How Gas Prices Work

How Gas Prices Work
Summary:
This article states that Canadian gas prices are either lower or unchanged since September. On September 22nd, the average Canadian gas price was 94.9 cents per litre, which was 3.6 cents lower than the previous week. All the surveyed gas markets reported that their prices either dropped or didn’t change at all. Although Vancouver had an above average gas price of $1.007 per litre, Vancouver still saw the biggest drop in price of 8.1 cents lower than last week. Yellowknife on the other hand has the highest gas price in Canada of an unchanged price of $1.197 cents a litre. Kingston, Ontario on the other hand had the lowest gas price in Canada with 85.4cents, decreasing by 4.7cents since the previous week. Even the US price of crude oil went from $99.37 to $66.50. Overall, signs show that gas prices have been dropping all over North America.

Connections:
With the constant drop in gas price, traveling is a lot cheaper than before. This may help businesses improve profits by lowering the amount on the freight in or freight out accounts. Businesses don’t have to suffer excessive transportation charge for shipping goods out or in. With this decrease in expense, businesses can purchase supplies without having to worry about the extra freight in/out expense. This would also reduce the expenses of some businesses that require the use of gas such as taxis and buses. This would definitely help increase revenue earned in businesses, therefore will also be a factor that helps businesses survive the economic struggle we are facing right now.

Reflection:
I believe that gas prices dropping is a good and bad thing. Many people will be able to afford gasoline and start driving everywhere which is very convenient. Businesses would benefit from this because more people will be able to afford gasoline now and therefore there would be more costumers for them. Businesses would also benefit from the decrease in freight in/out expense and therefore make more profit. However, there would be more people driving and emitting carbon dioxide into the environment now that gasoline is more affordable. With the cheap gas prices, people would be more willing to drive and therefore emit more pollution into the atmosphere. I think that this would contribute to the recovery of the economy. Therefore I believe that this is more to the good side rather than bad.

http://www.canada.com/prices+fall+across+Canada/2047433/story.html

FTSE slips below 5,000 on gloomy US jobs data

Summary:
This article tells us how both the UK and United States has been doing so badly economically. The FTSE 100 has failed to reach the 5000 point threshold for the first time in three weeks, therefore earning less money. United Sates has also suffered a large economic lost from job losses. During September, the US suffered a job loss of 263,000. Not only is this number of loss 100,000 greater than expected, but it is also the 21st consecutive month in declining employment figures for the Sates. During this time, banks are the ones with the greatest lost. The only area in US that isn’t in an economic crisis is Wall Street. Although they currently may not be in a crisis, they are still suffering a decline in business. Even though things may look bad for United States, people in power still believe that US would start recovering by the third quarter, and begin generating jobs by the first quarter next year.


Connections:
The connection between accounting and this article is the declining economic conditions. The major causes of job losses are bankruptcy of businesses. Therefore there are fewer jobs possible for everyone and especially people in the business area in particular. As more businesses go bankrupt, there are more accountants and other business people being left jobless. In order for the economy to make a turn, people must create more job opportunities and stimulate the economy. Whenever there are jobs, accountants are needed and that’s why accountants also play a huge role in fixing the economy.


Reflection:
Due to the horrible economy, prices are dropping and many people are jobless. Although people in Canada are better off than United States, Canada is still affected by its neighboring country. I think that the economy is slowly getting worst and if we do not provide more job opportunities for people, it won’t be recovering anytime soon. What I think the government should do is sponsor a huge project on one type of business and start hiring a lot of workers to stimulate the economy.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/ftse100/6256321/FTSE-slips-below-5000-on-gloomy-US-jobs-data.html

Fixed Assets Depreciation Methods

Summary:

This article describes the different types of depreciation and informs us of the possible risk of buying fixed assets. With the understanding of depreciation, people and businesses can save a lot of money by paying less income tax. This can greatly influence a businesses net worth and the amount of profit it is making. The most common and easy method of depreciation is the straight-line depreciation method. In a straight-line depreciation method, assets depreciate equally and therefore depreciate at the same amount during its whole life span. When an asset produces a lot of revenue during its early life, this is known as an accelerated depreciation method. In this type of depreciation, the asset is earning a lot of revenue while having a huge tax deduction.

Connections:

Depreciation is one of the accounts in a balance sheet which all accountants must know about in order to be successful. Not only accountants, but students who study accounting should know what depreciation is. By knowing the depreciation methods, accountants can advise and suggest the owners about which method is best suited for the business. Many small businesses don’t make a lot of revenue, so they have to reduce the amount of expenses in order to make a profit. Every business can increase their profits with the knowledge of depreciation by paying less tax.

Reflection:

Depreciation may be eating away your money without you even knowing. Due to the lack of knowledge, businesses seem to lose or not earn as much money as they could have. With the knowledge of depreciation, people are able to save lots of money from paying less tax. Furthermore people are more informed about the amount of time that an asset has left until it loses its usefulness. This enables people to use the asset to its fullest before it becomes worthless. Therefore I believe that it is important and helpful for every business to know about this information.

http://accounting.suite101.com/article.cfm/fixed_asset_depreciation_methods