备考ACCA千万不要踩的坑！

正确答案：
(c) Extent of alleged fraud – Matters to be considered
■ Details reported to police: The managing director may have made some estimate of the possible extent of the fraud in
reporting the chief accountant’s disappearance to the police.
■ The minimum loss (assuming no insurance) would be sales for the three days before he left. If not known (e.g. because
the only record of them was in the cash book) a simple estimate might be 3/20 × total recorded revenue for a typical
month.
■ The pattern of cash bankings extracted from bank statements: A falling trend starting during the year might mark the
time from which the chief accountant began to misappropriate cash.
■ Whether other managers have voiced their suspicions, if any, on the chief accountant’s behaviour. For example, if there
was any marked change in his lifestyle. (what he appeared to spend his money on, the hours he worked, etc).
■ The prior year auditor’s report was unmodified. If this was appropriate the chief accountant’s alleged fraudulent activities
may have only started in the current year.
■ The amount of fidelity insurance cover (i.e. against employees handling cash) that Indigo has taken out to meet any
claim for fraud.
■ The likelihood, if any, of recovering misappropriated amounts. For example, if the chief accountant has assets (e.g. a
house) that can be used to settle Indigo’s claims against him in the event that he is caught/successfully prosecuted.

正确答案：
(a) To: Ramon Silva
From:
Value innovation in La Familia Amable hotel chain
In strategic terms you are looking to create a competitive advantage over existing hotels based on a cost focus strategy. The
success of this niche marketing strategy will depend on your ability to attract customers from the existing providers but there
does seem a gap to exploit. In many ways you have an advantage in that you are not constrained by previous experience in
the hotel industry and this has enabled you to look to deliver a significantly different value proposition to your customers and
not simply look to marginally improve on what currently is on offer. One particular study on innovation drew attention to five
dimensions of strategy where innovators can significantly outperform. existing companies. This is important, as the industry
does not look particularly attractive with low growth and overcapacity – a recipe for low profitability.
Industry assumptions – here existing companies take the competitive conditions as given whereas innovators are looking to
influence and change those conditions.
Strategic focus – simply benchmarking against the current hotel providers may not create any real advantage, innovators are
seeking to provide a step change in the experience given to the customer.
Customers – the route to success may not be through ever increasing segmentation and customisation but by actually looking
to focus on the shared attributes of the service that customers value – a good night’s sleep for a low price being a prime
example.
Assets and capabilities – rather than looking to leverage existing assets and capabilities the innovator looks to ask what would
we do if we were starting a new business.
Product and service offering – existing competitors may again be constrained in their thinking by the existing boundaries of
the industry and the innovator by identifying new customers and services that take them outside this boundary may offer a
‘total solution’ that transforms the industry. The ‘no frills’, low cost budget airlines are a good example of such thinking.
In the hotel business ‘location, location, location’ is argued to be at the heart of a successful strategy. Clearly this will be your
choice and is affected by the customer groups you are looking to attract. Establishing a brand name and reputation is an
important marketing strategy and this will be facilitated by growing the chain rapidly and giving customers easy access to
your hotels. In value chain terms the company infrastructure looks to be lean with a reliance on trained husband and wife
teams to deliver the service. Franchising would also seem to be a route to grow the business that will place reduced strain
on company headquarters. The creation of a chain should lend itself to significant buying and procurement advantages, right
from the design of the hotels which will focus on the core value you are providing – namely quiet and cost. One French hotel
chain was able to cut in half the average cost of building a room, its ‘no frills’ service cut staff costs from between 25% and
35% of sales – the industry average – to between 20% and 23%.
Good design will therefore affect the quality of service that the operations side of the value chain delivers to the customer.
This may be a simpler service to that provided by its competitors – simpler, more basic rooms, no expensive restaurants or
lounge areas all impact on the cost of operations and consequently the price charged. Marketing, as previously referred to
above, is much more effectively done through satisfied customers’ recommendations than by expensive advertising. Many
hotel chains have used technology to create customer loyalty schemes of questionable benefit to the customer. You will
certainly have to seriously consider the value of such an after sales service. The established competitors often make
assumptions as to what a customer wants and typically this is offering more and more services that are expensive to provide.
Your entry into a ‘mature’ industry such as this, allows you to really challenge these assumptions and deliver a price/value
combination that is hard to beat.
Yours,

正确答案：
(ii) Two factors which might reduce the return earned by the investment are as follows:
(i) Poor product quality
The very nature of the product requires that it is of the highest quality i.e. the cakes are made for human
consumption. Bad publicity via a ‘product recall’ could potentially have a catastrophic effect on the total sales to
Superstores plc over the eighteen month period.
(ii) The popularity of the Mighty Ben character
There is always the risk that the popularity of the character upon which the product is based will diminish with a
resultant impact on sales volumes achieved. In this regard it would be advisable to attempt to negotiate with
Superstores plc in order to minimise potential future losses.

正确答案：
(b) There are several benefits for Hugh Co in choosing a voluntary financial statement audit.
An annual audit will ensure that any material mistakes made by the part-qualified accountant in preparing the year end
financial statements will be detected. This is important as the directors will be using the year end accounts to review their
progress in the first year of trading and will need reliable figures to assess performance. An audit will give the directors comfort
that the financial statements are a sound basis for making business decisions.
Accurate first year figures will also enable more effective budgeting and forecasting, which will be crucial if rapid growth is to
be achieved.
The auditors are likely to use the quarterly management accounts as part of normal audit procedures. The auditors will be
able to advise Monty Parkes of any improvements that could be made to the management accounts, for example, increased
level of detail, more frequent reporting. Better quality management accounts will help the day-to-day running of the business
and enable a speedier response to any problems arising during the year.
As a by-product of the audit, a management letter (report to those charged with governance) will be produced, identifying
weaknesses and making recommendations on areas such as systems and controls which will improve the smooth running of
the business.
It is likely that Hugh Co will require more bank funding in order to expand, and it is likely that the bank would like to see
audited figures for review, before deciding on further finance. It will be easier and potentially cheaper to raise finance from
other providers with an audited set of financial statements.
As the business deals in cash sales, and retails small, luxury items there is a high risk of theft of assets. The external audit
can act as both a deterrent and a detective control, thus reducing the risk of fraud and resultant detrimental impact on the
financial statements.
Accurate financial statements will be the best basis for tax assessment and tax planning. An audit opinion will enhance the
credibility of the figures.
If the business grows rapidly, then it is likely that at some point in the future, the audit exemption limit will be exceeded and
thus an audit will become mandatory.
Choosing to have an audit from the first year of incorporation will reduce potential errors carried down to subsequent periods
and thus avoid qualifications of opening balances.