Managing Financial Principles and Techniques

TASK 1

1.1 Importance of Costs in The Pricing Strategy of an Organization:

Pricing Decisions: How much a company spends to produce a unit of product is valuable when figuring out the sales price. If Sainsbury Company wants to compete on price, then they have to keep the price of the product as low as possible. But if the product is sold at a cost less than the manufacturing cost then they can't go for long in the market. So while selling it is important to keep prices not too high and not too low and at this point in time different cost concept is used to fix adequate prices (Bakand, Hayes, and Dechsakulthorn, 2012).

Preparing Financial Reporting: Adherence to more specific cost techniques is required under General acceptance Accounting Principles. For external financial report purposes, GAAP requires all manufacturing costs incurred in manufacturing goods. Costing systems that behave in this manner are called absorption technique, full cost costing, and traditional systems.

Helpful in Budgeting: The cost concept also helps in budgeting and budgetary control. There are various tools used in budgetary control. Fixed, Variable, and Zero base budget (Bartram, Brown, and Waller, 2016). With this budgeting system financial requirements can be fulfilled within limited resources and maximum utilisation of financial sources can be made possible and from it, the pricing of products that are ready for sale in the market is optimised.

Many business decision requires a firm knowledge of several cost concept. Different types of costs have different characteristics. Consequentially when reviewing a business case to determine which way to choose it is important to understand the following cost concept to choose.

Fixed, Variable, and Mixed cost: A fixed cost such as rent, does not change with the level of activity. In opposite to it variable costs such as direct material are changeable with the level of activity. Those few cost which changes somewhat with activity is included in the mixed cost (Battiston and et.al., 2016). It is important to understand the differences since the decision to alter in level of activity may or may not alter cost. Forex, shutting down a facility may not terminate associated building lease payments which are fixed for the duration it was leased.

Marginal cost: It is the total of variable cost i.e., prime cost plus variable overhead. It is based on the difference between fixed and variable costs. Fixed costs are ignored variable costs are considered for determining the cost of production, work in progress, and value of finished goods (Caspin and et.al., 2013).

Out-of-pocket Cost: It involves payment to outsiders such as an increase in cash expenditure as proportionate to the cost of depreciation, which does not conclude any cash expenditure. Such costs are used in price fixation at times of recession or when a make or buy alternative option decision is made.

1.2 Design a Costing System For Use Within an Organisation

A costing system is designed to monitor the cost incurred by the business. A whole business system is connected to sat of forms, processes, controls, and reports that are designed to aggregate and report to management revenues, cost, and profitability. Areas included can be any part of the company, including Customers, Departments, Facilities, Processes, Products and services, Research and development, Sales, etc.

There are two main types of costing systems. A business can circulate information based on either one of these or mixed which is called a hydride system that mix-match system to meet its needs.
Job costing System: Material, labour, and overhead are compiled from individual units or jobs. This approach is best for unique purposes such as custom design machines or consulting projects. It is highly detailed and labour-intensive (Cheng, Ioannou, and Serafeim, 2014).

Process costing System: Material, Labour, and overhead are totalled for an entire production process and then allocated to individual production units, processing of milk, Petroleum products, and Cell phone manufacturing are part of process costing where production is done at a large level. Cost accumulated is highly efficient and divided in no. of units per batch is possibly be automated.

Differential Cost: A change in cost due to a change in the level of activity, pattern, technology, process, or method of production is known as differential cost. If any changes are proposed or happen in the existing level or method of activity of production, the increase or decrease in total cost because of the decision is known as differential cost (Chhokar and et.al., 2013). If changes increase in cost, it is called incremental cost and if there is a decrease in cost resulting from a decrease in output the result is known as decremental cost.

Sunk Cost: Sunk cost is an irrevocable cost and is caused by the complete abandonment or shutting down of a plant or business. It is written down that the value of the abandoned plant is less than its salvage value. Such costs are historical costs which are incurred in the past are not relevant for decision-making and are not affected by an increase or decrease in the volume of output. Thus expenditure that has taken place is irrecoverable in a situation is treated as sunk cost. Such costs included the depreciation of fixed assets (Clark, Gilbert, and Ca, 2014).

Opportunity cost: It is the maximum possibility of alternative earnings that might have been earned if productivity capacity or service had been put to some alternative use. In simple words, it is an advantage in measured terms gone due to not using other alternatives that could have generated more profit than the current cost. For example, If the owned building is proposed to be used for projects then rent on the building is considered to be an opportunity cost while taking into consideration the evaluation of the profitability of projects.

1.3 Improvements To The Costing and Pricing Systems Used By An Organisation

Improvement in costing to good financial management: The ability to identify, interpret and present costs as they are related to the organisational economic flow of goods and services, both historical and forward-looking context, is necessary for an informed understanding of the organisational driver of profit and value (Midrigan and Xu, 2014).

Material cost-effectiveness: The design, implementation, and continuous improvement of the costing method, improvement in data collection, and the system should reflect a balance between the required level of accuracy and the cost of measurement (cost benefits tradeoff) depending on the competitive situation of the organisation.

Time and Consistency: Cost information should be collected and analysed in systematic manner so as to ensure comparability over time, whether in a routine information system or for a specific application and or purpose (Park and Park, 2014).

Transparency and auditability: The definition and source of data, the operational and other non-financial data, and the method of calculating cost need to be transparent to customers and recorded and capable of review, risk analysis, and assurance.

Replacement cost: It is the cost at which there is purchase of assets or material exactly replica that would have been replaced or re-evaluated. It is the cost of replacement at the current market value.
Avoidable and unavoidable costs: Those costs are avoided if a particular product or department with which they are directly related is discontinued. Forex, the salary of a clerk belonging to the department employed is eliminated if that department is discontinued.

TASK 2

2.1 Forecasting Techniques in an Organisation to Make Cost and Revenue Decisions

Forecasting means predicting the future on the basis of past and present data and the trends followed by the organisation.

Types of Forecasts:-

• Economic Forecasts
• Technological Forecasts
• Demand Forecasts

Categories of Forecasting Methods:-

A. Qualitative v/s Quantitative Method - The qualitative Method is a technique based on opinions, judgments, intuitions, emotions, or personal experiences, and also is subjective in nature. Whereas the quantitative Method of forecasting is based on mathematical(quantitative) models and is also objective in nature. This method of forecasting heavily relies on mathematical computations (Pasquariello, 2014).

B. Time Series Method - The time series method uses historical data as a basis for forecasting future outcomes. Its objective is to draw a pattern in the past values of the data. This method is useful only when historical data is present and there is no change in the pattern of historical data. This method of forecasting thus cannot evaluate any kind of change in the future outcome if there is any kind of change in the value of the variable.

Kinds of Time Series Methods:-

• Moving Average
• Weighted Moving Average
• Kalman Filtering
• Exponential Smoothing
• Trend Estimation
• Linear Prediction
• Extrapolation

C. Judgmental Methods: The judgmental forecasting method comprises opinions, subjective probability estimates, and also intuitive judgment (Segal, Shaliastovich, and Yaron, 2015). This method of forecasting is used in a newly formed organisation or in an organisation where there is a lack of historical data which cannot be used for forecasting.

Judgmental Method Includes:-

• Composites Forecasts
• Cooke's Method
• Delphi Method - It develops forecasting through group consensus.
• Forecast by Analogy
• Scenario Building - It is the process of considering alternative outcomes in the process of analyzing future events.
• Market Surveys - Market surveys comprise of use of questionnaires to be filled by the market elements to identify their testes of new products and services.

D. Naive Approach:- The Naive approach of forecasting is the most cost-effective forecasting model. This approach provides a benchmark against which a comparison between different models is been done. The Naive forecasting approach is most suitable for time series data.

E. Other Methods:- There are certainly different methods of forecasting in an organisation that can be used for the betterment of the organisation's functioning and growth of the organisation:

• Simulation
• Prediction Market
• Probabilistic Forecasting, and
• Ensemble Forecasting.

2.2 Sources of Finance

Finance is the most essential requirement for an organisation's growth, it's expansion and also it's development. Finance is the core element of an organisation's work. Finance can be made available for an organisation from sources such as internal as well as external sources. It's the organisation's choice from where to get the funds as it is crucial to select the most appropriate source as different sources carry different costs (Senge, 2014). Sources of finance can be classified as Internal or external, long-term borrowing and short-term borrowing, debt, equity, etc.
Internal Sources of Finance:

Internal sources of finance are the funds that are available with the organisation ie.. the self-generated funds within the organisation.

• Retained Earnings/Profits - It is the internal source of finance as it is the profit kept with the organisation after paying the dividends to the shareholders and drawings. It is also termed as Ploughing back of profits.
• Sale of Asset - It is another internal source of finance as whenever an organisation is in need of funds and an asset is abandoned it can be sold and cash can be generated for the projects. It is also reflected in long-term and short-term finance (Stevens and Whittle, 2016). Suppose when a car is sold it reflects short-term finance and when land, a building, or a piece of machinery is sold it ensures long-term borrowing for the organisation.
• External Sources of Finance:

External sources of Finance are the funds that are been arranged from outside the business. It generally includes long-term sources and short-term sources.

Equity share capital - It is the most important source of finance for a company. It is raised through the organisation's shareholders. It is called permanent capital but the shareholders receive a share in profits in the form of dividends. The most important key feature of equity share capital is the sharing of ownership rights, which dilutes the rights of current shareholders to some extent (Subrahmanyam and Titman, 2013). There are 2 different types of shares:- Ordinary shares and Preference shares.

1. Ordinary shares - Ordinary shares are the most common shares held by ordinary shareholders whether in any company or organisation. In this kind of share, the dividend depends on the profit earned by the organisation. But holders of ordinary shareholders carry voting rights.

2. Preference shares - Preference shares carry less risk than ordinary shares as they are not the owners of the company or an organisation. Though they are offered a fixed rate of return which may be less than that of ordinary shareholders.

Long-term Debt - One of the major sources of long-term financing is long term debt. These debts are generally been taken for a period of more than a year. An advantage of this kind of loan is that the can be repaid over a period of time.

Debentures - Some kinds of loans are secured by a fixed or floating charge against the organisation's assets, such kinds of loans are called Debenture loans. Debenture holders receive their interest before any dividend is paid to the shareholders and in case debenture holders are not paid they will be treated as preferential creditors (Valackiene, 2015).

Short term sources:

• Bank Loans - This kind of loan requires a rigid agreement between the bank and the bowwower. The amount should be paid within a certain period of time as specified in the agreement.
• Bank Overdraft - Businesses nowadays require cash on a daily basis because of a certain gap between its collection and payment. Thus Bank overdraft is the easiest mode of short-term financing in an organisation.

B. Short Term Sources:

Budgetary control is the process of determining various actual results with budgeted features for enterprises for future periods and standard set then comparing the budget with actual performance for calculating variance (Clark and Gilbert, Ca, 2014). Budgetary control is a system of cost control that includes preparation of the budget, coordinating and controlling departments and establishing responsibilities, comparing actual performance with budgeted one, and acting on it to maximize profitability. In short planning in advance so as whole system can be controlled. 

Some budgets are Fixed Variable and Zero-Based Budgeting.

• A fixed budget is budget which is designed to remain unchanged irrespectively with the level of activity. It is based on a single level of activity. This budget's performance report compares data from actual operations with a single level of activity reflected in the budget. It is based on the assumption that the company will work on some level of activity and specified production can be achieved
• A flexible budget is defined as a budget that recognizes the difference between fixed, semi-fixed, and variable costs as per change in the level of activity. It is also known by other names like variable, dynamic, etc (Pasquariello, 2014).
• Zero-based budgeting is a method of budgeting in which all expenses are clarified for each new period. It starts with zero base and all functions in an organization are analyzed for demand and cost.

3.2 Participate in the Creation of a Master Budget for an Organization

The master budget is a comprehension projection or interconnected budget of sales, production cost, purchase, income, etc., and also includes a financial statement. A budget is future financial transaction planning. The master budget serves as a planning and controlling tool for the management since they can plan the business activity during the period on the basis of the master budget. At the end of each period, the actual budget can be compared with the master budget (Segal, Shaliastovich, and Yaron, 2015).

Two components of the Master Budget Included 3 major component expenses revenue and profit. But in detail, it contains a Sales budget, Production budget, Direct material purchase budget, Direct labour budget, Overhead, Selling and administration expenses budget, and cost of goods manufactured budget.

Financial Budget: The financial budget includes information about how the business will go about acquiring cash inflow and cash outflow and how will it spend cash at that period of time. One of the major sections of the financial budget is the cash budget. Capital expenditure budget is another type of Financial budget that deals with major upcoming expenses. Scheduled expected cash receipts from customers, expected cash payment, Cash budget, Budgeted income statement, and Budgeted balance sheet are included in it.

3.3 Compare Actual Expenditure and Income to the Master Budget of an Organisation

All transactions related to the company like retail are included in the book of account strictly according to the double entry system. At the end of the year result obtained through the final account. It includes two types of accounting Income and expenditure and balance sheet (Cheng, Ioannou and Serafeim, 2014).
The account through which the surplus or deficit of the company is concerned is the Income and expenditure account. All necessary journal entries are entered in the ledger account. Its left hand is the debit side recording all revenue expenditure and the right hand is the credit side indicating surplus i.e., excess of income over expenditure. Conversely, the balance of the account if debit indicates deficit, excess of expenditure over income.

The Following Characteristics of Income and Expenditure Accounts are

• It is a fact like profit and loss account of profit-seeking concern
• All experiences are recorded on the debit side while all income is recorded on the credit side.
• All revenue transactions are included in it. No capital items are taken into account.
• Its balance is transferred to the capital account.
• It does not start with an opening balance.

3.4 Evaluate Budgetary Monitoring Processes in an Organization

Budgetary monitoring process: Once cash flow is decided and allocated sunsbery needs to have a system in place to monitor performance. The complex arrangement for monitoring the budget will depend on the size of the company and the availability of staff in the organization. The key process to monitor the budget is:

• Monitoring and reporting against the internal budget on a consistent and regular basis whether targets are being met.
• Forecasting to manage gaps between estimates and actual budget in order to identify quickly, and respond to changes in the external environment or internal activities (Senge, 2014).
• Reviewing and improving the internal budget process by monitoring the accuracy and timeless budget process to identify areas of improvement.
• Revising the internal budget through a coordinated process.

4.1 Recommend Processes That Could Manage Cost Reduction in an Organization

Cost control: The process of monitoring and regulating the expenditure of funds is known as cost control. In other words, it means, to regulate and control the operating cost in the business firm.
Cost reduction is not concerned with setting targets and standards. Cost reduction is the final result of the cost control process. Cost reduction aims at improving the standards. It is continuous, dynamic, and innovative in nature, looking always for measures and alternatives to reduce cost. It is a corrective function. It is applicable to every activity of business. It adds thinking and analysis to action at all levels of management.

Process of Cost Reduction in Organizations:

• Organisation and method
• Work Study
• material handling
• Automation
• Value analysis
• variety reduction\
• Production control
• Design
• material quality
• Quality control

4.2 Evaluate the Potential For the Use of Activity-Based Costing:

Advantages and disadvantages of activity-based costing

1. Advantages:

• Better understanding of overheads
• Easier to understand for everyone
• Utilize united cost rather than just total cost.
• Makes visible waste and non-value-added activities.
• Supports performance management and scorecards.
• enable a costing of processes, supply chains, and value streams.
• Activity-based costing mirrors the way work is done.
• Facilitates benchmarks.

Disadvantages or Limitations of Activity-Based Costing System:

• Implementing an ABS is a major project that requires substantial resources. Once implemented an ABS is costly to maintain. Data must be allocated checked and entered into the system.
• It can easily be misinterpreted and must be used with care while using data.

TASK 5

5.1 Financial Appraisal Methods to Analyze Investment Projects in the Public and Private Sector

Investment appraisal techniques for effective financial performance are beneficial to create a balance of incurred expenses and gained revenue. There are several methods used for choosing the best project planning such as average rate of return, payback period, internal rate of return, etc. Therefore, the economic growth of Sainsbury can be gained at a high level that impacts on organization's effectiveness. However, for public and private sector organizations, investment for projecting is obtained in different ways. In this regard, the government interferes with public sector entities while investment decisions for private sector companies are taken by private individuals (Bartram, Brown, and Waller, 2016). Thus, different financial appraisal techniques are applied for investment and getting sources for effective fund allocation.

5.2 Strategic Investment Decision for the Organization Through Using Financial Information

The manager of Sainsbury analyzes financial information through its tools such as; balance sheet, profit and loss account, income statement, fund/cash flow statements, and so on. On the basis of these components analysis, investment decisions are taken for operating business activities in future time. In addition to this, expenses and income are recognized for making decisions regarding further business operations. However, by using financial information, a variety of ideas are generated for economic stability and enhancing profitability at a high level (Cummings and Worley, 2014). Therefore, a strategic decision-making process is implemented for strategic management and to improve the monetary position of the entity efficiently. Thus, strategic investment decisions are made through identifying financial information effectively.

5.3 Audit Appraisal

Investment and decision-making appraisal is recognized through the audit appraisal technique. In this regard, auditors and managers of the organization analyze financial performance and further prepare strategies for increasing profit-earning capacity. In addition to this, using audit appraisal techniques is valuable to improving business performance and enhancing the quality of services of an organization at a high level. Thus, audit appraisal is useful for recognizing actual financial performance and increasing profit profit-earning capacity of the entity at a high level (Stevens and Whittle, 2016).

TASK 6

6.1 Financial Statements to Assess Financial Viability of Sainsbury

There are several financial statements obtained such as profit and loss accounts, income statements, balance sheets,s and so on. Therefore, by analyzing these components, several ideas are created for economic growth as well as improving the earning capacity of the firm at a high level. In addition to this, financial viability is obtained through recognizing statements as well as presenting income and expense status (Battiston and et.al., 2016). However, it is useful for making decisions and preparing strategies related to the effectiveness of Sainsbury. In accordance with this, financial statement assessment is liable to improve an organization's performance as well enhancing the quality services of the firm effectively.

6.2 Financial Ratios to Improve Quality of Financial Information for Organization's Effectiveness

Financial components such as ratio analysis are valuable for presenting the economic performance of the entity. In this process, overall business operations are created as well through profitability and liquidity ratios. Therefore, improvement in the monetary profile of an organization is gained through this tool for the strategic decision-making process. Moreover, a comparison between last year's performance to the present year's is determined which affects an entity's effectiveness. Thus, financial ratios and their analysis are useful for making decisions and strategic management regarding further business operations. In this process, quality performance and efficiencies of the organization get improved at a large scale that is interrelated with the overall management of all business operations (Valackiene, 2015). Moreover, the financial position of the organization can be enhanced at a high level through this process. Including this, through liquidity and profitability ratios, different ideas are generated for further implementation as well as increasing efficiencies at large scale to improve the effectiveness of Sainsbury.

6.3 Recommendation on the Strategic Portfolio of the Organization

The strategic portfolio is related to preparing planning and making decisions for further business operations. However, it is helpful for improving quality services and making decisions for the effectiveness of Sainsbury. It is analyzed that the manager of an organization analyzes business operations and its performance which leads to generating different ideas to enhance profitability that affects several activities such as the production and distribution of goods and services etc (Midrigan and Xu, 2014). Therefore, it is needed for managers to formulate and implement strategies regarding effectiveness and improving efficiencies. However, the strategic portfolio is considered a planning procedure tool for managing all business operations and improving them for better quality services. It influences business and competitive strategies to improve efficiencies and quality services at large scale. Thus, strategic planning procedures related to the effectiveness and proper management of all business operations impact an entity's business performance. This, by following all strategies and planning procedures, an organization can reach its set target efficiently. Therefore, several positive outcomes and implementation can be gained through this process system at a high level.

Conclusion

The report concludes that analyzing financial performance is crucial for improving profitability and managing strategic resources adequately. In this regard, several decision-making tools are identified for further implementation and increasing quality services of Sainsbury. Moreover, investment appraisal techniques and ratio analysis components for improving the financial performance of an entity are recognized. In addition to this, budgetary targets and costing methods are presented for increasing the profitability of the firm. Whoever, decision-making through investment appraisal techniques is determined effectively.

References

Bakand, S., Hayes, A. and Dechsakulthorn, F., 2012. Nanoparticles: a review of particle toxicology following inhalation exposure. Inhalation toxicology. 24(2). pp. 125-135.
Bartram, S.M., Brown, G.W. and Waller, W., 2016. How Important Is Financial Risk? (Digest Summary). CFA Digest. 46(10). pp. 69-138.
Battiston, S. and et.al., 2016. Complexity theory and financial regulation. Science. 35(6). pp. 818-819.
Caspin, W., and et.al., 2013. The Underexplored Role of Managing Interdependence Fit in Organization Design and Performance. Journal of Organization Design. 4(1). pp. 34-41.
Cheng, B., Ioannou, I. and Serafeim, G., 2014. Corporate social responsibility and access to finance. Strategic Management Journal. 35(1). pp. 1-23.
Chhokar, J.S. and et.al., 2013. Culture and leadership across the world: The GLOBE book of in-depth studies of 25 societies. Routledge.

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