The template must be followed
AM001 Assessment Instructions
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Review the details of your assessment including the rubric. You will have the ability to submit the assessment once you submit your required pre-assessment and engage with your Faculty Subject Matter Expert (SME) in a substantive way about the competency.
Overview
For this Performance Task Assessment, you will take on the role of a consultant to provide a report on using accounting information for decision making to a fictional organization so they can better prepare for the future.
Assessment Submission Length: 6- to 9-page business report (excluding title page and references) and a budget and performance report in Excel.Instructions
To complete this Assessment, do the following:
Contact your subject matter expert (SME) for the company-specific information you will be analyzing for this Assessment.In the AM001_Assessment_Template_Part1 file, complete your work on the Assessment, using your Pre-Assessment submission as a starting point and incorporating any feedback, as appropriate.Download the AM001_Assessment_Template_Part2 (Excel spreadsheet).Be sure to adhere to the indicated assignment length.
Before submitting your Assessment, carefully review the rubric. This is the same rubric the assessor will use to evaluate your submission and it provides detailed criteria describing how to achieve or master the Competency. Many students find that understanding the requirements of the Assessment and the rubric criteria help them direct their focus and use their time most productively.
Important Information on Interpreting the Assessment Rubric (click to expand)
Rubric
All submissions must follow the conventions of scholarly writing. Properly formatted APA citations and references must be provided, where appropriate. Submissions that do not meet these expectations will be returned without scoring.
This Assessment requires submission of a 6- to 9-page report, excluding title page and references, as well as a budget and performance report in a single Excel spreadsheet. Save both of these files as AM001_firstinitial_lastname, one for each file type (for example, AM001_J_Smith.docx and AM001_J_Smith.xlsx).
You may submit a draft of your assignment to the Turnitin Draft Check area to check for authenticity. When you are ready to upload your completed Assessment, use the Assessment tab on the top navigation menu.
Important Note: As a student taking this Competency, you agree that you may be required to submit your Assessment for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted Assessment materials will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such materials. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the Usage Policy posted on the Turnitin.com site.
Using Accounting Information for Decision Making
AMcarParts, Inc., a midsize manufacturer of after-market automotive parts, has had an unexpected amount of turnover in its leadership staff, leaving the owners in need of someone who can help them understand accounting concepts, such as strategic planning, budgeting, and forecasting. You have been hired as a consultant to help the owners understand this information for future planning and to assist them with some immediate budgeting needs and concerns.
The product of your analysis will be a business report on using accounting information for decision making that would be delivered to the owners of a midsize manufacturer. In addition to the requirements that follow, be sure to incorporate references to appropriate academic sources, such as those found in the learning resources from this Competency, or those in the Walden Library.
Important Note: Although these instructions contain the basic framework for this Assessment, you will need additional information to complete it. When you are ready to begin the Assessment, ask your SME for the additional items that you will need. Your SME will send you further instructions, templates, documents, and any other needed information.
Your formal report should address the following four parts:
Click each of the items below for more information on this Assessment.
Part 1: Financial Information for Decision Making (3–4 pages)
In Part 1 of your business report, you are to provide an analysis on financial statements, strategic planning, budgeting, and forecasting. In the context of this Assessment, the organization’s leaders would use this information to develop their draft budget, which they would then provide to you in Part 2. In your analysis, address the following:
Describe the four basic financial statements—income statement, statement of stockholders’ equity, statement of financial position (also known as a balance sheet), and statement of cash flows—and the purpose of each.Compare the concepts of strategic planning, budgeting, and forecasting for an organization. Specifically:Describe each concept and the ways they are interrelated, as well as their differences.Analyze the role that each concept plays within an organization. In your analysis, be sure to include how strategic planning, budgeting, and forecasting are used to improve organizational performance.Be sure to include citations and references to support your work.Explain what responsibility centers are (in general), as well as the three types of responsibility centers: cost centers, profit centers, and investment centers.Identify the decision rights assigned to each type of center, being sure to include examples for each type of responsibility center.
Part 2: Budget Preparation
In Part 2 of your business report, you will prepare a budget in Excel and demonstrate how it was developed. You will use the organization’s year-end income statement and ideas the company has for the upcoming year, which will be provided by your SME. Be sure to address the following:
Using the AM001_Assessment_Template_Part2 document, prepare a budget of the upcoming year for the organization.Illustrate to the organization how each line item in the budget was prepared. (Note: You will include these notes in the indicated cells within the Assessment Template.)Note: In addition to submitting your work in Excel, you will insert your budget and your notes into your main document. For information on inserting data from Excel into Word, refer to the following:Microsoft. (n.d.). Insert a chart from an Excel spreadsheet into Word. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/insert-a-chart-from-an-excel-spreadsheet-into-word-0b4d40a5-3544-4dcd-b28f-ba82a9b9f1e1
Part 3: Analyzing the Performance Report—Preparing a Flexible Budget (2–3 pages including performance report)
For the next part of your report, you will examine a performance report based on the static budget about which the owners are very concerned. They feel that the unfavorable variances that are reflected in the report indicate an area that needs to be addressed, but they are looking to you for a better understanding and concurrence. Your SME will provide you with a performance report to use for this part of the Assessment, which will look like the following but include the numerical values to replace the variables (i.e., “X”):
Performance Report
For month ending June 20xx
Budget
Actual
Variance Favorable or Unfavorable
Production in Number of Assemblies
X
X
X
Costs:

Indirect Labor
$ X
$ X
$ X
Supplies
$ X
$ X
$ X
Utilities
$ X
$ X
$ X
Total
$ X
$ X
$ X
To complete this part, address the following:
Using the AM001_Assessment_Template_Part2 document, prepare a performance report that includes a flexible budget.Note: In addition to submitting your work in Excel, you will insert your performance report into your main document.In your report, analyze why the original report was incorrect and explain the conclusion you reached based on the performance report.Then identify at least three questions regarding the performance report and include a rationale for why you asked each question.
Part 4: The Balanced Scorecard (1–2 pages)
One of the owners read recently that the balanced scorecard is a strategic-based performance management system and is wondering if it would be beneficial to implement a balanced scorecard approach. For the last part of your report, you will provide an analysis of how using the balanced scorecard can benefit the company. To complete this part, address the following:
Explain how the balanced scorecard communicates strategy and provide examples.Examine the four quadrants on the balanced scorecard, how they are related, and what their impact is on financial performance.
Important Info

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