Intangible Assets †Woolworths limited Essay

Intangible Assets: An intangible asset, despite not having a physical form to it, has great value to a company and is to be disclosed in the financial reports. Some companies only disclose the brand and goodwill as their only intangible assets, while others include more such as software and the company trademarks (Loftus et al. 2012). The Accounting Standard AASB 138 advises businesses on the accounting treatment of these intangible assets, but only if the specific criteria have been met for an asset to be recognized as intangible. An intangible asset must encompass three characteristics: Identifiable: An asset has to meet one of the following in order to be considered identifiable. It has to be separable, so that it is recognizable to be different than goodwill. This means it is capable of being sold, licensed, rented, transferred or exchanged, resulting with separation from the business. Or it has to arise from contractual or other legal rights, whether it is separable or not (AASB 2010). Non-monetary in nature: The asset has to be non-monetary. This characteristic is required so that receivables are not considered as an intangible asset by businesses just because the money has been recognized but not received yet (Loftus et al. 2012). Lack of physical substance: This is required so that tangible assets of property, plant and equipment are not being recognized as an intangible asset (Loftus et al. 2012). Also, an asset is strictly only recognized as intangible if it meets both of the following in the recognition criteria: (a) It is probable that the expected future economic benefits that are attributable to the asset will flow to the entity; and (b) The cost of the asset can be measured reliably (AASB 2010) Classes of intangible assets: A class is a group of intangible assets that are of similar nature. Some examples of classes include Brand names, Computer software or Licenses and Franchises, just to name a few. Compliance with Accounting Standards: There is a set of disclosing rules that has been set out for Woolworths to apply to their reporting of intangible assets. It is stated in AASB 138 that for each class of intangible assets, the following shall be disclosed by a business: If the useful lives of the asset is either indefinite or finite and the useful lives or amortization rates if it is finite; Woolworths have clearly stated in their annual report a description on whether the useful life of each class is indefinite or finite. 4 out of 5 classes (excluding goodwill as it was reported separately from the other intangibles) were stated as assets with an indefinite useful life, so no amortization was charged (Woolworths Limited 2012). The method used for amortization on intangible assets with finite useful lives; The research and development class of intangible assets for Woolworths had stated that any spending on development activities where their research results are applied to a development for a new or improved product is to be capitalized if the plan is deemed to be commercially possible, and the business has sufficient resources to complete it. It is explained that this capitalized expenditure is expressed as cost less accumulated amortization and impairment losses (Woolworths Limited 2012), however no specific amortization rates were defined. The gross carrying amount and any accumulated amortization and impairment losses at the beginning and end of the period; The line item(s) of the statement of comprehensive income in which any amortization of intangible assets is included; A reconciliation of the carrying amount at the beginning  and end of the period (AASB 138); Woolworths Limited provided a reconciliation of movements in Intangibles (Appendix 1) from 2011 to 2012 in their 2012 financial report to shareholders (Woolworths Limited 2012). The report was presented with each class of intangible asset separated into their own headings with their own amounts written under it before the total amount of intangibles. This made the amounts of amortization and impairment more recognizable from where it had arisen. This reconciliation provided a carrying amount at the beginning and end of the period as requested by the Standards. Also included were the additions arising from acquisition of businesses, other acquisitions and disposals that were required to be shown in the reconciliation. 2011 ($M) 2012 ($M) Carrying amount at end of period $5236.6 $5282.0 (Woolworths Limited 2012) Woolworths had applied the relevant Accounting Standards, AASB 138, towards the treatment of their intangible assets and disclosure of them very well. Their intangible assets presented in the reports were separable, non monetary in nature and didn’t have physical substance. Woolworths could have explained the amortization rates used for their intangible assets, but that was the only limited information provided by Woolworths limited. The disclosure rules were applied into their financial reports, showing that Woolworths Limited’s treatment on their intangible assets conformed to the relevant accounting standards. Recommendations: The guidelines in the AASB 138 seem to already make companies scrutinize their intangible assets intensely and reveal every bit of it in their financial reports. An improvement could be to state in the guidelines which type of report and where in the report that this information should be  disclosed so users can have access to all the information in one go without having to search through many files to find certain information about a company’s intangible assets. AASB 2010, AASB 138 – Intangible Assets, Available on: http://www.aasb.gov.au/admin/file/content102/c3/AASB138_07-04_ERDRjun10_07-09.pdf [25 September 2013] Loftus, J, Leo, K, Picker, R, Wise, V, Clark, K 2012, Understanding Australian Accounting Standards, Wiley, QLD Woolworths Limited 2012, 2012 Financial Report for Shareholders http://www.woolworthslimited.com.au/annualreport/2012/pdf/WW_AR12_FinReport.pdf Appendices Appendix 1:

Electronic Monitoring System Implementation Case Study

Electronic Monitoring System Implementation - Case Study Example I have been appointed as the consultant and my responsibility is to carry out a research-oriented study for management Board of an organization, for the implementation of the electronic monitoring system for the better management and handling of the employee’s activities and daily tasks on the job. This report will provide a deep insight into the overall organizational implementation new electronic monitoring system. Companies desire to be persuading their personnel are carrying out a first-class job; on the other hand, employees don't desire their every trip or sneeze to the water-cooler logged. That's the fundamental conflict or clash of office observation (Workplace? 2009). Up-to-date technologies put together it feasible for organizations to view numerous activities of their worker’s occupation, predominantly on computer terminals, telephones in the course of voice mail, electronic as well as when workers are making use of the Internet. This sort of monitoring is practically unregulated. As a result, except business strategy purposely position otherwise, our company can listen, observe as well as read the majority of our place of work communications (Workplace? 2009). From the perspective of workers, electronic monitoring through companies engages considerable isolation distress. Electronic monitoring allows an organization to check what staff is performing on the duty as well as investigation of worker communications, encompassing Internet activity and e-mail, frequently confining as well as evaluation of communications that workers judge privately. Since electronic monitoring as well comprises utilize of computer forensics, a comparatively innovative discipline as well as a significant progression in the wider areas of computer evidence and electronic monitoring (King, 2009). There are numerous business reasons for organizations to electronically monitor employees in the place of work encompassing the judgment of employee’s effectiveness, defending organization’s property from mistreatment, as well as making sure and fulfilment through the place of work  strategies.

Education Trends, Theories, and Practices Annotated Bibliography

Education Trends, Theories, and Practices - Annotated Bibliography Example The increasing trend of assimilating technology within the field of education has led to various research on the subject. This paper addresses the various trends in instructional technology and discusses such critical aspect as the administrative support with regard to the use of technology in classrooms; various legislations and aids available to support and promote such use etc., among many others, which will help the policy makers in understanding the influence of technology in the field of education. The discussions presented by the authors will help the general readers in understanding the various trends introduced in the field of academics. The authors propose that interactive communication is likely to dramatically change the manner in which education is imparted, and that such futuristic trends in technology will soon drive out old and outdated modes of education such as the conventional blackboard and replace it with modern and state of the art technological aids such as int eractive whiteboards, PDAs, and other hand-held devises; as well as other instructional software. Internet has dramatically transformed the educational environment and the same has been discussed at length in this paper. The authors have addressed various issues with regard to trends in online education, the outcomes of learners', as well as various other administrative and institutional factors which play a key role within the education systems. The authors review have included comprehensive, descriptive as well as exploratory studies., which observed the trends of online students and made several major observations with regard to their learning outcomes. This paper helped in assessing the impact of online technology on education and its role in the future of academic studies. Alaxander, M., Perraault, H., Waldman, L., & Zhao, J. (2008). Comparing the Distance Learning-Related Course Development Approach and Faculty Support and Rewards Structure at AACSB Accredited Institutions bet ween 2001 and 2006. The Journal of Educators Online, 5(2), pp. 1-15 This research was conducted to study the impact of online education and the support provided to educators to use and integrate technology within the educational domain. This article would be most helpful for researchers, scholars, and teachers. For the purpose of this study, the researchers conducted various studies and observed the approaches used by business schools. The outcome indicated

How to use a Rubber in Mobile Phones Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

How to use a Rubber in Mobile Phones - Essay Example This paper focuses on mobile technology. Some of the factors to consider when choosing materials for developing a mobile device will include, weight, girth, flexibility of the material and its fitness for the intended purpose. The mobile device market has over the past years evolved to unimaginable extents. There has been the development of space age smartphones with unimaginable capabilities and processing speeds. There has also been vast improvement in the display of such devices in both clarity and size. Many mobile devices have been unveiled by different manufacturers such as Nokia, Samsung, HTC, Apple, Motorola and many more competing for the consumers available. One thing that has been an issue is the safety of such expensive devices when they get to fall or submerge in water. To solve this problem, we focus on Nokia’s N9 and the use of rubber by Nokia to act as a protector to this flagship device. Then Nokia n9 uses an 8 megapixel rear camera that is used for photography. The type of lenses used is Carl Zeiss by Nokia with autofocus and image stabilization property. This camera also comes with a dual led flash light to assist in photography in dark conditions. It is one of the most crucial parts of the phone. The battery in the Nokia n9 is what sustains the life in it. It a lithium ion battery that is internal to the mobile phone. It has a large capacity so that it can power up the large display and the processor together with other auxiliary components. This is the N9’s AMOLED gorilla glass curved screen that covers the whole of the N9 front face. This is a touch screen used for both input and output in this system. It not delicate as such since it is curved hence can resist a little bit of damage. The N9 case is made of polycarbonate that is well brushed. This is where all the components of the phone are housed and firmly head. It is the chassis of the whole device therefore providing the shape and character of this marvelous

What is meant by predictive validity Why are assessment centres Essay

What is meant by predictive validity Why are assessment centres considered to have greater predictive validity than facetoface interviews - Essay Example In particular, the prevalence of the traditional employment interview as the primary selection method will be compared to the alternative methods of cognitive ability tests and biographical data. Whilst the assessment and selection process provides information for decisions by both the employer and the potential employee, this is not the traditional view as employment decisions have long been regarded as a management prerogative (Torrington & Hall, 1991). However, given the predicted skill shortages and the fact that selection is also concerned with the future life plans of individuals, the predictive validity of selection methods is an important issue (Meijer, 1998) both for organizations and for individuals. Predictive validity refers to the extent to which an assessment measure can predict subsequent job performance (Smith et al, 1993) such as error rate, production rate, appraisal scores, absence rate, or other criteria that may be important to the organisation. Relationships between assessment outcomes and future performance are expressed as correlation coefficients (r), where r = 1 represents a perfect relationship, and r = 0 signifies that no relationship whatsoever e xists. A correlation of, say, r = 0.4 is regarded as comparatively good in assessment and selection (Torrington et al, 1991), but this does illustrate that there are no methods of selection that represent outstanding predictors of future performance. In their survey of management selection methods used in French and British organizations, Shackleton & Newell (1991) illustrated that, although there was an increasing use of personality assessments, cognitive ability tests, assessment centers and biographical data between the years of 1984 and 1989, the traditional method of face to face interviews continued to represent the dominant method of assessment and selection in the UK. The format of interviews may range from totally unstructured where no objectives are set, to highly structured, pre-planned processes in which topic areas are closely related to job behavior, with varying degrees of semi-structure in-between (Anderson & Shackleton, 1993). Huffcutt & Arthur (1994) used meta-analysis to demonstrate that predictive validity increased as interview structure increased; the degree of standardization of questions and response scoring mechanisms resulted in validities ranging from r = 0.20 for less structured interviews to r = 0.56 for more highly structured interviews. Nevertheless, even highly structured interviews may vary in their predictive validity. In a comparison of situational interviews (future-orientated) and behavior description interviews (past-orientated) Campion, Campion & Hudson (1994) found higher validities for past-orientated (r = 0.51) than for

Western Civ Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Western Civ - Essay Example However, this failed because the powers of the Europeans were limited. The New Imperialism occurred between the periods of 1870 to 1914. This followed the increasing interests of the industrialized European nations to venture more into other nations and colonize them. The New Imperialism majorly focused on Africa as well as Asia (Canterbury, 2010). During the period of New Imperialism, these two continents were faced with several political challenges involving decline in empires as well as wars. These left them so vulnerable thereby enabling the superior nations to colonize them. New Imperialism was caused by several reasons. These causes can be categorized into economic causes, social causes and political causes (Canterbury, 2010). Economically, there was need for the superior nations to access more natural resources and exploit them from such colonies. This meant that such countries with such resources had to be colonized in order for such countries to gain access to those resources. The other economic reason that led to New Imperialism is the need to create new markets for the goods from the colonizers (Canterbury, 2010). This aimed at expanding the market bases of the colonizers thereby contributing to strong economies back in their countries of origin. The colonies were to provide this market to the colonizers thereby informing the rise of New Imperialism. The New Imperialism also arose due to the need for the growing population in the superior countries to get places for settlement (Canterbury, 2010). The population pressure back in their countries of origin forced them to colonize other countries thereby expanding their territories. This follows that as a population increases, the place to accommodate such increases become limited. Therefore, there was need to expand the territories to accommodate the increase in population. The colonizers had massive and superior weapons that aided them in conquering the

Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Business Law - Essay Example He meets Britney  Arrows at a Chamber of Commerce Lunch on 2 October and offers to sell her his Ford Fiesta for ?2,000. Britney says  that she will consider his offer and get back to him. Britney thinks about Peter’s offer for two weeks and then  decides that she would like to buy the car. On 16 October, she sends a letter of acceptance to Peter at the address  written on the business card which he gave to her at the lunch. As a result of the postal strike, Peter does not receive  the letter until 20 October. Unfortunately, he sold the car to Samantha Snake on 18 October because he thought  that Britney must have decided that she did not want it. Britney is furious when she discovers what has happened  and says that Peter has broken their contract.   In November, Peter is visited by the sales representative of a company called Microwave Madness Ltd.   Following their discussions, Peter agrees to order 10 microwaves and signs the sales agreement without  rea ding it. ... Last night upon arrival at work, Andre was told by the manager he would not  be allowed to work and that he was dismissed with immediate effect. On asking why, Andre was told that  the till he operated was ?10 short. Andre became very angry at hearing this and swore at the manager and  the owner and threatened both with violence. He had to be forcibly removed from the pub.   1. Advise Peter in relation to any contractual and tortious liability arising from these facts. You should address the following issues in your answer.  Peter’s potential contractual liability to Paris.  Peter’s potential contractual liability to Britney.  Microwave Madness Ltd’s liability to Peter under the law of contract AND tort.   (85 marks)   2. Advise Andre as to whether or not he will have any rights against the pub.   1. The first proposition relates to contract law and whether Peter has any contractual liability towards Paris. The first issue is whether a contrac t existed between Paris and Peter for the former to enforce any contractual rights against the latter. A contract is formed when there has been an unequivocal offer to enter into a contract by one party and that offer has been duly accepted and that acceptance has been communicated to the offerer. Therefore, an offer and an acceptance are two integral parts of a contract, in absence of either the contract would not be deemed existing. An offer is defined as an expression of willingness to enter into a binding contract. However, not all statements are offers: a communication that is not an offer could be a statement of intention (Harris v Nickerson), supply of information (Harvey v Farcey) or an invitation to treat. In a statement of