NWM6 — NWM6 TASK 1: READING AND UNDERSTANDING FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT FOR IT PROFESSIONALS — C928

PRFA — NWM6

COMPETENCIES

4052.5.1 : Financial Management

The graduate analyzes hc».n.’ financial information influences organizational decision-making, operational sustainability, and productivity.

INTRODUCTION

During your career as an IT manager, you will be asked to conduct analyses to make well-reasoned financial decisions. It is important that you be able to not only complete an analysis but also communicate and provide support for your decisions to a chief executive officer (CEO) and board of directors. Your financial decisions will need to align with the mission and strategic goals of the company. Your responsibilities will likely include determining the budgets for the IT department, making financial decisions about IT projects and enhancements, and managing the procurement of technology resources.

For this task, you will analyze and interpret two sets of financial statements, which are attached in the Supporting Documents section. This task will require you to answer a series of questions regarding those financial statements.

The skills you showcase in completing this report will be useful in your career when conducting analyses and making financial decisions. This report may also be added to your portfolio to show to future employers.

Note: For the remainder of the task to work properly, follow the directions below.

1. Download “Figure Al. 1 Sparkit Financial Statements” as an .xlsx file.

• Enter your 9-digit student ID number in cell 88 andpress “Enter.”

• Enter your name in cell 89andpress “Enter.”

• Click save.

• Use this copy of the file to respond to the task prompts.

2. Download “Figure ,41.2 Sparkit Balance Sheet”as an .xlsx file.

•

Enter your 9-digit student ID number in cell 88 andpress “Enter.”

• Enter your name in cell 89andpress “Enter.”

• Click save.

• Use this copy of the file to respond to the task prompts.

SCENARIO

Sparkit Technologies Corporation is a diversified advanced technology company with headquarters in Houston, Texas, and offices and manufacturing plants throughout the world. Sparkit designs, manufactures, and markets advanced electronics, robotics, subassemblies, engines, and other types of systems for automotive, medical, aerospace, manufacturing, defense, governmental, and other applications.

At the end of the year, Sparkit had 45,000 total employees, an annual revenue of about $60 billion, an annual net income of about $3.8 billion, and an annual IT budget of about $2.4 million. Sparkit is organized in a traditional hierarchical management structure with divisions structured according to function. The IT department is responsible for all IT functions within the firm.

REQUIREMENTS

Your submission must represent your original work and understanding of the course material. Most performance assessment submissions are automatically scanned through the WGLJ similarity checker. Students are strongly encouraged to wait for the similarity report to generate after uploading their work and then review it to ensure Academic Authenticity gu idelines are met before submitting the file for eva luation. See Understanding Si milarity Reports for more information.

Grammarly Note:

Profess ional Communication will be automatically assessed through Grammarly for Education in most performance assessments before a student submits work for evaluation. Students a re strongly encouraged to review the Grammarlyfor Education feedback prior to submitting work for evaluation, as the overall submission will not pass without this aspect passing. See Use Grammarly for Education Effectively for more information.

Microsoft Files Note:

Write your paper in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) unless another Microsoft product; or pdf, is specified in the task directions.Tasks maynotbe submitted as cloud links, such as links to Google Docs, Google Slides, OneDrive, etc. All supporting documentation, such as screenshots and proof of experience, should be collected i n a pdf file a nd submitted separately from the main file. For more in formation, please see Computer System a nd Technology Requirements.

You must use the rubric to direct the creation ofyour submission because itprovides detailed criteria that willbe used to evaluate your work. Each requirement below may be evaluated by more than one rubric aspect. The rubric aspect titles maycontain hyperlinks to relevantportions of the course.

Note: Refer to the Introduction section for instructions on how to access anddownload the .xlsx files usedin this task. In order for your submission to be evaluated, ensure you have attachedboth

.xlsx files.

A. Attach both completed Figures Al. 1 (Income Statement) and Al.2 (Balance Sheet) that you used to respond to the task prompts with the Student ID entered into cell 88 and the Student Name entered into cell B9.

B. Analyze the current ratio measure of liquidity for Sparkit using the attached Figure Al.2 (Balance Sheet) .xlsx file by doing the follcm.’ing:

1. Discuss why it is importa nt for Sparkit’s IT manager to understand the current ratio.

2. Discuss hcm’the current ratio influences Sparkit^rs IT department’s decision-making.

3. Provide the cu rrent ratio values for Fiscal Year 2 from Figure Al.2 (Balance Sheet), includi ng how you calculated your answer.

C. Analyze the ratio offixed assets to long-te rm liabilities measure of solvency for Spa rkif usi ng the attached Figu re Al.2 (Balance Sheet) .xlsx file by doing the following:

1. Discuss why it is importa nt for Sparkit’s IT manager to understand the ratio of fixed assets to long-term liabilities.

2. Discuss how the ratio offixed assets to long-term liabilities influences Sparkit’s IT department’s operational sustainability.

3. Provide the ratio offixed assets to long-term liabilities value for Fiscal Year 2 from Figure All (gala nce Sheet), including how you calculated your answer.

D. Analyze the Return on Equity measure of profitability for Sparkit using the attached Figures Al. 1 and Al.2 .xlsx files by doing the following:

1. Discuss why it is importa nt for Sparkit’s IT manager to understand Return on Equity.

2. Discuss how Retu rn on Equity influences Sparkit’s IT department’s productivity.

3. Provide the Return on Equity values for Fiscal Year 2 from FiguresA1.1 (Income Statement) and Al.2 (Balance                               including how you calculated your answer.

E. Ackncm.rledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.

F. Demons trate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.

File Restrictions

File name may contain only letters, numbers, spaces, and these sym bols: !

File size limit: 200 MP

File types all owed: doc, docx, rtf, xls, xlsx, ppt, ppb’, odt, pdf, csv, txt, qt, mov, mpg, avi, mp3, wav, mp4, wma, Ev, asf, mpeg, wmv, m4v, svg, tif, tiff, jpeg, jpg, gif, png, zip, rar, tar, 7z

RUBRIC

A:ATTACHED COPIES OF FIGURES Al_l AND Ali

NOT EVIDENT The submission does not include an attached copy of both Figures Al.l and Al.2.

APPROACHING COMPETENCE The submission includes an attached copy of both Figures Al.l (Income Statement) and Al.2 (Balance Sheet), but the Student ID is not entered into cell B8, or the student name is not entered into cell 89.

COMPETENT The submission includes an attached copy of both Figures Al. 1 (Income Statement) and A 1.2 (Balance Sheet), the Student ID is entered in cell B8, and the student name is entered in cell B9.

81:lMm3RTANCE OF CURRENT RATIO

NOT EVIDENT A discussion is not provided.

APPROACHING COMPETENCE The discussion is not relevant or does not address the importance for Sparkit’s IT manager to understand the current ratio.

COMPETENT The discussion is relevant and addresses the importance for Sparkit’s IT manager to understand the current ratio.

g2:0EClS10N-MAKlNG

NOT EVIDENT A discussion is not provided.

APPROACHING COMPET ENCE The discussion is not relevant or does not address how the current ratio influences Sparkit’s IT department’s decisionmaking.

COMPETENT The discussion is relevant and addresses how the current ratio influences Sparkit’s IT department’s decision-making.

83:CALcuLATE CURRENT RATIO

NOT EVIDENT A submiss ion is not provided.

APPROACHING COMPET ENCE The values provided are not for Fiscal Year 2, or they are inaccurate, or they are not from Figure Al.2 (Balance Sheet), or they are not for the current ratio, or the submission does not include how the answer was calculated.

COMPETENT The current ratio values for Fiscal Year 2 from Figure Al.2 (Balance Sheet) are accurate, and the submission includes how the answer was calculated.

Cl:lMm3RTANCE OF RATIO OF FIXED ASSETS TO LONG-TERM LIABILITIES

NOT EVIDENT A discussion is not provided.

APPROACHING COMPET ENCE The discussion is not relevant or does not address the importance for a IT manager to understand the ratio of fixed assets to long-term liabilities.

COMPETENT The discussion is relevant and addresses the importance for a IT manager to understand the ratio of fixed assets to long-term liabilities.

C2:0PERAT10NAL SUSTAIN ABILITY

NOT EVIDENT A discussion is not provided.

APPROACHING COMPETENCE The discussion is not relevant or does not address how the ratiooffixed assets to long-term liabilities influences the organization’s IT department’s operational sustainability.

COMPETENT The discussion is relevant and addresses how the ratio of fixed assets to long-term liabilities influences the organization’s IT department’s operational sustainability.

C3:CALcuLATE RATIO OF FIXED ASSETS TO LONG-TERM LIABILITIES

NOT EVIDENT A submission is not provided.

APPROACHING COMPETENCE The values provided are not for Fiscal Year 2, or they are inaccurate, or they are not from Figure A 1.2 (Balance Sheet), or they are not for the ratio of fixed assets to long-term liabilities, or the submission does not include how the answer was calculated.

COMPETENT The ratio of fixed assets to long-term liabilities values for Fiscal Year 2 from Figure Al.2 (Balance Sheet) are accurate, and the submission includes how the answer was calculated.

DI: IMm3RTANCE OF RETURN ON EQUITY

NOT EVIDENT A discussion is not provided.

APPROACHING COMPETENCE The discussion is not relevant or does not address the importance for a IT manager to understand return on equity.

COMPETENT The discussion is relevant and addresses the importance for a IT manager to understand return on equity.

02:0RGANlZAT10N PRODUCTIVITY

NOT EVIDENT A discussion is not provided.

APPROACHING COMPETENCE The discussion does not address how return on equity influences the organization’s IT department’s productivity, or the discussion is irrelevant.

COM PETENT The discussion is relevant and addresses how return on equity influences the organization’s IT depart ment’s productivity.

D3:CALcuLATE THE RETURN ON EQUITY

NOT EVIDENT A submission is not provided.

APPROACHING COMPETENCE The values provided are notfor Fiscal Yea r 2, or they are inaccurate, or the values are not from Figures Al.l (Income Statement) and Al.2 (Balance Sheet), or the values are not for return on equity, or the submission does not include how the answer was calculated.

COM PETENT The return on equity values for Fiscal Year 2 from Figures Al. 1 (Income Statement) and Al.2 (Balance Sheet) are accurate, and the submission includes how the answer was calculated.

E:souRCES

NOT EVIDENT The submission does not include both in-text citations and a reference list for sources that are quoted, pa raphrased, or summarized.

APPROACHING COMPETENCE The submission incl udes in-text citations for sources that are quoted, paraphrased, or summarized and a reference list; however, the citations or reference list is incomplete or inaccurate.

COM PETENT The submission includes in- text citations for sources that are properly quoted, paraphrased, or summarized and a reference list that accurately identifies the author, date, title, and source location as available. 01