distribution of goods also offers other opportunities. Many integrated logistics contractors also
supply storage and warehousing solutions and it would be useful for Perfect Shopper to evaluate the costs of these.
Essentially, distribution, warehousing and packaging could be outsourced to an integrated logistics company and Perfect
Shopper could re-position itself as a primarily sales and marketing operation.
– Finally, Perfect Shopper must review how it communicates orders and ordering requirements with its suppliers. Their
reliance on supplier deliveries suggests that the relationship is a relatively straightforward one. There may be
opportunities for sharing information and allowing suppliers access to forecasted demand. There are many examples
where organisations have allowed suppliers access to their information to reduce costs and to improve the efficiency of
the supply chain as a whole.
The suggestions listed above assume that Perfect Shopper continues to only supply branded goods. Moving further upstream
in the supply chain potentially moves the company into the manufacture and supply of goods. This will raise a number of
significant issues about the franchise itself.
At present Perfect Shopper has, by necessity, concentrated on branded goods. It has not really had to understand how these
goods sell in specific locations because it has not been able to offer alternatives. The content of the standing order reflects
how the neighbourhood shop wishes to compete in its locality. However, if Perfect Shopper decides to commission its own
brand then the breadth of products is increased. Neighbourhood shops would be able to offer ‘own brand’ products to compete
with supermarkets who also focus on own brand products. It would also increase the visibility of the brand. However, Perfect
Shopper must be sure that this approach is appropriate as a whole. It could easily produce an own brand that reduces the
overall image of the company and hence devalues the franchise. Much more research is needed to assess the viability ofproducing ‘own brand’ goods.