Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Arranging Payments for the Price of Goods Bought in an International Essay

Arranging Payments for the Price of Goods Bought in an International Sale is by the Use of a Documentary Credit - Essay Example 1.1 Definition and Description of Credit Documents a. Documentary Credits For international transactions, buyers and sellers approach their banks, which will in turn undertake a written agreement for the buyer that promises to pay a certain currency value in favor of the seller on the condition that all the requirements known as terms and conditions are met. Evidence of goods delivered by the seller should be in the form of documents defined in the agreements. The buyer’s bank communicates and deals directly 24 Alejandro Jara and Patrick Low, et. al., World Trade Report 2011. World Trade Organization. p. 24. with the seller’s bank. A credit line is assured by the banks prior to release of goods from the seller. Payments are actually made only after documents are received by the buyer’s bank. Therefore documents such as Letters of Credit are very important for international transactions. Documentary credits may be standard or special depending on what will meet th e needs of the transacting parties—buyer, seller, bank of the buyer, and bank of the seller. â€Å"Standard documentary credits can be either revocable (may be cancelled by the buyer), or irrevocable†¦confirmed (a second bank, in addition to the buyer’s bank, guarantees payment) or unconfirmed (payment guaranteed only by the issuing bank).†17 Protection by documentary credits does not include an assurance that the goods are shipped according to understanding. Disagreements can result out of dissatisfaction. Complaints may arise. But the buyer and seller would have to settle the problem on their own. Banks base their decisions on just the documents and the terms and conditions therein. Those documents identify four parties, namely, â€Å"applicant, beneficiary, issuing bank, and advising bank† although in the business community, they are known as the â€Å"buyer, seller, buyer’s bank and seller’s bank†.18 The International Chamber of Commerce had already prepared the Uniform Customs and 17 Edward G. Hinkelman, A Short Course in International Payments: How to Use Letters of Credit, D/P and D/A, Prepayment, Credit, and Cyber Payments in International Transactions. California, USA, World Trade Press, 2003, p. 50. 18 Hinkelman, A Short Course in International Payments: How to Use Letters of Credit, D/P and D/A, Prepayment, Credit, and Cyber Payments in International Transactions. p. 52. Practice (UCP) for Documentary Credits. The UCP recognizes that there are different types of documentary credits, namely, Standby Credits, Revolving Credits, Transferrable Credits, back-to-back credits, revocable and irrevocable, confirmed and unconfirmed. And the definition of documentary credits according to UCP is any arrangement, however named or described, whereby a bank (the issuing bank) acting at the request and in accordance with the instructions of a customer (the applicant for the credit) (i) is to make payment to or t o the order of a third party (the beneficiary) or is to pay or accept or negotiate bills of exchange (drafts) drawn by the beneficiary or (ii) authorises another bank to effect such payment, or to pay, accept or negotiate such bills of exchange against stipulated documents, provided that the terms and conditions of the credit are complied with (Art. 2).4 However, Dr. Zsuzsanna Toth identified documentary credi

Monday, August 12, 2019

Public sector and management accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Public sector and management accounting - Essay Example Most accounting standards organisations set standards for the running of companies. This is because such companies are in the majority in most nations. And such companies have stakeholders who demand timely and comprehensive financial statements. However, the public sector has distinct requirements and expectations. Due to this unique posture, the public sector requires different standards and frameworks for accounting. The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) sets standards for the public sector in the international community. And these standards are applicable to government agencies and other public sector entities as well as intergovernmental organisations. These standards are known as International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). The aim of this paper is to examine the framework for such standards and how they operate. The paper would examine the important framework and systems for the creation and the operation of IPSASs. It would include a critical review of IPSASB and how they operate as well as their scope. The main objective of the IPSAS is to improve the quality of financial reporting by public sector entities (Jorge, 2008). This is to provide a framework for the provision of periodic reports by these entities that exhibit transparency and accountability (Muller-Marques, 2010). IPSAS is a major set of standards that tries to provide the rules and definitive guidance for the creation of financial statements for these public oriented companies around the world. The main reason why a different set of accounting reporting rules are needed for the public sector is that they have a welfare oriented system which is in contrast with the profit-orientation of the private sector. Hence, there is the need to create a system of rules for the public sector. The main scope of the IPSAS is to provide guidelines for central and decentralised

Sunday, August 11, 2019

The Promises and Perils of Nuclear Power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Promises and Perils of Nuclear Power - Essay Example Fission being a dangerous process needs to have controlling rods or moderators, to control the energy release. Without the presence of these controls, the process may go out of hand leading to a nuclear explosion. These rods are made up of cadmium and hafnium which are elements that are neutron-absorbing in nature and help control the rate of reaction. The elements used for nuclear power production are radioactive in nature; these elements include Uraniumm-235, Plutonium-239 and Uranium-238. Nuclear power has certain advantages as well as disadvantages. Nuclear power production decreases pressure on fossil fuels. Though the initial costs of setting up a nuclear plant is more owing to the elemental costs, the cost of transportation is relatively less. The most significant disadvantage of nuclear power production is the production and elimination of nuclear waste which involves high costs too. The nuclear power reactor market in the United States after the early 1960s can be seen as th e tail end of an increasing returns process (Cowan, 1990) but it depreciated thereafter .Japan, is one of the leading countries that depends on nuclear power for electricity production.30% of Japan’s electricity comes from nuclear reactions. Compared to Japans skyrocketing use of nuclear power, U.S has decreased its use over time. While Japan keeps on building more plants the U.S government have stalled the construction of new plants. Since production of nuclear power is clean and economical, there is a race among many countries to increases their nuclear power (Mahaffey, 2012) and continue to produce their electricity using nuclear reactions. In the past, some extreme nuclear calamities have affected lives worldwide. Through these calamities we have learnt about the extreme nature of nuclear power and its dangerous capabilities. We have learnt to use modern generation II

The Andragogy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Andragogy - Research Paper Example One of the central principles which surround the teaching of adult learners is that of individual experience. â€Å"As a person matures he accumulates a growing reservoir of experience that becomes an increasing resource for learning† (Smith, 2011). Unlike children, adults have inevitably built up a wealth of personal experience which can be utilized in a way which can help to learn, such as relating new information to previous experience, recalling the previous experience, and/or using familiar examples to apply to learn to unfamiliar concepts. Though it has been disputed that a child’s experiences are of no less learning value than an adult, it cannot be argued that the adult has more experience to relate to. Whether or not this is enough to justify the concentration on experience regarding adult learners as opposed to child learners, remains in dispute (Glowaki-Dudka, 2011). Teaching strategies which build upon experiential learning will be an extension of everyday l ife (Knowles, Holton & Swanson, 2005). Adult learners partake in a process which sees them reflect, draw an inference from and conceptualizes, based upon previous individual experience. As this wealth of experience is seen as the richest resource of information for the learner, it must be pointed out that individual experience is fundamentally biased and of an entirely subjective nature. This implies that new information may be interpreted in different ways, which can be advantageous as it allows for new ideas and opinions but can also have its disadvantages regarding personal bias. A second principle which Knowles determined to be of special significance to andragogy is that of the self-concept. Within the paradigm of learning, self-concept relates to the movement of an individual’s perception of themselves as a self-directed person rather than being dependent upon others.

Saturday, August 10, 2019

Richard Nixon-successes and failures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Richard Nixon-successes and failures - Essay Example Although started by the Kennedy-Johnson Administration, it was President Nixon who oversaw the peak of the war in Vietnam. This war would lead to loss of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese lives and 50,000 American lives. Waged on grounds of ideological defense against Soviet Communism, the Vietnam War proved to be a public relations disaster for the American government and depleted its treasury. Eventually, the war was called-off by President Nixon due to mounting public pressure and escalating domestic issues. But the most embarrassing episode in the career of President Nixon was his involvement in the Watergate affair, where he used unethical and illegitimate means to cover-up his wrongdoings. He also used threats and coercive tactics to undermine the Democratic Party who were at the case. When major newspapers in the country broke the news of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon had little choice but to resign from office and face trial. He spent the rest of his life in politica l wilderness, only rarely making public appearances, as he was burdened with shame and guilt. In sum, the career and Presidency of Richard Nixon is a mix of limited successes and glaring failures. Reference: John Hollitz, Thinking Through the Past: A Critical Thinking Approach to U.S. History, ISBN 066933488X (0-669-33488-X), published by D C Heath & Co.

Friday, August 9, 2019

Strategic Financial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Strategic Financial Management - Essay Example The operating margin and operating profit stood at 7.7% and  £115.6million respectively compared with 8.3% and  £111.3million respectively in the same period last year. The Company has taken on an extra five-year bank facility with Handelsbanken, hoping to increase their overall facilities to  £740 million (Yahoo Finance) Without profit, a firm would be unable to attract outside capital. That is why I identified the profitability ratios as the most efficient and effective way to evaluate the financial performance of the Wetherspoons Company. The profitability measures enable me to evaluate the company’s profits in relation to the level of assets, or owners’ investment as stipulated in the company’s financial statements. I looked into statements dating back from 2010 to 2014. I calculated Return on Capital Employed (RECE) by determining the ratio between the operating capital and the capital employed. This helped me know how well the firm utilizes the capital employed. In 2014, the Return on Capital Employed (RECE) for the company was 12.94%, as compared to 11.83% in 2013.It means that the company has had a steady increase on its return on capital employed thus showing that the Company keeps on improving its’ utilization of capital employed. To begin with, I established the Gross profit margin by determining the ratio between gross profit and net sales. The gross profit of the firm in 2014 was  £79.4m, compared to  £76.9m in 2013, which translates into a 3.1% increase in profit. This growth in gross profit margin serves as a good indicator that J D Wetherspoon firm is progressing well and promises good returns on investment. The decrease in the net profit margin of J D Wetherspoon can be attributed to external forces such as taxes. I established the assets turnover by determining the ratio between sales revenue and total assets to find out how efficiently J D Wetherspoon

Thursday, August 8, 2019

Relatinoship between alcohol anonymous and aclcohol addicted patients Research Proposal

Relatinoship between alcohol anonymous and aclcohol addicted patients - Research Proposal Example Second, heavy drinking is regarded as taking two bottles or more on daily basis for men or one bottle on daily basis for women. The intake of alcohol is known dissimilar effects on individuals depending on age, gender, health status and diet among others. Further, moderate drinking is associated with drinking a maximum of two bottles for men or one bottle of alcohol for women on daily basis. Nonetheless, there are certain categories of people who are disallowed from drinking such as pregnant women, people on medication, under age and people operating machineries. The objective of this research study is to examine the relationship between AA addicted patients who attend AA meeting as compared to those that do not attend the meetings. This research study will concentrate on the AA group through a randomized trial. The trial will be performed and participants’ behavior will be tracked for a period of 6 months to one year. The information generated will be analyzed to examine whet her there is a link between AA attendances. This link will include a P-value less than 0.05 and a confidence interval of 95% and the corresponding relative risk. Introduction Over 2 million people aged 12 or older in the U.S. received treatment for an alcohol problem in 2009 (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2010). Alcohol, ethyl alcohol and ethanol are intoxicating substances that depress the central nervous system and has effects on the functioning of the body. The effects depend on the quantity and number of times taken. When taken, they act as stimulants in the body and may affect the rate of alertness on an individual. Researchers have pointed out that alcohol use is risky to the health of individual causing ailments such as cancer, heart diseases, pregnancy-related complications, headache among others. Alcohol is a drug that is common and taken by many people nationally and globally. Drinking alcohol problems has been attributed to risk factors such a s steady drinking on a regular basis, social and cultural factors. According to CDC, between 2001 and 2005, about 1729 deaths due to excessive drinking were recorded in Virginia. Out of this number, about 1260 were male while 469 were female. Over the same period, the number of deaths due to excessive recorded in the US was 57,852 of which 57,852 were male while 22,522 were female (Curran, 2008) Critical Analysis Kingree and Thompson (2011) examine association between two types of AA participation namely: meeting attendance and having a sponsor. This study recruited 268 participants from three treatments programs in South Carolina. Although the authors did not provide a conclusion nor confidence interval nor relative risk for this study, the main finding that is interesting is that P-value was use to provide analysis to explain that abstinence from alcohol is significant. Nonetheless, the article did not have conclusion and other necessary closing remarks that are crucial for the re aders and future research. Kell Et al (2011) examine the relationship among AA; spirituality/religiousness and alcohol use found that AA leads to better alcohol use outcomes, by enhancing spiritual practices. This study collected 952 males and 774 female and followed for 15 months. This study was conducted in a randomized control trial Caucasian man. Also, P- value was providing for data analysis, but no relative risk or confidence inte