3.1 This report has been written using information gathered from the accounts staff at Chic Paints Ltd. A brief overview about each accounts employee, an overview of the accounting system and a list of events that have occurred over the past six months can be found in the company diary.
3.2 A SWOT Analysis of Chic Paints Ltd has been produced to find out any strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to Chic Paints Ltd. The SWOT Analysis can be found in Appendix 1. 3.3 A Fraud Matrix has been produced to investigate the risk for fraud to occur within Chic Paints Ltd. The Fraud Matrix can be found in Appendix 2.
3.4 An ethical review of Chic Paints Ltd has been carried out to make sure the company meets the five fundamental principles of ethical conduct and the AAT Code of Ethics.
3.5 A sustainability review of Chic Paints Ltd has been carried out to make the company meets the sustainability principlaes in regards to social, corporate and environmental issues.
3.6 This report has also been written using information which has been obtained from the internet to make recommendations on how to improve the accounting system. A full list of websites can be found in Appendix 3.
4 Introduction
4.1 Chic Paints Ltd was formally a part of Ashstead PLC before the management buyout in 2007 where the company manufactured and supplied goods to the household paints market. After the management buyout in 2007 Chic Paints Ltd decided to move away from the household paints market and move into a more niche market manufacturing and supplying specialist paints used on boats, cars and industrial machinery due to a less competitive market and higher gross profit margins even though Chic Paints Ltd required increased capital expenditure on specialist equipment and a higher skilled workforce.
4.2 Six years on from the management buyout Chic Paints Ltd have steadily reduced the company turnover from £200 million in 2007 to £120 million in 2013.