Columbia Corporation is a midsize, diversified manufacturing company. Ryon Pulsipher has been promoted recently to manager of the company’s property account¬ ing division. Ryon has had difficulty responding to requests from other departments for information about the company’s fixed assets. Five of the requests and problems Ryon has been involved with follow:

1 The controller has requested schedules of individual fixed assets to support the balance in the general ledger. Although Ryon has furnished the necessary information, it has always been late. The manner in which the records are organized makes it difficult to obtain information easily.

2 The maintenance manager wishes to verify the existence of a punch press that he thinks was repaired twice. He has asked Ryon to confirm the asset number and location of the press.

3 The insurance department wants data on the cost and book values of assets to include in its review of current insurance coverage.

4 The tax department has requested data that can be used to determine when Columbia should switch depreciation methods for tax purposes.

5 The company’s internal auditors have spent a significant amount of time in the property accounting division in a recent attempt to confirm the annual depreci¬ ation expense.

The property account records that are at Ryon’s disposal are maintained in an Excel spreadsheet. These records show the date the asset was acquired, the account number to which the asset applies, the dollar amount capitalized, and the estimated useful life of the asset for depreciation purposes.

After many frustrations, Ryon realized that his records are inadequate and that he cannot supply data easily when requested. He has decided to discuss his problems with the controller. Gig Griffith.

RYON: Gig, something has to give. My people are working overtime and can’t keep up. You worked in property accounting before you became controller. You know that 1 can’t tell the tax, insurance, and maintenance people everything they need to knowfrom my records. Also, the internal auditing team is living in my area and that slows down the work pace. The requests of these people are reasonable, and we should be able to answer their questions and provide the needed data. I think we need an automated property accounting system. I would like to talk with the AIS people to see if they can help me.

GIG: Ryon, 1 think you have a great idea. Just be sure you are personally involved in the design ofany system so that you get all the information you need. Keep me posted on the project’s progress.

Required

a. Identify and justify four major objectives Columbia Corporation’s automated property accounting system should possess to respond to departmental requests for information.

b. Identify the data that should be included in the data base for each asset included in the property account.