Question & Answer

Lexington Co. has the following available-for-sale securities outstanding on December 31, 2014 (its first year of operations). Cost Fair Value Greenspan Corp. Stock $20,000 $19,000 Summerset Company Stock 9,500 8,800 Tinkers Company Stock 20,000 20,600 $49,500 $48,400 During 2015, Summerset Company stock was sold for $9,200, the difference between the $9,200 and the “fair value” of $8,800 being recorded as a “Gain on Sale of Investments.” The market price of the stock on December 31, 2015, was Greenspan Corp. stock $19,900; Tinkers Company stock $20,500. Instructions (a) What justification is there for valuing available-for-sale securities at fair value and reporting the unrealized gain or loss as part of stockholders’ equity? (b) How should Lexington Company apply this rule on December 31, 2014? Explain. (c) Did Lexington Company properly account for the sale of the Summerset Company stock? Explain. (d) Are there any additional entries necessary for Lexington Company at December 31, 2015, to reflect the facts on the financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles? Explain.

If the negotiated wage rate were somewhere between W1 and W2, what would happen to employment?

Presented below are selected accounts of Yasunari Kawabata Company at December 31, 2014 Inventory (fi nished goods) $ 52,000 Cost of Goods Sold $2,100,000 Unearned Service Revenue 90,000 Notes Receivable 40,000 Equipment 253,000 Accounts Receivable 161,000 Inventory (work in process) 34,000 Inventory (raw materials) 207,000 Cash 37,000 Supplies Expense 60,000 Equity Investments (short-term) 31,000 Allowance for Doubtful Accounts 12,000 Customer Advances 36,000 Licenses 18,000 Restricted Cash for Plant Expansion 50,000 Additional Paid-in Capital 88,000 Treasury Stock 22,000 The following additional information is available. 1. Inventories are valued at lower-of-cost-or-market using LIFO. 2. Equipment is recorded at cost. Accumulated depreciation, computed on a straight-line basis, is $50,600. 3. The short-term investments have a fair value of $29,000. (Assume they are trading securities.) 4. The notes receivable are due April 30, 2016, with interest receivable every April 30. The notes bear interest at 6%. (Hint: Accrued interest due on December 31, 2014.) 5. The allowance for doubtful accounts applies to the accounts receivable. Accounts receivable of $50,000 are pledged as collateral on a bank loan. 6. Licenses are recorded net of accumulated amortization of $14,000. 7. Treasury stock is recorded at cost. Instructions Prepare the current assets section of Yasunari Kawabata Company’s December 31, 2014, balance sheet, with appropriate disclosures.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has developed a conceptual framework for financial accounting and reporting. The FASB has issued eight Statements of Financial Accounting Concepts. These statements are intended to set forth the objective and fundamentals that will be the basis for developing financial accounting and reporting standards. The objective identifies the goals and purposes of financial reporting. The fundamentals are the underlying concepts of financial accounting that guide the selection of transactions, events, and circumstances to be accounted for; their recognition and measurement; and the means of summarizing and communicating them to interested parties. The purpose of the statement on qualitative characteristics is to examine the characteristics that make accounting information useful. These characteristics or qualities of information are the ingredients that make information useful and the qualities to be sought when accounting choices are made. Instructions (a) Identify and discuss the benefits that can be expected to be derived from the FASB’s conceptual framework study. (b) What is the most important quality for accounting information as identified in the conceptual framework? Explain why it is the most important. (c) Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 8 describes a number of key characteristics or qualities for accounting information. Briefly discuss the importance of any three of these qualities for financial reporting purposes.

Dan Aykroyd Corp. was a 30% owner of Steve Martin Company, holding 210,000 shares of Martin’s common stock on December 31, 2013. The investment account had the following entries. Investment in Martin 1/1/12 Cost $3,180,000 12/6/12 Dividend received $150,000 12/31/12 Share of income 390,000 12/5/13 Dividend received 240,000 12/31/13 Share of income 510,000 On January 2, 2014, Aykroyd sold 126,000 shares of Martin for $3,440,000, thereby losing its significant influence. During the year 2014, Martin experienced the following results of operations and paid the following dividends to Aykroyd. Martin Dividends Paid Income (Loss) to Aykroyd 2014 $300,000 $50,400 At December 31, 2014, the fair value of Martin shares held by Aykroyd is $1,570,000. This is the first reporting date since the January 2 sale. Instructions (a) What effect does the January 2, 2014, transaction have upon Aykroyd’s accounting treatment for its investment in Martin? (b) Compute the carrying amount of the investment in Martin as of December 31, 2014 (prior to any fair value adjustment). (c) Prepare the adjusting entry on December 31, 2014, applying the fair value method to Aykroyd’s long-term investment in Martin Company securities.

Holtzman Company is in the process of preparing its financial statements for 2014. Assume that no entries for depreciation have been recorded in 2014. The following information related to depreciation of fixed assets is provided to you. 1. Holtzman purchased equipment on January 2, 2011, for $85,000. At that time, the equipment had an estimated useful life of 10 years with a $5,000 salvage value. The equipment is depreciated on a straight-line basis. On January 2, 2014, as a result of additional information, the company determined that the equipment has a remaining useful life of 4 years with a $3,000 salvage value. 2. During 2014, Holtzman changed from the double-declining-balance method for its building to the straight-line method. The building originally cost $300,000. It had a useful life of 10 years and a salvage value of $30,000. The following computations present depreciation on both bases for 2012 and 2013. 2013 2012 Straight-line $27,000 $27,000 Declining-balance 48,000 60,000 2012 2013 2014 2015 Net income unadjusted—LIFO basis $140,000 $160,000 $205,000 $276,000 Net income unadjusted—FIFO basis 155,000 165,000 215,000 260,000 $ 15,000 $ 5,000 $ 10,000 $ (16,000) 3. In 2015, the auditor discovered that: (a) The company incorrectly overstated the ending inventory (under both LIFO and FIFO) by $14,000 in 2014. (b) A dispute developed in 2013 with the Internal Revenue Service over the deductibility of entertainment expenses. In 2012, the company was not permitted these deductions, but a tax settlement was reached in 2015 that allowed these expenses. As a result of the court’s finding, tax expenses in 2015 were reduced by $60,000. Instructions (a) Indicate how each of these changes or corrections should be handled in the accounting records. (Ignore income tax considerations.) (b) Present comparative income statements for the years 2012 to 2015, starting with income before extraordinary items. (Ignore income tax considerations.)

George bought the following amounts of Stock A over the years:

The financial statements of Marks and Spencer plc (M&S) are available at the book’s companion website or can be accessed at http://annualreport.marksandspencer.com/_assets/downloads/Marksand- Spencer-Annual-report-and-financial-statements-2012.pdf. Instructions Refer to M&S’s financial statements and the accompanying notes to answer the following questions. (a) What is the par or stated value of M&S’s preference shares? (b) What is the par or stated value of M&S’s ordinary shares? (c) What percentage of M&S’s authorized ordinary shares was issued at 31 March 2012? (d) How many ordinary shares were outstanding at 31 March 2012, and 2 April 2011? (e) What was the pound amount effect of the cash dividends on M&S’s equity? (f) What is M&S’s return on ordinary share equity for 2012 and 2011? (g) What is M&S’s payout ratio for 2012 and 2011?

“The financial statements of a company are management’s, not the accountant’s.” Discuss the implications of this statement.

Explain the difference between the “nature-of-expense” and “function-of-expense” classifications.

A high-speed steel broach (hardened) is to be resharpened to achieve a good finish. Specify the appropriate parameters of the grinding wheel for this job.

Assume that there is a positive technological shock. How would this impact on the equilibrium level of employment and the economy’s potential output?  Illustrate using diagrams of both the labour and goods markets.

A flux-cored arc-welding process is used to join two low alloy steel plates at a 90° angle using an outside fillet weld. The steel plates are ½ in thick. The weld bead consists of 55% metal from the electrode and the remaining 45% from the steel plates. The melting factor of the steel is 0.65 and the heat transfer factor is 0.90. The welding current is 75 amps and the voltage is 16 volts. The velocity of the welding head is 40 in/min. The diameter of the electrode is 0.10 in. There is a core of flux running through the center of the electrode that has a diameter of 0.05 in and contains flux (compounds that do not become part of the weld bead). (a) What is the cross-sectional area of the weld bead? (b) How fast must the electrode be fed into the workpiece?

Balanced scorecard perspectives, performance objectives, and measures Perspectives, performance objectives and potential performance measures for the balanced scorecard at Holiday Resorts are as follows: Perspectives (i)         Financial (ii)        Customer (iii)       Internal business (iv)       Learning and growth   Performance objectives A.      Reduce housekeeping costs B.      Improve the quality of and results from advertising campaigns C.      Decrease vacancy rate during the off-season D.      Increase number of return customers E.      Increase overall profits F.      Increase the use of Internet-based reservations G.     Retain high-quality employees H.      Increase the number of activities available to customers I.       Improve the quality of stay for holiday makers J.       Provide employee training in quality customer service K.     Reduce error rate in reservations   Potential performance measures 1.       Operating margin 2.       Customer complaint rate 3.       Survey customers at check-in about how they first heard about the resorts 4.       Housekeeping cost per room 5.       Number of employee hours spent in training 6.       Error rate in reservation process 7.       Percentage of reservations made using the website 8.       Customer surveys about satisfaction and quality 9.       Employee turnover rates 10.     Number of activities per resort that are available to customers 11.     Percentage and number of return customers 12.     Number of hours of employee training offered 13.     Vacancy rates 14.     Customer focus groups inquiring about quality and potential success of advertising 15.     Number of suggestions that improve quality of service   Required (a)     For each perspective (i–iv), identify at least one appropriate performance objective (A–K). (b)     For each performance objective (A–K), identify at least one appropriate performance measure (1–15). (c)     Explain the links between the measures.

Describe the differences between the three types of audits in terms of their scope and taxpayer type.

The incredible growth of Amazon.com has put fear into the hearts of traditional retailers. Amazon’s stock price has soared to amazing levels. However, it is often pointed out in the financial press that it took the company several years to report its first profit. The following financial information is taken from a recent annual report.   Instructions (a) Calculate free cash flow for Amazon for the current and prior years, and discuss its ability to finance expansion from internally generated cash. Thus far Amazon has avoided purchasing large warehouses. Instead, it has used those of others. It is possible, however, that in order to increase customer satisfaction the company may have to build its own warehouses. If this happens, how might your impression of its ability to finance expansion change? (b) Discuss any potential implications of the change in Amazon’s cash provided by operations from the prior year to the current year.

Can a perfectly competitive firm earn a supernormal rate of return on capital if it continuously innovates?

Explain how convertible securities are determined to be potentially dilutive common shares and how those convertible securities that are not considered to be potentially dilutive common shares enter into the determination of earnings per share data.

Can a taxpayer with very little current-year income choose to not claim any depreciation deduction for the current year and thus save depreciation deductions for the future when the taxpayer expects to be more profitable?

Name some of the nonoptical noncontact sensor technologies available for inspection.

Winston Industries and Ewing Inc. enter into an agreement that requires Ewing Inc. to build three diesel-electric engines to Winston’s specifications. Upon completion of the engines, Winston has agreed to lease them for a period of 10 years and to assume all costs and risks of ownership. The lease is noncancelable, becomes effective on January 1, 2014, and requires annual rental payments of $413,971 each January 1, starting January 1, 2014. Winston’s incremental borrowing rate is 10%. The implicit interest rate used by Ewing Inc. and known to Winston is 8%. The total cost of building the three engines is $2,600,000. The economic life of the engines is estimated to be 10 years, with residual value set at zero. Winston depreciates similar equipment on a straight-line basis. At the end of the lease, Winston assumes title to the engines. Collectibility of the lease payments is reasonably certain; no uncertainties exist relative to unreimbursable lessor costs. Instructions (a) Discuss the nature of this lease transaction from the viewpoints of both lessee and lessor. (b) Prepare the journal entry or entries to record the transaction on January 1, 2014, on the books of Winston Industries. (c) Prepare the journal entry or entries to record the transaction on January 1, 2014, on the books of Ewing Inc. (d) Prepare the journal entries for both the lessee and lessor to record the first rental payment on January 1, 2014. (e) Prepare the journal entries for both the lessee and lessor to record interest expense (revenue) at December 31, 2014. (Prepare a lease amortization schedule for 2 years.) (f) Show the items and amounts that would be reported on the balance sheet (not notes) at December 31, 2014, for both the lessee and the lessor.

Suppose you asked your favorite AI query tool “How do taxpayers treat organizational expenditures for tax purposes?” The AI tool provided the following response:

Assume the yield curve experiences a sudden shift such that the new yield curve is higher and more steeply sloped today than it was yesterday. If a firm issues new bonds today, would its bonds sell for higher or lower prices than if it had issued the bonds yesterday? Explain. (LO2)

What would the process of adjustment to the unanticipated size of the increase in aggregate demand look like if people had adjusted their inflationary expectation upwards from zero but to a rate less than p1?

What are the noteworthy properties of titanium?