Question & Answer

Indicate whether the following statements about the conceptual framework are true or false. If false, provide a brief explanation supporting your position. (a) The fundamental qualitative characteristics that make accounting information useful are relevance and verifiability. (b) Relevant information only has predictive value, confirmatory value, or both. (c) Information that is a faithful representation is characterized as having predictive or confirmatory value. (d) Comparability pertains only to the reporting of information in a similar manner for different companies. (e) Verifiability is solely an enhancing characteristic for faithful representation. (f) In preparing financial reports, it is assumed that users of the reports have reasonable knowledge of business and economic activities.

Briefly describe some of the similarities and differences between GAAP and IFRS with respect to the accounting for investments.

Assume that a bank expects to attract most of its funds through short-term CDs and would prefer to use most of its funds to provide long-term loans. How could it follow this strategy and still reduce interest rate risk? (LO3)

Lee is 30 years old and single. Lee paid all the costs of maintaining his household for the entire year. Determine Lee’s filing status in each of the following alternative situations: a. Lee is Ashton’s uncle. Ashton is 15 years old and has gross income of $6,000. Ashton lived in Lee’s home from April 1 through the end of the year. b. Lee is Ashton’s uncle. Ashton is 20 years old, is not a full-time student, and has gross income of $7,000. Ashton lived in Lee’s home from April 1 through the end of the year. c. Lee is Ashton’s uncle. Ashton is 22 years old and was a full-time student from January through April. Ashton’s gross income was $6,000. Ashton lived in Lee’s home from April 1 through the end of the year. d. Lee is Ashton’s cousin. Ashton is 18 years old, has gross income of $3,000, and is not a full-time student. Ashton lived in Lee’s home from April 1 through the end of the year. e. Lee and Ashton are cousins. Ashton is 18 years old, has gross income of $3,000, and is not a full-time student. Ashton lived in Lee’s home for the entire year.

Simms Corp. controlled four domestic subsidiaries and one foreign subsidiary. Prior to the current year, Simms Corp. had excluded the foreign subsidiary from consolidation. During the current year, the foreign subsidiary was included in the financial statements. How should this change in accounting entity be reflected in the financial statements?

Given the data in Problem 13.14, except that the flight angle of the extruder screw is a variable instead of a constant 17.7°. Use a spreadsheet calculator to determine the value of the flight angle that maximizes the volumetric flow rate Qx. Explore values of flight angle between 10° and 20°. Determine the optimum value to the nearest tenth of a degree.

Why might pension funds be exposed to interest rate risk? How can pension funds reduce their exposure to interest rate risk? (LO7)

Cost drivers; value chain; strategy; organisational structure Australian fashion designer Sean Ashby commenced his men’s swimwear and clothing business aussieBum in 2001. A keen swimmer and surfer, he was unable to find a good pair of men’s cossies and used his life savings of $20 000 to make a series of prototypes, buy materials and commence manufacturing in Australia. Despite rejection from local retailers who did not see the potential for aussieBum to compete with international brands, Ashby has proven critics wrong. He had no choice but to take his business online, with instant exposure to the international market. It now takes thousands of orders a day.   Since the company’s inception, Ashby says that aussieBum has ‘taken on its own little cult revolution’, with celebrities such as Ewan McGregor, Billy Connolly and David Beckham fans of the aussieBum brand. Even Kylie Minogue’s male dancers wore aussieBum cossies in the film clip for her song ‘Slow’. The marketing thrust behind Ashby’s aussieBum is to live the dream — ‘the dream to be independent and present our gear in a way that gets noticed. We don’t apologise for pushing the boundaries . . . We have a saying at aussieBum — If you doubt yourself, wear something else’.   The company doubled in size every year in its first five years and continued to grow by 20 per cent every quarter. By 2005, aussieBum earned more than $5 million in sales and carried no debt. The aussieBum brand now takes pride of place in stores such as Selfridges in the UK; Brown Thomas in Ireland; La Maison Stores in Canada; Alpha Male in Melrose Drive, Los Angeles; KaDeWa in Germany; as well as others in Spain, The Netherlands, Sweden, Poland and Russia. As well as direct department store sales, aussieBum’s internet retail orders are booming, with aussieBum being distributed to more than 70 countries. It now has over 200 000 consumers ordering direct via its custom built e-commerce site.   Most of the raw materials are sourced from Italy and China. By manufacturing in Australia, aussieBum hopes to promote Australia’s culture and relaxed lifestyle as well as eliminate restrictions that might come with outsourcing production to other countries. Moreover, producing locally (through independent manufacturers) provides flexibility and a reduced timeframe in getting new products to market. With a heavy emphasis on innovative product design, aussieBum pays close attention to the design phase of the product process.   Two recent examples of aussieBum’s flexibility and innovative approach to product development and marketing are worthy of note. First, it was able to capitalise on the consumer backlash against competitor Bonds when that company transferred more of its manufacturing offshore. Ashby estimates that aussieBum’s sales grew by at least 40 per cent as a result. Second, aussieBum was able to achieve continued growth during the global financial crisis. The company continues to avoid debt and own all its assets outright.       Required (a) With reference to the information provided, distinguish between structural and executional cost drivers. (b) Illustrate and describe the industry and organisational value chain in which aussieBum operates. (c) Classify aussieBum’s likely strategy as low cost or product differentiation. Explain. (d) Classify aussieBum’s organisational structure as centralised or decentralised. Explain. (e) With reference to disruptive innovation, do you consider aussieBum to be a disruptor to the traditional garment industry value chain? Discuss why or why not.

Liquid phase sintering is used for WC-Co compacts, even though the sintering temperatures are below the melting points of either WC or Co. How is this possible?

Use the information presented in BE5-8 for Adams Company to prepare the long-term liabilities section of the balance sheet.

As a newly enrolled accounting major, you are anxious to better understand accounting institutions and sources of accounting literature. As a first step, you decide to explore the IASB’s Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements. Instructions Access the IASB Framework at the IASB website (http://eifrs.iasb.org/ ). (Click on the IFRS tab and then register for free eIFRS access if necessary.) When you have accessed the documents, you can use the search tool in your Internet browser to respond to the following items. (Provide paragraph citations.) (a) What is the objective of financial reporting? (b) What other means are there of communicating information, besides financial statements? (c) Indicate some of the users and the information they are most directly concerned with in economic decision-making.

Solve Problem 33.3, except using the following additional information. It is known that the diameter of the filament fed into the extruder workhead is 1.25 mm, and the filament is fed into the workhead from its spool at a rate of 30.6 mm of length per second while the workhead is depositing material. Between layers, the feed rate from the spool is zero.

What are the differences, if any, between the legal and tax classifications of business entities?

What is meant by liquidity? Rank the following assets from one to five in order of liquidity. (a) Goodwill. (b) Inventory. (c) Buildings. (d) Short-term investments. (e) Accounts receivable.

A horizontal true centrifugal casting process is used to make lead pipe for chemical plants. The pipe has length = 0.5 m, outside diameter = 70 mm, and wall thickness = 6.0 mm. Determine the rotational speed that will provide a G-factor = 60.

Why does exchange rate overshooting occur? What determines its magnitude?

Rick Kleckner Corporation recorded a finance lease at $300,000 on January 1, 2014. The interest rate is 12%. Kleckner Corporation made the first lease payment of $53,920 on January 1, 2014. The lease requires eight annual payments. The equipment has a useful life of 8 years with no residual value. Prepare Kleckner Corporation’s December 31, 2014, adjusting entries.

Identify the four generic perspectives for a balanced scorecard and         explain how they are related.

A specimen with 6.0 in starting gage length is subjected to a tensile test in which the grips holding the end of the test specimen are moved with a relative velocity = 1.0 in/sec. Construct a plot of the strain rate as a function of length as the specimen is pulled to a length = 8.0 in

What is a modified accelerated cost recovery system (MACRS)? Speculate as to why this system is now required for tax purposes.

1. Assume that you wanted the following information. In which cases could you (i) buy perfect information, (ii) buy imperfect information, (iii) be able to obtain information without paying for it, (iv) not be able to obtain information? (a)  Which washing machine is the most reliable? (b)  Which of two vacant jobs is more satisfying? (c)  Which builder will repair my roof most cheaply? (d)  Which builder is best value for money? (e)  How big a mortgage would it be wise for me to take out? (f)   Should I take a degree or get a full-time job? (g)  What brand of washing powder washes whiter? (h)  Will a house need any work done on it over the next few years? In which cases are there non-monetary costs to you of finding out the information? How can you know whether the information you acquire is accurate or not? 2. Make a list of pieces of information a firm might want to know, and consider whether it could buy the information and how reliable that information might be. 3. What has been the impact of the Internet on the provision of information?

Wasserman Corporation issued 10-year bonds on January 1, 2014. Costs associated with the bond issuance were $160,000. Wasserman uses the straight-line method to amortize bond issue costs. Prepare the December 31, 2014, entry to record 2014 bond issue cost amortization.

Last year, BTA Corporation, a calendar-year taxpayer, reported a net operating loss of $10,000 and a $0 tax liability.  BTA confidently anticipates a current-year tax liability of $240,000. Determine the minimum estimated tax payments BTA should make for the first, second, third, and fourth quarters respectively (ignore the annualized income method) assuming the following:

Villa Company has experienced tough competition, leading it to seek concessions from its employees in the company’s pension plan. In exchange for promises to avoid layoffs and wage cuts, the employees agreed to receive lower pension benefits in the future. As a result, Villa amended its pension plan on January 1, 2014, and recorded negative past service cost of $125,000. Current service cost for 2014 is $26,000. Interest expense is $9,000, and interest revenue is $2,500. Actual return on assets in 2012 is $1,500. Compute Villa’s pension expense in 2014.

A disk 40 cm in diameter and 5 cm thick is to be cast of pure aluminum in an open mold casting operation. The melting temperature of aluminum = 660°C, and the pouring temperature will be 800°C. Assume that the amount of aluminum heated will be 5% more than what is needed to fill the mold cavity. Compute the amount of heat that must be added to the metal to heat it to the pouring temperature, starting from a room temperature of 25°C. The heat of fusion of aluminum = 389.3 J/g. Other properties can be obtained from Tables 4.1 and 4.2 in the text. Assume the specific heat has the same value for solid and molten aluminum