Internal accounts and accouting systems-chic paints limited - Assignment Example

Internal Accounts and Accounting Systems - Chic Paints Limited Executive Summary The research report explores an in-depth understanding and of the accounting practices and standards of Chic Paints Limited (CPL) and analyse the organisation’s internal controlling mechanism. Moreover, the report also focuses on critically analysing and evaluating the current ethical practices in the organisation as well as identifying major issues in its accounting practices. In this regard, the discussion also ensures to recommend appropriate measures and practices to CPL for its sustainable accounting system and practices. In order to clearly understand and analyse the current accounting practices in CPL, the research report incorporates an effective qualitative approach by including secondary data collection process. In this context, information and relevant concepts are obtained from academic and online journals, books and other corporate websites. Based on the analysis, it has been identified the organisation has faced challenges in ethically conducting operations. In this regard, recommendations have been made with the aim of ensuring the business operations are conducted on the basis of accepted accounting principles and guidelines. Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Methodology 3 Introduction 4 Analysis and Evaluation of Current system 5 Understanding the Role of Accounting within Chic Paints Limited (CPL) 5 Conducting Ethical Evaluation of the Accounting System 8 Evaluating the Accounting System of the Company against Ethical Principles 9 Identifying Actual Possible Breaches of Professional Ethics 11 Conduct a Sustainability Evaluation of the Accounting Systems 12 Evaluate the Accounting System against Sustainable Principles 13 Identify Where Improvements Could Be Made to Improve Sustainability 15 Recommendations 17 Identify Weaknesses and Make Recommendations for Improvement 17 Identify the Weaknesses and Clearly Explained Along With Their Impact upon the Organisation 17 Identify the Effects That Any Changes Would Have On the Users of the System 18 Cost Benefit Analysis 20 Net Present Value (NPV) 20 Internal Rate of Return (IRR) 20 Payback Period 21 Conclusion 23 References 24 Methodology In order to review the accounting systems at CPL, especially its effectiveness and the internal control process, the report has extensively included a wide number of research studies with the help of online journal articles, books and websites. At the initial stage of the report, the discussion has encompassed an in-depth understanding about the role of accounting system of the organisation and the importance of internal controlling process. The goal of assessing the current accounting system and internal controlling process has been addressed by critically evaluating the accounting techniques as well as tools used by the organisation. In addition, the discussion also included the existing ethical standards and practices associated with different accounting activities in CPL. In this context, the report has been incorporated for identifying a number of ethical standards along with actual possible breaches of professional ethics to determine the effectiveness of the ethical principles and practices in CPL. Correspondingly, the research report has also reviewed the existing cultural environment at CPL in terms of maintaining ethical standards in the accounting processes. In this regard, the discussion has incorporated a critical evaluation through analysing the effectiveness of ethical standards in CPL in its various accounting practices. In order to determine the weaknesses in accounting practices, the report has also provided a set of effective recommendations to improve the existing issues associated with accounting functions. Subsequently, the analysis of different secondary sources including academic journals, books and websites might assist in making appropriate recommendations for the CPL based on which the organisations might be able to conduct operations effectively. In addition, secondary sources have also been implemented to determine effective cost-benefit analysis techniques that might improve the current accounting practices at CPL. Introduction The accounting principles and practices can be regarded as a set of key determinants for organisations to establish sustainability in a particular business market or industry. In relation to the emergence of competitive environment, the continuous improvement of accounting practicing and ensuring adequate compliances with the accounting principles play a pivotal role for organisations to sustain long-term competitiveness over the existing rivals (Wong, 2008). Therefore, the primary intention of this research report is to critically analyse and understand the role of accounting system and the internal control system at Chic Paints Limited (CPL), a formerly part of Ashstead Plc. Moreover, the discussion of the research report also tends to evaluate the existing accounting system and provide effective strategic measures to improve the roles and responsibilities for auditors as well as accounting executives of the organisation. Additionally, the research report also focuses on critically understanding the ethical principles and practices in order to conduct an ethical evaluation of the accounting systems in CPL. A qualitative approach has been undertaken with the intention of accomplishing the objectives of the research report. In this respect, information is obtained from different secondary sources including academic journals, books and corporate websites. Analysis and Evaluation of Current system Accounting is referred as a process of collecting, recording as well as reporting of useful financial and statistical data to improve decision making competencies within an organisation. It is also considered as management accounting system, which represents wide range of service functions with the scope of ensuring adequate support to each management department of a particular organisation. The practice of a strong management accounting system tends to provide different scopes to the management level in relation to quality based scorekeeping along with attention-directing and dispute handling information that enable organisations to gain adequate control of their financial operations (Leitner, 2012; Wong, 2008). Understanding the Role of Accounting within Chic Paints Limited (CPL) Adequate understanding and effective implementation of accounting plays a pivotal role for an organisation to determine and achieve its commercial goals or objectives. In order to assess the roles and significance of accounting system, the purpose, structure and organisation of accounting functions are discussed. Additionally, assessments are conducted with the aim of understanding the relationship of accounting with the other functions within CPL. Appropriate focus on record keeping along with reporting financial operations can be regarded as few primary purposes of an accounting function in an organisation. In this regard, different types of monetary information including operational expenses, wages and compensations, financial investments, capital expenditures and financial cash flow are often regarded as few major functions of accounting within an organisation (Deloitte LLP, n.d.). In relation to structure, the accounting functions or the accounting department is often structured in accordance with the changes in policies associated with financial functions and elements. According to the conventional accounting principles and roles, the accounting functions of an organisation are structured into few major departments including payroll, inventory, accounts payable as well as receivable recording and fixed asset among others. Correspondingly, the organisation system of the accounting functions can also be considered as one of the primary activities of accounting department within an organisation. In relation to the organisation system, the process involves a set of effective activities including formulation or setting of accounting principles, establishing accounting systems and practices along with reporting procedures that ensure to meet the accounting policies as well as standards of an organisation. Moreover, the organisation system of accounting functions is also responsible to make appropriate arrangement and review of different accounting functions that are performed by various accounting departments. In addition, providing valuable advice on restructuring accounting departments or reorganising their roles and responsibilities can also be considered as few of the major functions of the organisation process in accounting functions (Gul & et. al., 2007). In the context of various business purposes, the accounting functions also involves a wide range of statement reporting practices associated with the statement of financial position, cash flow and profit or loss of the organisation. The practice of reporting profit or loss statement tends to represent a transparent view regarding the financial performance of the business on a monthly, quarterly or annually basis. In the similar context, the purpose of cash flow in the accounting function is to present the financial information regarding the gross receipt and/or gross payment statistics of the company for a particular period of time with clarity. The business purpose of the statement of financial position is primarily focused on building a strong group of valuable stakeholders. Moreover, enhancing sustainability of the organisation and making continuous improvement of its financial performance can also be considered as a major business purpose of financial position statement. In the context of Chic Paints Limited (CPL), the roles of accounting functions involve major purposes with respect to the business operations that further critically help the organisation to build external relationship with valuable stakeholders. The primary purpose of the accounting function in CPL involves recording all financial transactions and accounting information associated with the business. The functions also tend to record transactions and accounting information relating to the inventory management operations in terms of goods received in warehouse and use accounting tools to update general, accounts receivable and accounts payable ledgers. The general ledger accounting practices helps the CPL to produce trial balance and improves organisation’s practices in financial reporting such as cash flow, audit trial, income statement along with budgetary information and other key financial indicators. In the context of the business purposes and accounting functions, the internal control system in CPL plays a major role for the organisation to maintain appropriate process of recordkeeping regarding its each financial practice. An effective setting of internal control mechanism consists of controlling environment and procedures of the organisation to protect the accounting practice from potential hurdles or any fraud related activities. A strong setting of internal control system comprises strong policies and practices that are incorporated by the directors or top level management individuals with the aim of protecting assets along with preventing inaccuracy and frauds in the accounting functions. In order to gain adequate speed of the recordkeeping functions, the organisation is highly relied upon the use of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets than purchasing sophisticated application programs or software. The internal accounting controlling system of the organisation tends to provide major support in recording financial information or transaction records of different operational functions. However, the company has faced issues associated with fraudulent practices of the auditors and other accounting executives. The primary causes of the fraudulent practices in CPL have been administered due to the inappropriate privacy or maintaining confidentiality of the financial information. Nevertheless, the extensive use of Microsoft Excel spreadsheet in bookkeeping activities with a minimum security can also be regarded as a major cause of frauds that has taken place in CPL. According to the assessment of the working methods or practices, it has been critically administered that the deployment of information and technology in accounting functions increases the reliability and cost effectiveness of the organisation. The use of Microsoft Excel spreadsheet along with operating method in the accounting functions significantly influences the financial performance of the organisation. Additionally, the use of the technology based accounting tools i.e. Microsoft Excel spreadsheet has also facilitated CPL not only to increase speed in recordkeeping activities, but the process also helped the organisation to reduce the operating costs related to its wide range of business practices. Conducting Ethical Evaluation of the Accounting System The intervention of ethical conducts in each accounting practices can be duly regarded as a major attribute for the organisation to avoid the failure or reduce fraudulent activities. The ethical considerations in the accounting practices are often referred to a set of evolving standards that can also bear certain risk for the modern marketers. In this regard, the board of directors should sophistically act with risk management strategies beyond the fundamental ethical practices due to the changing trend in the global economy (Karagiorgos & et. al, 2010). Therefore, formulating strong accounting policies and their adequate compliance is one of the major practices for the organisations to avoid different issues associated with ethics. Evaluating the Accounting System of the Company against Ethical Principles According to UK’s corporate governance code, effectiveness, as a provision includes specialised skills, competencies along with knowledge of the executives and the board committees. Effectiveness, as the Corporate Governance principle assists the company’s top-level management to discharge their responsibilities along with duties with better effectiveness. Based on this principle, it is necessary for the company to implement formal and rigorous procedures to appoint the new directors within the board, so that the board members are able to conduct their responsibilities appropriately within desired time frame. Besides, within the UK’s corporate governance regulations, it has been mentioned that the directors must be provided with adequate training facilities on a regular basis in order to ensure that operations are conducted systematically and in accordance with organisational objectives. It is also the responsibility of the board to provide information to the directors to help them in the decision-making process (Financial Reporting Council, 2010). From the observation of the overall research, it has been apparently identified that the inadequate compliance with the corporate governance principles is one of the primary causes to create fraudulent practices in CPL. The company has been found to be involved with various fraudulent and unethical practices in representing accounting and financial information. Based on the evidences procured from the analysis of different influencing factors of corporate governance, the classic failure of Enron can be duly considered as one of the major examples of accounting fraud leading to the devastation of the organisation. The roles and practices of the board of directors in Enron have been recognised to lead Enron towards bankruptcy (Lipman, 2012). Additionally, the concern associated with inappropriate management regarding conflict of interest, extensive amount of undisclosed off-the-book financial records, compensation deficiency and lack of independence of the board of directors has been identified to convey severe risk and led the accounting practices in CPL in various risks. Therefore, inappropriate compliance and practice of corporate governance has been considered as one of the primary factor accountable for unethical business practices. In this regard, effective measures are required to be adopted with the aim of improving the accounting practices of the organisation. With regard to the ethical principles in the accounting functions in CPL, the organisation has been witnessed to conserve strong set values and standards while performing recordkeeping and various financial reporting activities. The ethical considerations in the accounting principles of CPL are highly abided by the accountants, the auditors and other executive members with the aim of critically regulating as well as administering financial information associated with each business activity. Providing values and practices of well-built ethical standards can be considered as a major set of strategies that significantly empowers organisations to establish a strong and sustainable position in any industry. In relation to the current ethical and governance practices in CPL, it has been observed that continuous focus on improving quality, transparency and accountability are few of the major aspects of ethical norms that protect the company from various types of issues. From a company perspective, the detailed disclosure of financial information along with auditing tools that are widely accepted by the stakeholders help CPL to mitigate various issues associated with its various ethical concerns. The adherence to ethical regulations further enhances the transparency and accountability of the organisation while representing financial reports to its diverse stakeholder groups. In addition, the ethical regulations relating to the reporting processes also pertains major factors that further help the company to prevent issues associated with conflict of interests and facilitate it to build strong relationship with stakeholders. Identifying Actual Possible Breaches of Professional Ethics With reference to the guiding principles and obligations of IFAC, there are number of policies that determine the actual possible breach of professional ethics. According to the primary concept of professional ethics, the guiding principles of IFAC obligate professional competence along with their accountabilities in order to protect ethical practices in the accounting activities (Association of Accounting Technicians, 2013). The ethical considerations in the accounting principles of CPL are highly abided by the accountants, the auditors and other executive members with the aim of administering information. Accordingly, the financial accountants ensure that the financial information are presented accurately However, the company has also faced a major issues associated with recordkeeping and implementation of effective cost-benefit analysis tools by the accounts and auditors. The concern associated with the implementation of effective cost-benefits analysis method has been occurred due to the recruitment of individuals with lack of experience and inappropriate knowledge. Moreover, less focus on monitoring accounting functions by the executives along with inappropriate guidance regarding their compliance with the accounting principles have been also considered to accountable for inappropriate financial interpretattions. The inadequate focus on improving professional ethics of the accountants and administering their recordkeeping activities in response to the ethical principles of the company has also been witnessed to adversely affect the overall performance of the organisation. In this regard, the accounting system at CPL should emphasis towards providing appropriate guidance to improve the level of accountability and integrity of the auditors to avoid potential accounting challenges. The actual possible breaches of professional ethics refer to a process of non-compliance with the ethical standards while performing different accounting activities. The possible breaches of professional ethics fundamentally involves non-compliance with principles associated with integrity, objectivity, professional competence as well as due care, confidentiality and professional behaviour of the auditors and other accounting individuals within an organisation (Association of Accounting Technicians, 2013). Conduct a Sustainability Evaluation of the Accounting Systems Chic Paints Ltd is committed to become a sustainable enterprise and in order to do the organisation has launched proactive programs. The proactive program improves the environmental and social performance of the organisation in terms of its products, process, services and facilities. According to the review of the working practices of the organisation, it has been identified that the organisation has faced challenges to track its progress in relation to sustainability and communication. In this regards, the organisation has faced challenges from both employees and other important stakeholders. Thus, the business report is intended to assist business decision makers to improve the impact of three dimensions measurements in terms of economic, social and environment (Fiksel & et. al., 1999). Evaluate the Accounting System against Sustainable Principles The accounting system of CPL was usually used an indigenous and integrated information technology system in order to ensure that the objectives of the management are accomplished successfully. CPL has used an indigenous and integrated information technology system with the aim of enhancing the speed as well as accuracy of accounting system. Apart from this, the organisation has also focussed on reducing the cost of its accounting system. Moreover, CPL has implemented integrated information technology system because the installation procedure of the system is convenient as compared to other sophisticated integrated packages or software. At the same this, the organisation has identified that this system can be used via Microsoft Office 2013, which will help the accountants to record financial transactions suitably (According to case study). CPL has used windows 7 operating system installed with Microsoft Office 2013 in its official computers for recording and storing the accounting and financial records. CPL accounts department uses Microsoft Excel spreadsheets in order to update the general accounts receivable and accounts payable ledgers. At the same time, CPL produces trial balance, cash flow and budgetary information in order to audit its own accounting and financial system. Apart from this, the organisation creates standard costing and variance analysis system, which helped the organisation to supervise and regulate the company’s performance on monthly basis. The accounting practices and policies of CPL are based on certain procedure. In this context, when buyer place a purchase order enters the details of the order on the computerised inventory system. Subsequently, the warehouse staff members check the ‘Goods Received Note’ (GRN) from the consumers and correspondingly, the accountants gather information from the warehouse staff about the delivery of the product. Finally, the transactions are recorded on the ledger. Accountants of the company use payable system in order to identify the creditors, who have not paid their due amount on time. Simultaneously, the accountants of CPL review the company’s cash position in order to identify the termed payment date of debtors. On the other hand, CPL promised to pay their supplier according to the assured payment date of debtors. CPL paid the due amount to its suppliers according to the assured time. In order to attain that objective, the organisation has involved its financial procedure with the ‘bank automated clearing system’ (BACS). In case of sales and customer receipts, the operations are conducted by professional sales force with the aim of identifying new markets as well as customers. Additionally, the sales force is also entrusted with the responsibility of dealing with existing customers regularly. In case of a new customer, the company usually trade in cash transactions for a one-month period and after that stage, the trade operations are made on certain credit limit, which are set internally. In case of regular customers, the company provides two months of grace period for paying the overdue amounts. Correspondingly, the company provides notification via telephone calls, e-mails and letters to its customers. Subsequently, CPL maintaining its financial and accounting operations through practicing these principles has been able to conduct operations with better sustainability. Identify Where Improvements Could Be Made to Improve Sustainability In order to improve the sustainability of the accounting system, the company is required to focus on the economic, social and environmental factors. In order to do such, CPL needs to concentrate on sustainability accounting instead of traditional financial accounting. The traditional financial accounting process only contains internal stocks along cash flows. It defines the financial position of an organisation through the help of balance sheet and profit and loss account. Sustainability accounting is an integrated process and it determines the internal accounts in order to calculate costs and benefits relating to economic, social and environmental performances. Additionally, it also encompasses the accounting boundaries in order to consider the monetary value of external impacts (Johnston et. al., 2003). Figure 1: From Traditional to Sustainability Accounting Source: (Johnston et. al., 2003) The internal sustainability accounting might summarises the internal financial flows related to the performance of economic, social and environmental dimensions. Apart from this, the costs and benefit analysis helps to recognise the previously hidden financial information relating to prominent environmental expenditures and previously hidden savings. The accounting process might extracts the information of existing accounting systems and it might represents the sustainability related to elements of current expenditure, which is directly linked with associated financial benefits in terms of extra revenue or an incurred cost (Johnston & et. al., 2003). In this regards, it can be asserted that through sustainable accounting system, CPL ascertains cost reduction of raw materials and labours cost. Moreover, sustainability accounting might also help the organisation to improve the product life cycle. Apart from this, sustainable accounting also aids in developing good relationship with customers and suppliers as well as investors. Moreover, the organisation might also audit its financial reports and performances in an efficient manner through maintaining the sustainable accounting significantly. In this respect, the organisations with the assistance of sustainability accounting might be able to enhance the decision making approach. Similarly, the reports generated on the basis of sustainable accounting might enhance the process of performance measurement. Consequently, the organisation might focus on its products and quality issues. Subsequently, the organisation can periodically review its business approach and accordingly, make required modification in order to ensure sustainable business performances. Thus, it can be asserted that in order to improve the performances of sustainable accounting, the organisation requires to emphasis towards resources and value indicators (Johnston & et. al., 2003). Recommendations Identify Weaknesses and Make Recommendations for Improvement Based on the analysis of the study, it has been observed that CPL has faced challenges for adopting traditional accounting system in the field of ethical and sustainability considerations. In this respect, the organisation identifying the issues in relation to traditional accounting system is required to adopt a modern accounting system with the aim of mitigating the challenges currently faced. Identify the Weaknesses and Clearly Explained Along With Their Impact upon the Organisation CPL is identified to hire accountants with inadequate practical experiences of recording and analysing financial information. Moreover, it has been observed that the accounting system of the organisation is based on traditional accounting approaches. In this context, the accounting staff members are required to interpret and record financial information on the basis of traditional accounting practices, which has raised difficulties for the organisation in order to measures the cost benefit analysis. Thus, it can be asserted that lack of training facilities for the accounting staff members have initiated the challenges of inappropriate analysis and presentation of financial information. Simultaneously, it has been identified that the organisation has faced challenges due to its credit payment operating system with its suppliers and customers. Respectively, the firm has faced several difficulties in the management of working capital due to its acceptance of credit facility among its customers, which raised the issue of delay in payment to its suppliers. The aforementioned factors are identified as the major weaknesses that are adversely affecting the ethical and sustainable accounting system of the organisation in its daily operations. CPL in order to mitigate the challenges raised for traditional accounting system is required to adopt sustainability accounting system in order to improve the overall performances. The organisation is also needed to hire experienced individuals in the accounts team, who have practical experiences of recording and analysing financial information. Apart from this, the accounting employees hired are required to be professional in the field of preparing standard costing, variance analysis and working capital management among others. At same time, the organisation can provide training to the accountant staffs in order to enhance ability, skills and performance. Thus, it can be recommended that in order to provide training to the accounting staff members, the organisation should adopt the manual training system rather than just providing training through written information or help menus. The organisation is required to avoid credit transactions with suppliers, which has raise several issues regarding credit payments in order to enhance the business performance and accounting sustainability. The organisation needs to change its operating approach by avoiding the credit facility to customers and suppliers. Respectively, the organisation with the assistance of the measures might be able to conduct its business operations ethically and sustainably (Johnston & et. al., 2003). Identify the Effects That Any Changes Would Have On the Users of the System CPL with the implementation of the sustainability accounting system might have both positive and negative effects on the present accounting approach of the organisation. The organisation recruiting experienced accountants might possess professional experiences in sustainable accounting rather than traditional accounting. Apart from this, experienced accountant might have the practical experience of recording and analysing financial information better than the present accounting staff members of the organisation might. In this context, the organisation hiring experienced accounting staff members as well as provide training services might be facilitated with the opportunity of interpreting financial information appropriately and accordingly, improve business operations. On the contrary, the organisation hiring experienced accountant staff team will increases its expenses, as it is required to pay more salary. Additionally, the organisation might increase operational expenses for providing better training services to employees. . Additionally, the organisation avoiding credit transactions with suppliers might be able to improve business relationship in terms of availability raw materials and quality issues. In contrast, the organisation conducting business operations without credit facility might face difficulties in relation to working capital management, which might eventually affect the production system and profitability margin. Simultaneously, the organisation demolishing credit facility to the consumers might adversely affect the sales volume. However, the organisation with the implementation of cash on delivery system might be able to change the organisational culture positively. Thus, it can be asserted that the organisation implementing the accounting system might witness both positive as well as negative effects in its business operations. Cost Benefit Analysis Cost benefit analysis (CBA) techniques is regarded as one of the most effective and widely accepted tools to successfully deal with costs associated with business activities within an organisation. The techniques are often considered as common business tools to compare the overall capital investment of a particular project against its expected outcomes or returns (Kelman, n.d.). In the modern business environment, there are various number of cost-benefit analysis techniques that enable organisations to measure financial performance value and profitability margin. Few of the major techniques have been described hereunder. Net Present Value (NPV) Net Present Value (NPV) is often referred as an effective cost benefit technique for modern organisations to make effective financial decisions. It is a modern method for appraising investment proposal. NPV method considers the ‘time value of money’. It compares the monetary value at present time with future days. In this regard, NPV might help CPL to assess the investment decisions in order to determine strengths as well as weaknesses of business deals. NPV is a calculated by adding total Present Value (PV) with initial investment amount (Cellini & Kee, 2010). Internal Rate of Return (IRR) Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is considered as one of the most effective tools of cost-benefit techniques for assessing investment profitability of an organisation. The technique enables the owners or the financial department of an organisation to determine whether or not, the investment might generate a profit that secures the investment costs (Lam, n.d.). Payback Period Payback period is a traditional and effective cost-benefit analysis method of assessing investment proposal. It is a simple technique for defining investment prospective costs associated with different organisational activities including investments within fixed assets, employee wages and compensation along with discrepancies in processing time for training and implementation. Payback period helps to describe the amount of time requires for recovering the initial investment amount (Kaplan Financial Limited, 2012). The implementation of cost benefit analysis in the business functions of CPL will provide various beneficial aspects to the organization. Strengthening profit margin and reducing costs of production are the major advantageous factors of the method that can improve the quality along with reliability of the organisation’s accounting practices. The cost- benefit analysis techniques might also be implemented ethically, which might increase the value of CPL. Moreover, ensuring adequate compliance of protecting environment from various expensive materials and using easily consumable elements might further protect the organization to reduce ethical challenges while practicing cost benefit analysis. The implementation of any of the aforesaid cost-benefit analysis technique will further enable CPL to gain appropriate results of the hidden costs. For example, the implementation of IRR or Payback Period will enable the organisation to administer costs associated with recruitment activities, staff benefits along with non-contributory pension and costs associated with training and development of the staff members within the organisation (Kaplan Financial Limited, 2012; Lam, n.d.). Conclusion The emergence of accounting principles and practices has been witnessed to empower the sustainable position of organisations. In relation to the recent increasing competitive business scenario, organisations seek to make continuous development as well as refurbishment of the accounting practices and standards to mitigate different potential issues. With regard to the aforesaid discussion, the research report is determined to explore the current accounting systems and techniques at CPL and evaluate ethical standards of the company in its various accounting information and recordkeeping activities. According to an in-depth understanding of the current scenario, it has been observed that the accounting practices at CPL ensure adequate and strong principles to perform its range of financial reporting and recordkeeping activities. However, the company is recognised to be involved with a number of incompetent attributes relating to its accounting practices. The process of involving inexperienced executives along with improper training and development of the staff members has radically lowered the value and best practice of accounting in the organisation. Moreover, the non-compliance with the fundamental accounting practices as well as overlooking globally accepted principles has lowered the value and reliability of the accounting functions in CPL. In this regard, the recommendations provided in response to the issues associated with accounting practices has been illustrated to establish a set of strong and reliable accounting practices in the organisation. The organisation with the assistance of the recommended strategies of adopting sustainability accounting system, developing training services, recruiting experienced accountants and adopting cost benefit analysis among others might be facilitated in conducting business operations ethically and sustainably. References Association of Accounting Technicians, 2013. AAT Code of Professional Ethics. General Application of the Code. [Online] Available at: https://www.aat.org.uk/sites/default/files/assets/AAT_Code_of_Professional_Ethics.pdf [Accessed July 16, 2014]. Cellini, S. R. & Kee, J. E., 2010. Cost - Effectiveness and Cost - Benefit Analysis. Chapter Twenty One. [Online] Available at: http://home.gwu.edu/~scellini/CelliniKee21.pdf [Accessed July 16, 2014]. Deloitte LLP, No Date. Ethics and Compliance. Home. 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