Business Commons^™

Fortune 500 Ceo Profiles, Lauren Noel

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

This research project analyzes data about the Fortune 500 CEOs and presents differences among the male and female CEOs.

Cpas And Advanced Education, Dominick Thompson

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

I conducted a survey of Minnesota CPAs regarding their perceived benefits of obtaining or not obtaining post-undergraduate education, in addition to having their CPA license.

Gpa & Other Factors That Influence Earnings And Success Among Cpas, Quinn Renshaw

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

No abstract provided.

Student Debt: Impact On Student Choices, Kelsey Cavanaugh

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

In 2010 student loans became the second largest portion of US debt. Today, the estimated total is 1.4 trillion. Over the last decade the average debt per student has increased 56%, which is double the inflation rate for that period. The graduating class of 2014 left college with an average of about $29,000 of debt. Lastly, the number of federal borrowers today is 7.5 million and growing. This presentation examines how student debt affects students’ spending choices after college and what has changed in these patterns over the last decade.

Initial Public Offerings (Ipos), Kevin Keller

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

As an investor, the first rule is to never get caught up in your emotions. There are thousands of different (exciting) investment opportunities in today’s world, and some of them tend to be a bit riskier than others. These consist of stocks, bonds, certificates of deposit, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and several others. However, where do most of these investment tools originate? In order for a stock to be publicly traded on the stock exchange, it must undergo what it called an initial public offering (which I will refer to as an IPO). Since the primary objective is to raise …

Happiness & Accounting/Finance Careers, Jacob Shrode

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

The research question I chose was "Do happiness levels vary among graduates with accounting majors who have chosen different career paths?" The method I used to get my data was a survey. Overall, the average happiness score from my survey was 4.72/6 (see table 4). The average happiness score in the U.S. is only 4.30. I did a t-test for this and got a p value of .00. With this, I can say that there is substantial evidence to suggest that people who graduate with accounting/finance majors tend to be significantly happier than the average U.S. person.

F-35 And Military Spending, Colin J. Charpentier

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

How does the F-35 Lightning II multirole fighter compare to current military airplanes in terms of costs and capabilities? This is a comparison study based around the F-35 and five other planes. The F-35 is chosen because of its status as an ongoing project and due to its controversy as a plane. This study looks at all values. It is completely numeric based allowing for objective analysis. These planes chosen for study are the F-16 C/D, F/A-18 E/F, F-22A, AV-8B Harrier II, and A-10C. These planes are chosen because the F-35 is meant to replace them in the case of …

Accounting Fraud Motivation, Yuquan (Frank) Yu

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

Accounting fraud is a hot topic in the 21st century. What are the common themes of these accounting scandals?

Lease Accounting Convergence Project: What Are The Impacts Of The New Accounting Standards?, Kevin Jirik

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

Current US GAAP lease accounting standards, with its four part test, and two forms of accounting for leases has existed since the 1970s. Due to cases such as WorldCom and Enron, where the assigning of other assets to remote bankruptcy entities has caused some of the world's largest bankruptcies and misleading financials. The SEC called for elimination of all off sheet financial arrangements to change the guidelines of financial reporting to better reflect the economic transaction and not distort it. The new proposal has created a Right-of-Use model where new assets and liabilities will be created to represent the value …

An Analysis Of International Corporate Tax Reform, Travis D. Gohman

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

This research paper will focus on the current discussion in Washington D.C. regarding the reform of international taxation by the U.S. government. In recent years, multinational companies have been accumulating an ever-increasing amount of undistributed foreign earnings. Critics see this as a loophole to avoid U.S. taxation. Corporations view this as purely a smart business decision since it increases their bottom lines. The primary reason for this trend of not repatriating for foreign earnings is that the U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate of 35 percent. Therefore, with fewer foreign earnings making their way back into the U.S., the …

Capital Gains Tax And Its Effect On Investment, Andrew Long

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

Recently, there has been controversy surrounding the capital gains tax. During his state of the union address, President Obama mentioned the case of Debbie Bosanek as a clear indication that the tax is unfair. Debbie is the secretary of Warren Buffet, and happens to pay fewer taxes than her boss. The primary reason for this is through capital gains. The tax rate on long-term capital gains (assets that have been held for over a year), is less than the tax on regular income, with most people paying about 15% on gains (the highest earners now pay 20%).

Legislature on and …

An Abstract Of "International Accounting Disclosure Standards", Shelley Loberg

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

My thesis examines similarities and differences of disclosure standards from three different countries in three different areas from one multi-national corporation. 1995 financial statements from honeywell Incorporated, the United States parent company, and two Honeywell subsidiaries, one each located in the United Kingdom and Australia are examined for disclosure of accounting policies, accounting for contingencies and accounting for goodwill. Comparisons are given for the standards themselves, as well as the accounting policy chosen by each company. International Accounting Standards are also compared for the three disclosure areas. Comparability, especially for potential investors, is the main focus of harmonizing accounting disclosure …

Where The Guesswork Ends And The Accrual Begins: Environmental Remediation Liabilities And Their Effects On The Managerial Decision-Making Process, Corie Sue Dumdie

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

Environmental remediation is not new, but accounting for the costs of such a process is. In 1996, the first authoritative literature on accounting for the costs of cleaning up environmental degradation were established, and they gave insight into the accounting treatment for environmental remediation liabilities (ERLs). The aim of the thesis is to explain the new accrual methods for ERLs and show their importance as they have influenced many managerial philosophies. The thesis also examines some of the weaknesses of ERLs and illustrates possible changes for the future. The most important aspect of ERLs is that they have helped management …

Passive Activities: An Explanation Of Legislation And Real Estate Tax Planning Strategies, Greg Schlaefer

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

Tax shelters were a sought-after investment in the early and mid 1980's and stil are today. Investments in real estate were commonly tax-shelter type investments. Real estate investments allowed investors to make capital investments up front and depreciate the property quickly, which resulted in losses that would reduce taxable income. However, the passive activity regulations activated through the Tax Reform Act of 1986 minimized the usefulness of these shelters and significantly affected the real estate industry. The passive laws were refined through regulations issued in 1988 and 1989, and the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1993. The passive classification losses from …

Environmental Accounting: An Analysis Of Environmental Liabilities, Mark Evans

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

I have identified the environment as our most important asset and have illustrated how the role it plays in our lives has undergone a metamorphosis. This change in the way we interact with the environment has magnified the accountant¹s deficiency in reporting environmental liabilities. Fortunately, these deficiencies are beginning to be recognized. Changes in environmental accounting will validate the relevancy and reliability of information as well as foster positive environmental practices. Through the influence of consumers, investors, and policy makers, companies will be forced to adapt new accounting procedures. In reporting and recording the social costs that businesses occur, a …

Understanding Postretirement Benefit Accounting, Paul Northway Wilmesmeier

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

No abstract provided.