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
Corporate Financial Accounting
- 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_forwardGeorge Costanza is an accountant for Vandelay Industries, a footwear and apparel company. The company's revenue and net income have increased by more than 100% over the past three years. During the same period, George and his colleagues in the Accounting Department have not received a raise or salary increase. Frustrated by not receiving a raise while the company has thrived, George has begun submitting expense reimbursements for personal purchases. George has a good relationship with his supervisor, and the supervisor simply "signs off" on George's expense reimbursements. George suspects that his supervisor knows that he is submitting personal expenses for reimbursement and is "looking the other way" because George has not received a raise in the past three years. Are George and his supervisor acting in an ethical manner? Why or why not?arrow_forwardThe following information is taken from Marsh Marsh Supermarkets Supermarkets annual report: During the first quarter, we made several decisions resulting in a $13 million charge to earnings. A new accounting pronouncement, FAS 121, required the Company to take a $7.5 million charge. FAS 121 dictates how companies are to account for the carrying values of their assets. This rule affects all public and private companies. The magnitude of this charge created a window of opportunity to address several other issues that, in the Company’s best long term interest, needed to be resolved. We amended our defined benefit retirement plan, and took significant reorganization and other special charges. These charges, including FAS 121, totaled almost $13 million. The result was a $7.1 million loss for the quarter and a small net loss for the year. Although these were difficult decisions because of their short term impact, they will have positive implications for years to come. Marsh Supermarkets’…arrow_forward
- Nancy Thomas is the chief accountant at Company C, a manufacturer of medical equipment. The company is under pressure from creditors to increase its earnings. Shortly after the end of the fiscal year, the company performed a physical count of the inventory. A significant amount of inventory shrinkage was discovered. The amount is so large that it will result in a significant drop in earnings this period. The decrease in earnings will hurt the company's chance at getting a much needed loan at a low interest rate. Nancy is thinking of not reporting the shrinkage until next period, after the company gets its loan. What should Nancy do in this situation? Why?arrow_forwardAccounting Bluepanda Inc. sales electronics parts, which finds application in various equipment used mainly in construction industry. The company has faced some issues in managing its working capital and has lost some key suppliers in the recent past due to mismanagement of cash and delay in vendor payments. Bluepanda has hired you as a financial consultant to look into this matter and provide a comprehensive perspective. The management also desired to maintain a cash balance of more than $15,000 each month as financial prudence. After considering all the information provided to you, you decided that having a cash budget would be the first step to understand the shortfall/surplus of cash and will aid in working capital management. You arranged a meeting with the marketing team and gathered the following information: Sales Forecast Month- year Sales Nov. 2022 $50,000 Dec 2022 $60,000 Jan 2023 $60,000 Feb 2023 $70,000 March 2023 $75,000 April 2023…arrow_forwardConsultex, Inc., was founded in 2015 as a small financial consulting business. The company had done reasonably well in 2015–2017 but started noticing its cash dwindle early in 2018. In January 2018, Consultex had paid $15,000 to purchase land and repaid $3,000 principal on an existing promissory note. In March, the company paid $1,800 cash for dividends and $1,000 to repurchase and eliminate Consultex stock that had previously been issued for $1,000. To improve its cash position, Consultex borrowed $4,800 by signing a new promissory note in May and also issued stock to a new private investor for $11,800 cash. Year-end comparative balance sheets and income statements are presented below.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_forwardKim's Chemical Company reported total expenses for the year of $432,000, of which $378,000 of the expenses were paid in cash and the remainder will be paid in the following year. What effect did these activities have on the balance sheet of Kim's Chemical Company? Decrease total stockholders' equity by $378,000 and decrease total assets by $378,000. Decrease total assets by $432,000, decrease total liabilities by $54,000, and decrease total stockholders' equity by $378,000. Decrease total assets by $432,000 and decrease total stockholders' equity by $432,000. Decrease total stockholders' equity by $432,000, decrease total assets by $378,000 and increase total liabilities by $54,000. None of the above.arrow_forwardYou have just been hired as a financial analyst for a company called Basel Industries. Unfortunately, company headquarters (where all of the firm’s records are kept) have been destroyed by fire. So, your first job will be to recreate the firm’s cash flow statement for the year that has just ended. The firm had $100,000 in the bank at the end of the prior year. In addition, its net working capital accounts, except cash, remained constant during the year. The company earned $5 million in net income during the year and but only paid $750,000 in dividends to common shareholders. Throughout the year, Basel Industries purchased $5.5 million of machinery that was needed for a new project. You have just been spoken to the firm’s accountants and learnt that annual depreciation expense for the year is $450,000; however, the purchase price for the machinery represents additions to property, plant and equipment before depreciation. The only financing done by the firm was to issue long-term…arrow_forward
- Jiang Ltd has recently produced its financial statements for the current year. The directors of the company are concerned that the return on capital employed (ROCE) has decreased from 14% last year to 12% for the current year.The following reasons were suggested as to why this reduction in ROCE has occurred. an increase in the gross profit margin a reduction in sales revenue an increase in overhead expenses an increase in amount of inventories held the repayment of a loan at the end of the year an increase in time taken for trade receivables to be paid Taking each of these 6 suggested reasons in turn, state, with reasons, whether each of them could lead to a reduction in ROCE ROCE = (EBIT/Sales Revenue) x (Sales revenue/Long term capital)arrow_forwardAssume that you are the controller of a business that provides legal services to clients. Suppose that the company has had a tough year, so the revenues have been lagging behind, based on previous years standards. What would you do if your boss (the chief executive officer [CEO] of the company) asked to reclassify a transaction to report loan proceeds of $150,000 as if the cash came from service fee revenue from clients instead. Would following the CEOs advice impact the companys accounting equation? How would reclassifying this one transaction change the outcome of the balance sheet, the income statement, and the statement of retained earnings? Would making this reclassification change the perception that users of the financial statements would have of the companys current year success and future year potential? Write a memo, detailing your willingness (or not) to embrace this suggestion, giving reasons behind your decision. Remember to exercise diplomacy, even if you must dissent from the opinion of a supervisor. Note that the challenge of the assignment is to keep your integrity intact, while also keeping your job, if possible.arrow_forwardThe receipt of $8,000 cash for fees earned was recorded by Langley Consulting as an increase in cash of $8,000 and a decrease in retained earnings (revenues) of $8,000. What is the effect of this error on the accounting equation? A. Total assets will exceed total liabilities and stockholders’ equity by $8,000. B. Total assets will be less than total liabilities and stockholders’ equity by $8,000. C. Total assets will exceed total liabilities and stockholders’ equity by $16,000. D. The error will not affect the accounting equation.arrow_forward
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