19 Dec Accounting 331: Smart Trading Incorporate
Smart Trading Incorporate
Smart Trading Incorporated (STI), is a subsidiary of Elegance. STI is a securities trading firm specializing in debt and equity securities transactions mostly traded on the NASDAQ. STI is listed on NASDAQ. Also, at the request of their customers, STI will charge a fee to receive or place money transfers from or to accounts all over the world. The minimum fee is $10 for buying or selling stock and $25 for money transfers. The maximum fee is $500,000 for stock transactions and 2% for money transfers. A minimum fee of $100 is also charged for redemptions. To become a customer, simply complete an on-line application and deposit a minimum of $10,000. Customers begin trading immediately.
Michelle is the CEO of STI. Michelle does not serve on the audit committee of STI. In January of 2021, Crystal Lee, Director of STI’s internal audit department, completed an audit of various functions of the company. Part of the audit involved a review of internal controls for the sales, payable and payroll functions including the controls over the authorization of transactions, accounting for transactions, and the protection of assets.
The director reported the following issues to Michelle:
1. The petty cash custodian confesses to having “borrowed” $9,010 over the last two years. The custodian promises to repay every penny, with interest, as soon as possible.
2. An employee in accounts payable maintains the accounts payable subsidiary ledger.
3. In June of 2021, STI was notified that their proprietary information would be broadcast on the Internet if they did not pay a $17 million fee. The hacker was caught by the FBI before any damage was done.
4. In November of 2021, STI customers were notified by e-mail that their accounts had been compromised and were being restricted unless they re-registered using an accompanying hyperlink to a Web page that had STI’s logo, home page design, and internal links. The form had a place for them to enter their credit card data, ATM PINs, Social Security number, date of birth, and their mother’s maiden name. Due to the diligent efforts of Tommy Lew, STI customer information was not breached, according to internal sources.
5. When entering a large credit sale, the clerk typed in the customer’s account number as 45982 instead of 45892. That account number did not exist. The mistake was not caught until later in the week when the weekly billing process was run. Consequently, the customer was not billed for another week, delaying receipt of payment.
6. A batch of 73 time sheets was sent to the payroll department for weekly processing. Somehow, one of the time sheets did not get processed. The mistake was not caught until payday, when one employee complained about not receiving a paycheck.
7. Attackers broke into the company’s information system through a wireless access point located in one of its trading branches. The wireless access point had been purchased and installed by an office manager without informing central IT or security.
8. To facilitate working from home, an employee installed a modem on his office workstation. An attacker successfully penetrated the company’s system by dialing into that modem. Again, due to the diligent efforts of Tommy Lew, sensitive customer information was not compromised, according to internal sources.
9. An attacker gained access to the company’s internal network by installing a wireless access point in a wiring closet located next to the elevators on the fourth floor of a high-rise office building that the company shared with seven other companies.
10. A fictitious invoice was received and a check was issued to pay for small supplies that were never ordered or delivered.
11. On the job, Michelle got a call from the local police asking why she was sending a caller multiple adult text messages and sexually explicit emails per day. After further investigation, Michelle’s account records proved the calls were not coming from her phone or email. Neither she nor her mobile company could explain how the messages were sent. After finding no way to block the unsavory messages, she changed her mobile number and quit STI to avoid further embarrassment by association.
REQUIREMENTS
For each issue reported, recommend steps that should be taken to prevent or reduce the risks of recurrence.
DEADLINE: Due: 11:59 PM (EST) Sunday, December 17, 2023
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• Try not to exceed 100 words when addressing each weakness.
• Try not to exceed 100 words when providing each recommendation.
• Please do not email submission.
Use the following template to address each issue.
YOUR NAME: __________________________
Weakness Recommendation
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As an alternative, you can use the following format to address each issue.
YOUR NAME: ______________________
Issue #1 – Weakness:
Recommendation:
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Written Assignment Evaluation Rubric
Criteria Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1 Unacceptable
Percentage 90 – 100% 80 – 89% 70 – 79% 60 – 69% < 60%
Assignment Student completely fulfills assignment requirements
-Process Complete
-Due Dates Met
-Final Copy Submitted
-Format Correct
-Works Cited Incl. Student completely fulfills assignment requirements Student partially fulfills assignment requirements (almost all) Student partially fulfills assignment requirements (almost all) Student’s work in no way relates to assignment
Thesis
Student’s thesis is a clear, arguable, well developed, and definitive statement of position. It answers a why or how question Student’s thesis is a clear and arguable statement of position that answers a why or how question Student’s thesis is a clear, arguable statement of position Student’s thesis is an outline of points; it is not an arguable statement of position Student’s work does not have a thesis
Development Student’s paper demonstrates a logical, mature, and thorough development of points that support the thesis Student’s paper demonstrates adequate development of points that support the thesis Student’s paper demonstrates an adequate development of points that support the thesis Student’s paper presents a superficial development of points, many of which do not support the thesis Student’s paper does not present any evidence of development of points that support the thesis
Evidence:
Analysis
Synthesis Student presents relevant and fully analyzed textual evidence to support the thesis following the evidence formula-16-17pts.
Student synthesizes textual evidence and points back to thesis statement Student presents relevant and adequately analyzed textual evidence to support the thesis-14pts.
Student makes an attempt at synthesis Student presents relevant and partially analyzed textual evidence to support the thesis-13pts.
Student makes an attempt at synthesis Student’s textual evidence is irrelevant and is not analyzed-11pts.
Student makes no attempt at synthesis Student provides no textual evidence to support the thesis—under 11 pts.
Student makes no attempt at synthesis
Opposition/
Refutation Student clearly and fully explains opposition and persuasively refutes it Student explains opposition and gives refutation Student explains opposition and gives refutation Student does not include op./ref. in paper Student does not include op./ref. in paper
Citation Student follows citation format with meticulous care. Includes proper footnoting technique, along with a complete works cited list. Student follows citation format with care. Includes proper footnoting technique, along with a complete works cited list. Student follows citation format with meticulous care. Includes proper technique, along with a partial/mediocre works cited list. Student does not follow citation format. Does not include proper footnoting technique, works cited list is missing. Incomplete or Missing
Mechanics
Sentence structure is correct. Punctuation and capitalization are correct. Sentence structure is generally correct. Some awkward sentences do appear. 1 or 2 errors in punctuation and/or capitalization. Work contains structural weaknesses and grammatical errors. There are 3 or 4 errors in punctuation and/or capitalization. Work contains multiple incorrect sentence structures.
4 or more errors in punctuation and/or capitalization. Too many errors – more than 6 exist.
