Project 2: Accounting for ManagersStart HereCongratulations on making it to your second month of work at Maryland Creative Solutions, LLC (MCS)! The senior partner, Frank Marinara, is pleased with your work so far in your role as an economic analyst. He is so satisfied that he is considering promoting you to the role of senior analyst to oversee major projects in economics, finance, and accounting. However, before you are recommended for promotion, Frank wants to challenge you by assigning you to a corporate accounting project that MCS has been awarded after winning a competitive bid. He sets up a virtual meeting with you to discuss the details.Calendar InviteLocation: Virtual MeetingMeeting Organizer: Frank MarinaraTranscript“I wanted to meet today about assigning you with a corporate accounting project. Accounting is a critical function of any business and we are responsible for providing our clients with valid and reliable advice on their accounting practices. This skill set is very important in mergers and acquisitions because our clients need to know how to analyze and evaluate financial statements."I’m handing down this assignment from our First managing director, Elisa Izuki, who heads the accounting projects group in MCS. She has asked for a complete review and ratio analysis of the quarterly and annual financial statements for one of our clients, Choice Hotels International."This client is trying to identify areas of improvement in their operations and explore options to reduce their debt. Your examination of their three most recent quarters and two most recent years will be very helpful."You’ll use their 10-Q and 10-K reports to get this done. I recommend you analyze the 10-K financial reports using accounting and finance ratios. An examination of their balance sheet will also help them manage their assets. Keep in mind that compliance with established accounting standards will be essential for the success of this project."Integrity, honesty, and transparency are important factors to consider as you conduct your financial statement review and analysis."I’ll send over the steps to completing the project for your clarity, please read them carefully and submit all deliverables.That’s it for now, please reach out should you have any questions."Have a good one, bye."You are excited to build on your work in applied economics and become a key member of MCS. You will start by researching the basic principles of accounting and financial statements before you dive into the client's financial reports. Click Step 1 to get started!When you submit your project, your work will be evaluated using the competencies listed below. You can use the list below to self-check your work before submission.1.3: Provide sufficient, correctly cited support that substantiates the writer’s ideas. 1.6: Follow conventions of Standard Written English. 1.7: Create neat and professional looking documents appropriate for the project or presentation. 3.1: Identify numerical or mathematical information that is relevant in a problem or situation.3.2: Employ mathematical or statistical operations and data analysis techniques to arrive at a correct or optimal solution.3.3: Analyze mathematical or statistical information, or the results of quantitative inquiry and manipulation of data.3.4: Employ software applications and analytic tools to analyze, visualize, and present data to inform decision-making.5.1: Develop constructive resolutions for ethical dilemmas based on application of ethical theories, principles and models.10.2: Analyze financial statements to evaluate and optimize organizational performance.Project 2: Accounting for ManagersStep 1: Review Financial StatementsAs you start your second month of work at Maryland Creative Solutions, LLC (MCS), the senior partner, Frank Marinara, has been pleased with your work as an economic analyst. He would like to turn your attention to a corporate accounting project. Here are the details:Dialogue with Frank Marinara“I wanted to meet today about assigning you a corporate accounting project. It is necessary to understand the client’s accounting and strategy before we can consider recommendations.Choice Hotels’ accounting is audited by Ernst & Young LLP. This same firm audits their internal controls. As a result of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), Choice Hotels must rely on a different firm for accounting advice, and it will likely use one of the other big four accounting firms.I am handing down this assignment from our managing director, Elisa Izuki, who heads the accounting projects group in MCS. She has asked for a complete review and ratio analysis of the most recent 10-K annual financial statements for Choice Hotels International, Inc. “Speaking of financial statements,” Frank adds, “the most common financial statements are the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows. While you are at it, you should know a bit about accounting conventions and standards in the United States.”Your goal is to develop an understanding of the business of Choice Hotels using the 2018 annual report that the company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission (10-K). I recommend you analyze the 10-K financial reports using accounting and finance ratios after you read key parts of the Document.Ratio analysis is especially difficult because Choice Hotels is one of the largest hotel franchisors in the world. The company does not sell any products and has no inventory, and because of this, some traditional analyses does not apply.Also, the company has had and continues to have an aggressive Treasury stock repurchase program, and this has caused negative equity on the balance sheet. Many companies have had stock repurchase programs in recent history. Choice Hotels has been among the most aggressive in Treasury stock repurchase programs. The negative equity means that we cannot use ratios like Return on Equity and Debt to Equity. Fortunately, there are other ratios we can use.Choice Hotels’ management recently completed a large acquisition. You need to understand what was acquired. The first part of the 10-K Document has useful information that describes the business, the risk factors, and Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. This information is beneficial to your analysis. Analysts use the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in the 10-K Document to evaluate the riskiness of the debt. The notes also state that Choice Hotels has an investment grade credit rating. However, the interest rates seem high compared to our other clients. Both Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s rate Choice Hotels’ debt as the lowest investment grade BBB- and Baa3 with a stable outlook.I’ll send over an Excel workbook with questions for you to complete. These questions require an understanding of the client, its strategy, and appropriate ratios. Please read the questions carefully and submit all deliverables. That is it for now. Please reach out should you have any questions.”After you have completed your review of Choice Hotels’ financial reports, you will need to complete a horizontal analysis.To complete your assignment for Elisa and Frank, perform the following tasks during Week 3:Download the Project 2 Excel Workbook that MCS developed in house, read the instructions page carefully, and review the most recent Choice Hotels’ 10-Q reports and two recent 10-K reports found on the SEC website. The link to the report is embedded within the Project 2 Excel Workbook.Perform a horizonal analysis by completing the Income Statement and Balance Sheet worksheets within the Project 2 Excel Workbook.Answer the questions in the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow worksheets within the Project 2 Excel Workbook.Submit your Project 2 Excel Workbook for feedback to the submission folder located in the final step of this project.Now that you have completed Step 1, proceed to Step 2, where you will evaluate business operations of Choice Hotels based on the completion of a ratio analysis. Project 2: Accounting for ManagersStep 2: Evaluate Business Performance Using Ratio AnalysisMCS asks that analysts review the financial health of the client’s business by completing ratio analysis. Frank explains that Choice Hotels has an aggressive strategy to grow revenues and stock price. The company does this by accepting ratios that might be outside normal industry ranges.Ratio analysis is an analytical tool for understanding financial results and trends over time, and for providing key indicators of organizational performance. Typically, ratios are calculated by using data from the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows. This information can be found in the 10-K Document. MCS uses a customized worksheet to report ratio calculations, results, analysis, and recommendations for clients.Financial ratios are used for many types of businesses in various industries. For a hospitality business such as Choice Hotels, you have selected a set of financial accounting ratios that are most appropriate for the client.Frank stops by your office to give a few pointers:Dialogue with Frank Marinara“Choice Hotels would like us to look at their balance sheet and provide them with guidance on what they should or should not do to better manage their assets.“Balance sheet ratios like the fixed-asset turnover ratio are commonly used in the valuation of inventory,” he adds. Other balance sheet ratios include working capital.”Your ratio calculations should be completed in the Ratio Analysis worksheet in the Project 2 Excel Workbook.Complete the workbook with data from the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Statement of Cash Flows worksheets. As part of your analysis of Choice Hotels’ strategy, you will also need to answer a few questions in the worksheet.When you have finished, submit the workbook to the submission folder located in the final step of this project.When you have completed Step 2, proceed to Step 3, where you will discuss accounting ethics.Project 2: Accounting for ManagersStep 3: Participate in Discussion of Accounting EthicsChoice Hotels requires high levels of integrity, honesty, and transparency in the development of financial reports. They must ensure compliance with the standards articulated by international bodies like the Financial Accounting Standards Board, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Board.Before 2002 and prior to SOX there were a number of high profile frauds in public companies. Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, and Sunbeam come to mind. These companies had CEOs prosecuted for fraud under mail fraud and securities laws. In 2002 SOX became law. During the following 8 to 10 years, Congress and dozens of accountants claimed that SOX had dramatically increased the penalties for fraud. That was true in theory but not in the real world.Since SOX became law in 2002, only one CEO, Richard Scrushy, has been prosecuted under SOX. He was acquitted! None of the CEOs who participated in mortgage securities fraud during the 2008 financial crisis, went to jail or even get prosecuted.Calendar InviteEvent: MCS Special Retreat: Ethics in FocusLocation: Executive RoomMeeting Organizer: Elisa IzukiThe managing director, Elisa Izuki, would like you and your team of MCS consultants to develop an appreciation for ethical accounting standards and the need for objectivity in your analysis. With that in mind, she invites all the consultants working on the Choice Hotels project to an offsite company retreat. During the retreat, a considerable amount of time is devoted to a discussion of topics related to accounting ethics.Assuming you and your colleagues are attending the retreat, go to the Accounting Ethics Discussion, and complete the following tasks:Discuss why integrity, honesty, and transparency are essential in financial reporting. Give credit to any sources or real-world examples you use to support your statements.GAAP are the general rules, regulations, and guidelines that accountants in the United States follow to ensure their practices are legal and ethical. Explain to your colleagues why GAAP is so useful. Give credit to any sources or real-world examples you use to support your statements.Later in the week, after you are back in your office, you have a follow-up discussion with your MCS colleagues in an effort to summarize the key lessons you have learned from your discussion on ethics in finance and accounting at the past weekend’s retreat. Respond to your colleagues' original discussion posts and give credit to any sources you use to support your statements.During Week 4, submit one original posting of at least 250 words in the Accounting Ethics Discussion by Saturday and any responses to other discussion participants that add new information by Tuesday. See MBA discussion guidelines.When you have finished Step 3, proceed to Step 4, where you will present your recent findings from Steps 1 to 3 in an executive summary.Project 2: Accounting for ManagersStep 4: Prepare Executive SummaryINBOX (1 NEW EMAIL)From: Frank Marinara, MCS Senior PartnerTo: YouNow that you’re at the end of your project with Choice Hotels, please prepare an executive summary based on your analysis and recommendations from the previous steps. This executive summary, along with citations for any sources you use, should be about one page in length. Post your executive summary in the submission folder located in the final step of this project.The executive summary should demonstrate your ability to think critically. This is your chance to be recognized for your knowledge in the accounting and finance field.Thanks for your continued efforts.Best,FrankComplete your executive summary in Week 4. When you have completed Step 4, proceed to Step 5, where you will submit all work for Project 2.