The following statement is an excerpt from the FASB pronouncement related to interim reporting. Interim financial information is essential to provide investors and others with timely information as to the progress of the enterprise. The usefulness of such information rests on the relationship that it has to the annual results of operations. Accordingly, the Board has concluded that each interim period should be viewed primarily as an integral part of an annual period. In general, the results for each interim period should be based on the accounting principles and practices used by an enterprise in the preparation of its latest annual financial statements unless a change in an accounting practice or policy has been adopted in the current year. The Board has concluded, however, that certain accounting principles and practices followed for annual reporting purposes may require modification at interim reporting dates so that the reported results for the interim period may better relate to the results of operations for the annual period.

Instructions

The following six independent cases present how accounting facts might be reported on an individual company’s interim financial reports. For each of these cases, state whether the method proposed to be used for interim reporting would be acceptable under generally accepted accounting principles applicable to interim financial data. Support each answer with a brief explanation.

d) Gansner Company realized a large gain on the sale of investments at the beginning of the second quarter. The company wants to report one-third of the gain in each of the remaining quarters.

Short Answer

Expert verified

It is not acceptable under GAAP.

Step by step solution

01

Meaning of FASB

The standards board is the authority that guides companies to regulate their business and is useful for recording business transactions in the book of accounts. It is also known as Financial Accounting Standard Board.

02

Explaining whether it is acceptable under GAAP or not

If gains on the sale of investments happened at the end of the year, they would not be delayed. As a result, they should not be delayed to future intermediate periods and should instead be reported in the quarter in which the gain occurred.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

For each of the following subsequent events, indicate whether a company should (a) adjust the financial statements, (b) disclose in notes to the financial statements, or (c) neither adjust nor disclose.

  1. Settlement of a tax case at a cost considerably in excess of the amount expected at year-end.
  2. Introduction of a new product line.
  3. Loss of assembly plant due to fire.
  4. Sale of a significant portion of the company’s assets.
  5. Retirement of the company president.
  6. Issuance of a significant number of ordinary shares.
  7. Loss of a significant customer.
  8. Prolonged employee strike.
  9. Material loss on a year-end receivable because of a customer’s bankruptcy.
  10. Hiring of a new president.
  11. Settlement of prior year’s litigation against the company (no loss was accrued).
  12. Merger with another company of comparable size.

(Disclosure of Estimates) Nancy Tercek, the financial vice president, and Margaret Lilly, the controller, of Romine Manufacturing Company are reviewing the financial ratios of the company for the years 2017 and 2018. The financial vice president notes that the profit margin on sales ratio has increased from 6% to 12%, a hefty gain for the 2-year period. Tercek is in the process of issuing a media release that emphasizes the efficiency of Romine Manufacturing in controlling cost. Margaret Lilly knows that the difference in ratios is due primarily to an earlier company decision to reduce the estimates of warranty and bad debt expense for 2018. The controller, not sure of her supervisor’s motives, hesitates to suggest to Tercek that the company’s improvement is unrelated to efficiency in controlling cost. To complicate matters, the media release is scheduled in a few days.

Instructions

  1. What stakeholders might be affected by Tercek’s media release?

Cineplex Corporation is a diversified company that operates in five different industries: A, B, C, D, and E. The following information relating to each segment is available for 2018.

A

B

C

D

E

Sales revenue

\(40,000

\)75,000

\(580,000

\)35,000

\(55,000

Cost of goods sold

19,000

50,000

270,000

19,000

30,000

Operating expenses

10,000

40,000

235,000

12,000

18,000

Total expenses

29,000

90,000

505,000

31,000

48,000

Operating profit (loss)

\)11,000

\((15,000)

\)75,000

\(4,000

\)7,000

Identifiable assets

\(35,000

\)80,000

\(500,000

\)65,000

\(50,000

Sales of segments B and C included intersegment sales of \)20,000 and $100,000, respectively.

Instructions

(a) Determine which of the segments are reportable based on the:

2) Operating profit (loss) test.

Carlton Company is involved in four separate industries. The following information is available for each of the four industries.

Operating Segment
Total Revenue
Operating Profit (Loss)
Identifiable Assets
W
\( 60,000
15,000
\)167,000
X
10,000
3,000
83,000
Y
23,000
(2,000)
21,000
Z
9,000
1,000
19,000

\(102,000
\)17,000
$290,000

Instructions

Determine which of the operating segments are reportable based on the:

c) Identifiable assets test.

What are interim reports? Why is a complete set of financial statements often not provided with interim data? What are the accounting problems related to the presentation of interim data?

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