Part B: Report to Shirley Knot

Part B: Report to Shirley Knot [Total: 35 marks]

Required:

With reference to the budget financial reports generated in Part A, write a business report to Shirley Knot (refer to the attached guidelines for report writing). Use suitable headings for items (i) to (iii) below in the discussion section of the report.
(Report formatting 10 marks)

(i) Explain to Shirley what the Projected Cash Flow Statement and Income Statement reveal about the business. Offer any advice you see as relevant. (10 marks)
(ii) Explain to Shirley what sensitivity analysis involves and how a spreadsheet facilitates this. State in dollars the impact on the projected quarterly profit and the closing cash balance of:
a) changing the selling price to $1,995 and
b) changing suppliers to one who has quoted $1,300 as a cost price.
Answer a) and b) separately. (9 marks)
(iii) Choosing either (ii) a) or (ii) b), discuss the change and the factors which should be taken into account before making the change. The factors could include both financial and non-financial items. (6 marks)

Complete Part B in a Word document file. (No template given.)

Answers should be well reasoned, comprehensive and include data from the financial reports. To answer your assignment you may need to look beyond the set readings and text.

For structuring the report to Shirley, refer to page 8 of this assignment.

Your answer to Part B should range from 500 to 1,000 words. The marker reserves the right to decline to mark answers over 1,200 words.

Please acknowledge sources used outside of the text book and course materials. References are not included in the word count. For information on referencing refer to the Massey University Online Writing and Learning Link: http://owll.massey.ac.nz

Guidelines for Writing Reports

For some of the questions of the Assignment, you are required to submit a short report to the owner of the business. There are many options with regard to layout for such reports, and some guidelines are outlined below. However, any reasonable layout will be suitable. Remember that these reports are necessarily short, and thus need to be focussed, concise and summarised. Bullet points in relevant areas will be acceptable.

The following extract may be of assistance:

‘Writing reports gives practice applying theoretical concepts to a real-life context. If you are planning a career in an organisational context, it is likely that at various stages in your career writing reports will be required. Learning to write a report, therefore, is not just a method by which your lecturers evaluate you; it is also part of professional development, and a way of learning business principles, integrating them into your critical mind.

Organisations call for reports when they have difficult decisions to make. They therefore require the author to exhibit investigative skills, judgment and the ability to write persuasively. Writing persuasively for a report means that you need to appear to be objective. You are required to produce proof or evidence to support your ideas. It is not enough to recommend a course of action; you need to explain why this is the best solution, what its short and long term results will be, and explain the reasons.

Remember above all that a report is a practical project. A report assumes that someone has a problem and they want guidance on how to deal with the problem. If you are writing for a particular person, keep that person in mind. Focus on their needs and recommend a solution that can be implemented. Be specific: avoid generalisations…’

(Emerson, L. (2000). Writing Guidelines for Business Students. p. 32-33. Palmerston North, Dunmore Press.)

The following is an example of a basic report structure:

Title Page
Introduction
1. identify subject, context and specific problem.
2. define specific objectives
Discussion/Analysis
1. sub-divide into logical units
2. use headings and arrange into logical sequence
3. present evidence to support conclusions
4. focus on objectives (the specific problem)
Conclusions/Recommendations
1. relate to objectives
2. follow from facts
References

(Extract from Emerson, L. (1998) Report Writing, p.2. Student Learning Centre, Massey University.)

Note: you may use some or all of these features in Part B of your assignment.

Please also note that every report needs a title page, but only long reports need a contents page.