Concept explainers
Incentives, Illegal Activities, and Ethics
An article in The Wall Street Journal indicated that dressmaker Fallo Me (name changed) backdated invoices to record revenue in the quarter before sales were actually made. As long as sales remained strong, the practice went undetected. When a recession hit retailers, however, revenue sagged and it became more difficult to cover one quarter’s shortfall with anticipated revenue from the next quarter.
Fallo Me’s compensation plan included bonuses for the chief operating officer and the chief financial officer if the company’s net income reached $16 million (approximately 2 percent of sales). The company reported a net income of $23 million, and the two executives received bonuses.
The fraud occurred away from corporate headquarters (in New York) at the company’s Cleveland, Ohio, office where the company’s financial affairs are handled. Fallo Me’s chief financial officer was establishing something of an autocratic rule in Cleveland. What the growing operation lacked in organization, he evidently tried to make up through frenzied effort. Employees say they were sometimes pushed to work 16-hour days, including many weekends and holidays, and were sometimes reprimanded for arriving as little as two minutes late to work.
The chief executive officer of the company was paid $3.6 million, mostly in the form of a bonus. He stated that he was bewildered by the accounting scandal. “We just don’t know why they would do it,” he said of the mid-level employees whose scheme concealed Fallo Me’s sliding fortunes.
Required
- a. Describe how the invoice backdating could have affected reported profits. Would those profits have been overstated permanently or just for a period?
- b. What effect might the bonus plan for the chief operating officer and chief financial officer have had on the fraud, if any?
- c. How might the location of financial operations in Cleveland, instead of at corporate headquarters in New York, have made it easier for someone to commit fraud?
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solutionChapter 12 Solutions
FUNDAMENTALS OF...(LL)-W/ACCESS>CUSTOM<
- Begin by determining which of the suggested strategies are inconsistent with IMA standards. Postpone planned advertising expenditures from December to January. Do not record sales returns and allowances on the basis that they are individually immaterial. a. b. C. d. e. Persuade retail customers to accelerate January orders to December. Reduce the allowance for bad debts (and bad debts expense). Harmony Tennis ships finished goods to public warehouses across the country for temporary storage until it receives firm orders from customers. As receives orders, it directs the warehouse to ship the goods to nearby customers. The assistant controller suggests recording goods sent to the public warehouses as sales.arrow_forwardYou are working as a summer intern at a rapidly growing organic food distributor. Part of your responsibility is to assist in the accounts payable department. You notice that most bills from suppliers are not paid within the discount period. The manager of accounts payable says the bills are organized by vendor, like the accounts payable ledger, and she is too busy to keep track of the discount periods. Besides, the owner has told her that the 1% and 2% discounts available are not worth worrying about.arrow_forwardA corporation has an excess input VAT due to its excessive local purchases of goods and services. This excess input VAT is accumulating every month and reached a significant value. The management is considering to deal with the excess input VAT. Assume that the excess input VAT is directly attributable to its Zero-rated VAT Sales, explain the options that could possibly be considered by the management.arrow_forward
- You are a candidate for promotion. Before submitting the reports, your branch manager requested you to manipulate the reports increasing the sales for the period so that the branch will receive a bonus on selling more than what was budgeted. He said that you will receive half of the commission if you do so, else you will not be indorsed for promotion. Furthermore, he emphasized that only the two of you will keep this in secret. What will you do?arrow_forwardYou are working as a summer intern at a rapidly growing orgainc food distribution. Part of your responsibility is to assist in the accounts payable department. You notice that most of the bills are not paid with in discount period. The manager of the accounts payable sees the bills are organized by vendor, like the accounts payable ledger, and she is too busy to keep track of the discounts period. Besides, the owner has told her that The 1% and 2% discount available or not worth worrying about. 1. Explain to the owner why it is expensive not to take it advantage to cash discounts on credit purchases. suggest a way to file (organize) suppliers invoices so that they are paid with in the discount period.arrow_forwardLetni Corporation engages in the manufacture and sale of semiconductor chips for the computing and communications industries. During the past year, operating revenues remained relatively flat compared to the prior year but management notices a big increase in accounts receivable. The increase in receivables is largely due to the recent economic slowdown in the computing and telecommunications industries. Many of the company’s customers are having financial difficulty, lengthening the period of time it takes to collect on accounts. Below are year-end amounts. Age Group OperatingRevenue AccountsReceivable AverageAge AccountsWritten Off Two years ago $ 1,160,000 $ 136,000 5 days $ 0 Last year 1,460,000 146,000 7 days 1,000 Current year 1,560,000 316,000 40 days 0 Paul, the CEO of Letni, notices that accounts written off over the past three years have been minimal and, therefore, suggests that no allowance for uncollectible accounts be…arrow_forward
- Letni Corporation engages in the manufacture and sale of semiconductor chips for the computing and communications industries. During the past year, operating revenues remained relatively flat compared to the prior year but management notices a big increase in accounts receivable. The increase in receivables is largely due to the recent economic slowdown in the computing and telecommunications industries. Many of the company’s customers are having financial difficulty, lengthening the period of time it takes to collect on accounts. Below are year-end amounts. Age Group OperatingRevenue AccountsReceivable AverageAge AccountsWritten Off Two years ago $1,160,000 $136,000 5 days $0 Last year 1,460,000 146,000 7 days 1,000 Current year 1,560,000 316,000 40 days 0 Paul, the CEO of Letni, notices that accounts written off over the past three years have been minimal and, therefore, suggests that no allowance for…arrow_forwardLetni Corporation engages in the manufacture and sale of semiconductor chips for the computing and communications industries. During the past year, operating revenues remained relatively flat compared to the prior year but management notices a big increase in accounts receivable. The increase in receivables is largely due to the recent economic slowdown in the computing and telecommunications industries. Many of the company’s customers are having financial difficulty, lengthening the period of time it takes to collect on accounts. Below are year-end amounts. Age Group OperatingRevenue AccountsReceivable AverageAge AccountsWritten Off Two years ago $1,160,000 $ 136,000 5 days $0 Last year 1,460,000 146,000 7 days 1,000 Current year 1,560,000 316,000 40 days 0 Paul, the CEO of Letni, notices that accounts written off over the past three years have been minimal and, therefore, suggests that no allowance for uncollectible accounts be…arrow_forwardCarpetland salespersons average 8,000 per week in sales. Steve Contois, the firms vice president, proposes a compensation plan with new selling incentives. Steve hopes that the results of a trial selling period will enable him to conclude that the compensation plan increases the average sales per salesperson. a. Develop the appropriate null and alternative hypotheses. b. What is the Type I error in this situation? What are the consequences of making this error? c. What is the Type II error in this situation? What are the consequences of making this error?arrow_forward
- The manager of an automobile dealership is considering a new bonus plan designed to increase sales volume. Currently, the mean sales volume is 14 automobiles per month. The manager wants to conduct a research study to see whether the new bonus plan increases sales volume. To collect data on the plan, a sample of sales personnel will be allowed to sell under the new bonus plan for a one-month period. a. Develop the null and alternative hypotheses most appropriate for this situation. b. Comment on the conclusion when H0 cannot be rejected. c. Comment on the conclusion when H0 can be rejected.arrow_forwardAn accounting intern for a local CPA firm was reviewing the financial statements of a client in the electronics industry. The intern noticed that the client used the FIFO method of determining ending inventory and cost of goods sold. When she asked a colleague why the firm used FIFO instead of LIFO, she was told that the client used FIFO to minimize its income tax liability. This response puzzled the intern because she thought that LIFO would minimize income tax liability. Required: What would you tell the intern to resolve the confusion?arrow_forwardWatko Entertainment Systems (WES) buys audio and video components for assembling home entertainment systems from two suppliers, Bacon Electronics and Hessel Audio and Video. The components are delivered in cartons. If the cartons are delivered late, the installation for the customer is delayed. Delayed installations lead to contractual penalties that call for WES to reimburse a portion of the purchase price to the customer. During the past quarter, the purchasing and delivery data for the two suppliers showed the following: Bacon Hessel Total Total purchases (cartons) 5,000 3,000 8,000 Average purchase price (per carton) $ 170 $ 186 $ 176 Number of deliveries 40 20 60 Percentage of cartons delivered late. 30% 15% 25% The Accounting Department recorded $243,750 as the cost of late deliveries to customers. Required: Assume that the average quality, measured by the percentage of late deliveries, and prices from the two companies will continue as in the past. Also…arrow_forward
- Essentials of Business Analytics (MindTap Course ...StatisticsISBN:9781305627734Author:Jeffrey D. Camm, James J. Cochran, Michael J. Fry, Jeffrey W. Ohlmann, David R. AndersonPublisher:Cengage LearningManagerial Accounting: The Cornerstone of Busines...AccountingISBN:9781337115773Author:Maryanne M. Mowen, Don R. Hansen, Dan L. HeitgerPublisher:Cengage LearningEBK CONTEMPORARY FINANCIAL MANAGEMENTFinanceISBN:9781337514835Author:MOYERPublisher:CENGAGE LEARNING - CONSIGNMENT
- Auditing: A Risk Based-Approach (MindTap Course L...AccountingISBN:9781337619455Author:Karla M Johnstone, Audrey A. Gramling, Larry E. RittenbergPublisher:Cengage Learning