Question & Answer

Agustina, Bobby, and Claudia are equal owners in Lafter, an S corporation that was a C corporation several years ago. While Agustina and Bobby actively participate in running the company, Claudia has a separate day job and is a passive owner. Consider the following information for 2024:    • As of January 1, 2024, Agustina, Bobby, and Claudia each have a basis in Lafter stock of $15,000 and a debt basis of $0.  On January 1, the stock basis is also the at-risk amount for each shareholder. • Bobby and Claudia also are passive owners in Aggressive LLC, which allocated business income of $14,000 to each of them in 2024. Neither has any other source of passive income (besides Lafter, for Claudia).  • On March 31, 2024, Agustina lends $5,000 of her own money to Lafter. • Anticipating the need for basis to deduct a loss, on April 4, 2024, Bobby takes out a $10,000 loan to make a $10,000 capital contribution to Lafter. Bobby uses his automobile ($12,000 fair market value) as the sole collateral for his loan (nonrecourse).  • Lafter has an accumulated adjustments account balance of $45,000 as of January 1, 2024. • Lafter has C corporation earnings and profits of $15,000 as of January 1, 2024. • During 2024, Lafter reports a business loss of $75,000, computed as follows: Sales revenue $90,000 Cost of goods sold (85,000) Salary to Agustina (40,000) Salary to Bobby (40,000) Business (loss)($75,000) • Lafter also reported $12,000 of tax-exempt interest income.     a. What amount of Lafter’s 2024 business loss of $75,000 are Agustina, Bobby, and Claudia allowed to deduct on their individual tax returns?  What are each owner’s stock basis and debt basis (if applicable) and each owner’s at-risk amount with respect to the investment in Lafter at the end of 2024?

Angela Lansbury Company deposits all receipts and makes all payments by check. The following information is available from the cash records.   Instructions (a) Prepare a bank reconciliation going from balance per bank and balance per book to correct cash balance. (b) Prepare the general journal entry or entries to correct the Cash account.

Assume the facts in E13-5 except that Matt Broderick Company has chosen not to accrue paid sick leave until used, and has chosen to accrue vacation time at expected future rates of pay without discounting. The company used the following projected rates to accrue vacation time. Year in Which Vacation Projected Future Pay Rates Time Was Earned Used to Accrue Vacation Pay 2013 $10.75 2014 11.60 Instructions (a) Prepare journal entries to record transactions related to compensated absences during 2013 and 2014. (b) Compute the amounts of any liability for compensated absences that should be reported on the balance sheet at December 31, 2013, and 2014.

Presented below are a number of business transactions that occurred during the current year for Gonzales, Inc. Instructions In each of the situations, discuss the appropriateness of the journal entries in terms of generally accepted accounting principles. (a) The president of Gonzales, Inc. used his expense account to purchase a new Suburban solely for personal use. The following journal entry was made. Miscellaneous Expense 29,000 Cash 29,000 (b) Merchandise inventory that cost $620,000 is reported on the balance sheet at $690,000, the expected selling price less estimated selling costs. The following entry was made to record this increase in value. Inventory 70,000 Sales Revenue 70,000 (c) The company is being sued for $500,000 by a customer who claims damages for personal injury apparently caused by a defective product. Company attorneys feel extremely confident that the company will have no liability for damages resulting from the situation. Nevertheless, the company decides to make the following entry. Loss from Lawsuit 500,000 Liability for Lawsuit 500,000 (d) Because the general level of prices increased during the current year, Gonzales, Inc. determined that there was a $16,000 understatement of depreciation expense on its equipment and decided to record it in its accounts. The following entry was made. Depreciation Expense 16,000 Accumulated Depreciation—Equipment 16,000 (e) Gonzales, Inc. has been concerned about whether intangible assets could generate cash in case of liquidation. As a consequence, goodwill arising from a purchase transaction during the current year and recorded at $800,000 was written off as follows. Retained Earnings 800,000 Goodwill 800,000 (f) Because of a “fire sale,” equipment obviously worth $200,000 was acquired at a cost of $155,000. The following entry was made. Equipment 200,000 Cash 155,000 Sales Revenue 45,000

Explain how foreign stock exchanges have reduced transactions costs. (LO2, LO5)

Sustainability and classification Using the following table, classify each sustainability cost according to their appropriate category (level 1–5).         (LO3 and 4)

Susmita purchased a car this year and uses it for both business and personal purposes. Susmita drove the car 11,000 miles on business trips and 9,000 miles for personal transportation. Describe how Susmita will determine the amount of deductible expenses associated with the auto.

Under what circumstances will a liquidating corporation be allowed to recognize a loss in a non-pro rata distribution?

Distinguish between a current liability and a long-term debt.

Ace Inc. produces electronic components for sale to manufacturers of radios, television sets, and digital sound systems. In connection with her examination of Ace’s financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2015, Gloria Rodd, CPA, completed field work 2 weeks ago. Ms. Rodd now is evaluating the significance of the following items prior to preparing her auditor’s report. Except as noted, none of these items have been disclosed in the financial statements or notes. Item 1: A 10-year loan agreement, which the company entered into 3 years ago, provides that dividend payments may not exceed net income earned after taxes subsequent to the date of the agreement. The balance of retained earnings at the date of the loan agreement was $420,000. From that date through December 31, 2015, net income after taxes has totaled $570,000 and cash dividends have totaled $320,000. On the basis of these data, the staff auditor assigned to this review concluded that there was no retained earnings restriction at December 31, 2015. Item 2: Recently Ace interrupted its policy of paying cash dividends quarterly to its stockholders. Dividends were paid regularly through 2014, discontinued for all of 2015 to finance purchase of equipment for the company’s new plant, and resumed in the first quarter of 2016. In the annual report, dividend policy is to be discussed in the president’s letter to stockholders. Item 3: A major electronics firm has introduced a line of products that will compete directly with Ace’s primary line, now being produced in the specially designed new plant. Because of manufacturing innovations, the competitor’s line will be of comparable quality but priced 50% below Ace’s line. The competitor announced its new line during the week following completion of field work. Ms. Rodd read the announcement in the newspaper and discussed the situation by telephone with Ace executives. Ace will meet the lower prices that are high enough to cover variable manufacturing and selling expenses but will permit recovery of only a portion of fixed costs. Item 4: The company’s new manufacturing plant building, which cost $2,400,000 and has an estimated life of 25 years, is leased from Wichita National Bank at an annual rental of $600,000. The company is obligated to pay property taxes, insurance, and maintenance. At the conclusion of its 10-year noncancelable lease, the company has the option of purchasing the property for $1. In Ace’s income statement, the rental payment is reported on a separate line. Instructions For each of the above items, discuss any additional disclosures in the financial statements and notes that the auditor should recommend to her client. (The cumulative effect of the four items should not be considered.)

What is meant by “prior service cost”? When is prior service cost recognized as pension expense?

Brockman Guitar Company is in the business of manufacturing topquality, steel-string folk guitars. In recent years, the company has experienced working capital problems resulting from the procurement of factory equipment, the unanticipated buildup of receivables and inventories, and the payoff of a balloon mortgage on a new manufacturing facility. The founder and president of the company, Barbara Brockman, has attempted to raise cash from various financial institutions, but to no avail because of the company’s poor performance in recent years. In particular, the company’s lead bank, First Financial, is especially concerned about Brockman’s inability to maintain a positive cash position. The commercial loan officer from First Financial told Barbara, “I can’t even consider your request for capital financing unless I see that your company is able to generate positive cash flows from operations.” Thinking about the banker’s comment, Barbara came up with what she believes is a good plan: With a more attractive statement of cash flows, the bank might be willing to provide long-term financing. To “window dress” cash flows, the company can sell its accounts receivables to factors and liquidate its raw materials inventories. These rather costly transactions would generate lots of cash. As the chief accountant for Brockman Guitar, it is your job to tell Barbara what you think of her plan. Instructions Answer the following questions. (a) What are the ethical issues related to Barbara Brockman’s idea? (b) What would you tell Barbara Brockman?

What are the five steps used to determine the proper time to recognize revenue?

You have been asked by the financial vice president to develop a short presentation on the lower-of-cost-or-market method for inventory purposes. The financial VP needs to explain this method to the president because it appears that a portion of the company’s inventory has declined in value. Instructions The financial VP asks you to answer the following questions. (a) What is the purpose of the lower-of-cost-or-market method? (b) What is meant by “market”? (Hint: Discuss the ceiling and floor constraints.) (c) Do you apply the lower-of-cost-or-market method to each individual item, to a category, or to the total of the inventory? Explain. (d) What are the potential disadvantages of the lower-of-cost-or-market method?

Describe how a piece of glass is heat treated to produce tempered glass.

Learning and growth perspective Markman Ltd, a large pharmaceutical company, is concerned about the ability of its research and development department to develop profitable new prescription drugs. Once a drug has been developed and patented, it takes 9 to 12 years to meet all of the regulatory requirements. The company can then market the drug for about 11.5 years, on average, before the patent expires. Then competitors produce generic drugs. Employees currently participate in profit-sharing plans, but the company wants to give additional bonuses to improve performance. Markman decided to implement a balanced scorecard approach.   Required (a)     Explain why monitoring and rewarding non-financial performance might be particularly important for Markman. (b)     List one objective for Markman’s learning and growth perspective. (c)     List two performance measures for the objective you picked in part (B).

Explain the two limitations placed on the §179 deduction. How are they similar? How are they different?

What are stock rights? How does the issuing company account for them?

Why are trading halts sometimes imposed on particular stocks? (LO4)

A U-groove weld is used to butt weld 2 pieces of 7.0-mm-thick titanium plate. The U-groove is prepared using a milling cutter so the radius of the groove is 3.0 mm. During welding, the penetration of the weld causes an additional 1.5 mm of material to be melted. The final crosssectional area of the weld can be approximated by a semicircle with a radius of 4.5 mm. The length of the weld is 200 mm. The melting factor of the setup is 0.57 and the heat transfer factor is 0.86. (a) What is the quantity of heat (in Joules) required to melt the volume of metal in this weld (filler metal plus base metal)? Assume the resulting top surface of the weld bead is flush with the top surface of the plates. (b) What is the required heat generated at the welding source?

1. Why may inflows of short-term deposits create a problem? 2. Where would interest payments on short-term foreign deposits in UK banks be entered on the balance of payments account?

If intangibles are acquired for stock, how is the cost of the intangible determined?

Describe the circumstances in which an S election may be involuntarily terminated.

Summarise this last paragraph using symbols like those in Figure 1.7.

The directors of Merchant Corporation are considering the issuance of a stock dividend. They have asked you to discuss the proposed action by answering the following questions. Instructions (a) What is a stock dividend? How is a stock dividend distinguished from a stock split (1) from a legal standpoint, and (2) from an accounting standpoint? (b) For what reasons does a corporation usually declare a stock dividend? A stock split? (c) Discuss the amount, if any, of retained earnings to be capitalized in connection with a stock dividend.