Chief executive and co-founder at Fieldnote
About 65 minutes. Included in Plus.
The board pack says the company spends 70,000 dollars a month; the January ledger says more, and the board meets on Friday. Build the runway statement from the ledger, cost the ways through the next ninety days and recommend one, and settle with your co-founder what happens to the integration he wants to finish.
Skills: Build a cash figure from the ledger, not the plan; Choose a way through against the goal, not only the cash; Give a co-founder a decision he argued against
Tax assistant at Pembrey and Lowe Accountants
About 55 minutes. Included in Plus.
A photographer has sent a year of spending with her own notes on what counts as business. Sort each item under the firm's expenses guide, ask her the right questions, and hold the rules kindly when she pushes for a holiday and cash wages to count.
Skills: Classify expenses as allowable, mixed use, capital or not allowable; Apply the mileage rule without double counting; Ask a client clear questions for missing evidence; Explain a rule to a client who disagrees
Sustainability reporting analyst at Corvane Foods
About 80 minutes. Included in Plus.
Work out a food maker's electricity emissions for the annual report, both ways, with a site sold and a site bought during the year. Then stop marketing overclaiming renewable power, and restate the figure honestly when the certificates come in short.
Skills: Apply a reporting boundary to sites bought and sold; Calculate location-based and market-based Scope 2; Write a disclosure that claims only what the evidence supports; Restate a figure openly when evidence changes; Answer an assurance provider with evidence
Audit associate at Hartwell and Achebe LLP
About 70 minutes. Included in Plus.
Twelve expense claims sit in your sample. Test each against the client's policy, tell control deviations from misstatements, query the client without accusing anyone, and project what you found to the whole year.
Skills: Test transactions against a client policy, attribute by attribute; Tell a control deviation from a misstatement; Query a client for evidence without accusing anyone; Project sample errors and compare them with audit thresholds
Assistant restaurant manager at The Gannet Kitchen
About 55 minutes. Included in Plus.
The weekly food cost has jumped from 31 to 40.5 percent and head office sees it on Wednesday. Find what is wrong in the records, query the supplier, and explain what is really driving the cost.
Skills: Check purchases and stock records for errors; Calculate a weekly food cost percentage; Query a supplier politely and within authority; Explain the cause of a cost rise with figures and options
Payroll assistant at Larkfield Care Homes
About 55 minutes. Included in Plus.
Payroll closes at noon tomorrow. Check a week of extra hours against timesheets, approvals and the policy, answer a worried colleague honestly, and give your manager the exceptions she must decide.
Skills: Check extra hours against timesheets, approvals and policy; Calculate normal and time and a half pay correctly; Explain held pay honestly to the person affected; Keep decisions within payroll authority and escalate the rest