You begin a new job at Cabrera Medical Supplies. The company is considering a new accounting system, with an initial investment of about half a million dollars for new software and hardware. You are excited for the opportunity to apply your
How would you react and what would you discuss with your boss?
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- 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?arrow_forwardConsider the following conversation between Gary Means, manager of a division that produces industrial machinery, and his controller, Donna Simpson, a certified management accountant and certified public accountant: Gary: Donna, we have a real problem. Our operating cash is too low, and we are in desperate need of a loan. As you know, our financial position is marginal, and we need to show as much income as possibleand our assets need bolstering as well. Donna: I understand the problem, but I dont see what can be done at this point. This is the last week of the fiscal year, and it looks like well report income just slightly above breakeven. Gary: I know all this. What we need is some creative accounting. I have an idea that might help us, and I wanted to see if you would go along with it. We have 200 partially finished machines in process, about 20% complete. That compares with the 1,000 units that we completed and sold during the year. When you computed the per-unit cost, you used 1,040 equivalent units, giving us a manufacturing cost of 1,500 per unit. That per-unit cost gives us cost of goods sold equal to 1.5 million and ending work in process worth 60,000. The presence of the work in process gives us a chance to improve our financial position. If we report the units in work in process as 80% complete, this will increase our equivalent units to 1,160. This, in turn, will decrease our unit cost to about 1,345 and cost of goods sold to 1.345 million. The value of our work in process will increase to 215,200. With those financial stats, the loan would be a cinch. Donna: Gary, I dont know. What youre suggesting is risky. It wouldnt take much auditing skill to catch this one. Gary: You dont have to worry about that. The auditors wont be here for at least 6 to 8 more weeks. By that time, we can have those partially completed units completed and sold. I can bury the labor cost by having some of our more loyal workers work overtime for some bonuses. The overtime will never be reported. And, as you know, bonuses come out of the corporate budget and are assigned to overheadnext years overhead. Donna, this will work. If we look good and get the loan to boot, corporate headquarters will treat us well. If we dont do this, we could lose our jobs. Required: 1. Should Donna agree to Garys proposal? Why or why not? To assist in deciding, review the corporate code of ethics standards described in Chapter 1. Do any apply? 2. Assume that Donna refuses to cooperate and that Gary accepts this decision and drops the matter. Does Donna have any obligation to report the divisional managers behavior to a superior? Explain. 3. Assume that Donna refuses to cooperate; however, Gary insists that the changes be made. Now what should she do? What would you do? 4. Suppose that Donna is 63 and that the prospects for employment elsewhere are bleak. Assume again that Gary insists that the changes be made. Donna also knows that his supervisor, the owner of the company, is his father-in-law. Under these circumstances, would your recommendations for Donna differ?arrow_forwardAssume you are the management accountant for the Foleo Group. James and Leon have called you and the CFO into a meeting to discuss concerns they have with the number of SliFones that are being returned by customers under warranty. They have pulled some numbers from the accounting system and elsewhere regarding not only the warranty costs, but also other expenses associated with the quality of the phones for the current year. The directors have handed you the below costs and asked you to look into why faulty SliFones are being returned by customers. \table[[Quality Activity,\table[[Cost of Quality],[Activity]]],[Testing phones during production processes,$25,000arrow_forward
- This is an individual assignment. Everyone needs to work on the firm that your team chooses [prefer simple business] for your industry analysis. Follow my class video, do the following: 1. compute your company's free cash flow for the past 3 years. This requires you to compute each of the components in the FCF. Compare your FCF for the most recent year to that reported from the barchart website. Are you close? Explain why you cannot get close to it. Note for MSFT that I did in class, deferred tax is a big deal, it may not be a problem for you. NOPAT = EBIT - tax. Either find the line for tax, or do tax = EBT-NI. Also check their cash flow statement and that should give you a clue of what to include. 2. do a free cash flow model to value your stock for next year. Is your price close to the current stock price? If not, what could be the reason? 3. do a sensitivity table by varying terminal growth g and the WACC. Upload your excel file with a sheet explaining your results. Always…arrow_forwardYou have a successful shop and feel that the demand for your shop has outpaced your capacity. You have decided to pitch your idea to a venture capitalist (VC). You brought in your income statement as you highlight that last year your gross profit was $500,000. the VC tells you that number is pointless. He asks you for your net profit. What information was the VC looking for? Why?arrow_forwardConsider the dilemma you might someday face if you are the chief financial officer of a company that is struggling to maintain a positive cash flow, despite the fact that the company is reporting a substantial positive net income. Maybe the problem is so severe that there is often insufficient cash to pay ordinary business expenses, like utilities, salaries, and payments to suppliers. Assume that you have been asked to communicate to your board of directors about your companys year, in retrospect, as well as your vision for the companys future. Write a memo that expresses your insights about past experience and present prospects for the company. Note that the challenge of the assignment is to keep your integrity intact, while putting a positive spin on the situation, as much as is reasonably possible. How can you envision the situation turning into a success story?arrow_forward
- You work as an accountant for a small land development company that desperately needs additionalfinancing to continue in business. The president of your company is meeting with the manager of alocal bank at the end of the month to try to obtain this financing. The president has approached youwith two ideas to improve the company’s reported financial position. First, he claims that because abig part of the company’s value comes from its knowledgeable and dedicated employees, you shouldreport their “Intellectual Abilities” as an asset on the balance sheet. Second, he claims that by reporting the company’s land on the balance sheet at its cost, rather than the much higher amount that realestate appraisers say it’s really worth, the company is understating the true value of its assets.Required:1. Thinking back to Chapter 1, why do you think the president is so concerned with the amountof assets reported on the balance sheet?2. What accounting concept introduced in Chapter 2 relates to the…arrow_forwardThe controller of a retail company has just had a $50,000 request to implement an ABC system quickly turned down. A senior vice president, in rejecting the request, noted, "Given a choice, I will always prefer a $50,000 investment in improving things a customer sees or experiences, such as our shelves or our store layout. How does a customer benefit by our spending $50,000 on a supposedly better accounting system?" Question: How should the controller respond?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 CEO’s advice impact the company’s 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 company’s 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…arrow_forward
- You should use a financial calculator and Excel to solve the problems. Discuss the differences between efficiency and effectiveness. Why is it important for small business owners to understand the difference between profit and profitability? What financial ratio is used to determine profitability? Sam quit a $30,000-a-year job with a local heating and air conditioning firm to go into business for himself. After his first year in business, his accountant showed him an income statement that indicated Sam’s firm had a profit of $40,000. During this year Sam had drawn a salary of $20,000. What was Sam’s accounting profit, his entrepreneurial profit, and his opportunity cost? Explain the difference between accounting and entrepreneurial profit. Discuss the differences between operating and financial leverage. You are going to open a business making custom cabinets. You can sell each cabinet for $80. It takes a cabinet-maker approximately 45 minutes to make one cabinet. Each…arrow_forwardYou have recently become Head of Finance at Bhawan & Company, a company which provides catering services to the public sector. Your previous employer was Asama & Company where, asfinance manager, you had the opportunity to work on areas relating to financial accounting,procurement, contracts, and bids. One of Company Bhawan & Company’s major contracts is with Asama & Company. The contract is now up for renewal, and Company Bhawan & Company is preparing a competitive bid for this contract. You have been asked to lead the team responsiblefor bidding for this contract. You also suspect that your knowledge and experience of Asama & Company were good reasons for appointing you to the position at Bhawan & Company. You do not want to let your new employer down. The loss of such a major contract would have a significant effect on the financial performance of Bhawan & Company and its performance-related bonus scheme for management.- Do you think there is a kind…arrow_forwardThe controller of a retail company has just had a $50,000 request to implement an ABC system quickly turned down. A senior vice president, in rejecting the request, noted, “Given a choice, I will always prefer a $50,000 investment in improving things a customer sees or experiences, such as our shelves or our store layout. How does a customer benefit by our spending $50,000 on a supposedly better accounting system?” How should the controller respond?arrow_forward
- Principles of Accounting Volume 2AccountingISBN:9781947172609Author:OpenStaxPublisher:OpenStax CollegePrinciples of Accounting Volume 1AccountingISBN:9781947172685Author:OpenStaxPublisher:OpenStax CollegeManagerial Accounting: The Cornerstone of Busines...AccountingISBN:9781337115773Author:Maryanne M. Mowen, Don R. Hansen, Dan L. HeitgerPublisher:Cengage Learning