Accounts – Alton Towers have to, by law keep records everyday of transactions called accounts. These have to be kept by Alton Towers for a total of 6 years. If these accounts are kept on computer then they are ledger accounts. All financial information is stored in the accounts. The data can be revised to find out financial information including bank statements. Information is then available to the managers of the theme park. Members of the public and competitors of Alton Towers can have access to the financial information because Alton Towers is a PLC.
Sales Ledger – 12,000 invoices were produced on Alton Towers sales Ledger System in 1997. There are thousands of visitors to Alton Towers each year. There are a large number of these people that come in groups and so they pay through accounts. There are also people who book days out through accounts; invoices requesting payment are raised through a Sales Ledger System. This generates the original invoice and tracks it until it has been paid. Purchase Ledger – 24,000 invoices were dealt with in 1997 using the Alton Towers Purchase Ledger System.
This system records an invoice as it’s received and its progress is followed until its authorized and as a payment a cheque is sent. The invoice must include a corresponding purchase order number a signature of someone with the right authorization level before it can be processed through. Budgets – Alton Towers as a business has to pay out lots of money. Some of these costs could include bills and staff wages. The finance department will issue a document called a budget. The budget will outline the financial targets for Alton Towers but will also set a budget for each of the other departments.
Forecasting – Businesses need to put timers next to their cash flow statements, these are then called a forecast. Alton Towers need a forecast, as it will include information from over the entire past year allowing Alton Towers to how many tickets the theme park must sell before their break even and profit point is reached. The break-even point is when the production of a product and revenue made are the same. Fixed costs – The total costs of a business can be divided into two areas – fixed costs and Variable costs. The reason for this division is so that a break-even point can be calculated.
Fixed costs at Alton Towers would be permanent staff wages and insurance. These costs may vary but it would be over a period of time. Alton Towers uses its fixed costs to work out its break-even point. The fixed costs are also known as overheads, the costs are unrelated to production of the product. The fixed costs also include telephone bills and electricity. Cash flow – Alton Towers needs to know about money that’s coming into and out of the business. They use a cash flow forecast to find out if they have enough cash to pay off due debts. Costs that have to be allowed are:
Variable costs and fixed costs, variable costs are the costs that change with outputs. These costs include raw materials and wages. The fixed costs are known as overheads and include electrical bills and telephone bills. Timings must be placed against their cash flow statements these are called forecasts. When specials evens are held at Alton Towers including Halloween Spooktacular and the Fireworks and laser Spectacular then each of the costs need to be reviewed. The costs for the themed nights would include extra staff, security, stage equipment, fireworks and lighting etc.
Wages and salaries – Another thing that the finance department deals with is the staff wages. A system has been set up so that staff at Alton Towers to ensure that each member of staff is paid correctly. Each of the employees is each given a clock in card. On this card is a photograph of the member of staff, a contract number and on the reverse of the card is the Alton Towers mission statement. The contract number that is o the card is a personal number; each employee is given a different number. This corresponds with the employee’s time, payroll and attendance reference number.
The staff swipes this card every time that they are to begin work and when they finish. This records the number if hours worked and so for every department a report is made at the end of the week. This tells the Human Resource department that about how many hours the have been worked during the week, the report is then amended by the managers. After checking over all the information it is transferred onto a payroll system and the employee can them be paid. A BACS system is then used so that the money is paid into the staff’s bank on the same day as it goes in.
Paying bills – As well as money coming into Alton Towers, money will be leaving the business; these are in the form bills. For Alton Towers to pay for these outgoing costs the business sells goods and a service. It is the role of the finance department to ensure that the bills are paid on the correct and agreed days along with the correct amount of money. This will keep suppliers happy and wanting to continue providing to Alton Towers, also the business can continue running. The business costs can be divided into two parts: start up casts and running costs.
The startup costs need to be paid before Alton Towers begins to provide a service or produce its goods. Startup costs may need paying if a new ride is opened or a new stall. The running costs involve the every day bills that will need to be paid before they can continue. These include the following:There is lots of money spent at the Alton Towers on things such as ride maintenance, staff and equipment. To be able to pay for each of these, money must be coming into the business. This money being put into the business is called income or revenue.
This is how Alton Towers is able to find if it has made a profit or loss. If the incoming costs are more than in outgoing costs then the money made to pay for the outgoing casts then it is known as a loss. If Alton Towers was to continuously make a loss then the business will be forced to close down. 3) The Marketing Department Marketing is what companies go through when they want to identify who potential and existing customers are and also what their wants and needs are. The aim of a marketing department is to ensure that potential customers are told about a certain good or service that your business provides.
There are two main types of research. The can be defined as market research and promotion. These can be divided into other areas as shown below: 1) Market research This is used to obtain information about what potential and existing customers need and want out of a business. This will include researching into things such as likely demand for the product or service, what people will want to see and likely advertising methods. This is all essential to Alton Towers. There are two types of research – primary and secondary.
