Assignment 1: Financial Statement Analysis
Due Week 4 and worth 200 points

 

Select one (1) of the following publically traded health care organizations: Universal Health Services (NYSE: UHS) or Health Management Associates (NYSE: HMA).

 

Suppose you are a newly appointed CFO of your chosen health care organization. One of your first tasks is to conduct an internal financial analysis of the organization. Conduct a brief financial analysis and review of the chosen company’s financial statements for at least three (3) consecutive years. After conducting the analysis, interpret the data contained within the statements.

 

Write a three to four (3-4) page paper in which you:

 

1. Based on your review of the financial statements, suggest a key insight about the financial health of the company. Speculate on the likely reaction to the financial statements from various stakeholder groups (employee, investors, shareholders). Provide support for your rationale.
2. Identify the current industry trend that has the most significant impact on your chosen organization’s financial performance. Indicate the trend’s impact on the financial performance of the organization. As the CFO, suggest at least one (1) way that you might minimize the impact of the trend on the organization.
3. As the CFO, suggest one (1) key strategy that you might use in order to improve the financial performance of the organization. Recommend an approach to implement the suggested strategy. Provide support for your recommendation.
4. Use at least four (4) quality academic resources. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

 

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

 

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

 

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

 

• Evaluate the financial statements and the financial position of health care institutions.
• Analyze the role of important financial reporting statements – income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows – and explain how they relate to one another and to the underlying sources of data.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in health financial management.
• Write clearly and concisely about health financial management using proper writing mechanics.

Instructions: This quiz consists of 20 multiple choice questions and covers the material in Chapters 1 through 3 and 5. There are five questions from each chapter. The questions are in chapter order

 

Question 1

4 out of 4 points

Which of the following is a primary activity in the value chain?

A) infrastructure
B) technology
C) purchasing
D) marketing and sales

Question 2

4 out of 4 points

The business owners obtain financing from outside investors, which results in an inflow of cash into the company. This transaction is considered to be part of which cycle?

A) the revenue cycle
B) the payroll cycle
C) the production cycle
D) the financing cycle  ·

Question 3

4 out of 4 points

Paying federal payroll taxes is part of which transaction cycle?

A) Human resources/payroll
B) Expenditure
C) Financing
D) Revenue

Question 4

4 out of 4 points

The value chain concept is composed of two types of activities known as

A) primary and support.
B) primary and secondary.
C) support and value.
D) technology and support.

Question 5

4 out of 4 points

Groups of related business activities such as the acquisition of merchandise and payment of vendors are called

A) transaction cycles.
B) economic cycles.
C) business events.
D) transactions.

Question 6

4 out of 4 points

Which of the following is an example of source data automation?

A) a utility bill
B) POS (point-of-sale) scanners in retail stores
C) a bill of lading
D) a subsidiary ledger

Question 7

4 out of 4 points

A specialized journal would be most likely to be used to enter

A) sales transactions.
B) monthly depreciation adjustments.
C) annual closing entries.
D) stock issuance transactions.

Question 8

4 out of 4 points

Hector Sanchez works in the accounting department of a multinational manufacturing company. His job includes updating accounts payable based on purchase orders and checks. His responsibilities are part of the company’s

A) revenue cycle.
B) expenditure cycle.
C) financing cycle.
D) production cycle.

Question 9

4 out of 4 points

The issuing of a purchase order is part of which transaction cycle?

A) the revenue cycle
B) the production cycle
C) the human resources cycle
D) the expenditure cycle

Question 10

4 out of 4 points

In transaction processing, generally which activity comes first?

A) recording data in a journal
B) posting items to special journals
C) capturing data on source documents
D) recording data in a general ledger

Question 11

 

In a recent news article located at http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/heres-where-your-federal-income-tax-dollars-go-f654971, NBC News reported that the U.S. Government spends $3.6 trillion per year to fund Social Security, Medicare, homeland defense and safety, education, transportation, and the interest on debt obligations. In spite of the services and benefits that the government provides, many taxpayers dread paying income taxes but consider them a necessary evil. Consequently, there is much debate about the inequities contained within the tax code, due to tax shelters and tax credits provided to some taxpayers which thereby increase the tax burden on others.

 

Using the Internet or Strayer Library, research at least two (2) countries that have a zero income tax rate.

 

Write a four to five (4-5) page paper in which you:

1. Analyze the way in which the two (2) countries that you have researched provide services and benefits to its citizens without collecting personal income taxes.
2. For the countries that you have chosen, determine whether or not the U.S. could adopt their taxation model without reducing its total amount of revenue generated by collecting personal income taxes from individuals and business. Justify your response.
3. Suggest at least three (3) advantages and three (3) disadvantages of the U.S. adopting a zero income tax model. Provide a rationale for your response.
4. Create a proposal for where the revenue would be derived if the U.S. were to adopt a zero income tax model. In your response, provide specific recommendations concerning the following:
   1. The proposed tax base.
   2. Whether or not tax payers at certain income levels should be exempt from taxation.
   3. The primary way in which the IRS would calculate the tax rate in order to ensure that the same level of tax revenue would still be collected.
   4. The primary way in which your plan will achieve equity.
5. Speculate on the primary way in which the federal government could make up any shortfalls if it does not collect its targeted revenue from personal income taxes, and ascertain the most significant way in which the U.S. Department of the Treasury, through the IRS, can still adhere to its fiscal and monetary policies. Justify your response.
6. Use at least four (4) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as academic resources.

 

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

 

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

·         Examine the types of taxes imposed at the federal, state, and local levels; the federal tax formula; and the rules for arriving at personal and dependency exemptions.

·         Analyze the concepts of gross income and distinguish between the economic, accounting, and tax concepts of gross income and strategies to minimize gross income, maximize deductions, and minimize disallowance of deductions

·         Use technology and information resources to research issues in federal taxation.

 

·         Write clearly and concisely about federal taxation using proper writing mechanics.

Agostinho, S. (2004). Naturalistic inquiry in e-learning research.International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 4(1), Article 2. Retrieved Dec. 16, 2005, from
http://www.ualberta.ca/~iiqm/backissues/4_1/pdf/agostinho.pdf

Read the article and respond to the following:

1. Critique the process of data analysis that was conducted in the original research, as described in the journal article.

1. In the original research upon which this article is based, the researcher indicated that dominant themes were identified, and the themes were clustered into categories. Critique the underlying inductive logic utilized to analyze the data.

1. Discuss the researcher’s rationale, as described in the journal article, of adopting a naturalistic inquiry paradigm with regard to the process of data collection and analysis.

Submit your 2 pages response as a Microsoft Word document By Wednesday, November 25, All written assignments and responses should follow APA rules for attributing sources.

 

Assignment B: Data Analysis Techniques

 

Utilizing the field study notes from M5: Assignment 2, begin an analysis of the core content by identifying patterns and themes. Take an initial “first cut” at organizing the data into topics and categories. Look at what is there and give it a name. This is called “coding.” Codes are used to assign meaning. Look for “convergence,” i.e., what things fit together. Coding is a process, not an event. Immerse yourself into your field notes. Continue your analysis by further differentiating codes, clustering codes, or even renaming codes if this would help clarify the meaning of the code.

Look for recurring regularities in the data that may reveal patterns that can be sorted into categories. Categories can be illuminated with regard to “two criteria: internal homogeneity and external heterogeneity” (Patton, 2002, p. 465).

Include the following:

1. Identify a classification system (codes, colors, categories, etc.) of themes or patterns based upon what appears to be most illuminative. What themes or patterns emerged from your notes?
2. What are your main interpretations of the patterns of interaction that you have observed and identified?
3. Develop a synopsis of your interpretations, and any organizing principles of interaction that you observed.
4. Identify your reactions while analyzing the data.

Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Submit your 3 pages response as a Microsoft Word document by Thursday, November 26,
All written assignments and responses should follow APA rules for attributing sources.

 

Assignment C: Discussion Question

 

By Monday, November 23, post a response to the discussion question. Be sure to use vocabulary that is relevant to the topic.

 

Discussion Question:

 

Summarize the process of coding, classifying, categorizing, and labeling primary patterns as it pertains to qualitative data analysis. Describe how data collection and data analysis can be overlapping activities in qualitative research.

 

• I am looking for a completed paper on time with low similarity score, not a refunded downpayment becuase the paper is unfinished or has been plagiaized.  
• Please read instructions of assigment before agreeing to do it
• Must be 3 pages APA format

 

A leader in your firm has been studying the foreign exchange market for a number of years and believes that she can predict several of the foreign currency exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar. The firm has $500,000 to invest in the spot, forward, or options markets. Assume that the spot rate is $1.3435 to the euro and that the forward rate for 12 months is $1.3705 to the euro. However, this leader is sure that the exchange rate in 12 months will be $1.41 to the euro.

In a Word document, include the following:

• Explain how this leader in your firm can speculate on the belief that the euro will be $1.41 in 12 months.
• Calculate the amount of profit (ignoring exchange rate fees) that can be earned and the percentage return achieved.
• Recommend whether this speculative investment or another investment with similar or higher returns at lower risk should be selected. Explain your reasoning.
• Be sure to consider how the inflation rate would affect the return.
  • I am looking for a completed paper on time with low similarity score, not a refunded downpayment becuase the paper is unfinished or has been plagiaized.  
  • Please read instructions of assigment before agreeing to do it
  • Must be 3 pages APA format

   

  A leader in your firm has been studying the foreign exchange market for a number of years and believes that she can predict several of the foreign currency exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar. The firm has $500,000 to invest in the spot, forward, or options markets. Assume that the spot rate is $1.3435 to the euro and that the forward rate for 12 months is $1.3705 to the euro. However, this leader is sure that the exchange rate in 12 months will be $1.41 to the euro.

  In a Word document, include the following:

  • Explain how this leader in your firm can speculate on the belief that the euro will be $1.41 in 12 months.
  • Calculate the amount of profit (ignoring exchange rate fees) that can be earned and the percentage return achieved.
  • Recommend whether this speculative investment or another investment with similar or higher returns at lower risk should be selected. Explain your reasoning.
  • Be sure to consider how the inflation rate would affect the return.