1.) Consider a proposed business (e.g., restaurant, retailer, electronics, software provider, etc.) and develop some initial ideas about what considerations need to be taken into account for the company to reach profitability. Answer the following questions in your groups:

• Describe your business. What product or service will you provide? What will your high-level strategy be: to focus on cost/efficiency or provide high value?
• How much will you charge for your product, and what factors do you have to consider for setting the sale price?
• What would be the variable costs you would have to consider for your business?
• What would be the fixed costs you would have to consider for your business?
• Do you believe that your business can break-even in its first year? Why or why not? Make sure to take volume into account.

2) Can you imagine accountants as American cowboys of the Wild, Wild West in the 1800s? I can. And they can be dangerous. Yeehaw! Yippee-i-o-i-a!" (Cokins, 2013)

One of the readings this week is an article published in ablog by TRG Internationalwhich compares managerial accountants to cowboys in the Wild West. The main argument provided by the author stems from the many rules imposed on financial accountants and the comparative lack of rules for managerial accountants. In BUSI 1043 (Introduction to Financial Accounting) we learned about the effects of Enron, World Com, and Arthur Anderson as well as many other companies who committed fraud and the resulting impact/creation of governing bodies. As a result of such scandals, many accounting standards were created with the purpose of trying to mitigate the risk of fraud occurring in the future. However, there are very few rules and regulations for managerial accountants (similar to the cowboys of the Wild West).

Do you agree or disagree with the author's arguments? Please choose one section of the article and provide your thoughts and analysis.

3) Theft of computer data is a huge issue. Many times, employees have information on their computers that needs to be kept absolutely secure. A savvy thief will know that this sort of information could be sold.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) is the central agency in Canada that collects information and criminal intelligence on such matters as mass marketing fraud (e.g., telemarketing), advance fee fraud (e.g., West African letters), Internet fraud, and identification theft complaints.

Select a current article, within the last 3 months, on the Canadian Anti-Fraud website and discuss it with your peers.

What did you find interesting and disturbing?