Jim Reed manages a fleet of utility trucks for a rural county government. He’s been in his job for 30 years, and he knows where the angles are. He makes sure that when new trucks are purchased, the residual value is set as low as possible. Then, when they become fully depreciated, they are sold off by the county at residual value. Jim makes sure his buddies in the construction business are first in line for the bargain sales, and they make sure he gets a little something back. Recently, a new county commissioner was elected with vows to cut expenses for the taxpayers. Unlike other commissioners, this man has a business degree, and he is coming to visit Jim tomorrow.

Requirements

1. When a business sells a fully depreciated asset for its residual value, is a gain or loss recognized?

2. How do businesses determine what residual values to use for their various assets? Are there “hard and fast” rules for residual values?

3. How would an organization prevent the kind of fraud depicted here?

Short Answer

Expert verified

At residual value there would be no gain or loss on the sale of the asset. Residual value is determined based on past experience and by adopting best practices any fraud can be prevented.

Step by step solution

01

Gain/loss on sale at residual value

When assets are sold at their residual value there would be no gain or loss on the sale of the asset. This is so because the difference between the book value and the accumulated depreciation is the residual value that is being received in the firm of cash.

02

Determination of residual value

There is no hard and fast rule for determining residual value. Residual value is determined based on past experience and logical judgment.

03

Prevention of fraud

The fraud in the determination of residual value or estimated life of the asset can be prevented by implying the competitor’s strategy or by adopting the federal depreciation schedule for different classes of assets like MACRS.

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

Alpha Communication purchased equipment on January 1, 2018, for \(27,500. Suppose Alpha Communication sold the equipment for \)20,000 on December 31, 2020. Accumulated Depreciation as of December 31, 2020, was $10,000. Journalize the sale of the equipment, assuming straight-line depreciation was used.

Making a lump-sum purchase of assets Maplewood Properties bought three lots in a subdivision for a lump-sum price. An independent appraiser valued the lots as follows:

Lot

Appraised Value

1

\(144,000

2

96,000

3

240,000

Maplewood paid \)355,000 in cash. Record the purchase in the journal, identifying each lot’s cost in a separate Land account. Round decimals to two places, and use the computed percentages throughout.

Accounting for intangibles

Midland States Telecom provides communication services in Iowa, Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Montana. Midland States Telecom purchased goodwill as part of the acquisition of Sheldon Wireless Enterprises, which had the following figures:

Book value of assets \( 900,000

Market value of assets 1,400,000

Market value of liabilities 530,000

Requirements

1. Journalize the entry to record Midland States Telecom’s purchase of Sheldon Wireless for \)440,000 cash plus a $660,000 note payable.

2. What special asset does Midland States Telecom’s acquisition of Sheldon Wireless identify? How should Midland States Telecom account for this asset after acquiring Sheldon Wireless? Explain in detail.

During 2018, Lora Company completed the following transactions:

Jan. 1 Traded in old office equipment with book value of \(55,000 (cost of \)129,000 and accumulated depreciation of \(74,000) for new equipment. Lora also paid \)55,000 in cash. Fair value of new equipment is \(116,000. Assume the exchange had commercial substance.

Apr. 1 Sold equipment that cost \)12,000 (accumulated depreciation of \(1,000 through December 31 of the preceding year). Lora received \)7,100 cash from the sale of the equipment. Depreciation is computed on a straightline basis. The equipment has a five-year useful life and a residual value of \(0.

Dec. 31 Recorded depreciation as follows:

Office equipment is depreciated using the double-declining-balance method over four years with a \)7,000 residual value.

Record the transactions in the journal of Lora Company.

Amplify Petroleum holds huge reserves of oil. Assume that at the end of 2017, Amplify Petroleum’s cost of oil reserves totaled $80,000,000, representing 100,000,000 barrels of oil. Suppose Amplify Petroleum removed and sold 20,000,000 barrels of oil during 2018. Journalize depletion expense for 2018.

See all solutions

Recommended explanations on Business Studies Textbooks

View all explanations

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free