The treasurer of Landowska Co. has that conservatism is a doctrine that is followed in accounting and, therefore, proposes that several policies be followed that are conservative in nature. State your opinion with respect to each of the policies listed.

  1. The company gives a 2-year warranty to its customers on all products sold. The estimated warranty costs incurred from this year’s sales should be entered as an expense this year instead of an expense in the period in the future when the warranty is made good.
  2. When sales are made on account, there is always uncertainty about whether the accounts are collectible. Therefore, the treasurer recommends recording the sale when the cash is received from the customers.
  3. A personal liability lawsuit is pending against the company. The treasurer believes there is an even chance that the company will lose the suit and have to pay damages of \(200,000 to \)300,000. The treasurer recommends that a loss be recorded and a liability created in the amount of $300,000.

Short Answer

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  1. It is acceptable if a fairly definite evaluation is possible.
  2. It is not acceptable. Most accounts are overdue, or the firm will exit the business instantly.
  3. It is not acceptable as the provision for the probable loss can be created by allocation of retained earnings until judgment has been provided on the case or it is settled; entry of the loss normally shows prediction.

Step by step solution

01

Meaning of Conservatism

It is a principle or a justification of accounting information requiring accountants to make the books of accounts, i.e., financial statements, cautiously and verifies accounting entries correctly.

02

Explanation for statement ‘a’

It is justifiable. Suppose a probably right evaluation is viable. To ensure that the warranty costs are evaluated correctly, they should match against the linked sales revenue.

03

Explanation for statement ‘b’

It is not justifiable. Accounts are mostly overdue, or the firm will exit the business soon. Therefore, sales can be listed when created. Moreover, other firms list sales when created or collected; therefore, if accounts for Landowska Co. are to be matched with other firms, they must be kept on a comparable basis. However, evaluation for uncollectible accounts should be listed if there is a possible basis for evaluating bad debts.

04

Explanation for statement ‘c’

It is not justifiable. A business entity can create a provision for the probable loss through allotment of retained earnings.Still, until judgment has been provided on a case or settled, the loss's entry normally shows prediction. Listing it before the final judgment is a possibly inappropriate legal method. For the loss to be identified at this point, the loss would have to be possible and considerately admirable. It is noted that disclosure is needed in the footnotes of the balance sheet if the loss is not listed; however, conservatism is not a portion of the conceptual framework.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Expenses, losses, and distributions to owners are all decreases in net assets. What are the distinctions among them?

CA2-7 (Expense Recognition Principle) Accountants try to prepare income statements that are as accurate as possible. A basic requirement in preparing accurate income statements is to record costs and revenues properly. Proper recognition of costs and revenues requires that costs resulting from typical business operations be recognized in the period in which they expired.

Instructions

(a) List three criteria that can be used to determine whether such costs should appear as charges in the income statement for the current period

.(b) As generally presented in financial statements, the following items or procedures have been criticized as improperly recognizing costs. Briefly discuss each Item from the viewpoint of matching costs with revenues and suggest corrective or alternative means of presenting the financial information.

(1) Receiving and handling costs.

(2) Cash discounts on purchases.

E2-3 (L03,7) GROUPWORK (Qualitative Characteristics) SFAC No. 8 identifies the qualitative characteristics that make accounting information useful. Presented below are a number of questions related to these qualitative characteristics and underlying constraint.

(a) What is the quality of information that enables users to confirm or correct prior expectations?

(b) Identify the pervasive constraint developed in the conceptual framework.

(c) The chairman of the SEC at one time noted, “If it becomes accepted or expected that accounting principles are determined or modified in order to secure purposes other than economic measurement, we assume a grave risk that confidence in the credibility of our financial information system will be undermined.” Which qualitative characteristic of accounting information should ensure that such a situation will not occur? (Do not use faithful representation.)

(d) Muruyama Corp. switches from FIFO to average-cost to FIFO over a 2-year period. Which qualitative characteristic of accounting information is not followed?

(e) Assume that the profession permits the savings and loan industry to defer losses on investments it sells because immediate recognition of the loss may have adverse economic consequences on the industry. Which qualitative characteristic of accounting information is not followed? (Do not use relevance or faithful representation.)

(f) What are the two fundamental qualities that make accounting information useful for decision-making?

(g) Watteau Inc. does not issue its first-quarter report until after the second quarter’s results are reported. Which qualitative characteristic of accounting is not followed? (Do not use relevance.)

(h) Predictive value is an ingredient of which of the two fundamental qualities that make accounting information useful for decision-making purposes?

(i) Duggan, Inc. is the only company in its industry to depreciate its plant assets on a straight-line basis. Which qualitative characteristic of accounting information may not be followed?

(j) Roddick Company has attempted to determine the replacement cost of its inventory. Three different appraisers arrive at substantially different amounts for this value. The president, nevertheless, decides to report the middle value for external reporting purposes. Which qualitative characteristic of information is lacking in these data? (Do not use relevance or faithful representation.)

Briefly describe the fair value hierarchy.

Question: (Qualitative Characteristics) Recently, your uncle, Carlos Beltran, who knows that you always have your eye out for a profitable investment, has discussed the possibility of your purchasing some corporate bonds. He suggests that you may wish to get in on the “ground floor” of this deal. The bonds being issued by Neville Corp. are 10-year debentures which promise a 40% rate of return. Neville manufactures novelty/party items.

You have told Uncle Carlos that, unless you can take a look at Neville’s financial statements, you would not feel comfortable about such an investment. Believing that this is the chance of a lifetime, Uncle Carlos has procured a copy of Neville’s most recent, unaudited financial statements which are a year old. These statements were prepared by Mrs. Andy Neville. You peruse these statements, and they are quite impressive. The balance sheet showed a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10 and, for the year shown, the company reported net income of $2,424,240.

The financial statements are not shown in comparison with amounts from other years. In addition, no significant note disclosures about inventory valuation, depreciation methods, loan agreements, etc. are available.

Instructions

Write a letter to Uncle Carlos explaining why it would be unwise to base an investment decision on the financial statements that he has provided to you. Be sure to explain why these financial statements are neither relevant nor representationally faithful.

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