Question & Answer

1.    : TikTok, a Chinese video-sharing social networking service, was founded in 2012 and became available in the United States in 2018. TikTok is wildly popular, with a global reach mostly among 16- to 24-year-olds. Why and how might a company such as TikTok want to use contingency planning? Scenario planning? Discuss.

On January 1, 2014, Doug Nelson Co. leased a building to Patrick Wise Inc. The relevant information related to the lease is as follows. 1. The lease arrangement is for 10 years. 2. The leased building cost $4,500,000 and was purchased for cash on January 1, 2014. 3. The building is depreciated on a straight-line basis. Its estimated economic life is 50 years with no salvage value. 4. Lease payments are $275,000 per year and are made at the end of the year. 5. Property tax expense of $85,000 and insurance expense of $10,000 on the building were incurred by Nelson in the first year. Payment on these two items was made at the end of the year. 6. Both the lessor and the lessee are on a calendar-year basis. Instructions (a) Prepare the journal entries that Nelson Co. should make in 2014. (b) Prepare the journal entries that Wise Inc. should make in 2014. (c) If Nelson paid $30,000 to a real estate broker on January 1, 2014, as a fee for finding the lessee, how much should be reported as an expense for this item in 2014 by Nelson Co.?

What basic questions must be answered before the amount of the depreciation charge can be computed?

At what time is it proper to recognize income in the following cases: (a) Installment sales with no reasonable basis for estimating the degree of collectibility? (b) Sales for future delivery? (c) Merchandise shipped on consignment? (d) Profit on incomplete construction contracts? (e) Subscriptions to publications?

Dunn Inc. owns and operates a number of hardware stores in the New England region. Recently, the company has decided to locate another store in a rapidly growing area of Maryland. The company is trying to decide whether to purchase or lease the building and related facilities. Purchase: The company can purchase the site, construct the building, and purchase all store fi xtures. The cost would be $1,850,000. An immediate down payment of $400,000 is required, and the remaining $1,450,000 would be paid off over 5 years at $350,000 per year (including interest payments made at end of year). The property is expected to have a useful life of 12 years, and then it will be sold for $500,000. As the owner of the property, the company will have the following out-of-pocket expenses each period. Property taxes (to be paid at the end of each year) $40,000 Insurance (to be paid at the beginning of each year) 27,000 Other (primarily maintenance which occurs at the end of each year) 16,000 $83,000 Lease: First National Bank has agreed to purchase the site, construct the building, and install the appropriate fi xtures for Dunn Inc. if Dunn will lease the completed facility for 12 years. The annual costs for the lease would be $270,000. Dunn would have no responsibility related to the facility over the 12 years. The terms of the lease are that Dunn would be required to make 12 annual payments (the fi rst payment to be made at the time the store opens and then each following year). In addition, a deposit of $100,000 is required when the store is opened. This deposit will be returned at the end of the twelfth year, assuming no unusual damage to the building structure or fi xtures. Instructions Which of the two approaches should Dunn Inc. follow? (Currently, the cost of funds for Dunn Inc. is 10%.)

Which countries’ merchandise trade had fallen as a percentage of GDP between the 2000s and the 2010s? Explain why.

Halle just acquired a vacation home. She plans on spending several months each year vacationing in the home and renting out the property for the rest of the year. She is projecting tax losses on the rental portion of the property for the year. She is not too concerned about the losses because she is confident she will be able to use the losses to offset her income from other sources. Is her confidence misplaced? Explain.

At December 31, 2013, certain accounts included in the property, plant, and equipment section of Reagan Company’s balance sheet had the following balances. Land $230,000 Buildings 890,000 Leasehold improvements 660,000 Equipment 875,000 During 2014, the following transactions occurred. 1. Land site number 621 was acquired for $850,000. In addition, to acquire the land Reagan paid a $51,000 commission to a real estate agent. Costs of $35,000 were incurred to clear the land. During the course of clearing the land, timber and gravel were recovered and sold for $13,000. 2. A second tract of land (site number 622) with a building was acquired for $420,000. The closing statement indicated that the land value was $300,000 and the building value was $120,000. Shortly after acquisition, the building was demolished at a cost of $41,000. A new building was constructed for $330,000 plus the following costs. Excavation fees $38,000 Architectural design fees 11,000 Building permit fee 2,500 Imputed interest on funds used during construction (stock fi nancing) 8,500 The building was completed and occupied on September 30, 2014. 3. A third tract of land (site number 623) was acquired for $650,000 and was put on the market for resale. 4. During December 2014, costs of $89,000 were incurred to improve leased office space. The related lease will terminate on December 31, 2016, and is not expected to be renewed. (Hint: Leasehold improvements should be handled in the same manner as land improvements.) 5. A group of new machines was purchased under a royalty agreement that provides for payment of royalties based on units of production for the machines. The invoice price of the machines was $87,000, freight costs were $3,300, installation costs were $2,400, and royalty payments for 2014 were $17,500. Instructions (a) Prepare a detailed analysis of the changes in each of the following balance sheet accounts for 2014. Land Leasehold Improvements Buildings Equipment Disregard the related accumulated depreciation accounts. (b) List the items in the situation that were not used to determine the answer to (a) above, and indicate where, or if, these items should be included in Reagan’s financial statements.

According to research, have mutual funds outperformed the market? Explain. Would mutual funds be attractive to some investors even if they are not expected to outperform the market? Explain. (LO6)

Steve Madison needs $250,000 in 10 years. How much must he invest at the end of each year, at 11% interest, to meet his needs?

The management of Utrillo Instrument Company had concluded, with the concurrence of its independent auditors, that results of operations would be more fairly presented if Utrillo changed its method of pricing inventory from last-in, first-out (LIFO) to averagecost in 2014. Given below is the 5-year summary of income under LIFO and a schedule of what the inventories would be if stated on the average-cost method. UTRILLO INSTRUMENT COMPANY STATEMENT OF INCOME AND RETAINED EARNINGS FOR THE YEARS ENDED MAY 31 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Sales—net $13,964 $15,506 $16,673 $18,221 $18,898 Cost of goods sold Beginning inventory 1,000 1,100 1,000 1,115 1,237 Purchases 13,000 13,900 15,000 15,900 17,100 Ending inventory (1,100) (1,000) (1,115) (1,237) (1,369) Total 12,900 14,000 14,885 15,778 16,968 Gross profi t 1,064 1,506 1,788 2,443 1,930 Administrative expenses 700 763 832 907 989 Income before taxes 364 743 956 1,536 941 Income taxes (50%) 182 372 478 768 471 Net income 182 371 478 768 470 Retained earnings—beginning 1,206 1,388 1,759 2,237 3,005 Retained earnings—ending $ 1,388 $ 1,759 $ 2,237 $ 3,005 $ 3,475 Earnings per share $1.82 $3.71 $4.78 $7.68 $4.70 SCHEDULE OF INVENTORY BALANCES USING AVERAGE-COST METHOD FOR THE YEARS ENDED MAY 31 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 $1,010 $1,124 $1,101 $1,270 $1,500 $1,720 Instructions Prepare comparative statements for the 5 years, assuming that Utrillo changed its method of inventory pricing to average-cost. Indicate the effects on net income and earnings per share for the years involved. Utrillo Instruments started business in 2009. (All amounts except EPS are rounded up to the nearest dollar.)

Jorge contributed land he held as an investment (fair market value $120,000; basis $55,000) and inventory (fair market value $80,000; basis $75,000) to ABC Corporation in exchange for 50 percent of the ABC stock (50 shares valued at $160,000) and $40,000 cash in a qualifying §351 exchange.   a. What amount of gain does Jorge recognize on the exchange? What is the character of the gain? What would be Jorge's tax basis in his ABC stock after the exchange? b. Assume the same facts except that Jorge received $40,000 of business property from ABC instead of $40,000 cash. What are the amount and character of gain Jorge would recognize on the exchange? c. Assume the original facts in this problem except that the inventory had a tax basis of $90,000 so that Jorge realized a $10,000 loss on the inventory (he still realized a $65,000 gain on the land). How much gain or loss would he recognize on the exchange?

Selected accounts included in the property, plant, and equipment section of Lobo Corporation’s balance sheet at December 31, 2013, had the following balances. Land $ 300,000 Land improvements 140,000 Buildings 1,100,000 Equipment 960,000 During 2014, the following transactions occurred. 1. A tract of land was acquired for $150,000 as a potential future building site. 2. A plant facility consisting of land and building was acquired from Mendota Company in exchange for 20,000 shares of Lobo’s common stock. On the acquisition date, Lobo’s stock had a closing market price of $37 per share on a national stock exchange. The plant facility was carried on Mendota’s books at $110,000 for land and $320,000 for the building at the exchange date. Current appraised values for the land and building, respectively, are $230,000 and $690,000. 3. Items of machinery and equipment were purchased at a total cost of $400,000. Additional costs were incurred as follows. Freight and unloading $13,000 Sales taxes 20,000 Installation 26,000 4. Expenditures totaling $95,000 were made for new parking lots, streets, and sidewalks at the corporation’s various plant locations. These expenditures had an estimated useful life of 15 years. 5. A machine costing $80,000 on January 1, 2006, was scrapped on June 30, 2014. Double-decliningbalance depreciation has been recorded on the basis of a 10-year life. 6. A machine was sold for $20,000 on July 1, 2014. Original cost of the machine was $44,000 on January 1, 2011, and it was depreciated on the straight-line basis over an estimated useful life of 7 years and a salvage value of $2,000. Instructions (Round to the nearest dollar.) (a) Prepare a detailed analysis of the changes in each of the following balance sheet accounts for 2014. Land Buildings Land Improvements Equipment (Hint: Disregard the related accumulated depreciation accounts.) (b) List the items in the fact situation that were not used to determine the answer to (a), showing the pertinent amounts and supporting computations in good form for each item. In addition, indicate where, or if, these items should be included in Lobo’s financial statements.

Cutting Edge is a monthly magazine that has been on the market for 18 months. It currently has a circulation of 1.4 million copies. Negotiations are underway to obtain a bank loan in order to update the magazine’s facilities. They are producing close to capacity and expect to grow at an average of 20% per year over the next 3 years. After reviewing the financial statements of Cutting Edge, Andy Rich, the bank loan officer, had indicated that a loan could be offered to Cutting Edge only if it could increase its current ratio and decrease its debt to equity ratio to a specified level. Jonathan Embry, the marketing manager of Cutting Edge, has devised a plan to meet these requirements. Embry indicates that an advertising campaign can be initiated to immediately increase circulation. The potential customers would be contacted after the purchase of another magazine’s mailing list. Thecampaign would include: 1. An offer to subscribe to Cutting Edge at 3/4 the normal price. 2. A special offer to all new subscribers to receive the most current world atlas whenever requested at a guaranteed price of $2. 3. An unconditional guarantee that any subscriber will receive a full refund if dissatisfied with the magazine. Although the offer of a full refund is risky, Embry claims that few people will ask for a refund after receiving half of their subscription issues. Embry notes that other magazine companies have tried this sales promotion technique and experienced great success. Their average cancellation rate was 25%. On average, each company increased its initial circulation threefold and in the long run increased circulation to twice that which existed before the promotion. In addition, 60% of the new subscribers are expected to take advantage of the atlas premium. Embry feels confident that the increased subscriptions from the advertising campaign will increase the current ratio and decrease the debt to equity ratio. You are the controller of Cutting Edge and must give your opinion of the proposed plan. Instructions (a) When should revenue from the new subscriptions be recognized? (b) How would you classify the estimated sales returns stemming from the unconditional guarantee? (c) How should the atlas premium be recorded? Is the estimated premium claims a liability? Explain. (d) Does the proposed plan achieve the goals of increasing the current ratio and decreasing the debt to equity ratio?

Jill Vogel and Pete Dell have to do a class presentation on GAAP rules for reporting pension information. In developing the class presentation, they decided to provide the class with a series of questions related to pensions and then discuss the answers in class. Given that the class has all read the rules related to pension accounting and reporting, they felt this approach would provide a lively discussion. Here are the questions: 1. In an article in BusinessWeek prior to new rules related to pensions, it was reported that the discount rates used by the largest 200 companies for pension reporting ranged from 5% to 11%. How can such a situation exist, and does GAAP alleviate this problem? 2. An article indicated that when new GAAP rules were issued related to pensions, it caused an increase in the liability for pensions for approximately 20% of companies. Why might this situation occur? 3. A recent article noted that while “smoothing” is not necessarily an accounting virtue, pension accounting has long been recognized as an exception—an area of accounting in which at least some dampening of market swings is appropriate. This is because pension funds are managed so that  their performance is insulated from the extremes of short-term market swings. A pension expense that reflects the volatility of market swings might, for that reason, convey information of little relevance. Are these statements true? 4. Understanding the impact of the changes required in pension reporting requires detailed information about its pension plan(s) and an analysis of the relationship of many factors, particularly the: (a) Type of plan(s) and any significant amendments. (b) Plan participants. (c) Funding status. (d) Actuarial funding method and assumptions currently used. What impact does each of these items have on financial statement presentation? 5. An article noted “You also need to decide whether to amortize gains and losses using the corridor method, or to use some other systematic method. Under the corridor approach, only gains and losses in excess of 10% of the greater of the projected benefit obligation or the plan assets would have to be amortized.” What is the corridor method and what is its purpose? Instructions What answers do you believe Jill and Pete gave to each of these questions?

Explain the difference between a static budget and a flexible budget.

Tim’s parents plan to provide him with $50,000 to support him while he establishes a new landscaping business. In exchange for the support, Tim will maintain the landscape at his father’s business. Under what conditions will the transfer of $50,000 be included in Tim’s gross income? Explain. Do you have a recommendation for Tim and his parents?

Paolo is a 50 percent partner in the Capri Partnership and has decided to terminate his partnership interest. Paolo is considering two options as potential exit strategies. The first is to sell his partnership interest to the two remaining 25 percent partners, Giuseppe and Isabella, for $105,000 cash and the assumption of Paolo’s share of Capri’s liabilities. Under this option, Giuseppe and Isabella would each pay $52,500 for half of Paolo’s interest. The second option is to have Capri liquidate Paolo’s partnership interest with a proportionate distribution of the partnership assets. Paolo’s basis in his partnership interest is $110,000, including Paolo’s share of Capri’s liabilities. Capri reports the following balance sheet as of the termination date: Assets Tax Basis FMV Cash $ 80,000 $ 80,000 Receivables 40,000 40,000 Inventory 50,000 80,000 Land 50,000 60,000    Totals $ 220,000 $ 260,000 Liabilities and capital Liabilities $ 50,000 Capital – Paolo 85,000  – Giuseppe 42,500  – Isabella 42,500       Totals $ 220,000 a. If Paolo sells his partnership interest to Giuseppe and Isabella for $105,000, what are the amount and character of Paolo’s recognized gain or loss? b. Giuseppe and Isabella each have a basis in Capri of $55,000 before any purchase of Paolo’s interest. What are Giuseppe’s and Isabella’s bases in their partnership interests following the purchase of Paolo’s interest? c. If Capri liquidates Paolo’s partnership interest with a proportionate distribution of the partnership assets ($25,000 deemed cash from debt relief, $15,000 of actual cash, and half of the remaining assets), what are the amount and character of Paolo’s recognized gain or loss? d. If Capri liquidates Paolo’s interest, what is Paolo’s basis in the distributed assets? e. Compare and contrast Paolo’s options for terminating his partnership interest. Assume that Paolo’s marginal tax rate is 35 percent and his capital gains rate is 15 percent.

Adjusting data for use with regression; outlier Smeyer Industries is a large entity with more than 40 departments, each employing 35 to 100 persons. Recent experience suggests that the cost function used to estimate overhead in Department IP-14 is no longer appropriate. The current function was developed three years ago. Since then, a number of changes occurred in the facilities and processes used in Department IP-14. The changes happened one at a time. Each time a change was made, the cost accountant felt the change was not major enough to justify calculating a new overhead cost function. Now it is clear that the cumulative effect of the changes has been large. You have been assigned the task to develop a new cost function for overhead in Department IP-14. Initial analysis suggests that the number of direct labour hours is an appropriate cost driver. Departmental records are available for nine months. The records reveal the following information.       An assistant has analysed the data for March through July and made the appropriate adjustments except for the following items (for which the assistant was unsure of the proper treatment).                            (i)              The semi-annual property tax bill for Department IP-14 was paid on June 30. The entire amount of $3,000 was charged to overhead for June.                          (ii)              The costs to install a new piece of equipment with a life of 10 years in the department were charged to overhead in April. The installation costs were $4,300.                        (iii)              Factory depreciation is allocated to Department IP-14 every month. The department’s share, $8,000, is included in overhead.                        (iv)              A strike closed the plant for three weeks in July. Several non-union employees were kept on payroll during the strike. Their duties were general housekeeping and 'busy work' These costs were charged to overhead.   You also have the details for the overhead account for the months of August and September. They are presented in the following table. You were hired on October 1 and have been keeping the department accounts since then. Therefore, you know that the data for October and November are correct, except for any adjustments needed for the preceding items.       Required (a)          Using the information provided, adjust the monthly cost data to more accurately reflect the overhead costs incurred during each month. (b)          Discuss whether the data for July should be included in the estimate of future costs. Use a scatter plot to help you answer this question. (c)           Develop a cost function by regressing overhead costs in Department IP-14 on direct labour hours. Discuss whether your cost function would be reasonable for estimating future overhead costs. Ignore any items you will discuss in part (d). (d)          Identify and discuss any additional adjustments that might be needed to more accurately measure overhead costs for the regression in part (c). (e)           Explain why adjustments probably need to be made to information from accounting records when estimating a cost function.

Upland Company borrowed $40,000 on November 1, 2014, by signing a $40,000, 9%, 3-month note. Prepare Upland’s November 1, 2014, entry; the December 31, 2014, annual adjusting entry; and the February 1, 2015, entry

What is the complicating factor that occurs in a compression test?

What is the nature of a “discount” on notes payable?

The pretax financial income of Truttman Company differs from its taxable income throughout each of 4 years as follows. Pretax Taxable Year Financial Income Income Tax Rate 2014 $290,000 $180,000 35% 2015 320,000 225,000 40% 2016 350,000 260,000 40% 2017 420,000 560,000 40% Pretax financial income for each year includes a nondeductible expense of $30,000 (never deductible for tax purposes). The remainder of the difference between pretax financial income and taxable income in each period is due to one depreciation temporary difference. No deferred income taxes existed at the beginning of 2014. Instructions (a) Prepare journal entries to record income taxes in all 4 years. Assume that the change in the tax rate to 40% was not enacted until the beginning of 2015. (b) Prepare the income statement for 2015, beginning with Income before income taxes.

How is unrecaptured §1250 gain for individuals similar to depreciation recapture?  How is it different?

Grady is a member of a large family and received the following payments this year. For each payment, determine whether the payment constitutes realized income and determine the amount of each payment Grady must include in his gross income.