The following are three independent, unrelated sets of facts relating to accounting changes.

Situation 1: Sanford Company is in the process of having its first audit. The company has used the cash basis of accounting for revenue recognition. Sanford president, B. J. Jimenez, is willing to change to the accrual method of revenue recognition.

Situation 2: Hopkins Co. decides in January 2018 to change from FIFO to weighted-average pricing for its inventories.

Situation 3: Marshall Co. determined that the depreciable lives of its fixed assets are too long at present to fairly match the cost of the fixed assets with the revenue produced. The company decided at the beginning of the current year to reduce the depreciable lives of all of its existing fixed assets by 5 years.

Instructions

For each of the situations described, provide the information indicated below.

(a) Type of accounting change.

(b) Manner of reporting the change under current generally accepted accounting principles, including a discussion where applicable of how amounts are computed.

(c) Effect of the change on the balance sheet and income statement

Short Answer

Expert verified

All types of accounting changes are explained with the manner of reporting and their effect on financial statements.

Step by step solution

01

Part A

1. Correct error

2. Change in accounting principle

3. Change in accounting estimate

02

Part B

Manner of reporting

  1. Errors are retrospective and must include a restatement of financials.
  2. It will be reported as a retrospective change, and its calculation requires the previous financial statements to be calculated if the principle were used.
  3. It is reported as the change going forward.
03

Effect on the balance sheet and income statement

  1. It will affect the income statement of the company as noncash revenues are also recorded.
  2. It will affect the income statement as it will affect the cost of goods sold and closing inventory in the balance sheet.
  3. It will affect the income statement (depreciation expense) and the book value of the asset on the balance sheet.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

What is the indirect effect of a change in accounting policy? Briefly describe the approach to reporting the indirect effects of a change in accounting policy under IFRS.

Oliver Corporation has owned stock of Conrad Corporation since 2014. At December 31, 2017, its balances related to this investment were:

Equity Investments \(185,000

Fair Value Adjustment (AFS) 34,000 Dr.

Accumulated Unrealized Holding Gain or Loss—Income (recorded in Retained Earnings) 34,000 Cr.

On January 1, 2018, Oliver purchased additional stock of Conrad Company for \)475,000 and now has significant influence over Conrad. If the equity method had been used in 2014–2017, Oliver’s share of income would have been $33,000 greater than dividends received. Prepare Oliver’s journal entries to record the purchase of the investment and the change to the equity method.

Holder-Webb Company began operations on January 1, 2015, and uses the average-cost method of pricing inventory. Management is contemplating a change in inventory methods for 2018. The following information is available for the years 2015–2017. Net Income Computed Using Average-Cost Method FIFO Method LIFO Method 2015 \(15,000 \)19,000 $12,000 2016 18,000 23,000 14,000 2017 20,000 25,000 17,000 Instructions (Ignore all tax effects.) (a) Prepare the journal entry necessary to record a change from the average-cost method to the FIFO method in 2018. (b) Determine net income to be reported for 2015, 2016, and 2017, after giving effect to the change in accounting principle. (c) Assume Holder-Webb Company used the LIFO method instead of the average-cost method during the years 2015– 2017. In 2018, Holder-Webb changed to the FIFO method. Prepare the journal entry necessary to record the change in principle.

Refer to the accounting change by Wertz Construction Company in BE22-1. Wertz has a profit-sharing plan, which pays all employees a bonus at year-end based on 1% of pre-tax income. Compute the indirect effect of Wertz’s change in accounting principle that will be reported in the 2017 income statement, assuming that the profit-sharing contract explicitly requires adjustment for changes in income numbers.

Briefly describe some of the similarities and differences between GAAP and IFRS with respect to reporting accounting changes.

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