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Boston Chicken Case

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Boston Chicken Inc. Case Study 10/22/08 (All amounts listed in thousands) 1. Boston Chicken implemented a franchising strategy that differed from most other franchising companies at the time. Boston Chicken focused its expansion through franchising the company through large regional developers rather than selling store franchises to a large number of small franchisees. In that, an established network of 22 regional franchises that targeted their operations in the 60 largest U.S. metropolitan markets and in order to do so, the franchisee would have been an independent experienced businessman with vast financial resources and would be responsible for opening 50 – 100 stored in the region. Boston Chicken focused on widespread …show more content…

In doing so, Boston Chicken did not have to report the losses that were incurred in these operations. By manipulating the financial statements, the company gave a false impression on its future prospects of the company, allowing them to more freely raise capital through the issuance of common stock, and inadvertently inflating stock prices. 4. The balance of notes receivable from area developers as of December 25, 1994 was at $201,266. Of this amount there was no allowance for loan loss and as a result, revenues would be overstated. The following table illustrates the effect on reported net income of $24,611 in 1994 would be affected by an allowance for loan losses: Notes Receivable of $201,266 With Maturities in: (in thousands) Year Amount Due$ Allowance (1)% Net Due$ Allowance (2)% Net Due$ 1995 16,288 1996 4,456 1997 13,132 1998 12,132 1999 15,417 Thereafter 139,841 Total 201,166 25% $150,841 70% $60,350 Effect on NI (50,325) (140,816) NI $24,611 (25,714) (116,205) With the high probability of uncollectibility on notes receivable due to the majority of operating losses of the area developers, creating an allowance for loan losses would more accurately reflect the financial position of Boston Chicken. Even with just a 25% allowance for uncollectibility the company would be operating at a

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