| Course | AC314 Accounting Information Systems and Enterprise Risk Management |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 8 |
| Paper type | Risk register |
| Length | About 700 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Accounting |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for AC314 Unit 8
Ten Risks, an Appetite the Owners Signed and Two for the Board: A Unit 8 Risk Register for a Wholesale Nursery
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
AC314: Accounting Information Systems and Enterprise Risk Management
Unit 8 Risk Register
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Stillbrook Nursery, its owners and every figure are composite; the frameworks and study cited are real.
Appetite Statement
Approved by the owners:
1. No single customer above 40 percent of revenue.
2. Weather losses accepted up to 3 percent of crop value in a season.
3. No residual risk scoring above 9 without a board decision.
The 2017 framework ties appetite to strategy, so these lines were written from Stillbrook's plan to grow its independent garden center business (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, 2017).
Scoring Key
Likelihood within twelve months: 1, under 5 percent; 2, 5 to 20; 3, 20 to 50; 4, 50 to 80; 5, over 80. Impact on operating income: 1, under $25,000; 2, $25,000 to $100,000; 3, $100,000 to $300,000; 4, $300,000 to $1,000,000; 5, over $1,000,000. Score: likelihood times impact.
The Register
Each line gives the risk, inherent score, response, residual score and owner.
1. Chain dependence: the chain is 37 percent of sales and could cut orders or change terms. Inherent 3 by 5, 15. Response: reduce, by adding 40 independent accounts and negotiating a two-year agreement. Residual 3 by 4, 12. Owner: sales manager. Escalate.
2. Unscanned plants at chain stores: $760,000 last season. Inherent 5 by 3, 15. Response: reduce, through weekly store-level matching and sell-through caps. Residual 3 by 2, 6. Owner: controller.
3. Spring freeze or hail. Inherent 3 by 4, 12. Response: share, through crop insurance, and reduce, with frost cloth. Residual 2 by 3, 6, inside the weather appetite. Owner: head grower.
4. Boxwood blight reaching the growing fields; boxwood is 8 percent of sales. Inherent 3 by 4, 12. Response: reduce, through quarantine of incoming liners and sanitation. Residual 2 by 5, 10, because one outbreak would force destruction of the whole crop. Owner: head grower. Escalate.
5. Seasonal labor arriving late for spring. Inherent 4 by 3, 12. Response: file worker petitions earlier. Residual 2 by 3, 6. Owner: operations manager.
6. Cash diverted at the will-call counter. Inherent 3 by 3, 9. Response: reduce, through the Unit 6 controls. Residual 2 by 2, 4. Owner: controller.
7. Payment redirected by a fraudulent email. Inherent 3 by 3, 9. Response: call-back control. Residual 1 by 3, 3. Owner: office manager.
8. System outage in peak season. Inherent 3 by 3, 9. Response: numbered paper forms and a count on restore. Residual 2 by 2, 4. Owner: controller.
9. Irrigation water restrictions in drought. Inherent 2 by 4, 8. Response: accept, with a storage pond already built. Residual 2 by 3, 6. Owner: owners.
10. Loss of the head grower. Inherent 2 by 4, 8. Response: reduce, with a documented crop calendar and a trained assistant. Residual 2 by 3, 6. Owner: owners.
Two residual scores stay above 9 after every response management can take, which under the signed appetite means the decision belongs to the board, not to the managers who own the risks day to day.
Residual Heat Map
On a five-by-five grid, eight risks sit at 6 or below, in the lower left. Chain dependence sits at 3 by 4 and boxwood blight at 2 by 5, both above the line. The board's choices are clear: accept chain dependence at 37 percent while the independent business grows, or set a lower ceiling; and keep boxwood with its tail risk, or phase it out over two seasons.
Why a Register Rather Than a List
Studies of enterprise risk management find that companies with board-level oversight and a senior leader responsible for risk implement it more fully (Beasley et al., 2005). A register that scores, assigns owners and escalates is how a small company builds that oversight without a risk department. The internal control framework covers the risks inside these processes; the enterprise framework asks whether the strategy itself carries risks the owners have chosen knowingly (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, 2013).
References
Beasley, M. S., Clune, R., & Hermanson, D. R. (2005). Enterprise risk management: An empirical analysis of factors associated with the extent of implementation. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 24(6), 521-531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2005.10.001
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. (2013). Internal control: Integrated framework. https://www.coso.org
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. (2017). Enterprise risk management: Integrating with strategy and performance. https://www.coso.org
AC314 Unit 8 instructions, in plain terms
Unit 8 of AC314 asks for a risk register for a described organization, usually under COSO's enterprise risk management framework. Start with an appetite statement in a few measurable lines. Define a scoring key with likelihood and impact scales tied to probability and money. List the risks, each written as an event that would affect objectives. For each, give the inherent score, the response category and actions, the residual score and a named owner. Compare residual scores with the appetite and flag those needing a higher decision. Show the residual picture in a heat map or a short description of one. Explain how the register connects to strategy and to internal control. Include risks drawn from earlier units as well as strategic, operational and external ones. Cite COSO 2017, COSO 2013 and research on enterprise risk management in APA 7.
How this AC314 Unit 8 example is built
The sample begins with three appetite lines approved by the owners and explains that they come from the plan to grow independent accounts. A scoring key defines five likelihood bands by probability and five impact bands by operating income lost. Ten numbered risks follow, each with inherent score, response, residual score and owner, from chain dependence and unscanned plants to freeze, boxwood blight, seasonal labor, cash diversion, email fraud, system outage, water restrictions and loss of the head grower. The highlighted sentence explains why two residual scores go to the board. The heat map section places eight risks low and the two escalations above the line, and sets out the board's choices. A closing section cites Beasley and colleagues on board oversight and separates enterprise risk from internal control.
AC314 Unit 8 rubric: what earns full points
The AC314 rubric checks the appetite statement first, because a register without a measurable appetite cannot show which risks need decisions. The scoring key must define both scales clearly. Each risk needs an inherent score, a response from the framework's categories, a residual score and an owner; missing owners are a frequent deduction. Residual scores should change for a reason the response explains. Escalating risks that exceed appetite shows understanding of governance. Including strategic and external risks alongside process risks shows the step from internal control to enterprise risk management. A heat map or its description makes the profile readable. Citing the 2017 framework precisely earns credit. Purdue Global's AC314 instructors expect COSO 2017, COSO 2013 and ERM research cited in APA 7.
AC314 Unit 8 help: mistakes that cost points
Risk registers often list risks as categories, such as weather, instead of events with consequences. Scores are given without a key, so a 4 means nothing. Inherent and residual scores are identical, or residual drops with no response to explain it. Every risk gets the same response. Owners are departments or committees rather than people. The appetite is missing, so nothing is escalated. Only process risks appear, leaving out customer concentration, disease or labor. COSO 2013 is cited for enterprise risk, which belongs to the 2017 framework. If your case is a hospital, a school or a manufacturer, a writer can build the appetite, key and register around its objectives.
Get an AC314 Unit 8 example written to your instructions
Whatever organization your Unit 8 prompt describes becomes the register's subject; forward it with any appetite or tolerance figures given, plus the rubric. Scales come first, then every entry scored, answered and owned, within 24-48h. There is no cost for a first custom sample, and the scales are sized to your organization. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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AC314 Unit 8 questions, answered
Does the register have to follow COSO ERM?
Only if your prompt names it, though most AC314 sections do. The 2017 update, Enterprise Risk Management: Integrating with Strategy and Performance, organizes the work into five components and twenty principles and names five response categories. The sample cites the framework where it shapes the register, in the appetite statement and the responses, rather than summarizing all of it.
Can one risk have two owners?
It is better not to. Shared ownership usually means nobody acts, which is the problem ownership exists to solve. Where two departments contribute, the sample names one owner and lists the other as a contributor in the action column. If your prompt asks for a responsibility matrix, the register adds those columns, but a single accountable role remains in each row.
Where can I find a free AC314 Unit 8 sample paper?
This page offers a complete AC314 Unit 8 risk register for a composite wholesale nursery, with an appetite statement, scoring key, ten scored risks, two escalations, a heat map and APA 7 references.
Why do two risks go to the board in AC314 Unit 8?
The owners' appetite sends any residual score above 9 to the board. Chain dependence stays at 12 and boxwood blight at 10 even after every response management can take.
How does a response change a score in AC314 Unit 8?
The first score ignores Stillbrook's response; the second reflects it. Crop insurance and frost cloth, for example, bring spring freeze from 12 down to 6.