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Chapter 24: Question 17Q (page 1452)

What is the fair value option? Explain how use of the fair value option reflects application of the fair value principle.

Short Answer

Expert verified

The fair value option is the option provided to the firms to use the fair value method while measuring financial assets and liabilities. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) believes that the fair value option used for measuring financial assets and liabilities provides appropriate and understandable information compared to the historical cost.

Step by step solution

01

Meaning of Fair Value

The fair value indicates the existing price of an asset which is acceptable by both the purchaser and the seller. With the use of the fair value method, valuations are more accurate, provide a true measurement of income, can adapt to various types of assets, and helps in the survival of the business.

02

Ways to show that the fair value option indicates the application of the fair value principle.

According to the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the fair value measurement for financial assets and liabilities provides information that is suitable and understandable as compared to historical cost.

Fair value is considered to be highly relevant as it shows the current value of cash equivalent of financial instruments.

Hence, firms now can use the option of recording fair value in their respective accounts for most financial tools comprising items like receivables, investments, and debt securities.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

“The significance of financial statement data is not in the amount alone.” Discuss the meaning of this statement.

Picasso Company is a wholesale distributor of packaging equipment and supplies. The company’s sales have averaged about \(900,000 annually for the 3-year period 2015–2017. The firm’s total assets at the end of 2017 amounted to \)850,000.

The president of Picasso Company has asked the controller to prepare a report that summarizes the financial aspects of the company’s operations for the past 3 years. This report will be presented to the board of directors at their next meeting.

In addition to comparative financial statements, the controller has decided to present a number of relevant financial ratios which can assist in the identification and interpretation of trends. At the request of the controller, the accounting staff has calculated the following ratios for the 3-year period 2015–2017.

2015

2016

2017

Current ratio

1.80

1.89

1.96

Acid-test (quick) ratio

1.04

0.99

0.87

Accounts receivable turnover

8.75

7.71

6.42

Inventory turnover

4.91

4.32

3.42

Debt to assets ratio

51.0%

46.0%

41.0%

Long-term debt to assets ratio

31.0%

27.0%

24.0%

Sales to fixed assets (fixed asset turnover)

1.58

1.69

1.79

Sales as a percent of 2015 sales

1.00

1.03

1.07

Gross margin percentage

36.0%

35.1%

34.6%

Net income to sales

6.9%

7.0%

7.2%

Return on assets

7.7%

7.7%

7.8%

Return on common stockholders’ equity

13.6%

13.1%

12.7%

In preparation of the report, the controller has decided first to examine the financial ratios independent of any other data to determine if the ratios themselves reveal any significant trends over the 3-year period.

Instructions

a) The current ratio is increasing while the acid-test (quick) ratio is decreasing. Using the ratios provided, identify and explain the contributing factor(s) for this apparently divergent trend.

What approaches have been suggested to overcome the seasonality problem related to interim reporting?

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.

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.
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