Why might a company choose not to use revaluation accounting?

Short Answer

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Answer

The expense involved in revaluing a fixed asset is the primary reason why companies do not use revaluation accounting.

Step by step solution

01

Step-by-Step SolutionStep 1: Meaning of Revaluation

Revaluation funds are set up on the balance sheet to preserve a contingency account linked to other assets. Upon re-evaluation, if the carrying value of the asset changes, a line item will be created.

02

Explaining the reason for a company not to choose revaluation accounting.

There are considerable and ongoing expenditures associated with assessments to determine fair value. This is the primary reason why most organizations do not utilize revaluation accounting.

Net income is also affected by the losses associated with revaluation below historical cost. Depreciation increases and results in higher expenses and reduced income when revaluation increases.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

(Depreciation Computations—SL, SYD, DDB) Deluxe Ezra Company purchases equipment on January 1, Year 1, at a cost of \(469,000. The asset is expected to have a service life of 12 years and a salvage value of \)40,000.

Instructions

  1. Compute the amount of depreciation for each of Years 1 through 3 using the straight-line depreciation method.
  2. Compute the amount of depreciation for each of Years 1 through 3 using the sum-of-the-years’-digits method.
  3. Compute the amount of depreciation for each of Years 1 through 3 using the double-declining-balance method. (In performing your calculations, round constant percentage to the nearest one-hundredth of a point and round answers to the nearest dollar.)

Silverman Company purchased machinery for \(162,000 on January 1, 2017. It is estimated that the machinery will have a useful life of 20 years, salvage value of \)15,000, production of 84,000 units, and working hours of 42,000. During 2017, the company uses the machinery for 14,300 hours, and the machinery produces 20,000 units. Compute depreciation under the straight-line, units-of-output, working hours, sum-of-the-years’-digits, and double-declining-balance methods.

(Depreciation Computation—Replacement, Nonmonetary Exchange) George Zidek Corporation bought a machine on June 1, 2015, for \(31,000, f.o.b. the place of manufacture. Freight to the point where it was set up was \)200, and \(500 was expended to install it. The machine’s useful life was estimated at 10 years, with a salvage value of \)2,500. On June 1, 2016, an essential part of the machine is replaced, at a cost of \(1,980, with one designed to reduce the cost of operating the machine. The cost of the old part and related depreciation cannot be determined with any accuracy.

On June 1, 2019, the company buys a new machine of greater capacity for \)35,000, delivered, trading in the old machine which has a fair value and trade-in allowance of \(20,000. To prepare the old machine for removal from the plant cost \)75, and expenditures to install the new one were \(1,500. It is estimated that the new machine has a useful life of 10 years, with a salvage value of \)4,000 at the end of that time. (The exchange has commercial substance.)

Instructions

Assuming that depreciation is to be computed on the straight-line basis, compute the annual depreciation on the new equipment that should be provided for the fiscal year beginning June 1, 2019. (Round to the nearest dollar.)

Electroboy Enterprises, Inc. operates several stores throughout the western United States. As part of an operational and financial reporting review in a response to a downturn in its markets, the company’s management has decided to perform an impairment test on five stores (combined). The five stores’ sales have declined due to aging facilities and competition from a rival that opened new stores in the same markets. Management has developed the following information concerning the five stores as of the end of fiscal 2016.

Original cost \(36million

Accumulated depreciation \)10 million

Estimated remaining useful life 4 years

Estimated expected future

annual cash flows (not discounted) \(4.0 million per year

Appropriate discount rate 5 percent

Accounting

  1. Determine the amount of impairment loss, if any, that Electroboy should report for fiscal 2016 and the book value at which Electroboy should report the five stores on its fiscal year-end 2016 balance sheet. Assume that the cash flows occur at the end of each year.
  2. Repeat part (a), but instead assume that (1) the estimated remaining useful life is 10 years, (2) the estimated annual cash flows are \)2,720,000 per year, and (3) the appropriate discount rate is 6 percent.

Analysis

Assume that you are a financial analyst and you participate in a conference call with Electroboy management in early 2017 (before Electroboy closes the books on fiscal 2016). During the conference call, you learn that management is considering selling the five stores, but the sale won’t likely be completed until the second quarter of fiscal 2017. Briefly discuss what implications this would have for Electroboy’s 2016 financial statements. Assume the same facts as in part (b) above.

Principles

Electroboy management would like to know the accounting for the impaired asset in periods subsequent to the impairment. Can the assets be written back up? Briefly discuss the conceptual arguments for this accounting.

Fernandez Corporation purchased a truck at the beginning of 2017 for \(50,000. The truck is estimated to have a salvage value of \)2,000 and a useful life of 160,000 miles. It was driven 23,000 miles in 2017 and 31,000 miles in 2018. Compute depreciation expense for 2017 and 2018.

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