Question & Answer

Job Costing, determination of manufacturing overhead rates One Glass Brewery estimates the following activity for the coming year:       At the end of the financial period the following information was collected:       Required (a)   What was the predetermined manufacturing overhead rate calculated at the beginning of the year? (b)   What was the actual manufacturing overhead rate for the year? (c)    Explain the difference between the rates calculated in (a) and (b) above.

Briefly describe the process of computing a corporation’s taxable income assuming the corporation must use GAAP to determine its book income.

Mission statement, strategy, balanced scorecard implementation Squeezers Juice and Tea Company manufactures organic juices and chai teas that are sold at whole foods stores. Several of its products have been featured in movies because the company’s products are popular with celebrities. The owners and employees value organic products and innovative combinations of juices and teas with outstanding taste. Several employees have found sources of unusual ingredients from organic farmers around the world. The ingredients are more expensive than those used by other juice manufacturers. Although Squeezers cannot set unrealistically high prices, it focuses on high quality. Demand for the company’s products is stable, even though it sets the highest prices for juices in its market. Recently, the costs of several unusual ingredients increased because of weather conditions. The owner is concerned that increasing prices any more could reduce demand. She has taken a business workshop and learned about the balanced scorecard. She wants to incorporate a balanced scorecard at Squeezers.   Required (a)     Draft a potential mission statement for Squeezers. Explain how you decided what should be included in the statement and how it should be worded. (b)     Explain the company’s business strategy and core competencies. (c)     Identify several performance objectives for each of the four perspectives. (d)     Select two performance objectives for each of the four perspectives, and identify a potential performance measure for each. Explain your choices. (e)     Describe possible methods to collect the data needed for each of the performance measures in part (d). For example, what existing information might be available? What new record-keeping might be required? Would the company need to develop surveys?

In 2024, Jasmine and Thomas, a married couple, had taxable income of $150,000.  If they were to file separate tax returns, Jasmine would have reported taxable income of $140,000 and Thomas would have reported taxable income of $10,000.  What is the couple’s marriage penalty or benefit?

Identify the four generic perspectives for a balanced scorecard and         explain how they are related.

In reviewing the tax rate schedule for a single taxpayer, Chuck notes that the tax on $75,000 is $5,226.25 plus 25 percent of the taxable income over $37,950.  What does the $5,226.25 represent?

Irene is disabled and receives payments from a number of sources. The interest payments are from bonds that Irene purchased over past years and a disability insurance policy that Irene purchased herself. Calculate Irene’s gross income.

Assume that a firm faces a downward-sloping demand curve. Draw a diagram showing the firm’s AR, MR, AC and MC curves. (Draw them in such a way that the firm can make supernormal profits.) Mark the following on the diagram:          (a)  The firm’s profit-maximising output and price.          (b)  Its sales-revenue-maximising output and price.          (c)  Its sales-maximising output and price (subject to earning at least normal profit).

Ryan is self-employed. This year Ryan used his personal auto for several long business trips. Ryan paid $1,500 for gasoline on these trips. His depreciation on the car if he was using it fully for business purposes would be $3,000. During the year, he drove his car a total of 12,000 miles (combination of business and personal travel).

Describe an inventoriable product cost.

There are 10 correct answers in the following multiple choice questions (some questions have multiple answers that are correct). To attain a perfect score on the quiz, all correct answers must be given. Each correct answer is worth 1 point. Each omitted answer or wrong answer reduces the score by 1 point, and each additional answer beyond the correct number of answers reduces the score by 1 point. Percentage score on the quiz is based on the total number of correct answers. 14.1 The most important rubber product is which one of the following: (a) footwear, (b) conveyor belts, (c) pneumatic tires, or (d) tennis balls? 14.2 The chemical name of the ingredient recovered from the latex of the rubber tree is which one of the following: (a) polybutadiene, (b) polyisobutylene, (c) polyisoprene, or (d) polystyrene? 14.3 Of the following rubber additives, which one would rank as the single most important: (a) antioxidants, (b) carbon black, (c) clays and other hydrous aluminum silicates, (d) plasticizers and softening oils, or (e) reclaimed rubber? 14.4 Which one of the following molding processes is the most important in the production of products made of conventional rubber: (a) compression molding, (b) injection molding, (c) thermoforming, or (d) transfer molding? 14.5 Which of the following ingredients do not contribute to the vulcanizing process (two correct answers): (a) calcium carbonate, (b) carbon black, (c) stearic acid, (d) sulfur, and (e) zinc oxide? 14.6 How many minutes are required to cure (vulcanize) a modern passenger car tire: (a) 5, (b) 15, (c) 25, or (d) 45? 14.7 When is the tread pattern imprinted onto the circumference of the tire: (a) during preforming, (b) while building the carcass, (c) during molding, or (d) during curing? 14.8 Which of the following are not normally used in the processing of thermoplastic elastomers (two correct answers): (a) blow molding, (b) compression molding, (c) extrusion, (d) injection molding, or (e) vulcanization?

Cost function using regression; scatter plots; three potential cost drivers Laura Mills is the controller of Peer Jets International, a manufacturer of small corporate jets. She has undertaken a project to study the behaviour of overhead cost. She has assembled factory overhead data for the last 30 months from the company’s manufacturing facility. Laura has asked you to develop a model to predict the level of manufacturing overhead.   Required (a)          Create a scatter plot of manufacturing overhead for each of the potential cost drivers. (b)          Would you eliminate any of the potential cost drivers based on the scatter plots? Why? (c)           Explain why you create a scatter plot of the data before you perform regression analysis. (d)          To practice your regression analysis skills, perform a simple regression analysis of manufacturing overhead for each of the three potential cost drivers. Write the cost function from each regression. (e)           Based on the simple regression results, which cost driver does the best job of explaining manufacturing overhead costs? Explain. (f)           Do your regression results support your answer to part (b)? Explain.

In your audit of Jose Oliva Company, you find that a physical inventory on December 31, 2014, showed merchandise with a cost of $441,000 was on hand at that date. You also discover the following items were all excluded from the $441,000. 1. Merchandise of $61,000 which is held by Oliva on consignment. The consignor is the Max Suzuki Company. 2. Merchandise costing $38,000 which was shipped by Oliva f.o.b. destination to a customer on December 31, 2014. The customer was expected to receive the merchandise on January 6, 2015. 3. Merchandise costing $46,000 which was shipped by Oliva f.o.b. shipping point to a customer on December 29, 2014. The customer was scheduled to receive the merchandise on January 2, 2015. 4. Merchandise costing $83,000 shipped by a vendor f.o.b. destination on December 30, 2014, and received by Oliva on January 4, 2015. 5. Merchandise costing $51,000 shipped by a vendor f.o.b. shipping point on December 31, 2014, and received by Oliva on January 5, 2015. Instructions Based on the above information, calculate the amount that should appear on Oliva’s balance sheet at December 31, 2014, for inventory.

Fontenot Corporation sold some machinery to its majority owner Gray (an individual who owns 60 percent of Fontenot). Fontenot purchased the machinery for $100,000 and has claimed a total of $40,000 of depreciation expense deductions against the property. Gray will provide Fontenot with $10,000 of cash today and a $100,000 note that will pay Fontenot $50,000 one year from now and $50,000 two years from now.  a. What gain or loss does Fontenot realize on the sale? b. What are the amount and character of the gain or loss that Fontenot must recognize in the year of sale (if any) and each of the two subsequent years? (Hint: Use the Internal Revenue Code and start with §453; please give appropriate citations.)

In 2013, Grishell Trucking Company negotiated and closed a long-term lease contract for newly constructed truck terminals and freight storage facilities. The buildings were erected to the company’s specifications on land owned by the company. On January 1, 2014, Grishell Trucking Company took possession of the lease properties. On January 1, 2014 and 2015, the company made cash payments of $948,000 that were recorded as rental expenses. Although the terminals have a composite useful life of 40 years, the noncancelable lease runs for 20 years from January 1, 2014, with a bargain-purchase option available upon expiration of the lease. The 20-year lease is effective for the period January 1, 2014, through December 31, 2033. Advance rental payments of $800,000 are payable to the lessor on January 1 of each of the first 10 years of the lease term. Advance rental payments of $320,000 are due on January 1 for each of the last 10 years of the lease. The company has an option to purchase all of these leased facilities for $1 on December 31, 2033. It also must make annual payments to the lessor of $125,000 for property taxes and $23,000 for insurance. The lease was negotiated to assure the lessor a 6% rate of return. Instructions (a) Prepare a schedule to compute for Grishell Trucking Company the present value of the terminal facilities and related obligation at January 1, 2014. (b) Assuming that the present value of terminal facilities and related obligation at January 1, 2014, was $7,600,000, prepare journal entries for Grishell Trucking Company to record the: (1) Cash payment to the lessor on January 1, 2016. (2) Amortization of the cost of the leased properties for 2016 using the straight-line method and assuming a zero salvage value. (3) Accrual of interest expense at December 31, 2016. Selected present value factors are as follows. For an Ordinary Periods Annuity of $1 at 6% For $1 at 6% 1 .943396 .943396 2 1.833393 .889996 8 6.209794 .627412 9 6.801692 .591898 10 7.360087 .558395 19 11.158117 .330513 20 11.469921 .311805

Companies following international accounting standards are permitted to revalue fixed assets above the assets’ historical costs. Such revaluations are allowed under various countries’ standards and the standards issued by the IASB. Liberty International, a real estate company headquartered in the United Kingdom (U.K.), follows U.K. standards. In a recent year, Liberty disclosed the following information on revaluations of its tangible fixed assets. The revaluation reserve measures the amount by which tangible fixed assets are recorded above historical cost and is reported in Liberty’s stockholders’ equity. Liberty International Completed Investment Properties Completed investment properties are professionally valued on a market value basis by external valuers at the balance sheet date. Surpluses and deficits arising during the year are reflected in the revalution reserve. Liberty reported the following additional data. Amounts for Kimco Realty (which follows GAAP) in the same year are provided for comparison. Liberty Kimco (pounds sterling, in thousands) (dollars, in millions) Total revenues £ 741 $ 517 Average total assets 5,577 4,696 Net income 125 297 Instructions (a) Compute the following ratios for Liberty and Kimco. (1) Return on assets. (2) Profit margin on sales. (3) Asset turnover. How do these companies compare on these performance measures? (b) Liberty reports a revaluation surplus of £1,952. Assume that £1,550 of this amount arose from an increase in the net replacement value of investment properties during the year. Prepare the journal entry to record this increase. (c) Under U.K. (and IASB) standards, are Liberty’s assets and equity overstated? If so, why? When comparing Liberty to U.S. companies, like Kimco, what adjustments would you need to make in order to have valid comparisons of ratios such as those computed in (a) above?

A machinability rating is to be determined for a new work material using the cutting speed for a 60- min tool life as the basis of comparison. For the base material (B1112 steel), test data resulted in Taylor equation parameter values of n = 0.29 and C = 500, where speed is in m/min and tool life is min. For the new material, the parameter values were n = 0.21 and C = 400. These results were obtained using cemented carbide tooling. (a) Compute a machinability rating for the new material. (b) Suppose the machinability criterion were the cutting speed for a 10-min tool life rather than the present criterion. Compute the machinability rating for this case. (c) What do the results of the two calculations show about the difficulties in machinability measurement?

Using the facts in problem 62, could Adam and Tom lower their payroll tax exposure if they operated their business as a partnership?  Why or why not?

Prophet Company signed a long-term purchase contract to buy timber from the U.S. Forest Service at $300 per thousand board feet. Under these terms, Prophet must cut and pay $6,000,000 for this timber during the next year. Currently, the market value is $250 per thousand board feet. At this rate, the market price is $5,000,000. Jerry Herman, the controller, wants to recognize the loss in value on the year-end financial statements, but the financial vice president, Billie Hands, argues that the loss is temporary and should be ignored. Herman notes that market value has remained near $250 for many months, and he sees no sign of significant change. Instructions (a) What are the ethical issues, if any? (b) Is any particular stakeholder harmed by the financial vice president’s decision? (c) What should the controller do?

Schuss Corporation sold equipment to Potsdam Company for $20,000. The equipment is on Schuss’s books at a net amount of $13,000. Schuss collected $10,000 in 2014, $5,000 in 2015, and $5,000 in 2016. If Schuss uses the cost-recovery method, what amount of gross profit will be recognized in each year?

(Looking at the Maths) What is the present value (utility) of a good which yields £50 of utility at the end of year 1, £60 at the end of year 2, £100 at the end of year 3 and £50 at the end of year 4, assuming a discount factor of 0.9? Would it be worth the consumer paying £200 for it today?

Leonard Bernstein Company began operations late in 2013 and adopted the conventional retail inventory method. Because there was no beginning inventory for 2013 and no markdowns during 2013, the ending inventory for 2013 was $14,000 under both the conventional retail method and the LIFO retail method. At the end of 2014, management wants to compare the results of applying the conventional and LIFO retail methods. There was no change in the price level during 2014. The following data are available for computations. 8 Cost Retail Inventory, January 1, 2014 $14,000 $20,000 Sales revenue 80,000 Net markups 9,000 Net markdowns 1,600 Purchases 58,800 81,000 Freight-in 7,500 Estimated theft 2,000

A metal alloy has been tested in a tensile test with the following results for the flow curve parameters: strength coefficient = 620.5 MPa and strain-hardening exponent = 0.26. The same metal is now tested in a compression test in which the starting height of the specimen = 62.5 mm and its diameter = 25 mm. Assuming that the cross section increases uniformly, determine the load required to compress the specimen to a height of (a) 50 mm and (b) 37.5 mm.

In 12 samples of size n = 7, the average value of the sample means is x = 6.860 cm for the dimension of interest, and the mean of the ranges of the samples is R = 0.027 cm. Determine (a) lower and upper control limits for the x chart and (b) lower and upper control limits for the R chart. (c) What is your best estimate of the standard deviation of the process?

Julia Baker died, leaving to her husband Brent an insurance policy contract that provides that the beneficiary (Brent) can choose any one of the following four options. (a  $55,000 immediate cash. (b  $4,000 every 3 months payable at the end of each quarter for 5 years. (c) $18,00  immediate cash and $1,800 every 3 months for 10 years, payable at the beginning of each 3-month period. (d) $4,000 every 3 months for 3 years and $1,500 each quarter for the following 25 quarters, all paymentspayable at the end of each quarter. Instructions If money is worth 2½% per quarter, compounded quarterly, which option would you recommend that Brent exercise?