ISYS2 Assessment Book 10122014

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems
ISYS 2: Assessment book - A to Z Vehicle Hire
Internal Control and Accounting Systems (AQ2013)

For use in the AAT Accounting Qualification
A to Z Vehicle hire
Assessment book
Time allowed: Four months

AAT Level 4 Diploma in
Accounting
Internal Control and Accounting
Systems
QCF qual ref
SCQF qual ref
QCF unit ref
SCQF unit ref
600/6892/9
R324 04
F/504/3353
UD65 04
Notice to candidates
1) All candidates must adhere to the terms and conditions specified for this assessment.
2) Your report must be typed, completed and submitted for formal assessment within four months. Your
assessment start date was recorded onto the assessment platform when you accepted the terms and
conditions in order to access this assessment.
3) You will have four more opportunities to submit further supporting evidence at the discretion of your assessor.
Please discuss this with your assessor.
4) Only your final submission should be made through the assessment platform.
5) Instances of misconduct will be investigated by AAT and appropriate action will be taken.
6) If you believe you have witnessed malpractice on the part of another candidate then you are encouraged to
report this, in confidence, to an invigilator who will investigate and report to AAT.
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assessment material.

Guidance
The unit being assessed by this report is Internal Control and Accounting Systems.
The report should be mapped to the learning outcomes and assessment criteria by paragraph number to ensure all
criteria are covered.
Assessment is by a formal business report, which can be reviewed by your assessor up to a maximum of five
times. If not competent at that stage it will be necessary for you to complete a new report based upon a different
case study. General guidance is available on both report writing and content on the AAT website. To write the report
you will need to ensure you cover the six learning outcomes, and ALL the supporting assessment criteria.

Assessment Tasks
It is October 2013 and you have just been employed as the accounting technician for A to Z Vehicle Hire and will be
based at their head office in Northfield. As one of your first tasks, the partners have asked you to review the
accounting systems at A to Z Vehicle Hire, and particularly the effectiveness of its internal controls.
You have also been tasked with reviewing whether the culture of the organisation could be improved, both in terms
of working ethically and in terms of social, corporate and environmental sustainability.
Finally, you are asked to make any recommendations for improvements which you identify as being necessary.
(The partners know there are many weaknesses, but are uncertain as to how these should be managed.)
The detailed task requirements are set out on pages 4 and 5.
The partners have also suggested you review the following documents, which are available online and in the
appendices of this assessment book:
AAT Code of Professional Ethics

http://www.aat.org.uk/sites/default/files/assets/AAT_Code_of_Professional_Ethics.pdf
Renting a Car Appendix 1, p.20

Original source: http://wikitravel.org/en/Renting_a_car
Creating a partnership agreement Appendix 2, p.30

Original source: http://www.startups.co.uk/creating-a-partnership-agreement.html
Note: Where the pages listed above are not hosted by AAT, the relevant information is reproduced in full in the
appendices of this assessment book.
To help you in this they have asked the accounts staff to prepare some brief information about themselves, an
overview of the accounting system, and also a list of events that have occurred over the previous few months since
the partnership was formed. This information can be found in the firms diary.
You are required to produce a business report addressed to Alan Milnes, Senior Partner. The report should be
approximately 4000-5000 words long but please note that the word count is not critical; what is important is the
quality of the writing.
For more information see the guidance page or review the guidance on the AAT website.
Task 1)
Review and evaluate the accounting system.
Task 2)
Conduct an ethical evaluation of the accounting systems.
Task 3)
Conduct a sustainability evaluation of the accounting systems.
Task 4)
Identify weaknesses and make recommendations for improvement.

Task 1)
Review and evaluate the accounting system
This review can be of the complete system or of one or more of the accounting functions - depending on your
findings - but must specifically cover the following points:
Record keeping systems - explain the purpose of financial reports and the suitability of the organisations
current reports to meet organisational needs
Internal systems of control - identify how internal control supports the accounting system and the types of
internal control in place and any controls that are missing
Fraud explain the causes of fraud, common types of fraud, methods that can be used to detect fraud and
potential areas for fraud within the organisation
Working methods/practices - review the working methods used including the use of appropriate computer
software and the operating methods in terms of reliability, speed and cost effectiveness
Training identify how training is or can be used to support staff.
The review should cover all aspects of the assessment criteria, as mapped above, when they can naturally be
introduced into the report. If the criteria cannot be covered in the report then they should be covered in a written
explanation included in the appendix.
Whilst a SWOT analysis may be a good starting place, this should not be placed in the body of the report.
Task 2)
Conduct an ethical evaluation of the accounting systems.
Evaluate the accounting systems against ethical principles by reviewing working practices.
Identify any actual or possible breaches of professional ethics.
To help you with this see http://www.aat.org.uk/sites/default/files/assets/AAT_Code_of_Professional_Ethics.pdf
Task 3)
Conduct a sustainability evaluation of the accounting systems.
Evaluate the accounting systems against sustainability principles by reviewing working practices.
Identify any possible improvements that could be made to improve sustainability.

Task 4)
Identify weaknesses and make recommendations for improvement.
Evaluate the system to identify significant weaknesses, which should be clearly explained along with their
impact upon the organisation.
For every weakness that has been identified there should be one or more recommendations made to
attempt to improve the situation.
The recommendations should concentrate on the effect that the changes would have both on the
organisation and on individual members of staff. They may also highlight:
o training needs;
o aids to improve staff performance;
o changes needed to organisational culture;
o anything else which would improve the running of the accounting system.
Prepare a Cost Benefit Analysis.
At least one of the recommendations made should be subject to a cost benefit analysis. Whilst not all benefits are
quantifiable, all costs are. Students should make any necessary assumptions or estimates to allocate costs to such
items as time, unknown salaries, or any other unknown expense involved in the recommended changes. All
benefits should be identified, including those that cannot be allocated a financial figure. This can include such
things as improved customer relationships, improved documentation systems or staff morale (though this could be
allocated a financial figure as improving staff turnover cuts recruitment costs).
Note on appendices
Any charts and diagrams or supporting evidence should be included here and cross-referenced within the text. Any
appendices included should be referred to in the main body of the report or, in the case of supporting statements to
cover missing assessment criteria, be mapped and cross-referenced on the mapping document.

A To Z Vehicle Hire
Company history and management
A to Z Vehicle Hire is a small regional car and van hire firm. It was originally three different firms; AA Milnes Car
Hire based in Northfield, Vans to Go based in Southdown, and Midway Minibuses based in Midway.
Vans to Go was set up in 2010 by Mo Khan who had been a builder by trade. An industrial accident had left him
unable to return to work on building sites, so he decided to invest his compensation into a business that he could
run himself but he was not certain what to invest in. Finally, he decided upon a van hire business because the firm
he used to work for often hired vans and lorries when they needed more vehicles. He also did a little research and
found there were no van hire companies within 50 miles, so he thought he would have a good chance of success.
Therefore, in November 2010 he purchased ten Ford Transit vans that he bought new, and four Iveco flatbed lorries
that had been previously owned by a transport firm.
He employed his brother, Joe, as a general assistant and driver for delivery and collection of the vans to the
customers premises. Joe was also responsible for keeping the vans clean, both inside and out, and general
maintenance of the vehicles. Mo did all of the administration and banking for the firm on a daily basis himself, and
employed an accounting firm to prepare his annual accounts for Her Majesty Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the
UK tax collection agency. Before the merger, Mo was getting concerned because he did not know whether he
should register for Value Added Tax (VAT), the UK sales tax.
One day in October 2011 after Mo, who is an avid football supporter, had watched his local football team,
Southdown United, lose to a rival team, Midway Town, he noticed a group of supporters in a Midway Minibuses hire
bus. He started to talk with them and met Peter Stoker, who owned the hire firm. With a mutual interest in both
football and owning vehicle hire firms they struck up a firm friendship.
Peter Stoker had bought his minibus hire business in 2009 after he received an inheritance. Peters favourite uncle
had died leaving him 50,000 and after buying himself a car, he was unsure what to do with the rest of the
inheritance money. At the time, Peter worked as a taxi driver for a local taxi firm, A1 Cars. They had one minibus,
and 14 cars and Peter often found himself driving the minibus. Often he was asked if A1 Cars did longer runs,
rather than just sticking to the local area, and he regretfully told enquirers that they did not go more than 10 miles
beyond Midway. This meant that they could not take groups to the airports, or to sporting events that were beyond
this distance. Also they did not hire out the vehicles for self-drive, which was the answer to another question he had
been asked in the past.
Peter, therefore, thought there was a gap in the market for a good minibus hire firm - one which would provide
buses both without drivers on a self-drive hire basis and also with drivers for long distance journeys, even allowing
for overnight trips. Peter invested 140,000 in a Mercedes 15 seater minibus, which had one previous owner, and
four new nine seater Ford minibuses. As he still lived at home with his parents, he rented lock-up garage premises
to store the buses in when not in use, and he ran the business from his bedroom for the first year.
After that, following much complaining from his mother about the phone calls and the house not being an office,
Peter decided he had to both move out and take his business with him. He managed to rent a little shop on the high
street in Midway, with a flat above it, which he moved into. The shop became his office, and he proceeded to run
his business from there. Peters girlfriend, Precious Jones, helped him with the administrative side of the business,
and did his accounts for him. She worked as an accounts clerk in a local accountants office, so had an
understanding of what records needed to be kept. Peter was not very good at this part of the business and was
happy to leave everything to her. Peter also preferred it when his customers paid in cash, and asked for this
method of payment whenever he made a booking.

The other hire firm that became part of A to Z Vehicle Hire was a car hire firm run by Alan Milnes. Alan was 65
years old and looking forward to retirement so that he could spend more time with his wife Anna and his five
grandchildren, aged from five months to 10 years old. He also wanted to make more time for playing golf, his
favourite hobby. Anna was also suffering from ill health, and after spending the last 10 years helping Alan run the
business she was also looking forward to retirement. AA Milnes Car Hire was a very successful firm, with a fleet of
over 70 cars, ranging from modest Ford KAs, to large well equipped Honda Accords. The business was run from a
small office in Northfield, above the garage premises in which the cars were stored. These premises belonged to
Alan and Anna. Whilst most of the bookings were done from the office when people called in, or over the telephone,
Anna had looked at the possibility of being able to take bookings through the internet, and had just started taking
bookings via email (electronic mail). Anna was supported in the office by two assistants.
When the Milnes made the decision that they both wanted to retire, Alan advertised that the business was for sale
using Everest Estate Agency. This firm had a good reputation for selling businesses as going concerns and
advertised them widely throughout the country. However, probably due to the economic climate in late 2012 and
early 2013, very little interest was shown in the business. As Annas health was beginning to deteriorate further, the
couple decided that they had to look at another way they could make their retirement dreams come true, and they
began contacting other vehicle hire companies, asking them if they would be interested in taking their business
over. They sent emails to vehicle hire companies which were based within a 300 mile area of Northfield to see if
there was any response.
Unbeknown to each other, both Mo and Peter separately replied to this email saying they would be interested in
meeting with the couple. Peter knew he could not afford to buy out such a reputable organisation, but he thought it
would be interesting to meet with the couple. He also thought that he may have been able to pick up some more
business; especially for the winter period when his cash flow was poor and his business was beginning to struggle.
Mo was very interested in a buy-out scenario and, even though he did not know what the costs would be, he went
to the meeting in a very positive frame of mind.
In January 2013, all three men met together to discuss the buy-out. Mo and Peter were very surprised to see each
other, as neither man had mentioned this opportunity to the other. Once it became clear how much money Alan
Milnes and his wife had invested in the business, it was evident to both men that neither of them alone could afford
to make any sensible offer to buy the business. Over lunch, Peter and Mo began to discuss whether they could buy
out the car hire business if they went into partnership. When they discussed how much finance they thought they
could raise, it became clear that this was not going to be a viable option once again. The meeting ended, much to
the disappointment of all three parties involved.
That night Alan and Anna had a long discussion. The next day they called both Mo and Peter back to the
negotiating table. They then made a proposition to the two younger men.
They proposed that all three men became equal partners in a new venture, which amalgamated all three car, van
and minibus hire businesses. Their idea was that Peter and Mo would manage the day-to-day running of the new
business. Alan would be a sleeping partner; not doing any work but being awarded one third of all profits made
because of his investment in the business. For this he would allow his fleet of cars and his garage and office
premises to be used by the new organisation; as long as both men would also put their vehicles into a joint vehicle
pool.
After a few minutes contemplation and some discussion both Mo and Peter agreed to this and they all shook
hands on this gentlemans agreement to share all profits equally. Both Peter and Mo were very pleased at this turn
of events as neither of them could have afforded to buy out the business but this enabled them to expand. As Peter
and Mo had become close friends and trusted each other they were more than happy to work together.

Therefore in February 2013, A to Z Vehicle Hire was formed by the three men. As by now they had all become
friends, no formal partnership agreement was drafted. It was decided that staff should be hired to cover the roles
that Alan and Anna had run in Northfield, and that both Mo and Peter would run their own branch of A to Z Vehicle
Hire in the towns where they lived.

Mission statement
To be the foremost vehicle hire firm in the region.
The aim of A to Z Vehicle Hire is to provide the most comprehensive range of vehicles available for hire in the
region. If we do not have the type of vehicle that you need we will endeavour to find this for you.
We offer our customers an individual personal service of hire, regardless whether this is for cars, vans, lorries or
mini buses. We promise that our vehicles are well maintained and serviced, and will be provided in pristine
condition, both inside and out.
All vehicles will be available for pick up at an office of the customers choice, or will be delivered to the customer at
a time and place most convenient to them.
If drivers are required, these will be provided, and we promise that all our staff will be polite and courteous at all
times.
We promise to hold all deposits for a minimum time and will refund them promptly.
Accounting and other information technology (IT) systems

Below is an overview of the policies which were drafted shortly after the new firm was formed.
Cash & banking policies
March 2013
Monies In
All banking is to be undertaken on a daily basis.
All cheques are to be banked through head office.
Any internet banking payments are to be directed through head office.
Cash should be only accepted when there is no other form of payment possible.
Cash should be banked in the HSBC branch local to the branch of A TO Z VEHICLE HIRE where the money was
received.
All deposits for vehicle hire should be paid into a bank account used solely for this purpose.
Monies Out
Only one firm bank account is to be held for withdrawal of money for business use.
All cheques/ bank mandates must be signed by one of the partners plus the Accounts Manager
All withdrawals must be supported by relevant documentation
Business Credit Cards
Business credit cards are only to be used for business purposes.
Expenditure over 100 must be agreed by one of the partners.

Petty Cash
Petty cash for each of the three branches is to be kept securely by Branch Manager.
A maximum of 250 of petty cash per branch is to be held at any time.
All petty cash payments must be supported by valid receipts.
Petty cash must be balanced and receipts must be sent to head office on a monthly basis.
Bank reconciliations
The Accounts Manager will perform a bank reconciliation on a month basis.
Any discrepancies will be reported to the partners immediately.
Wages and salaries
All office staff are salaried and paid on a calendar monthly basis by internet banking.
The two working partners are paid a salary.
The mechanics are paid weekly by cheque for a 40 hour week, at an hourly rate of 10.50 per hour. Any hours
worked over this are paid as overtime and paid at time and a half of the hourly rate.
Drivers are used on a zero hours contract (no hours are guaranteed, and they may be asked to work anything from
zero hours to 48 hours per week) and are paid on a weekly basis by cheque. They work one week in hand, so that
they receive the money for any hours worked a week after they have completed the hours.
The head office cleaner is paid in cash every Friday for the six hours per week that she works.
Goods inwards policies
All orders for goods inwards must be placed through the Accounts Manager. The Accounts Manager and the
partners each hold a business credit card with a 4000 limit on each card. These should not be used for payment
unless it is the only method acceptable.
Credit facilities offered by suppliers should be used to the maximum time allowed. Payments should be made on
time, and no creditor should be kept waiting beyond their agreed payment terms.
For green purposes, no remittance advices will be sent with payments. All payments will be made through internet
banking unless the suppliers requests otherwise.
Car hire policy
Full details of the customer must be taken at time of booking.
Name
Address
Telephone number (mobile and land line if possible)
Email address (if available)
All payment details will be taken at this time.
All bookings must be supported by a customer deposit.
The deposit will be 100 per day of hire up to a maximum deposit of 500. Deposits will be returned to customers
after the vehicle has been returned in a timely manner; refuelled as necessary. The vehicle also then needs to be
10

checked over by staff to ensure that no damage has occurred during the period of hire. Deposits will be returned to
the same debit or credit card that they were made on or otherwise by cheque. Deposits will normally be returned
the day after the vehicle has been returned.
Credit accounts may be set up for regular customers. In order for a credit account to be raised, customers must
have hired from A to Z Vehicle Hire at least three times and returned vehicles on time without damage. All credit
customers will be subject to a credit check and must supply one trade reference when applying for a credit account.
Only named drivers may drive the hire vehicles.
All rentals must be to named drivers only.
All bookings must be supported by a copy of the driving licence of any and all named drivers.
All vehicles will be prepared/delivered with a full tank of petrol. They must be returned in the same manner or else a
refuelling charge will be levied.
Information technology (IT) policy

There are five computers owned by A to Z Vehicle Hire: three at head office and one at each of the two branches.
The three at head office are all networked. Both branches are also equipped with a scanner and printer. The head
office computers are loaded with Sage Accounting software, with a three user license.
Only business software may be loaded onto the computers. No software may be loaded onto the computers without
the specific permission of the Accounts Manager or the partners.
All computers, software and hardware should only be used for business related activities.
Employees of the firm are expected to use the internet responsibly and ethically. Internet use is limited to jobrelated activities only. Staff may use the internet and/or email facility for limited personal use during break times,
but neither social media (for example Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) nor any instant messaging technology should be
accessed at any time.
All internet data that is written, sent or received is considered to be the property of A to Z Vehicle Hire. The firm
reserves the right to monitor all internet usage and materials transmitted. Emails that are sent through the firms
system should not contain content that is deemed to be offensive.
Unacceptable use of the internet by employees includes, but is not limited to;
Sending or posting any discriminatory messages.
Sending or posting anything that brings the firm into disrepute, is defamatory to the firm or its services.
Sharing confidential information outside of the firm.
Hacking into unauthorised websites.
Perpetrating any form of fraud, and /or film/music or software piracy.
If any breach of this policy occurs, disciplinary action may be taken - ranging from a formal warning to dismissal,
depending upon the seriousness of the offence.
11

Accounting personnel information
Chandra Sorah, MAAT Accounts Manager
Chandra is 36 years old and married with twin sons aged 12 years. He was employed in February 2013 at the
formation of the partnership. He was formerly an accounts office supervisor in a small engineering company in
Northfield that had recently gone into liquidation, so he was very pleased when he was offered this role. The
partners chose him because he had gained the AAT qualification around t10 years ago, and he appeared to
understand the problems that small businesses have. However, he had not set up an office before and struggled in
the first few months with writing policies and procedures. However, once this was done he felt better as the office
now had a set of rules to work with. He is based at the head office in Northfield.
Kate Gloss Head Accounts Clerk
Kate is 23 years old, single and lives at home with her mother who has a chronic illness and relies on Kate for
much of her daily care. Kate worked for AA Milnes Car Hire for three years before the merger and was pleased to
be asked to stay with the organisation when the new firm was formed. Before this, she was employed at a local
accountants office as an accounts clerk. She gained AAT level 2 and level 3 whilst she was there but did not
progress any further with her training as her mother was so ill. At the formation of the partnership she was asked to
take on the role of Head Accounts Clerk. In this role she was to be in charge of ensuring all deposits were taken
and returned promptly; ensuring all hiring documentation was collected and stored securely and setting up and
managing credit accounts for customers. Kate has always enjoyed her work, especially as Anna and Alan were
very good about letting her work flexible hours to ensure she could provide care for her mother. She is also based
at the head office in Northfield.
Sue Li Wages and Accounts Clerk
Sue is 47 years old and was employed at the formation of the partnership on a part-time basis to take over some of
the work that Anna Milnes used to do. She is now employed to work five half days per week. She has no formal
accounts training, but is very experienced in payroll, as she used to run the payroll for the same engineering
business that Chandra used to work for. Her main role is to prepare wages for all the staff, and to support Chandra
in his role. Sues hobbies are knitting and swimming. She has one son and two grandchildren who all live in New
Zealand. Her daughter-in-law has just announced her third pregnancy, so Sue is eagerly awaiting the birth of her
third grandchild.
Mark Ancher Accounts Clerk
Mark is 22 years old and is Alan and Annas nephew. He was formerly employed by Milnes Car Hire on a part time
basis. He likes to work part time, as he is an aspiring rock musician, and the part time role allows him plenty of time
to practice with his band. Two years ago, Alan paid for him to go on a computerised accounting course, but as Kate
normally does all the computer data processing, these skills have not been used for some time. When the
partnership was formed, he continued to work part time and even though the partners asked him to go full time, he
still preferred not to. His main responsibility is now to ensure that the banking is completed and correct, and then to
support Kates work on the credit accounts. He works five half days per week and he prefers to work afternoons as
he is often playing with his band late on some nights and therefore is not good at getting up in the mornings. He is
also based at the head office on Northfield.
12

Precious Jones Accounts Clerk
Precious Jones is 27 years old and has just got engaged to be married. She bought her own flat three years ago in
Midway, which she shares with her best friend Jayne Mckenzie. She works part time at the Midway branch of A to Z
Vehicle Hire, and she is the fiance of one of the partners, Peter Stoker. When Peter was running his own firm,
Precious did all the accounting as a favour to him and was not paid for this. On the formation of the partnership she
was asked to continue in the role, but as an employee. She, therefore, works for A to Z Vehicle Hire on Fridays to
do the accounting work for the Midway branch, and works four days a week in her main job in an accountants
office. She has no formal accounting qualifications but does have an A level in accounting gained just under 10
years ago. She has been asking her main employer for some time if she can have more training, but they have not
been forthcoming. Preciouss employer does not want her to leave and has therefore offered her AAT training free
of charge if she signs an undertaking that she will work for him for the next three years.
Joe Khan General Office Assistant
Joe is 26 years old and is the general assistant at the Southdown branch. He is the brother of Mo, one of the
partners, with whom he shares a rented flat. Joe was originally employed as both a general assistant and a driver
but at times as the business has grown, Mo has ended up using Joe in the office as an administrative assistant,
doing general jobs, but also looking after the petty cash. When the merger came about, Mo realised that the other
branches had an accounts clerk and he did not. Also, he wanted Joe to have a regular income and, as the drivers
were to be employed on a zero hour basis, he realised that he could only provide that if Joe became a member of
office staff. However, being in the office and doing paperwork is not Joes ideal job and he much prefers to be
driving or preparing the vehicles.
There are also twenty drivers, nine mechanics and one cleaner employed within the organisation.
13

Diary of events for last six months
February
The merger occurred last month and the new staff had just started. Things were in disarray. Chandra, the new
Accounts Manager had not realised how difficult it is to set up an office. He spent all of this month writing policies
and procedures for the firm and still trying to run the accounts department.
The firm rented an office in Midway for Peters branch. Peter had been running the business from his garage
previously but the other partners did not feel this was suitable, so they rented a unit on the industrial estate, and
transferred the new business there,
On the last Friday of the month, Chandra was so busy he asked Mark if he could possibly undertake the bank
reconciliation this month and Mark agreed to do this. However, Mark was leaving early as he was playing a gig with
his band, and he left the bank statement in his in tray on his desk, so that he could do it when he came into work on
the next Monday afternoon. On that Monday, Mark struggled with completing the reconciliation and after wasting
two hours he decided that, as he could not make it balance, he would alter the Cash Book, so that the account
balanced. He therefore altered a payment from one of the credit account customers from 600, which showed on
the bank statement, to 300, which showed on his account. He then also altered the entry in the customers
account - as he was aware everything should balance - even though he was not sure there was an error on the
customers actual account.
Alan called into the head office to see how Peter and Mo were getting on, and then called into the garage to see
the mechanics. These had all worked for him previously, and they still called him boss. He was very pleased to
see that the car wash machine which he had bought just before he retired was being used. It was a state of the art
machine which cleaned all of the water used, so that it could be reused.
March
Alan asked Peter and Mo if they could have a meeting and if they could bring monthly accounts to this, so that he
could review the progress of the partnership and ensure his investment was safe. Peter said this would be fine, but
asked if Alan would mind waiting until next month as Chandra was still writing policies and procedures. Peter then
called Mo and asked whether they produced monthly management accounts, which was not something he had
ever done before. Mo said 'no', and that this was something they would have to raise with Chandra. He had told
Chandra that only quarterly accounts would be needed. A local school approached Chandra and asked him if he
was able to take a school pupil for a two week placement to give her work experience in an accounts office.
Chandra explained that the office was still being set up, so he could not do this but that he may be able to help at a
later date,
One of Peters regular customers called into the office and hired a minibus and a driver for a trip to the races in
York, which necessitated the driver staying overnight for three nights. The customer had paid the 400 deposit over
to Peter in cash, which had been normal practice in the past. Peter just put this money in the cash tin in his office
drawer, alongside the petty cash money. Two days, later the driver allocated to this trip called into the office and
asked Peter who was going to pay the accommodation bill and how he should cover the cost of the petrol for the
journey as the minibus would need filling up at least twice. Peter assured him that the customer was responsible for
the cost of the petrol and this would be paid directly to the garage. However, he would have to cover the cost of the
hotel himself and then claim it back as an expense. The driver was not very pleased about this and told Peter he
could not afford to do this. Peter then offered him the business credit card, and told him the PIN (personal
identification number) so that the driver could use it to pay the bill. The driver was not sure about this and
14

Diary of events for last six months continued
felt that this could get him into trouble, so Peter opened the cash tin and gave him 400 in cash (which was actually
the deposit money, which he had forgotten to bank).
Sue had undertaken a review of the wages and salaries processes and sent an email to the partners suggesting
that as the office staff received the same salary every month, they could stop producing monthly paper pay slips,
and everyone could just receive an emailed pay slip on a monthly basis. This would save the cost of the Sage
printed payslips which were very expensive at over 20 a box. The partners agreed to this on a trial basis for three
months, and felt that they could even use this for the mechanics if it worked for the office staff.
April
Things began to run a little more smoothly but Chandra was still busy so asked Kate to complete the bank
reconciliation statement. She could not get this to balance. When she reviewed this and went back to the previous
statement she realised that Mark had not completed the bank reconciliation correctly, and had altered the cash
book in error.
One of their regular customers, Roberts the Builders, also telephoned that day and complained that his statement
was wrong, as Mark had also altered this erroneously. Kate said she would look into this. When she talked with
Mark, and asked him if he had altered the Cash Book and customers account he said dont blame me, its not my
job to do the bank reconciliation, and anyway, I am not even sure how to do it. Kate realised she should tell
Chandra, but she liked Mark and felt that Mark was being asked to do so much more work since the merger, she
decided to cover this up for him, without telling Chandra of the error.
Alan once again asked for a partners meeting and Mo and Peter agreed to this. At the meeting they then told him
that they were only going to produce quarterly accounts, as this should be sufficient.
Sue asked to go on a two day HMRC training course for Real Time Information (RTI) which was being provided
locally and would affect how the organisation ran and managed the payroll. (RTI is a new process whereby HMRC
gathers electronically submitted data every month). It cost 400 for the two days, but she felt that it was worth the
money to ensure she kept up to date which the changes coming in. Chandra reluctantly agreed and authorised the
payment. When she came back to work she assured him that the course had been very worthwhile and offered to
run a training session for the full team to share the information. Chandra assured her there was no need for this as
she was the payroll clerk.
One day late in the month, Joe was sitting in the branch office at Southdown chatting to one of the drivers about the
poor performance of the local football team the day before, as they had lost again. He was even more annoyed as
one of the players, Martin Fowler had hired a car the day before and it had been returned dirty and full of fast food
containers. Joe and the driver decided to let their team know how they felt about their recent performance by
posting a comment on the teams Facebook page. After doing this, the driver went off on his next job, but Joe
continued to play around on Facebook, logging onto his own page and updating his status to Bored! He then went
back onto the team page and commented that Martin Fowler if gave up eating burgers and he might be able to run
faster and that if he could not give them up then he should learn how to clean up after himself.
May
The annual Northfield carnival was running this month and the local scout group leader phoned A to Z Vehicle Hire
to ask if they could have the use of a flatbed lorry for that weekend for the carnival parade. As this was a charity
event Chandra agreed and offered them the use of the lorry free of charge if they would cover the cost of the
drivers time.
15

The scout group was more than happy to do this, and Chandra promised to let the group into the garage on
Saturday morning so that they could prepare the lorry for the carnival.
Sue took a booking over the phone late one afternoon for a Daimler limousine with a driver for the next day. She
did not normally work afternoons but had swapped with Mark as he had a booking for his band and it was over 50
miles away, so he wanted to leave at lunchtime. As she was just about to leave, she quickly took down all the credit
card details, and promised that the car would be in impeccable condition, as the woman hiring it said she needed to
make a good impression. The Daimler was despatched early the next morning to the hotel that the woman had
asked to be picked up from. She spent the day shopping and covered over 200 miles in the 10 hours in which she
had the car. The driver said he was exhausted once he dropped her back at her hotel but was pleased that she had
told him to add 50 to the bill for his tip. He told this to Kate the next morning, who then set about raising the
charge to the credit card. She was very surprised when the credit card company telephoned her to say that they
were refusing payment which Kate queried. She confirmed that the customer was not present when the payment
was requested, and that it was a telephone booking. The credit card company informed her that the card had been
used fraudulently, and when Kate checked the address that Sue had been given, it turned out to be false. Sue had
also not bothered to process the deposit as she felt that it was such a short notice booking that the payment would
be made immediately. This meant that the firm lost the cost of the hiring, which for the executive car was 100, plus
the petrol costs of 50 and the payment to the driver for 10 hours work of 80. The driver lost his tip!
Mo wanted to go to the football European Cup Final in June, and he was trying to plan how his branch could be
managed without him. He thought Joe could manage most of the work, but not the administrative side of things, but
Joe assured him he would be fine with it.
May was a very busy month with two bank (public) holidays, and Chandra asked all the staff if they were willing to
work extra hours this month. He was disappointed when only Sue said she would to this, but even she was only
willing to do this if she could have the time off in lieu.
June
Kates mother had been very ill in hospital for the past three weeks but was now coming home. Kate asked
Chandra if she could work from home whilst her mother was convalescing. Chandra, regretfully, said this was not
an option and that if she wanted time off to look after her mother she would have to use her annual holiday
entitlement. Kate therefore took three weeks leave but was really upset that she had had to use most of her leave
to care for her mother. When she returned to work, Chandra was very distracted and when she queried this with
him, he told her he was worried about the cash flow. He instructed her to chase up any of the debtors who were
late in setting their credit accounts, as they had had some large bills to pay for replacement parts and they had
already reached their overdraft limit.
Alan stormed into the office on the Monday morning that Kate returned to work. He was extremely angry. Whilst on
the golf course the day before, he was surprised to be approached by Dwayne Edwards who was a regular user of
the executive cars from AA Milnes and now A to Z Vehicle Hire. Dwayne complained very loudly that he had used
the car hire service twice last month, but was upset to find that the rental deposits had not been put back into his
credit card account, and it was now four weeks later. Alan was upset that the good reputation he had built up over
the years he had run the business was being compromised. He had apologised and promised Dwayne that the
repayments of the deposits would be made immediately. Kate explained that she had been off work to look after
her mother, and that no one else had checked to see if the deposits had been returned.
16

She then started to make all the repayments back to the customers for these deposits. She was surprised to find,
however, that there was not enough cash in the bank account used specifically to store the deposits to make all the
necessary refunds. She could not understand why this was, and when she went to talk this through with Chandra
she was even more surprised when he said he had paid three invoices out of that account, due to the cash flow
problems. He felt that as this money all belonged to the firm, and the cash flow shortage was a temporary situation,
the money could soon be replaced into the deposits bank account.
Mo was on holiday for the second week in the month. Joe stood in for her with little problem for the first three days,
but when he came into the office on the fourth day he could not get the computer to start. He tried unplugging it and
plugging it back in again, but this did not work. He rang Precious for help but nothing she suggested worked, so in
desperation he rang Peter in Midway. Peter could not leave his own branch so he rang Alan and asked him if he
could possibly take a laptop computer down to Southdown so that they could continue to operate. Alan was a little
annoyed as he had already suggested that each branch should have a laptop available in case of computer
troubles. However, he got into his car and drove down to Southdown and set Joe up on the laptop so he could log
onto their website and continue with business. Whilst he was there, a customer returned their car and asked if they
could have their deposit back in cash. Joe went and checked the car over, and then took the petty cash tin out of
the desk drawer and proceeded to refund the customers 200 deposit in cash, even though he had paid it by
cheque.
July
Precious was on leave from her main job and dropped in for coffee with Kate at the head office whilst she was
shopping in Northfield. They had a good chat and Precious was pleased to hear that Kates mother was doing well
and her health was improving. Kate was complaining how busy she was and that she really did not even have time
to stop for coffee. Precious said she was more than happy to help on her day in the Midway office, but that she
would have to do this in Midway, as she could not get to Northfield on a Friday. When she was talking about this
with Peter later, he suggested that he bring her the Sage software and she could upload this onto the computer at
the Midway office and she could at least process their branch work. Precious thought this was a great idea and so
Peter called into the office the next day and picked up the copy of the Sage software and uploaded it onto the
computer at the Midway branch office.
On Friday, Peter once again took a cash payment for a car hire, but as he had not managed to go to the bank and
was short of cash for the weekend, he just put the money in his pocket, promising himself that he would go to the
bank on Monday to draw cash out to replace it. After a busy weekend helping Precious to decorate her flat he
totally forgot all about putting the cash back. It was only when Chandra completed the monthly bank reconciliation,
and went to report a shortfall that he remembered this. The partners decided that as most of their vehicles were
now over three years old that they should consider a programme of replacing the fleet of vehicles. Mark and Joe
were tasked with trying to get the best possible prices on suitable replacements, and preparing costing for this. The
partners then arranged a meeting with the bank to talk about financing. Alan asked if they had monthly accounts
prepared yet as he was certain that the bank manager would need to see these before agreeing to any financing
package.
Once again the local school approached Chandra to take a pupil on a work experience placement. Chandra,
apologised again and said that they were just too busy to spare anyone to look after a school pupil who he thought
would be more of a hindrance than a help.
17

Precious told Peter she needed to talk to him in confidence. She was very concerned that a prospective client had
come into the accountants office where she worked to discuss with the accountant a new business venture he was
considering. She had overheard them discussing how he wanted to set up a business of a car club, where cars are
hired by the hour and are dropped off and picked up at set locations. All the bookings would be over the internet,
and very few staff would be needed to run this type of operation. She felt that this new venture could harm A to Z
Vehicle Hire and thought they should consider this option as another way to hire cars. Whilst she would not
normally have told Peter anything about her work, she considered it to be only an idea that someone, who was not
as yet a client, was proposing. Besides, now as she was engaged to be married to Peter she felt she was a part
owner of the A to Z Vehicle Hire business.
Chandra told Peter that he had not yet prepared the quarterly accounts, and as Peter knew the bank would require
these, he asked Chandra to use the last quarters accounts but increase the figures to show 80% more income and
a 60% increase in net profit.
August
August was very hot; it was the best summer weather the region had experienced for many years, and bookings
were very high. With very few vehicles left for hire that month, almost all the cars were already booked out. Now
that the new fleet purchase had been agreed Mo, Peter and Alan discussed the possibility of opening another
branch in Eastleigh, and the possibility of letting Joe run this. Mo thought that the new branch was a great idea, but
was unsure about Joe being a branch manager as, only last week, he had undercharged a customer by 100,
which Mo had then needed to recover from the customer.
Peter took Precious away for a weeks holiday to Scarborough, but had not thought about who would run the
business. He asked Mo if Joe could come over, but Joe was needed in Southdown, so Peter rang Alan and asked
him if he would mind covering the Midway branch for a week. Alan felt compromised; he was meant to be the
sleeping partner and did not mind helping out in an emergency, but he did not want to commit himself to working a
full week, especially as there was a large golf tournament taking place that week. Chandra was so busy that once
again he asked Mark to complete the monthly bank reconciliation statement. Mark was unhappy about this, as he
was not certain he had the skills to do it, but accepted the task with reluctance without saying anything to Chandra.
Kates mum was ill again, and she did not want to use up the only weeks holiday that she had left so she decided
to ring in and pretend to be ill. She did not like to do this, but felt that this was her only option, especially as she
booked a weeks holiday to Benidorm in Spain during October. Chandra did not want the problems that happened
the last time Kate was off to recur, so he asked Mark if he could work full time, and take over Kates duties whilst
she was ill. Mark was not happy about this, but as he had already refused overtime he thought he had better show
willingness, especially as Chandra had asked him on the day that his Uncle Alan was in the office for a meeting
with Mo and Peter. Mark therefore worked full time for the week, but whilst he could cover the Kates general duties
that Kate, he could not process refunds. Therefore, once again the deposits were not refunded on time. As Marks
Sage skills were so out of practice, it took him all week to process what Kate could have done in one day. When
Kate came back to work she therefore found the accounts to be in a mess once again. She had to spend a full day
reviewing the work Mark had processed and preparing journal entries to correct his errors. She also still had to
catch up on the refunds of deposits. This time she felt she had to say something to Chandra, who reluctantly went
to see Mo and Peter and informed them that the office needed more staff, especially as the business was
beginning to develop more. After some discussion and a review of the business needs, the partners agreed to hire
a new accounting technician to manage the monthly accounting reporting, undertake special projects and to work
with the partners. This would allow Chandra to manage the office and ensure that the daily accounting duties were
completed.
18

September
Mo and Peter were out looking for premises to use for the Eastleigh office. They had dome some research and felt
that a branch there would only increase their profitability. The only thing they were concerned about was who would
manage this branch. They had asked Alan if he would be prepared to work three days per week to set up the
branch.
Sue came into work with a large smile across her face and proudly announced she was a grandmother again, as
her daughter-in-law had given birth to a little girl, Abigail Louise, that morning. She then went on to tell Chandra that
she wanted to go to New Zealand for four weeks, so that she could help her family out with the new baby.
Whilst he wished to let her have the time off he informed her that as she was the only one who could process the
salaries and wages it would mean difficulties for the organisation. He said he felt they could cover her for one week,
but four weeks would cause problems. Sue stated that she had every right to have her holidays, and she had saved
up her full allowance for such an occasion. When Alan heard of this he told Peter and Mo that they had to let her
have the time off, even though they would have to bear the expense of a temporary wages clerk for the month.
Chandra said that in the past in his old firm when Sue was off she would prepare wages and salaries in advance,
and that surely she could do this now. Sue informed him that this was now not possible due to RTI which had
become mandatory from April 2013 When Alan queried what RTI meant she told him about the changes to payroll
and he wondered why the partners had not been aware of this before now.
Sue left work happy that night as she went home to pack in readiness for her trip. She had managed to book a
flight online at a good price to New Zealand that afternoon, after she had arranged for a temporary wages clerk to
replace her for the month.
As it was Friday and Joe had a long weekend off, he decided he would go away with a friend for the weekend. All
packed, both he and his friend climbed into his car on the Saturday morning looking forward to a long weekend
away. His heart sank when his car refused to start. On checking the engine he found that the gear box had seized
up, and it would take all day to replace it. Instead he had a bright idea: he ran over to the industrial unit, and - as
there was no sign of Mo about - he picked up the keys to the Vauxhall Astra, one of the cars in the new fleet
recently delivered, and decided to hire this car for the weekend.
Alan came in for a partners meeting to discover that the quarterly accounts had still not yet been prepared. He was
beginning to get annoyed by this, but hoped that when the new accounting technician started work next month
things would change. He was getting a little concerned about the amount of time that Mo and Peter were now
expecting him to come into the office and felt that they were going beyond the spirit of their informal partnership
agreement.
The following Monday you start your new job role as Accounting Technician to A to Z Vehicle Hire. You have
achieved your Level 2 Certificate and level 3 Diploma in Accounting in your AAT studies and are currently working
towards the level 4 Diploma in Accounting.
19

Appendix 1
Original source: http://wikitravel.org/en/Renting_a_car
Renting a car
Travelling by car can get you places which can be very difficult to reach by public transport or tour. It gives you the
convenience of going your own way, in your own time, and it can often be cheaper than public transport
alternatives, especially if travelling as a couple or a group.
The downside is that in some places, traffic conditions may differ wildly from what you are used to, and foreign
conditions can add stress to your travels that you can do without. In some circumstances it may be better to rent a
car with a driver. In countries where wages are low, this may not cost significantly more than the cost of the car
alone.
Pricing
Base price
Price is normally calculated by number of days. Usually the more days you take, the less you pay per day. Cars are
classified according to a class, small to large, prestige and specialty vehicles, and there is a sliding scale of prices
for each car class. When you book you are usually given an example of a car type in that class, but it need not be
that type you are receiving.
Rental car companies normally permit a small amount of time, usually around an hour, for late returns. After that
they can charge up to another full day rental for a late return. If you know you are going to exceed the rental period
you can often call the rental company and arrange an extension. Normally the standard contract rate (without
discounts) would apply.
Most rental companies have a one day minimum rental period. Price for durations less than a day normally are not
regulated. If you need to return the car at significantly different time of the day, you can try haggling to get extra
hours for free
.
Insurance Surcharges
If the car is damaged or stolen, or if your car damages another or injures or kills someone, your liabilities (to the
rental agency and/or others) can go far beyond the fee you agree to pay for the rental. In addition to paying for any
repairs required, the rental car company will charge you for any loss or revenue while the car is being repaired, and
administration costs for managing the repair.
Usually when you come to rent a car you are presented with several insurance options. Some of these are:
20

Renting a car continued
Collision Damage Waiver - sometimes included in the rental cost, this reduces your liability in case of an
accident to a fixed amount advised by the rental agency.
Theft Liability Waiver
Windscreen Breakage Insurance - sometimes a small extra daily fee will cover you against the cost of
windscreen damage
Excess Reduction/Super-CDW - reduces the deductible amount in case of an accident to a lower or

sometimes eliminates all liability. Can be a substantial cost on top of the base price amount.
Third party insurance
Personal Effects Insurance - covers loss of personal items in the car when it is stolen or damaged.
You should take the time to consider the insurances offered, how they affect your liability, their cost, and whether
your personal car insurance, travel insurance or charge card (used to rent the car) provides partial or full coverage.
Sometimes some of these insurances and surcharges are compulsory, e.g., in foreign countries where your
personal insurance doesn't offer coverage. Sometimes some coverages are built into the base rate.
If insurance or waivers are optional, consider the following before accepting the charge:
1. As above, if you have an automobile insurance policy on your vehicle at home, check to see if it includes
coverage for rental car damage.
2. If you plan to pay with your credit card, check also to see if it includes rental car coverage. Be aware that in
many cases this coverage is secondary (meaning your existing auto insurance coverage pays first).
3. If you have purchased a travel insurance policy that covers trip cancellation, medical expenses, etc., check
to see if it includes a rental car collision/loss benefit. Some packages do, providing primary coverage up to
a certain amount. (Primary coverage means that the insurance pays before other policies, including your
own auto insurance.) Depending on the amount of insurance you buy, the per-day charge for a travel
insurance policy that includes rental car coverage can work out to less than the per-day amount of a
waiver. It is usually cheaper to purchase travel insurance than to pay for the Excess Reduction/SuperCDW at the rental counter.
Rental companies tend to prefer bona-fide visitors rather than local renters when it comes to excess levels and
excess reduction. Sometimes these are lower for international visitors booked in advance, for airport renters with a
flight number, or for people using a corporate discount code.
21

Many of the insurances are void if you use the car in a manner not permitted by the contract, e.g., driving under the
influence of alcohol or drugs, using it to commit a crime.

Distance charges
Some rental agreements may have a limit on how far you can travel per day or in total, and will charge for
additional distance travelled. Others have unlimited mileage.
Even with unlimited miles, you may see limits that confine you to adjacent states or regions. Getting those limits
relaxed may involve added fees; violating them may generate stiff penalties...all in the rental contract.
Other surcharges
Rental car companies are notorious for finding additional surcharges, sometimes not added until the point of sale.
These can include location or airport taxes, improvement fees and other surcharges, admin surcharges, registration
recovery surcharges and other local taxes. Sometimes local taxes are not just the local sales taxes, but also local
vehicle taxes that are "recovered". At the Las Vegas airport, such fees can increase the cost of a rental by close to
60%.
This practice has become so notorious that some consolidators promote themselves on the basis they guarantee to
offer a fully inclusive price, but check the fine print.
Choosing a car and optional extras

You need to choose a car to meet your needs.
If you can't drive a manual transmission (stick-shift), check that your rental car is equipped with an
automatic transmission. Rental cars in most of North America and Australia as well as some parts of East
Asia normally come with automatic transmissions. Rental cars in the rest of the world, especially Europe,
Africa, and South America, will usually come with manual transmissions, and renting a car with an
automatic transmission is much more expensive.
Check there is room for all the passengers and luggage you will be carrying. The car may not be the exact
model you booked, and the boot (trunk) space may vary.
22

If you are travelling on unsurfaced/gravel roads you may want to consider a car with high road clearance or
4-wheel drive.
Most rental car agencies can rent you a GPS navigation system with the car that is preloaded with maps
for the relevant city and region. Sometimes the system is already built into the car; sometimes they will give
you a portable unit to attach to the dashboard.
GPS navigation when driving in a new city can save you a considerable amount of time studying maps
while trying to get your bearings. Check the price carefully, as GPS navigation rental for a week can
sometimes cost as much as simply buying one.
Rental car companies often rent child seats or booster seats. If you are flying with a young child,
sometimes you can take your seat on the plane to save the cost of this hire. Make sure the seat you have
will attach to the car you are hiring and complies with the relevant local standards.
Most industrialized countries are going to electronic toll collection (ETC) and replacing traditional toll plazas
with toll gantries that read transponders and license plates on passing vehicles. Some rental car agencies
include transponders across their entire fleet; others rent them at the counter. If you do not make
appropriate advance arrangements with the rental car agency for toll payment by renting a transponder, the
rental car will get hit with a fine by the toll road operator, and the rental car agency will pass on the fine to
your credit card along with a "convenience fee."
Booking and haggling

The decision over whether to book in advance or whether to shop around on arrival can be difficult, and depends
on the location and the time.
When renting with major rental agency at major western airports a reservation doesn't guarantee your rental. On
their side, the rental agencies overbook, and on your side you can usually make a reservation without any
commitment and cancel at any time with no penalty. Although a reservation will not guarantee you a car in this
case, it will give you priority over someone without a reservation.
Some things to consider when choosing whether to book or turn up and try for a better standby rate.
23

If you book a small economy car, it is quite common to get upgraded at the airport if those cars have sold,
in which case you will get the upgrade at no additional cost. You can usually still change your booking at
the airport if don't get upgraded.
If you don't book you run a greater risk of no availability -- particularly in a small location, or at popular
times of year.
Some airports don't have all the airport rental agencies in one place to enable you to haggle effectively.
A better price can sometimes be obtained by a rental car company not in the city centre or at the airport.
If you book with a travel agent they often take a require prepayment in full, and will give you a voucher to present at
the rental car desk on arrival.
You may also encounter somewhat better offers or treatment if you book through the agent/agency arranging your
flight, or through or by citing your membership in clubs or large associations, e.g., AAA/AA, AARP.
Delivering the car to your location
Some rental car companies offer an option to deliver a car to your initial hotel, and/or to pick it up in the hotel at
your final destination. This option may be offered free as part of an extended period of rent (e.g. 1 week and more,
as for Budget in Portugal). In this case, an agent comes with a full set of papers, everything is filled out on spot and
may not need to visit rental office at all. The car rental companies would charge a minimal delivery fee, if the car is
to be delivered at your location. Other rental car companies may pick you up in the car, and take you back to the
rental car agency to fill out the paperwork. This is mainly so their driver has a way to get back to the rental car
office, rather than being left stranded at a hotel without a car.
If your hotel has only paid parking around it, it is your responsibility to pay for parking time required for an agent to
prepare papers with you.
Payment and security deposit

Rental companies invariably require a mechanism to have a security deposit in case of damage, fines or even
failure to return a car.
24

Many operators require that they have a true credit card that they can make charges against, often rejecting debit
cards that can have the money withdrawn from them. Usually a hold will be placed on a credit card for a security
deposit amount. However, in many cases they mean a card with protruding card details text, i.e. number, expiration,
cardholder's name (cards like Visa Classic or MasterCard)--as opposed to Visa Electron or Cirrus/Maestro.
Renting with cash only is unusual, and you should check with the rental company that it is acceptable. If permitted,
it involves paying an amount of cash as a deposit roughly equal to your maximum liability which can be many times
the cost of the rental. Some rental companies will accept payment for the rental in cash, as long as there is credit
card available for the security deposit.

The security deposit amount held is not usually fixed in your contract. If having part of your credit card limit held
may impact some other part of your holiday plans, you should check with the rental agency.
Before you set out

Make sure you know:
what to do in case of accident; breakdown when you still can drive; breakdown if you cannot
any local specifics of driving rules and conventions
controls of the car that differ between car manufacturers (rear gear, seat adjustment, lights, radio, opening
gas/fuel tank, opening trunk/boot, opening hood/bonnet, etc)
what kind of fuel is recommended, and how it is marketed at your destination (A98 vs A80; petrol in a diesel
engine--both can prove an expensive mistake)
known issues of this car model, of this particular hire car
And before you move the car, adjust your seat and then all mirrors to meet your needs.
Frequently you will be provided with a free driving map of the region.
Checking initial condition

Before you go, check the exterior and front glass of the car and ask personnel to mark in the contract every scratch
and dent you find, and sign the scheme on both copies of your contract, or even keep digital photos of the condition
of the car and picture any damages at time of pick up and at time of drop off. When you return the car, it will be
25

checked against the scheme you put in the contract. You can save considerable hassles at the end of the rental by
just taking the time to note every scratch and dent.
Filling the tank

Normally, a rental car is expected to be returned with the same fuel level as when rented.
If the tank is not full when the car is returned but it was when it was received, you may be charged a
premium - up to three times the cost of the fuel - for the tank to be filled.
If the fuel indicator indicates less than full, do not leave without a rental agent noting it.

Some agreements offer you purchase of fuel at an attractive discounted rate. In this case make sure you are going
to be driving enough to empty the tank, and that you can return it virtually empty. Many rental sites will charge you
to fill the tank as though it is totally empty, not for the actual gallons/liters needed to fill it.
Normally, the most economical approach is to agree to return the car full. Note that:
Gas stations close to your rental site may charge considerably more, so you might refill large amounts
elsewhere.
Some rental sites may ask for a "fill-up receipt" as an indicator the tank has not been used much since
being filled; you might just top-off the tank near their site.
If the car breaks down
The rental car agency will provide a number to contact in case of problems with the car. Make sure you contact this
number first, because they usually will have agreements with service organisations to fix or move the car. If you
incur costs of towing, etc, without contacting them you may make yourself liable for the cost.
If you have a flat tyre, or similar, and the cost won't be covered by the rental car company, it may just be simpler to
get the tyre fixed then to arrange service through the rental car company, who may end up charging you more.
However, if the repair will be covered by your travel insurance, you may want the rental company to arrange the
repair so the paperwork is complete.
26

In case of any accidents, be sure you have the local police number as well as the car rental company emergency
service centre number, which would be mostly stuck in the dashboard of the vehicle.
Returning a car
Normally you return the car to a rental office at your final point in their working hours and have a final calculation
done there.
At smaller locations, sometimes the office will be unattended, and have a lot to park the car, and a drop box for the
keys.

If you arrive at the office when it is closed, and you can't return it when open, it usually works to leave the car in the
lot, or nearby and place the keys, contract and the information about the car somewhere secure and obvious. You
will remain liable for the car until the office opens, and will usually also be charged up until that time.
With a pick-up-at-hotel option (see "Delivering the car to your location" above), you only need to park a car (for paid
parking, pay for the next 1 hour) and hand keys to an agent that comes to the hotel (with a cheque for parking
payment if applicable).
If you damage the car

If you incur damage to the car the car rental company will initiate the standard process that they have for vehicle
damage. They will identify the damage, and you will be required to fill in and sign an accident report form. If the
office is unattended at the time you return the car, they will contact you and advise you to fill in the form and return
it to them.
They will charge or place a hold on your credit card for the full amount of any excess that was defined in rental
agreement, even if that is obviously greater than the value of the damage. They will obtain quotes for the repair,
and advise you the cost of the repair, and their administration cost. This process can take up to a month to
complete. If this cost is greater than your excess, then that completes the process. The rental car company retains
the excess. Otherwise, your card will then be refunded for the difference.
This is usually clearly explained in the documentation that the company will produce when you return a damaged
car.
27

Traffic and parking citations

If you receive a parking or an electronic traffic citation, this will be billed to the vehicle's owner, which in this case is
the rental agency. The agency in turn will bill this to your credit card. This may take several weeks or months or in
some cases over a year to occur, and by then, you may have forgotten about the incident or been unaware of it
altogether. If the agency for any reason is unable to bill your credit card, they will continue to seek this money
indefinitely. The fines will never go away.
The agency may very likely charge its own fees in addition to the cost of the citation, which may be quite hefty,
sometimes many more than the citation itself. Many agencies do not pay citations on time, thereby incurring
government late fees, which may be far more than the citation itself. Plus they may charge a "processing fee,"
which may be quite a lot in itself. This all can be prevented by settling the citation yourself with local authorities
prior to or soon after turning in the vehicle. Doing so can save you lots of money and headaches in the future.

Attempting to dodge this fee by cancelling your credit card or otherwise not ponying up the money is extremely
unwise on your part and can have quite unpleasant consequences, and in fact can ruin your life. These include:
The rental agency may sue you for the entire amount, plus all court fees and legal costs. If such a
judgment is enforceable where you live, this can result in wage garnishment and asset attachment.
The rental agency may turn the debt over to a collection agency. This could hurt your credit rating.
You may be denied future rentals from that company at any locations around the world in the future by
surprise when you arrive at their counters unless the debt is settled in full. Such denial can extend to other
rental agencies under an umbrella of ownership or that share information with each other, and may
encompass a significant percentage of existing agencies.
The amount required to settle the debt may grow over time, and may ultimately balloon to an amount
unaffordable to most from a seemingly innocent amount. No matter what, the agency will not take no for an
answer in their attempts to collect.
In some countries, laws allow for your arrest and prosecution. A warrant can be issued that will not
disappear with time, and can come back to haunt you if you set foot into or even just transit in another
country with which it has reciprocity.
Some media-reported cases have been quite severe. One American woman was barred from renting a vehicle from
several agencies until she paid of a debt over $4000, all stemming from a $63 parking fine. Another American man
was held in a Norwegian jail for six days after he arrived in the country due to a US $97 fine he received for illegally
28

parking in Spain nine years earlier that he failed to pay off, and on which he now owed more than $6000. He was
released only after funds were raised to pay off the fees.
Avoiding citations
The best way to avoid citations is to obey all traffic and parking laws and signs, and to study their meaning in
advance. Avoid leaving your vehicle unattended for even a split-second without feeding a meter; in some places,
there are officers waiting for the very moment you do that, and even if you return quickly, they are still authorized to
write the ticket in your presence, and fleeing quickly and failing to allow them to do so can land you in more hot
water.
Don't park in an illegal parking zone just because numerous other vehicles are parked illegally. Many police
departments love when there are large numbers of illegally parked vehicles in one place, because they can
efficiently write up lots of tickets and make large amounts of money in a short period of time.
Be aware of what the speed limit is at all times. In many places, speed cameras not visible to the naked eye will
catch any and all motorists who exceed the speed limit by just a few miles or kilometres per hour. Motorists will be

unaware they broke the law until weeks or months later when a citation is mailed, but the citation has full validity
and is difficult to challenge, especially if you live far from the location.
Choosing an operator
Major global car rental companies have famous brands that operate in many countries throughout the world, for
example Avis, Hertz, etc. Sometimes the regional operator can be an independent company using the name under
licence, and often the local operator is just a franchisee. These major brands allow bookings through all the
electronic booking services, and there is a seemingly endless amount of internet booking services that allow you to
do comparison searches between them. Alternatively you can visit any car rental comparison or review websites
like kayak.com, travelauto.com, yelp.com or travelocity.com to hire the car at cheaper rates from the right service
providers reading the real-user reviews.
Using a global operator can have advantages. They often have priority "clubs", which record your details in
advance, and can make renting a car as simple as just picking up the keys. You can generally rely on them
operating out of prime locations, such as in the airport terminal, rather than in the shed down the street. They
usually run cars for a short period of time before updating their fleet. However, don't think that because you are
renting from a global operator you can rely on them to do the pre-rental car inspections correctly, or that their terms
and conditions of rental are consistent.
29

The next level is the national or regional chain. Many countries have national operators, which may also operate
out of a few neighbouring countries in the region. Sometimes these operators can also have prime locations, and
sometimes they operate using shuttles or from less prestigious sites.
The next level is the purely local operator. It is unusual for these operators to have the prime locations, often they
operate from less prestigious sites. The rental car industry sees its share of shady operators, and often they can be
found in this category. This is unfortunate, as many of these operators can offer good value, and good service. It
pays to seek out some local advice or reviews.
Often the choice is one between brand, price and convenience.
Appendix 2
Original source: http://www.startups.co.uk/creating-a-partnership-agreement.html
Creating a partnership agreement

What is it, what goes in and why is it important?
If you and your partners don't spell out your rights and responsibilities in a written partnership agreement, you'll be
ill-equipped to settle conflicts when they arise, and minor misunderstandings may erupt into full-blown disputes.
How a partnership agreement helps your business
A partnership agreement allows you to structure your relationship with your partners in a way that suits your
business. You and your partners can establish the shares of profits (or losses) each partner will take, the
responsibilities of each partner, what will happen to the business if a partner leaves and other important guidelines.
Don't be tempted to leave the terms of your partnership up to local laws. Because they were designed as one-sizefits-all fallback rules, they may not be helpful in your particular situation. It's much better to put your agreement into
a document that specifically sets out the points you and your partners have agreed on.
What to include in your partnership agreement
Here's a list of the major areas that most partnership agreements cover. You and your partners-to-be should
consider these issues before you put the terms in writing:
Name of the partnership. One of the first things you must do is agree on a name for your partnership. You can
use your own last names, such as Smith & Wesson, or you can adopt and register a fictitious business name, such
as Hammersmith and Kensington Home Repairs. If you choose a fictitious name, you must make sure that the
name isn't already in use.
30

Contributions to the partnership. It's critical that you and your partners work out and record who's going to
contribute cash, property or services to the business before it opens - and what ownership percentage each partner
will have. Disagreements over contributions have doomed many promising businesses.
Allocation of profits, losses and draws. Will profits and losses be allocated in proportion to a partner's
percentage interest in the business? And will each partner be entitled to a regular draw (a withdrawal of allocated
profits from the business) or will all profits be distributed at the end of each year? You and your partners may have
different ideas about how the money should be divided up and distributed, and each of you will have different
financial needs, so this is an area to which you should pay particular attention.
Partners' authority. Without an agreement to the contrary, any partner can bind the partnership without the
consent of the other partners. If you want one or all of the partners to obtain the others' consent before binding the
partnership, you must make this clear in your partnership agreement.
Partnership decision-making. Although there's no magic formula or language for divvying up decisions among
partners, you'll head off a lot of trouble if you try to work it out beforehand. You may, for example, want to require a
unanimous vote of all the partners for every business decision. Or if that leaves you feeling fettered, you can
require a unanimous vote for major decisions and allow individual partners to make minor decisions on their own. In
that case, your partnership agreement will have to describe what constitutes a major or minor decision. You should
carefully think through issues like these when setting up the decision-making process for your business.
Management duties. You might not want to make ironclad rules about every management detail, but you'd be
wise to work out some guidelines in advance. For example, who will keep the books? Who will deal with
customers? Supervise employees? Negotiate with suppliers? Think through the management needs of your
Creating a partnership agreement continued

partnership and be sure you've got everything covered.
Admitting new partners. Eventually, you may want to expand the business and bring in new partners. Agreeing
on a procedure for admitting new partners will make your lives a lot easier when this issue comes up.
Withdrawal or death of a partner. At least as important as the rules for admitting new partners to the business
are the rules for handling the departure of an owner. You should set up a reasonable buyout scheme in your
partnership agreement.
Resolving disputes. If you and your partners become deadlocked on an issue, do you want to go straight to
court? It might benefit everyone involved if your partnership agreement provides for alternative dispute resolution,
such as mediation or arbitration.
As you can see, there are many issues to consider before you and your partners open for business -- and you
shouldn't wait for a conflict to arise before hammering out some sound rules and procedures.
31

Mapping of report to outcomes and criteria
32

Mapping of report to outcomes and criteria

Title
Principles of Internal Control (Knowledge)
Level
Learning outcomes
learners will:
Assessment criteria learners can:

1.1
1.2
Understand the role of

accounting within the
organisation.
1.3
1.4
1.5
2.1
2.2
Understand the
importance and use of
internal controls
2.3
2.4
2.5
Describe the purpose, structure and

organisation of the accounting function and its
relationship with other functions within the
organisation.
Explain the various business purposes for
which the following financial information
is required:
statement of profit or loss
statement of cash flow
statement of financial position.
Give an overview of the organisations
business and its critical external relationships
with stakeholders.
Explain how the accounting systems are
affected by the organisational structure,
systems, procedures, and business
transactions.
Explain the effect on users of changes to
accounting systems caused by:
external regulations
organisational policies and procedures.
Identify the external regulations that affect
accounting practices.
Describe the causes of, and common types of,
fraud and the impact of this on the
organisation.
Explain the methods that can be used to detect
fraud within an accounting system.
Explain the types of controls that can be put in
place to ensure compliance with statutory or
organisational requirements.
Explain how an internal control system can
support the accounting function.
Title
Evaluating Accounting Systems (Skills)
Level
Learning outcomes
learners will:
3 Evaluate the accounting
system and identify
areas for improvement.
Assessment criteria learners can:

3.1
3.2
Identify an organisations accounting system including hardware and software packages

Review record keeping systems to confirm
whether they meet organisational requirements
Page / Section /
Paragraph number
Page / Section /
Paragraph number
33

3.3
3.4
3.5
4
Conduct an ethical
evaluation of the
accounting system
4.1
Conduct a sustainability
evaluation of the
accounting system
5.1
4.2
5.2
6.1
Make recommendations
to improve the
accounting system.
6.2
6.3
6.4
Identify weaknesses in and the potential for

improvements to, the accounting system and
consider their impact on the operation of the
organisation.
Identify potential areas of fraud arising from
lack of control within the accounting system
and evaluate the risk.
Review methods of operating for cost
effectiveness, reliability and speed.
Evaluate the accounting system against ethical
principles
Identify actual or possible breaches of
professional ethics
Evaluate the accounting system against
sustainable principles
Identify where improvements could be made to
improve sustainability
Make recommendations for changes to the
accounting system, including ethical and
sustainability considerations with a clear
rationale and an explanation of any
assumptions made.
Identify the effects that any changes would
have on the users of the system.
Enable individuals to understand how to use
the accounting system by use of training,
manuals, and written information or help
menus.
Identify the implications of recommended
changes in terms of time, financial costs,
benefits, and operating procedures.
34
Internal Control and Accounting

Systems (ISYS)
Assessment book
AAT Level 4 Diploma in Accounting (AQ2013)
Contact us
Call us on 0845 863 0800 (UK)
+44 (0)20 7397 3000 (outside UK)
Lines are open 09:00 to 17:00
Monday to Friday (UK time)
Email us at aat@aat.org.uk
Visit us at aat.org.uk
Association of
Accounting Technicians
140 Aldersgate Street
London EC1A 4HY
United Kingdom
Registered charity no. 1050724

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Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

ISYS 2: Assessment book - A to Z Vehicle Hire

Internal Control and Accounting Systems (AQ2013)

Time allowed: Four months

QCF qual ref

SCQF qual ref

QCF unit ref

SCQF unit ref

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

AAT Code of Professional Ethics

Renting a Car Appendix 1, p.20

Creating a partnership agreement Appendix 2, p.30

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Training identify how training is or can be used to support staff.

Identify any actual or possible breaches of professional ethics.

To help you with this see http://www.aat.org.uk/sites/default/files/assets/AAT_Code_of_Professional_Ethics.pdf

Identify any possible improvements that could be made to improve sustainability.

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Prepare a Cost Benefit Analysis.

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Accounting and other information technology (IT) systems

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Information technology (IT) policy

Sending or posting any discriminatory messages.

Sharing confidential information outside of the firm.

Hacking into unauthorised websites.

Perpetrating any form of fraud, and /or film/music or software piracy.

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Theft Liability Waiver

Excess Reduction/Super-CDW - reduces the deductible amount in case of an accident to a lower or

Third party insurance

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Renting a car continued

Choosing a car and optional extras

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Renting a car continued

Booking and haggling

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Renting a car continued

Payment and security deposit

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Renting a car continued

Before you set out

any local specifics of driving rules and conventions

known issues of this car model, of this particular hire car

Checking initial condition

Live assessment: Internal Control and Accounting Systems

Filling the tank

Renting a car continued

If the car breaks down