Overview: The final project for this course is the creation of a quantitative analysis that includes an Excel spreadsheet accompanied by a memo to management.
Accountants provide management with the logistics of the business that are crucial for daily operations and a company’s overall success. In any business, it is of
the utmost importance to be aware of all finances and internal processes. Cost accountants focus solely on the internal processes of a business and are tasked
with eliminating any unnecessary costs in order to maximize profits.
For the final project, you have been tasked with conducting a quantitative analysis that looks into the internal processes of a company. Based on your analysis,
you will formulate recommendations to management that aim to improve internal processes and increase profits for the company.
Prompt: For this milestone, submit a draft of the inventory management and benchmarking sections of the final project (Sections II and III, respectively),
including all the critical elements listed below. Refer to the Hampshire Company Case Study document, as this provides details on how to complete this
milestone. All calculations for your quantitative analysis should be completed in the Hampshire Company Spreadsheet. You will provide a rough draft of your
qualitative analysis in a Word document.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
II. Inventory Management
Inventory management serves to minimize the cost to maintain inventory and maximize returns. In this section, the company’s financial data will be
reviewed in order to determine the optimal inventory management system.
A. Determine an optimal cost allocation method based on the relevant costs.
B. Describe how this method should be used by decision makers to fulfill their responsibilities. Support your response with examples.
C. What are the pros and cons of implementing the just-in-time (JIT) inventory system? Do the pros outweigh the cons for this company?
D. Explain how the just-in-time (JIT) inventory system can benefit this organization. Defend your response.
E. Identify the inventory management method you recommend, and explain why this method will benefit the company.
III. Benchmarking
In this section, benchmarking will be reviewed. Benchmarking can be implemented in various ways depending on a company’s circumstances. Your
company has decided to implement benchmarking and would like you to research and recommend the most effective approach.
A. What is the advantage to benchmarking in terms of improving companies’ performance? Support your response.
B. Identify possible approaches to benchmarking. Describe each.
C. Which benchmarking method should management adopt and why?
If you would like a refresher course on using various features of Excel, sign in to Atomic Learning and type “Excel” in the search box. This will provide you with
options to select the specific level of training that you need (intro, intermediate, or advanced) and the specific version of Excel that you have (e.g., 2011 or 2013).
The trainings are broken down into small, meaningful chunks. Therefore, you should be able to find specific topics at each level that will meet your needs.
Guidelines for Submission: The written portion of this submission must be a three- to four-page Word document with 12-point Times New Roman font, double
spacing, and one-inch margins. Sources should be cited according to APA style. Use the Hampshire Company Spreadsheet to submit your calculations as an Excel file.
Instructor Feedback: This activity uses an integrated rubric in Blackboard. Students can view instructor feedback in the Grade Center. For more information,
review these instructions.
Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (75%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Inventory
Management:
Relevant Costs
Determines an optimal cost allocation method
based on the relevant costs
Determines an optimal cost allocation method,
but determination is not based on the relevant
costs
Does not determine an optimal cost allocation
method
11
Inventory
Management:
Method
Recommends how the method should be used
by decision makers to fulfill their
responsibilities and supports response with
examples
Recommends how the method should be used
by decision makers to fulfill their
responsibilities but does not support response
with examples
Does not recommend how the method should
be used by decision makers
11
Inventory
Management:
Pros and Cons
Identifies the pros and cons of implementing
JIT and describes whether the pros outweigh
the cons for this company
Identifies the pros and cons of implementing
JIT but does not describe whether the pros
outweigh the cons for this company
Does not identify the pros and cons of
implementing JIT
11
Inventory
Management:
Inventory
System
Explains how the JIT inventory system can
benefit the organization and defends response
Explains how the JIT inventory system can
benefit the organization but does not defend
response
Does not explain how the JIT inventory system
can benefit the organization
11
Inventory
Management:
Inventory
Identifies the inventory management method
recommended and explains why this method
will benefit the company
Identifies the inventory management method
recommended but does not explain why this
method will benefit the company
Does not identify the inventory management
method that is recommended
11
Benchmarking:
Advantage
Identifies an advantage of benchmarking and
supports response
Identifies an advantage of benchmarking but
does not support response
Does not identify an advantage of
benchmarking
11
Benchmarking:
Approaches
Identifies different approaches to
benchmarking and describes each
Identifies different approaches to
benchmarking but does not describe each
Does not identify different approaches to
benchmarking
11
Benchmarking:
Benchmarking
Method
Determines which benchmarking method
management should adopt and justifies
response
Determines which benchmarking method
management should adopt but does not justify
response
Does not determine which benchmarking
method management should adopt
11
Articulation of
Response
Submission has no major errors related to
citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or
organization
Submission has major errors related to
citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or
organization that negatively impact readability
and articulation of main ideas
Submission has critical errors related to
citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or
organization that prevent understanding of
ideas
12
Earned Total 100%