Concept explainers
Ethics and Revenue Recognition
Alan Spalding is CEO of a large appliance wholesaler. Alan is under pressure from Wall Street Analysts to meet his aggressive sales revenue growth projections. Unfortunately, near the end of the year he realizes that sales must dramatically improve if his projections are going to be met. To accomplish this objective, he orders his sales force to contact their largest customers and offer them price discounts if they buy by the end of the year. Alan also offered to deliver the merchandise to a third-party warehouse with whom the customers could arrange delivery when the merchandise was needed.
Required:
Do you believe that revenue from these sales should be recognized in the current year? Why or why not?
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Cornerstones of Financial Accounting
- You are the bookkeeper at a small merchandising firm. You are comparing the income statements from the last three years. You notice that the Purchases Returns and Allowances account (as a percentage of net sales) has been increasing at an alarming rate. If you were a manager, to whom would you speak in the organization to help you understand why so much merchandise is being returned? What types of questions would you ask?arrow_forwardBannister 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.arrow_forwardThe manager of an automobile dealership is considering a new bonus plan designed to increase sales volume. Currently, the mean sales volume is 14 automobiles per month. The manager wants to conduct a research study to see whether the new bonus plan increases sales volume. To collect data on the plan, a sample of sales personnel will be allowed to sell under the new bonus plan for a one-month period. a. Develop the null and alternative hypotheses most appropriate for this situation. b. Comment on the conclusion when H0 cannot be rejected. c. Comment on the conclusion when H0 can be rejected.arrow_forward
- On March 3, 2016, Zad Company was established to produce and sell plastic products. The company produces a full line of plastic products included customized orders. The Chief Executive Officer of the company is working hard to enhance profitability and liquidity. Recently, you have been hired as the Financial Director of the company. 1. On March 8, 2020, the Chief Financial Officer stated to you that she wishes to reduce the company's investment in current assets since those assets provide little, if any, return to the firm. How would you respond to this statement? 2. On September 17, 2020, the Chief Financial Officer stated to you that as long as the company maintains a positive cash balance, why is it essential to review the firm's cash flows? 3. On January 5, 2021, the Chief Financial Officer wishes to expand the company's operations and are trying to determine the amount of debt financing the company should obtain versus the amount of equity financing that should be raised. The…arrow_forwardACME Company sells computer components and plans on borrowing some money to expand. After reading a lot about earnings management, Bill, the owner of ACME, has decided he should try to accelerate some sales to improve his financial statement ratios. He has called his best customers and asked them to make their usual January purchases by December 31. Bill told the customers he would allow them, until the end of February, to pay for the purchases, just as if they had made their purchases in January. •Explain if you think there are ethical implications of Bill's actions. Which ratios will be affected, and how, by accelerating these sales?arrow_forwardACME Company sells computer components and plans on borrowing some money to expand. After reading a lot about earnings management, Bill, the owner of ACME, has decided he should try to accelerate some sales to improve his financial statement ratios. He has called his best customers and asked them to make their usual January purchases by December 31. Bill told the customers he would allow them, until the end of February, to pay for the purchases, just as if they had made their purchases in January. Explain if you think there are ethical implications of Bill’s actions. Which ratios will be affected, and how, by accelerating these sales? Please do not copy and paste from other websites.arrow_forward
- Applying ethical standards, management accountability Natalia Wallace is the new controller for Smart Software, Inc. which develops and sells education software. Shortly before the December 31 fiscal year-end, James Cauvet, the company president, asks Wallace how things look for the year-end numbers. He is not happy to learn that earnings growth may be below 13% for the first time in the company’s five-year history. Cauvet explains that financial analysts have again predicted a 13% earnings growth for the company and that he does not intend to disappoint them. He suggests that Wallace talk to the assistant controller, who can explain how the previous controller dealt with such situations. The assistant controller suggests the following strategies: Persuade suppliers to postpone billing $13,000 in invoices until January 1. Record as sales $115,000 in certain software awaiting sale that is held in a public warehouse. Delay the year-end closing a few days into January of the next year so…arrow_forwardApplying ethical standards, management accountability Natalia Wallace is the new controller for Smart Software, Inc. which develops and sells education software. Shortly before the December 31 fiscal year-end, James Cauvet, the company president, asks Wallace how things look for the year-end numbers. He is not happy to learn that earnings growth may be below 13% for the first time in the company’s five-year history. Cauvet explains that financial analysts have again predicted a 13% earnings growth for the company and that he does not intend to disappoint them. He suggests that Wallace talk to the assistant controller, who can explain how the previous controller dealt with such situations. The assistant controller suggests the following strategies: a. Persuade suppliers to postpone billing $13,000 in invoices until January 1. b. Record as sales $115,000 in certain software awaiting sale that is held in a public warehouse. c. Delay the year-end closing a few days into January of the next…arrow_forwardYou are a financial adviser with a client in the wholesale produce business that just completed its first year of operations. Due to weather conditions, the cost of acquiring produce to resell has escalated during the latter part of this period. Your client, Javonte Gish, mentions that because her business sells perishable goods, she has striven to maintain a FIFO flow of goods. Although sales are good, the increasing cost of inventory has put the business in a tight cash position. Gish has expressed concern regarding the ability of the business to meet income tax obligations. Required Prepare a memorandum that identifies, explains, and justifies the inventory method you recommend that Ms. Gish adopt.arrow_forward
- Ethical Situation: What Would You Do? Discussion Question As one of the newer district sales managers for a fast-growing technology company, you've asked your salespeople to give you three sales forecasts in their territories for the coming year: (a) optimistic, (b) pessimistic, and (c) most likely. After totaling their three different sales forecasts, you realize that the optimistic forecast will increase sales by nearly 20% in your district, the pessimistic forecast by 10%, and the most likely by about 15%. Your national sales manager has asked each district sales manager to give her their most likely sales forecast for the coming year, so she can assign sales quotas. Your thoughts are that it's probably best to give her the most pessimistic sales forecast because this should help ensure that she assigns your district a quota that you should easily achieve. If you can exceed your assigned district sales quota by a substantial amount, you'll probably get a large bonus, and you may…arrow_forwardYour client, Corp. B, is a trading or distributor of home living product. Corp B import goods and sells them to its customers who are retail stores. In the current year, Corp. B's financial statements reported an increase in net income. The increase was driven by increased sales. Corp B's accounts receivable also increased rapidly. Corp B reportedly has many new customers.You are informed that there may be a fictitious revenue generated using fictitious customers. Corp B makes fictitious credit sales using bogus customers, and when receivables are due, management make kiting in order to look like the fictitious accounts receivable paid by their customer. Question:a. Explain how the fraud scheme can be carried out by Corp B?b. What kind of audit procedure will you use to examine for possible kiting?arrow_forwardCustomer Profitability Analysis: Boston Depot sells office supplies to area corporations and organizations. Tom Delayne, founder and CEO, has been disappointed with the operating results and the profit margin for the last two years. Business forms are mostly a "commodity" business with low profit margins. To increase profit margins and gain competitive advantages, Delayne introduced "Desk-Top Delivery" service. The business seems to be as busy as ever. Yet, the operating income has been declining. To help identify the root cause of declining profits, he decided to analyze the profitability of two of the firm's major customers: Omega International (OI) and City of Albion (CA).According to the customer profitability analysis that Boston Depot conducts regularly, Boston Depot has the same amount of total sales with both OI and CA. However, the firm earns a higher gross margin and gross margin ratio from CA than those from the sales to OI, as demonstrated here: Customer…arrow_forward
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