Consider the following conversation between Leonard Bryner, president and manager of a firm engaged in job manufacturing, and Chuck Davis, certified management accountant, the firms controller. Leonard: Chuck, as you know, our firm has been losing market share over the past 3 years. We have been losing more and more bids, and I dont understand why. At first, I thought that other firms were undercutting simply to gain business, but after examining some of the public financial reports, I believe that they are making a reasonable rate of return. I am beginning to believe that our costs and costing methods are at fault. Chuck: I cant agree with that. We have good control over our costs. Like most firms in our industry, we use a normal job-costing system. I really dont see any significant waste in the plant. Leonard: After talking with some other managers at a recent industrial convention, Im not so sure that waste by itself is the issue. They talked about activity-based management, activity-based costing, and continuous improvement. They mentioned the use of something called activity drivers to assign overhead. They claimed that these new procedures can help to produce more efficiency in manufacturing, better control of overhead, and more accurate product costing. A big deal was made of eliminating activities that added no value. Maybe our bids are too high because these other firms have found ways to decrease their overhead costs and to increase the accuracy of their product costing. Chuck: I doubt it. For one thing, I dont see how we can increase product-costing accuracy. So many of our costs are indirect costs. Furthermore, everyone uses some measure of production activity to assign overhead costs. I imagine that what they are calling activity drivers is just some new buzzword for measures of production volume. Fads in costing come and go. I wouldnt worry about it. Ill bet that our problems with decreasing sales are temporary. You might recall that we experienced a similar problem about 12 years agoit was 2 years before it straightened out. Required: 1. Do you agree or disagree with Chuck Davis and the advice that he gave Leonard Bryner? Explain. 2. Was there anything wrong or unethical in the behavior that Chuck Davis displayed? Explain your reasoning. 3. Do you think that Chuck was well informedthat he was aware of the accounting implications of ABC and that he knew what was meant by cost drivers? Should he have been well informed? Review (in Chapter 1) the first category of the Statement of Ethical Professional Practice for management accountants. Do any of these standards apply in Chucks case?

Bannister Company, an electronics firm, buys circuit boards and manually inserts various electronic devices into the printed circuit board. Bannister sells its products to original equipment manufacturers. Profits for the last two years have been less than expected. Mandy Confer, owner of Bannister, was convinced that her firm needed to adopt a revenue growth and cost reduction strategy to increase overall profits. After a careful review of her firms condition, Mandy realized that the main obstacle for increasing revenues and reducing costs was the high defect rate of her products (a 6 percent reject rate). She was certain that revenues would grow if the defect rate was reduced dramatically. Costs would also decline as there would be fewer rejects and less rework. By decreasing the defect rate, customer satisfaction would increase, causing, in turn, an increase in market share. Mandy also felt that the following actions were needed to help ensure the success of the revenue growth and cost reduction strategy: a. Improve the soldering capabilities by sending employees to an outside course. b. Redesign the insertion process to eliminate some of the common mistakes. c. Improve the procurement process by selecting suppliers that provide higher-quality circuit boards. Required: 1. State the revenue growth and cost reduction strategy using a series of cause-and-effect relationships expressed as if-then statements. 2. Illustrate the strategy using a strategy map. 3. Explain how the revenue growth strategy can be tested. In your explanation, discuss the role of lead and lag measures, targets, and double-loop feedback.

Kiley Corporation had the following data for the most recent year (in millions). The new CFO believes (1) that an improved inventory management system could lower the average inventory by $4,000, (2) that improvements in the credit department could reduce receivables by $2,000, and (3) that the purchasing department could negotiate better credit terms and thereby increase accounts payable by $2,000. Furthermore, she thinks that these changes would not affect either sales or the costs of goods sold. If these changes were made, by how many days would the cash conversion cycle be lowered? (Hint: Calculate the CCC for original and then for revised and take the difference. SHOW ALL WORK)

Kiley Corporation had the following data for the most recent year (in millions). The new CFO believes (1) that an improved inventory management system could lower the average inventory by $4,000, (2) that improvements in the credit department could reduce receivables by $2,000, and (3) that the purchasing department could negotiate better credit terms and thereby increase accounts payable by $2,000. Furthermore, she thinks that these changes would not affect either sales or the costs of goods sold. If these changes were made, by how many days would the cash conversion cycle be lowered?   Original  Revised  Annual sales: unchanged $110,000 $110,000 Cost of goods sold: unchanged $80,000 $80,000 Average inventory: lowered by $4,000 $20,000 $16,000 Average receivables: lowered by $2,000 $16,000 $14,000 Average payables: increased by $2,000 $10,000 $12,000 Days in year 365 365

Ethics in Action Margie Johnson is a staff accountant at ToolEx Company, a manufacturer of tools and equipment. The company is under pressure from investors to increase earnings, and the president of the company expects the accounting department to “make this happen.” Margie's boss, who has been a mentor to her, is concerned that if earnings do not increase, he will be terminated. Shortly after the end of the fiscal year, the company performs a physical count of the inventory. When Margie compares the physical count to the balance in the inventory account, she finds a significant amount of inventory shrinkage. The amount is so large that it will result in a significant drop in earnings this period. Margie's boss asks her not to make the adjusting entry for shrinkage this period. He assures her that they will get “caught up” on shrinkage in the next period, after the pressure is off to reach this period's earnings goal. Margie's boss asks her to do this as a personal favor to him.…

Safa traders is a wholesale business unit based in Salala. The company is dealing with disposable tableware in large quantities. The business has a separate stores department which maintains a full-fledged stores register which will be updated on a day to day basis with all the stock movements. At the end of the previous month, the company management has called for a strategic meeting to discuss the future plans to improve the performance of the business. One of the partner has raised his concern about the increasing total cost of the business and he suggested to use any appropriate Inventory control technique to reduce the overall cost of the company. The management accountant is considering to implement EOQ purchase in the business to reduce the overall cost of the company. Upon request, the stores department has provided with the following information to estimate the EOQ. Annual demand for the tableware is given as 5000 Units and the business has to spend OMR 20 per order in order…

You are the financial officer for Music Plus, a retailer that sells goods for home entertainment needs. The business owner, Vic Velakturi, recently reviewed the annual financial statements you prepared and sent you an e-mail stating that he thinks you overstated net income. He explains that although he has invested a great deal in security, he is sure shoplifting and other forms of inventory shrinkage have occurred, but he does not see any deduction for shrinkage on the income statement. The store uses a perpetual inventory system. Required Prepare a brief memorandum that responds to the owner’s concerns.

XYZ Bakery's general manager was puzzled by the results of the income statement for the month which showed a net loss for the bakery. The owner is puzzled because of the volume of customers who flood the bakery each day for baked goods. The owner calculated the cost of direct materials and direct labor and was sure the prices were set right and overhead was estimated based on prior year expenses. How is it possible that volumes could be high but the store could lose money? What are other factors the owner should consider to make sure next year's financial statements report net income?

Electronics, Inc. is a high-volume, wholesale merchandising company. Most of its inventory turns over four or five times a year. The company has had 50 units of a particular band of computers on hand for over a year. These computers have not sold and probably will not sell unless they are discounted 60 to 70%. The accountant is carrying them on the books at cost and intends to recognize the loss when they are sold. This way, she can avoid a significant write-down in inventory on the current year's financial statements. Is the accountant correct in her treatment of the inventory? Why or why not? can you help me explain this?