Concept explainers
Ethics in Action
Head Donuts Inc. is a retailer of designer headphones, earphones, and hands-free audio devices. Polly Ester, the company president, is reviewing the company’s financial statements after the dose of the fiscal year and is troubled that earnings decreased by 10%. She shares her concerns with the company’s chief accountant, Lucas Simmons, who points out that the drop in earnings was balanced by a 20% increase in
Is Lucas behaving in an ethical and professional manner? Explain your answer.
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Chapter 13 Solutions
Working Papers for Warren/Reeve/Duchac's Corporate Financial Accounting, 14th
- Lucas Hunter, president of Simmons Industries Inc., believes that reporting operating cash flow per share on the income statement would be a useful addition to the companys just completed financial statements. The following discussion took place between Lucas Hunter and Simmons controller, John Jameson, in January, after the close of the fiscal year: Lucas: Ive been reviewing our financial statements for the last year. I am disappointed that our net income per share has dropped by 10% from last year. This wont look good to our shareholders. Is there anything we can do about this? John: What do you mean? The past is the past, and the numbers are in. There isnt much that can be done about it. Our financial statements were prepared according to generally accepted accounting principles, and I dont see much leeway for significant change at this point. Lucas: No, no. Im not suggesting that we cook the books. But look at the cash flow from operating activities on the statement of cash flows. The cash flow from operating activities has increased by 20%. This is very good newsand, I might add, useful information. The higher cash flow from operating activities will give our creditors comfort. John: Well, the cash flow from operating activities is on the statement of cash flows, so I guess users will be able to see the improved cash flow figures there. Lucas: This is true, but somehow I think this information should be given a much higher profile. I dont like this information being buried in the statement of cash flows. You know as well as I do that many users will focus on the income statement. Therefore, I think we ought to include an operating cash flow per share number on the face of the income statementsomeplace under the earnings per share number. In this way, users will get the complete picture of our operating performance. Yes, our earnings per share dropped this year, but our cash flow from operating activities improved! And all the information is in one place where users can see and compare the figures. What do you think? John: Ive never really thought about it like that before. I guess we could put the operating cash flow per share on the income statement, underneath the earnings per share amount. Users would really benefit from this disclosure. Thanks for the ideaIll start working on it. Lucas: Glad to be of service. How would you interpret this situation? Is John behaving in an ethical and professional manner?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…arrow_forwardTerry House, the controller for MicroTech Software Company, is responsible for preparing the company’s financial statements. He learns that sales for the first quarter of the year have dropped so dramatically that the company is in danger of bankruptcy. As a result, he applies for an accounting position with another software company that competes with MicroTech. During his job interview, Terry is asked why he wants to leave MicroTech. He replies truthfully, “The company’s sales are down another 10% this quarter. I fear they will go out of business.” At that time, MicroTech had not released its sales results to the public. Discuss the ethics of this situation.arrow_forward
- Members of the board of directors of Security Team have received the following operating income data for the year ended May 31, 2018: E (Click the icon to view the operating income data.) Members of the board are surprised that the industrial systems product line is not profitable. They commission a study to determine whether the company should drop the line. Company accountants estimate that dropping industrial systems will decrease fixed cost of goods sold by $84,000 and decrease fixed selling and administrative expenses by $10,000. Read the requirements. Requirement 1. Prepare a differential analysis to show whether Security Team should drop the industrial systems product line. (Use parentheses or a minus sign to enter decreases to profits.) in operating income - X Requirements 1. Prepare a differential analysis to show whether Security Team should drop the industrial systems product line. 2. Prepare contribution margin income statements to show Security Team's total operating…arrow_forwardMembers of the board of directors of Safety Place have received the following operating income data for the year ended May 31, 2018: (Click the icon to view the operating income data.) Members of the board are surprised that the industrial systems product line is not profitable. They commission a study to determine whether the company should drop the line. Company accountants estimate that dropping industrial systems will decrease fixed cost of goods sold by $80,000 and decrease fixed selling and administrative expenses by $10,000. Read the requirements. Requirement 1. Prepare a differential analysis to show whether Safety Place should drop the industrial systems product line. (Use parentheses or a minus sign to enter decreases to profits.) in operating incomearrow_forwardHorizon Corporation manufactures personal computers. The company began operations in 2012 and reported profits for the years 2012 through 2019. Due primarily to increased competition and price slashing in the industry, 2020’s income statement reported a loss of $20 million. Just before the end of the 2021 fiscal year, a memo from the company’s chief financial officer (CFO) to Jim Fielding, the company controller, included the following comments:If we don’t do something about the large amount of unsold computers already manufactured, our auditors will require us to record a write-down. The resulting loss for 2021 will cause a violation of our debt covenants and force the company into bankruptcy. I suggest that you ship half of our inventory to J.B. Sales, Inc., in Oklahoma City. I know the company’s president, and he will accept the inventory and acknowledge the shipment as a purchase. We can record the sale in 2021 which will boost our loss to a profit. Then J.B. Sales will simply…arrow_forward
- Diamond Computers, which is owned and operated by Dale Diamond, manufactures and sells different types of computers. The company has reported profits every year since its inception in 2002 and has applied for a bank loan near the end of 2021 to upgrade manufacturing facilities. These upgrades should significantly boost future productivity and profitability. In preparing the financial statements for the year, the chief accountant, Sandy Walters, mentions to Dale that approximately $80,000 of computer inventory has become obsolete and a write-down of inventory should be recorded in 2021. Dale understands that the write-down would result in a net loss being reported for company operations in 2021. This could jeopardize the company’s application for the bank loan, which would lead to employee layoffs. Dale is a very kind, older gentleman who cares little for his personal wealth but who is deeply devoted to his employees’ well-being. He truly believes the loan is necessary for the company’s…arrow_forwardNikularrow_forwardDonna Franks, an accountant forSouthern Technologies Corporation, discovers that her supervisor, Elise Silverton, made severalerrors last year. Overall, the errors overstated the company’s net income by 40%. It is not clearwhether the errors were deliberate or accidental. What should Franks do?arrow_forward
- During the current fiscal year, the L Corp. has added $6,000 to inventories. The net income is $10,000, but the cash has only risen by $4,000. The CEO comes to to you in a rage and demands that you clarify how the firm might have generated $10,000 as there is only $4,000 in the bank.arrow_forwardYou are an auditor at a public accounting firm. You and your team are entrusted by Partner to handle clients engaged in the home appliance retail business. Your client is a company that has go public. The client's financial statement in the previous year reported a loss, however this year reported a material gain. After you check, it turns out that the client reports income that is not much different from the previous year, however, there can be a profit due to the decrease in Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). The client reports that the amount of inventory has increased drastically, even though sales have not increased and the account payable balance is almost the same as in previous years, this has led to suspicion of a double counting scheme in the client's inventory. In addition, when a random check was carried out incidentally at one of the client's warehouses, it was found that many inventory were out of date but the client did not make adjustments. Question:a. If you wanted to perform…arrow_forwardCalifornia Cannery began in 2008 with a debit balance in Accounts Receivable $150,000 and a credit balance in Allowance for Doubtful Accounts for 7,500 for the year. During the year California Cannery sold 1,300,000 of product and collected 1,350,000 from customers. In addition, $4,000 of Accounts Receivable balance was written off as uncollectable during the year. Management uses the allowance method to account for bad debts and believes that ultimately 5% of the year-end balance in Accounts Receivable will not be collected. How much bad debt expenses will be recorded in 2008?arrow_forward
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