Are two sets of GAAP really needed for Colleges and Universities Research Paper

Are two sets of GAAP really needed for Colleges and Universities - Research Paper Example This resulted in difference in accounting procedures and financial reporting models adopted by the private institutions as compared to the public institutions which followed fund-based reporting. Later with the introduction of GASB in 1984, public institutions abandoned fund-based reporting to adopt the GASB guidance to conform to federal government directive. This has led to difference in the comparability of the financial statements where to institutions uses different rules and procedures in financial reporting (Hoyle, et al 831). The user of independent university and colleges are mainly rating agencies, donors, students, parents and federal agencies. The FASB provides for recognition of contribution, pledges, impairments and investments. These disclosures are important to the stakeholders in making decisions. On the other hand GASB does not allow for of contributed services, trusts, capitalization of software and pledges, are not necessary since the stake holders are interested in such disclosures. Therefore, the two set of GAAPs does not allow comparability between the public university and independent institutions (Ruppel 563). As delineated above both the FASB and GASB occasion disparity in display, disclosure, measurement and recognition thus challenging the comparability of financial statement. This occasions difficulties in ascertaining the transparency in financial reporting between the two similar institutions. Although both public and private universities and colleges objectives are similar, they differ on interested stakeholders who may require different disclosures to be made in the financial statements. Therefore, the financial statement and the disclosures should be tailor made to meet the need of the stakeholders. In conclusion, if the two boards could harmonize the measurements, display, disclosure and recognition of the financial reporting model and

ERP Implementation and Readiness Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ERP Implementation and Readiness Process - Essay Example tegic plan that provides the context and the reasons for implementing the ERP, it proceeds to the readiness assessment, vendor selection and solution implementation; and ends with the post implementation assessment (Cornelius, 2006). From the above process identified each of those stages involves a lot of issues in order to successfully implement the ERP. The readiness assessment process is the most important stage in the entire process and will predict whether a company will successfully implement the ERP or not. The virgin Atlantic Airways is one such company that has successfully implemented the ERP using the readiness process. The company’s strategic plan advised the implementation of the plan. This is because of the complexities that involved the daily transactions of the company. This forced the management to think of something that could help them achieve their target objectives as well as fulfilling the strategic plan objectives. The company has a lot of stakeholders most of who require information in real time. This led to the introduction of the ERP program to the company in order to integrate all the information and help in quick decision making. A second company that has implemented the ERP program is Kenya Airways in Africa. There strategic plan running for ten years was behind the introduction of the ARP program. To successfully serve its customers and other stakeholders the company thought it best to implement the program by initiating the readiness process before implementing the entire program. To be pride of Africa it had to do something that was not being done by others in the continent and this led to the introduction of the ERP. The readiness process should be considered in the following seven key areas: communication, leadership, Culture, project management, technical, functional and resources and Effort (Higgins, 2006). There are various people who will be involved in the entire project and therefore they all need information on how the