Question & Answer

Presented below is abbreviated testimony from Troy Normand in the WorldCom case. He was a manager in the corporate reporting department and is one of five individuals who pleaded guilty. He is testifying in hopes of receiving no prison time when he is ultimately sentenced. Q. Mr. Normand, if you could just describe for the jury how the meeting started and what was said during the meeting? A. I can’t recall exactly who initiated the discussion, but right away Scott Sullivan acknowledged that he was aware we had problems with the entries, David Myers had informed him, and we were considering resigning. He said that he respected our concerns but that we weren’t being asked to do anything that he believed was wrong. He mentioned that he acknowledged that the company had lost focus quite a bit due to the preparations for the Sprint merger, and that he was putting plans in place and projects in place to try to determine where the problems were, why the costs were so high. He did say he believed that the initial statements that we produced, that the line costs in those statements could not have been as high as they were, that he believed something was wrong and there was no way that the costs were that high. I informed him that I didn’t believe the entry we were being asked to do was right, that I was scared, and I didn’t want to put myself in a position of going to jail for him or the company. He responded that he didn’t believe anything was wrong, nobody was going to be going to jail, but that if it later was found to be wrong, that he would be the person going to jail, not me. He asked that I stay, don’t jump off the plane, let him land it softly, that’s basically how he put it. And he mentioned that he had a discussion with Bernie Ebbers, asking Bernie to reduce projections going forward and that Bernie had refused. Q. Mr. Normand, you said that Mr. Sullivan said something about don’t jump out of the plane. What did you understand him to mean when he said that? A. Not to quit. Q. During this meeting, did Mr. Sullivan say anything about whether you would be asked to make entries like this in the future? A. Yes, he made a comment that from that point going forward we wouldn’t be asked to record any entries, high-level late adjustments, that the numbers would be the numbers. Q. What did you understand that to be mean, the numbers would be the numbers? A. That after the preliminary statements were issued, with the exception of any normal transaction, valid transaction, we wouldn’t be asked to be recording any more late entries. Q. I believe you testified that Mr. Sullivan said something about the line cost numbers not being accurate. Did he ask you to conduct any analysis to determine whether the line cost numbers were accurate? A. No, he did not. A. No. Q. Did you ever conduct any such analysis? A. No, I didn’t. Q. During this meeting, did Mr. Sullivan ever provide any accounting justification for the entry you were asked to make? A. No, he did not. Q. Did anything else happen during the meeting? A. I don’t recall anything else. Q. How did you feel after this meeting? A. Not much better actually. I left his office not convinced in any way that what we were asked to do was right. However, I did question myself to some degree after talking with him wondering whether I was making something more out of what was really there. Instructions Answer the following questions. (a) What appears to be the ethical issue involved in this case? (b) Is Troy Normand acting improperly or immorally?Q. Did anyone ever ask you to do that? (c) What would you do if you were Troy Normand? (d) Who are the major stakeholders in this case?

Based on what you know about repurchase agreements, would you expect them to have a lower or higher annualized yield than commercial paper? Why? (LO1)

Wood Incorporated factored $150,000 of accounts receivable with Engram Factors Inc. on a withoutrecourse basis. Engram assesses a 2% finance charge of the amount of accounts receivable and retains an amount equal to 6% of accounts receivable for possible adjustments. Prepare the journal entry for Wood Incorporated and Engram Factors to record the factoring of the accounts receivable to Engram.

: Explain the dividends of a diverse workforce and how the definition of diversity has grown to recognize a broad spectrum of differences among employees.

Identify today’s international trade alliances and discuss how they affect international companies.

] Discuss why Congress has instructed taxpayers to depreciate real property using the mid-month convention as opposed to the half-year convention used for tangible personal property.

Presented below are four independent situations. (a) On December 31, 2014, Zarle Inc. sold computer equipment to Daniell Co. and immediately leased it back for 10 years. The sales price of the equipment was $520,000, its carrying amount is $400,000, and its estimated remaining economic life is 12 years. Determine the amount of deferred revenue to be reported from the sale of the computer equipment on December 31, 2014. (b) On December 31, 2014, Wasicsko Co. sold a machine to Cross Co. and simultaneously leased it back for one year. The sale price of the machine was $480,000, the carrying amount is $420,000, and it had an estimated remaining useful life of 14 years. The present value of the rental payments for the one  year is $35,000. At December 31, 2014, how much should Wasicsko report as deferred revenue from the sale of the machine? (c) On January 1, 2014, McKane Corp. sold an airplane with an estimated useful life of 10 years. At the same time, McKane leased back the plane for 10 years. The sales price of the airplane was $500,000, the carrying amount $379,000, and the annual rental $73,975.22. McKane Corp. intends to depreciate the leased asset using the sum-of-the-years’-digits depreciation method. Discuss how the gain on the sale should be reported at the end of 2014 in the financial statements. (d) On January 1, 2014, Sondgeroth Co. sold equipment with an estimated useful life of 5 years. At the same time, Sondgeroth leased back the equipment for 2 years under a lease classified as an operating lease. The sales price (fair value) of the equipment was $212,700, the carrying amount is $300,000, the monthly rental under the lease is $6,000, and the present value of the rental payments is $115,753. For the year ended December 31, 2014, determine which items would be reported on its income statement for the sale-leaseback transaction.

What factors determine a country’s terms of trade?

On January 1, 2014, Millay Inc. paid $700,000 for 10,000 shares of Genso Company’s voting common stock, which was a 10% interest in Genso. At that date, the net assets of Genso totaled $6,000,000. The fair values of all of Genso’s identifiable assets and liabilities were equal to their book values. Millay does not have the ability to exercise significant influence over the operating and financial policies of Genso. Millay received dividends of $1.50 per share from Genso on October 1, 2014. Genso reported net income of $550,000 for the year ended December 31, 2014. On July 1, 2015, Millay paid $2,325,000 for 30,000 additional shares of Genso Company’s voting common stock which represents a 30% investment in Genso. The fair values of all of Genso’s identifiable assets net of liabilities were equal to their book values of $6,550,000. As a result of this transaction, Millay has the ability to exercise significant influence over the operating and financial policies of Genso. Millay received dividends of $2.00 per share from Genso on April 1, 2015, and $2.50 per share on October 1, 2015. Genso reported net income of $650,000 for the year ended December 31, 2015, and $350,000 for the 6 months ended December 31, 2015. Instructions (For both purchases, assume any excess of cost over book value is due to goodwill.) (a) Prepare a schedule showing the income or loss before income taxes for the year ended December 31, 2014, that Millay should report from its investment in Genso in its income statement issued in March 2015. (b) During March 2016, Millay issues comparative financial statements for 2014 and 2015. Prepare schedules showing the income or loss before income taxes for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2015, that Millay should report from its investment in Genso.

A face milling operation removes 0.32 in depth of cut from the end of a cylinder that has a diameter of 3.90 in. The cutter has a 4-in diameter with 4 teeth, and its feed trajectory is centered over the circular face of the work. The cutting speed is 375 ft/min and the chip load is 0.006 in/tooth. Determine (a) the time to machine, (b) the average metal removal rate (considering the entire machining time), and (c) the maximum metal removal rate.

Baden Corporation entered into a lease agreement for 10 photocopy machines for its corporate headquarters. The lease agreement qualifies as an operating lease in all terms except there is a bargain-purchase option. After the 5-year lease term, the corporation can purchase each copier for $1,000, when the anticipated fair value is $2,500. Jerry Suffolk, the financial vice president, thinks the financial statements must recognize the lease agreement as a capital lease because of the bargain-purchase option. The controller, Diane Buchanan, disagrees: “Although I don’t know much about the copiers themselves, there is a way to avoid recording the lease liability.” She argues that the corporation might claim that copier technology advances rapidly and that by the end of the lease term the machines will most likely not be worth the $1,000 bargain price. Instructions Answer the following questions. (a) What ethical issue is at stake? (b) Should the controller’s argument be accepted if she does not really know much about copier technology? Would it make a difference if the controller were knowledgeable about the pace of change in copier technology? (c) What should Suffolk do?

(Looking at the Maths) How long would it take an economy, like China, growing at an annual rate of close to 10 per cent to (a) double in size; (b) triple in size?

] Describe how the underpayment penalty is calculated.

Why are held-to-maturity investments applicable only to debt securities?

1.       : How might employee resource groups contribute to the advancement of women and people of color to higher-level positions in an organization?

1.      Require that Rukman participants reveal their ties to the corporate marketing program right up front before they make a recommendation.

The comparative balance sheets for Hinckley Corporation show the following information. December 31 2014 2013 Cash $ 33,500 $13,000 Accounts receivable 12,250 10,000 Inventory 12,000 9,000 Investments –0– 3,000 Buildings –0– 29,750 Equipment 45,000 20,000 Patents 5,000 6,250 $107,750 $91,000 Allowance for doubtful accounts $ 3,000 $ 4,500 Accumulated depreciation—equipment 2,000 4,500 Accumulated depreciation—building –0– 6,000 Accounts payable 5,000 3,000 Dividends payable –0– 5,000 Notes payable, short-term (nontrade) 3,000 4,000 Long-term notes payable 31,000 25,000 Common stock 43,000 33,000 Retained earnings 20,750 6,000 $107,750 $91,000 Additional data related to 2014 are as follows. 1. Equipment that had cost $11,000 and was 40% depreciated at time of disposal was sold for $2,500. 2. $10,000 of the long-term note payable was paid by issuing common stock. 3. Cash dividends paid were $5,000. 4. On January 1, 2014, the building was completely destroyed by a flood. Insurance proceeds on the building were $30,000 (net of $2,000 taxes). 5. Investments (available-for-sale) were sold at $1,700 above their cost. The company has made similar sales and investments in the past. 6. Cash was paid for the acquisition of equipment. 7. A long-term note for $16,000 was issued for the acquisition of equipment. 8. Interest of $2,000 and income taxes of $6,500 were paid in cash. Instructions Prepare a statement of cash flows using the indirect method. Flood damage is unusual and infrequent in that part of the country.

Compare and contrast the recovery periods used by MACRS and those used under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

Seaver Company uses the installment-sales method in accounting for its installment sales. On January 1, 2014, Seaver Company had an installment account receivable from Jan Noble with a balance of $1,800. During 2014, $500 was collected from Noble. When no further collection could be made, the merchandise sold to Noble was repossessed. The merchandise had a fair value of $650 after the company spent $60 for reconditioning of the merchandise. The merchandise was originally sold with a gross profit rate of 30%. Instructions Prepare the entries on the books of Seaver Company to record all transactions related to Noble during 2014. (Ignore interest charges.)

What is the dilemma between design and manufacturing in terms of mechanical properties?

As indicated in Section 23.4, the effect of a cutting fluid is to increase the value of C in the Taylor tool life equation. In a certain machining situation using HSS tooling, the C value is increased from C = 200 to C = 225 due to the use of the cutting fluid. The n value is the same with or without fluid at n = 0.125. Cutting speed used in the operation is v = 125 ft/min. Feed = 0.010 in/rev and depth = 0.100 in. The effect of the cutting fluid can be to either increase cutting speed (at the same tool life) or increase tool life (at the same cutting speed). (a) What is the cutting speed that would result from using the cutting fluid if tool life remains the same as with no fluid? (b) What is the tool life thatwould result if the cutting speed remained at 125 ft/min? (c) Economically, which effect is better, given that tooling cost = $2.00 per cutting edge, tool change time = 2.5 min, and operator and machine rate = $30/hr? Justify you answer with calculations, using cost per cubic in of metal machined as the criterion of comparison. Ignore effects of workpart handling time.

The following conditions and settings are used in a certain surface grinding operation: wheel diameter = 6.0 in, infeed = 0.003 in, wheel speed = 4750 ft/min, workspeed = 50 ft/min, and crossfeed = 0.20 in. The number of active grits per square inch of wheel surface = 500. Determine (a) average length per chip, (b) metal removal rate, and (c) number of chips formed per unit time for the portion of the operation when the wheel is engaged in the work.

An accountant must be familiar with the concepts involved in determining earnings of a business entity. The amount of earnings reported for a business entity is dependent on the proper recognition, in general, of revenues and expenses for a given time period. In some situations, costs are recognized as expenses at the time of product sale. In other situations, guidelines have been developed for recognizing costs as expenses or losses by other criteria. Instructions (a) Explain the rationale for recognizing costs as expenses at the time of product sale. (b) What is the rationale underlying the appropriateness of treating costs as expenses of a period instead of assigning the costs to an asset? Explain. (c) In what general circumstances would it be appropriate to treat a cost as an asset instead of as an expense? Explain. (d) Some expenses are assigned to specific accounting periods on the basis of systematic and rational allocation of asset cost. Explain the underlying rationale for recognizing expenses on the basis of systematic and rational allocation of asset cost. (e) Identify the conditions under which it would be appropriate to treat a cost as a loss.

What evidence is necessary to demonstrate the ability to consummate the refinancing of short-term debt?

0 A riser in the shape of a sphere is to be designed for a sand casting mold. The casting is a rectangular plate, with length = 200 mm, width = 100 mm, and thickness = 18 mm. If the total solidification time of the casting itself is known to be 3.5 min, determine the diameter of the riser so that it will take 25% longer for the riser to solidify