Team Project: Understanding Business Form teams as assigned by your instructor. Choose a business organization in your vicinity that has five or more employees.

Call someone in authority at that organization, such as the Owner, manager, or controller. Explain the nature of your project and ask to make an appointment to visit that person, or another person suggested by the person to whom you are speaking, at their place of business. Complete each of the following steps and incorporate all information gathered into a formal memo to your instructor:

a. Make sure you follow the appropriate etiquette for a professional visit, with special emphasis on appropriate behavior and dress.

b. Gather whatever general information you can about the organization from the library or your own knowledge or that of friends. What is the organization’s primary product or service? About how long has the organization been in existence? Approximately how large is the organization, and how many locations does it have?

When you visit the organization, look around and observe as much as you can about the general environment and the activities. Write a description of what you see. Are the organization’s primary activities conducted at that location?

Ask the person with whom you have an appointment at the organization the following:

1. What form of organization (proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or other) is used by the entity, and what are the primary considerations in using that form of organization?

2. Does the entity provide accounting or financial reports to any external parties? If so, what types of reports does it issue, and to whom?

3. Does the entity use the same accounting information for internal decision making that it provides to external parties? If not, how does the information used internally differ from information reported externally? If the entity does not report to any external parties, determine what types of accounting information and financial reports are used internally.

4. Ask one additional question from each member of your team about the entity, its operations, or its financial reporting system.

Prepare and send a thank-you letter to the person who helped you at the organization. Attach a copy of the letter to the memo you prepare for your instructor.