Question & Answer

Martin Buber Co. purchased land as a factory site for $400,000. The process of tearing down two old buildings on the site and constructing the factory required 6 months.

The company paid $42,000 to raze the old buildings and sold salvaged lumber and brick for $6,300.

Legal fees of $1,850 were paid for title investigation and drawing the purchase contract. Martin Buber paid $2,200 to an engineering firm for a land survey, and $68,000 for drawing the factory plans. The land survey had to be made before definitive plans could be drawn. Title insurance on the property cost $1,500, and a liability insurance premium paid during construction was $900. The contractor’s charge for construction was $2,740,000. The company paid the contractor in two installments: $1,200,000 at the end of 3 months and $1,540,000 upon completion. Interest costs of $170,000 were incurred to finance the construction.

Instructions

Determine the cost of the land and the cost of the building as they should be recorded on the books of

Martin Buber Co. Assume that the land survey was for the building.

The following expenditures and receipts are related to land, land improvements, and buildings acquired for use in a business enterprise. The receipts are enclosed in parentheses.

(a) Money borrowed to pay building contractor (signed a note) $(275,000)

(b) Payment for construction from note proceeds 275,000

(c) Cost of land fill and clearing 8,000

(d) Delinquent real estate taxes on property assumed by purchaser 7,000

(e) Premium on 6-month insurance policy during construction 6,000

(f) Refund of 1-month insurance premium because construction completed early (1,000)

(g) Architect’s fee on building 22,000

(h) Cost of real estate purchased as a plant site (land $200,000 and building $50,000) 250,000

(i) Commission fee paid to real estate agency 9,000

(j) Installation of fences around property 4,000

(k) Cost of razing and removing building 11,000

(l) Proceeds from salvage of demolished building (5,000)

(m) Interest paid during construction on money borrowed for construction 13,000

(n) Cost of parking lots and driveways 19,000

(o) Cost of trees and shrubbery planted (permanent in nature) 14,000

(p) Excavation costs for new building 3,000

Instructions

Identify each item by letter and list the items in columnar form, using the headings shown below. All receipt amounts should be reported in parentheses. For any amounts entered in the Other Accounts column, also indicate the account title.

Use the information presented for Ottawa Corporation in BE10-14, but assume the machinery is sold for $5,200 instead of $10,500. Prepare journal entries to (a) update depreciation for 2015 and (b) record the sale.

Ottawa Corporation owns machinery that cost $20,000 when purchased on July 1, 2011. Depreciation has been recorded at a rate of $2,400 per year, resulting in a balance in accumulated depreciation of

$8,400 at December 31, 2014. The machinery is sold on September 1, 2015, for $10,500. Prepare journal entries to (a) update depreciation for 2015 and (b) record the sale.

Indicate which of the following costs should be expensed when incurred.

(a) $13,000 paid to rearrange and reinstall machinery.

(b) $200,000 paid for addition to building.

(c) $200 paid for tune-up and oil change on delivery truck.

(d) $7,000 paid to replace a wooden floor with a concrete floor.

(e) $2,000 paid for a major overhaul on a truck, which extends the useful life.

Slaton Corporation traded a used truck for a new truck. The used truck cost $20,000 and has accumulated depreciation of $17,000. The new truck is worth $35,000. Slaton also made a cash payment of $33,000. Prepare Slaton’s entry to record the exchange. (The exchange has commercial substance.)

Cheng Company traded a used truck for a new truck. The used truck cost $30,000 and has accumulated depreciation of $27,000. The new truck is worth $37,000. Cheng also made a cash payment of $36,000. Prepare Cheng’s entry to record the exchange. (The exchange lacks commercial substance.)

Mehta Company traded a used welding machine (cost $9,000, accumulated depreciation $3,000)for office equipment with an estimated fair value of $5,000. Mehta also paid $3,000 cash in the transaction.

Prepare the journal entry to record the exchange. (The exchange has commercial substance.)

Use the information for Navajo Corporation from BE10-8. Prepare the journal entry to record the exchange, assuming the exchange lacks commercial substance.

Navajo Corporation traded a used truck (cost $20,000, accumulated depreciation $18,000) for a small computer worth $3,300. Navajo also paid $500 in the transaction. Prepare the journal entry to record the exchange. (The exchange has commercial substance.)

Fielder Company obtained land by issuing 2,000 shares of its $10 par value common stock. The land was recently appraised at $85,000. The common stock is actively traded at $40 per share. Prepare the journal entry to record the acquisition of the land.

Mohave Inc. purchased land, building, and equipment from Laguna Corporation for a cash payment of $315,000. The estimated fair values of the assets are land $60,000, building $220,000, and equipment $80,000. At what amounts should each of the three assets be recorded?

Garcia Corporation purchased a truck by issuing an $80,000, 4-year, zero-interest-bearing note to

Equinox Inc. The market rate of interest for obligations of this nature is 10%. Prepare the journal entry to record the purchase of this truck.

Use the information for Hanson Company from BE10-2 and BE10-3. Compute avoidable interest for Hanson Company.

Hanson Company (see BE10-2) borrowed $1,000,000 on March 1 on a 5-year, 12% note to help finance construction of the building. In addition, the company had outstanding all year a 10%, 5-year, $2,000,000 note payable and an 11%, 4-year, $3,500,000 note payable. Compute the weighted-average interest rate used for interest capitalization purposes.

Hanson Company is constructing a building. Construction began on February 1 and was completed on December 31. Expenditures were $1,800,000 on March 1, $1,200,000 on June 1, and $3,000,000 on December 31. Compute Hanson’s weighted-average accumulated expenditures for interest capitalization purposes.

Previn Brothers Inc. purchased land at a price of $27,000. Closing costs were $1,400. An old building was removed at a cost of $10,200. What amount should be recorded as the cost of the land?

What are the general rules for how gains or losses on retirement of plant assets should be reported in income?

Neville Enterprises has a number of fully depreciated assets that are still being used in the main operations of the business. Because the assets are fully depreciated, the president of the company decides not to show them on the balance sheet or disclose this information in the notes. Evaluate this procedure.

To what extent do you consider the following items to be proper costs of the fixed asset? Give reasons for your opinions.

(a) Overhead of a business that builds its own equipment.

(b) Cash discounts on purchases of equipment.

(c) Interest paid during construction of a building.

(d) Cost of a safety device installed on a machine.

(e) Freight on equipment returned before installation, for replacement by other equipment of greater capacity.

(f) Cost of moving machinery to a new location.

(g) Cost of plywood partitions erected as part of the remodeling of the office.

(h) Replastering of a section of the building.

(i) Cost of a new motor for one of the trucks.

New machinery, which replaced a number of employees, was installed and put in operation in the last month of the fiscal year. The employees had been dismissed after payment of an extra month’s wages, and this amount was added to the cost of the machinery. Discuss the propriety of the charge. If it was improper, describe the proper treatment.

What accounting treatment is normally given to the following items in accounting for plant assets?

(a) Additions.

(b) Major repairs.

(c) Improvements and replacements.

Once equipment has been installed and placed in operation, subsequent expenditures relating to this equipment are frequently thought of as repairs or general maintenance and, hence, chargeable to operations in the period in which the expenditure is made. Actually, determination of whether such anexpenditure should be charged to operations or capitalized involves a much more careful analysis of the character of the expenditure. What are the factors that should be considered in making such a decision? Discuss fully.

Crowe Company purchased a heavy-duty truck on July 1, 2011, for $30,000. It was estimated that it would have a useful life of 10 years and then would have a trade-in value of $6,000. The company uses the straight-line method. It was traded on August 1, 2015, for a similar truck costing $42,000; $16,000 was allowed as trade-in value (also fair value) on the old truck and $26,000 was paid in cash. A comparison of expected cash flows for the trucks indicates the exchange lacks commercial substance.

What is the entry to record the trade-in?

Stan Ott is evaluating two recent transactions involving exchanges of equipment. In one case, the exchange has commercial substance. In the second situation, the exchange lacks commercial substance. Explain to Stan the differences in accounting for these two situations.