ACC 630 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric Overview According to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), CPAs in today’s environment must not only have a high level of technical competence and a sense of commitment to service, but they must also have good communication and analytical skills and the ability to work well with people

Question

ACC 630 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric

Overview

According to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), CPAs in today’s environment must not only have a high level of technical competence and a sense of commitment to service, but they must also have good communication and analytical skills and the ability to work well with people. Employers are looking for individuals who have the ability to analyze and evaluate complex business problems and the interpersonal skills and maturity to make decisions in a client and customer service environment.

In your final project for this course, you will apply your cumulative knowledge from the financial reporting courses you have taken to address advanced accounting topics. The topics in this course will integrate the accounting competencies needed to work in an organizational setting. You will apply accounting foundations to advanced, real-world situations by demonstrating knowledge and skills to determine solutions.

The project is divided into three milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Three, Five, and Seven. The final project will be submitted in Module Nine.

In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:

Differentiate between partnerships and corporations for selecting an appropriate business entity
Analyze the effects of consolidations on financial statements for proper reporting
Determine effective strategies for estate planning to minimize tax liability
Evaluate the need for trusts in various scenarios for income protection

Prompt

For this project, imagine you are a new CPA in an accounting firm. You have been asked to prepare a report on the differences in accounting practices for partnerships versus corporations in different scenarios, such as a major lawsuit, consolidation, estate planning, and use of a trust. You are to use a particular large corporation as your comparative example. Choose one of the following: Walmart, Kroger, Amazon, Costco, The Home Depot, CVS Health Corporation, or Target. You don’t have to choose a particular partnership for comparison.

Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

Business Entities—Partnerships and Corporations

Assume your company is involved in a major lawsuit. The probable damages are estimated to be $2,000,000.

1. Describe the effects damage estimates would have on the financial statements of a corporation and a partnership.
2. How do disclosure requirements differ from a corporation to a partnership, and what information is required?
3. Are the shareholders at risk for any personal liability with the company set up as a corporation? Defend your response.
4. If your company was set up as a partnership, would the partners be at risk for personal liability? Defend your response.

Consolidations of Financial Statements
1. Based on research from your chosen company, explain the corporate structure in terms of consolidation. How is the company organized from a consolidated viewpoint? What are the reasons for this particular type of organization?
2. How does the consolidation impact how the accounting information flows into the consolidated financial statement? Describe the process.
3. Are there any income tax benefits from consolidating the financial statements for your company? Support your response.

Estate Planning
1. In terms of minimizing tax liability, how would estate planning differ from a partnership to a corporation?
2. For estate planning purposes, what are the advantages of setting your business up as a corporation versus a partnership? Defend your response.
3. Describe your company’s succession plan and whether it aligns with your company’s vision.
4. Based on your responses, what estate planning strategy would be most effective in minimizing tax liability? Why?

Trusts
1. Draw a conclusion about the purpose for the company’s trust based on the research of your company.
2. Why would a small business owner want to set up a trust, and how could it be used for estate planning purposes?
3. Evaluate the similarities and differences between trusts and corporations. In an attempt to protect income, which would be most suitable for a company?

Milestones

Milestone One: Business Entities—Partnerships and Corporations

In Module Three, you will submit Section I of your final project. You will be asked to consider how, based on the type of entity, a given scenario might affect the company. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone One Rubric.

Milestone Two: Estate Planning

In Module Five, you will submit Section III of your final project. You will be asked how estate planning affects tax liability strategy and succession planning. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Two Rubric.

Milestone Three: Trusts

In Module Seven, you will submit Section IV of your final project. You will be asked how the use of trusts affects estate planning and income protection. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Three Rubric.

Final Submission: Advanced Accounting Report

In Module Nine, you will submit your final project. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the final product. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course. This submission will be graded with the Final Project Rubric.

Deliverables

Milestone	Deliverable	Module Due	Grading
One	Business Entities—Partnerships and Corporations	Three	Graded separately; Milestone One Rubric
Two	Estate Planning	Five	Graded separately; Milestone Two Rubric
Three	Trusts	Seven	Graded separately; Milestone Three Rubric
Final Submission	Advanced Accounting Report	Nine	Graded separately; Final Project Rubric

Final Project Rubric

Guidelines for Submission: Your final submission should be 6 to 10 pages in length (excluding the title and references pages). Use one-inch margins, double spacing, and 12-point Times New Roman font. Sources should be cited using the latest APA style guidelines.

Critical Elements	Exemplary (100%)	Proficient (90%)	Needs Improvement (70%)	Not Evident (0%)	Value
Business Entities: Damage Estimate	Meets “Proficient” criteria and description is exceptionally clear and contextualized	Describes the effects the damage estimate would have on the statements based on the company being set up as a corporation	Describes the effects the damage estimate would have on the statements, but does not base this on the company being a corporation	Does not describe the effects the damage estimate would have on the statements	6.8
Business Entities: Disclosure Requirements	Meets “Proficient” criteria and uses relevant research to illustrate claims	Identifies how disclosure requirements differ from a corporation to a partnership, and identifies what information is required	Identifies how disclosure requirements differ from a corporation to a partnership, but not identify what information is required	Does not identify how disclosure requirements differ from a corporation to a partnership	6.8
Business Entities: Personal Liability	Meets “Proficient” criteria and defense is well supported and logical	Determines whether the shareholders are at risk for any personal liability and defends response	Determines whether the shareholders are at risk for any personal liability, but does not defend response or defense is weak or cursory	Does not determine whether the shareholders are at risk for any personal liability	6.8
Critical Elements	Exemplary (100%)	Proficient (90%)	Needs Improvement (70%)	Not Evident (0%)	Value
Business Entities: Partnership	Meets “Proficient” criteria and defense is well supported and logical	Determines whether the partners would be at risk for personal liability and defends response	Determines whether the partners would be at risk for personal liability, but does not defend response or defense is weak or cursory	Does not determine whether the partners would be at risk for personal liability	6.8
Consolidations: Corporate Structure	Meets “Proficient” criteria and reasons are well qualified with concrete examples	Explains how the corporate structure is organized from a consolidated viewpoint and the reasons for this type of organization	Explains how the corporate structure is organized from a consolidated viewpoint, but does not explain the reasons for this type of organization, or explanation is cursory or inaccurate	Does not explain how the corporate structure is organized	6.8
Consolidations: Flows	Meets “Proficient” criteria and description is exceptionally clear and contextualized	Describes how the consolidation impacts how the information flows into the consolidated financial statement and describes the process	Describes how the consolidation impacts how the information flows into the consolidated financial statement, but does not describe the process or description is cursory or inaccurate	Does not describe how the consolidation impacts how the information flows into the consolidated financial statement	6.8
Consolidations: Income Tax Benefits	Meets “Proficient” criteria and defense is well supported and logical	Analyzes whether there are any income tax benefits from consolidating the financial statements and defends response	Analyzes whether there are any income tax benefits from consolidating the financial statements, but does not defend response or defense is weak or cursory	Does not analyze whether there are any income tax benefits	6.8
Estate Planning: Minimizing Tax Liability	Meets “Proficient” criteria and uses relevant research to illustrate claims	Explains how estate planning differs from a partnership to a corporation in terms of minimizing tax liability	Explains how estate planning differs from a partnership to a corporation, but not in terms of minimizing tax liability	Does not explain how estate planning differs from a partnership to a corporation	6.8
Estate Planning: Advantages	Meets “Proficient” criteria and defense is well supported and logical	Determines the advantages of setting up a business as a corporation versus a partnership for estate planning purposes and defends response	Determines the advantages of setting up a business as a corporation versus a partnership for estate planning purposes, but does not defend response or defense is weak or cursory	Does not determine the advantages of setting up a business as a corporation versus a partnership	6.8
Critical Elements	Exemplary (100%)	Proficient (90%)	Needs Improvement (70%)	Not Evident (0%)	Value
Estate Planning: Succession Plan	Meets “Proficient” criteria and description is exceptionally clear and contextualized	Describes the company’s succession plan and whether it aligns with the company’s vision	Describes the company’s succession plan, but does not describe if it aligns with the company’s vision or description is cursory or inaccurate	Does not describe the company’s succession plan	6.8
Estate Planning: Strategy	Meets “Proficient” criteria and defense is well supported and logical	Determines which strategy would be most effective and defends response	Determines which strategy would be most effective, but does not defend response or defense is weak or cursory	Does not determine which strategy would be most effective	6.8
Trusts: Conclusion	Meets “Proficient” criteria and cites sources that are aligned with conclusion	Draws a conclusion about the purpose for the trust based on the research of the company	Draws a conclusion about the purpose for the trust, but conclusion is cursory or inaccurate	Does not draw a conclusion about the purpose for the trust	6.8
Trusts: Estate Planning Purposes	Meets “Proficient” criteria and cites specific, relevant examples to establish a robust context for the determination	Determines why a small business owner would want to set up a trust and describes how the trust could be used for estate-planning purposes	Determines why a small business owner would want to set up a trust, but does not determine how it could be used for estate-planning purposes, or determination is cursory or inaccurate	Does not determine why a small business owner would want to set up a trust	6.8
Trusts: Protect Income	Meets “Proficient” criteria and uses concrete examples to substantiate claims	Evaluates the similarities and differences between trusts and corporations and determines which would be most suitable to protect income	Evaluates the similarities and differences between trusts and corporations, but does not determine which would be most suitable to protect income, or determination is inaccurate	Does not evaluate the similarities and differences between trusts and corporations	6.8
Articulation of Response	Submission is free of errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, and organization and is presented in a professional and easy to read format	Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization	Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas	Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas	4.8
Total					100%