Prophet Company signed a long-term purchase contract to buy timber from the U.S. Forest Service at \(300 per thousand board feet. Under these terms, Prophet must cut and pay \)6,000,000 for this timber during the next year. Currently, the market value is \(250 per thousand board feet. At this rate, the market price is \)5,000,000. Jerry Herman, the controller, wants to recognize the loss in value on the year-end financial statements, but the financial vice president, Billie Hands, argues that the loss is temporary and should be ignored. Herman notes that market value has remained near $250 for many months, and he sees no sign of significant change. Instructions (a) What are the ethical issues, if any? (b) Is any particular stakeholder harmed by the financial vice president’s decision? (c) What should the controller do?

Short Answer

Expert verified

All the requirements are mentioned in the following steps.

Step by step solution

01

Ethical issues

(a) The ethical issue is related to recording the loss on purchase commitment. Per the accounting standard, a loss should be recorded when the market value decreases. However, in the correct way, this loss should be recorded at the time of exercising the purchase commitment.

02

Effect on stakeholders

(b) An unrealized loss must be recorded in the financial statement since it is material. If it is not reported, it will affect the stakeholders’ decision, as it indicates the material misstatement in the financial statement.

03

Controllers’ action

(c) The controller should recognize the unrealized holding gain or loss- income of $1,000,000 in the book of account. The controller should recognize the unrealized holding gain or loss by taking the difference between the contract price of $5,000,000 and the market price of $6,000,000.

The following journal entry is to be recorded:

Description

Debit

Credit

Unrealized Holding Gain or Loss—Income

$1,000,000

Estimated Liability on Purchase Commitments

$1,000,000

(Being unrealized holding gain or loss)

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

Presented below is information related to Knight Enterprises. Jan. 31 Feb. 28 Mar. 31 Apr. 30 Inventory at cost \(15,000 \)15,100 \(17,000 \)14,000 Inventory at LCNRV 14,500 12,600 15,600 13,300 Purchases for the month 17,000 24,000 26,500 Sales for the month 29,000 35,000 40,000 Instructions (a) From the information, prepare (as far as the data permit) monthly income statements in columnar form for February, March, and April. The inventory is to be shown in the statement at cost; the gain or loss due to market fluctuations is to be shown separately (using a valuation account). (b) Prepare the journal entry required to establish the valuation account at January 31 and entries to adjust it monthly thereafter. E9-6 (L01) (LCNR

Mark Price Company uses the gross profit method to estimate inventory for monthly reporting purposes. Presented below is information for the month of May. Inventory, May 1 $ 160,000 Purchases (gross) 640,000 Freight-in 30,000 Sales revenue 1,000,000 Sales returns 70,000 Purchase discounts 12,000 Instructions (a) Compute the estimated inventory at May 31, assuming that the gross profit is 30% of sales. (b) Compute the estimated inventory at May 31, assuming that the gross profit is 30% of cost.

GROUPWORK (Retail, LIFO Retail, and Inventory Shortage) Late in 2014, Joan Seceda and four other investors took the chain of Becker Department Stores private, and the company has just completed its third year of operations under the ownership of the investment group. Andrea Selig, controller of Becker Department Stores, is in the process of preparing the year-end financial statements. Based on the preliminary financial statements, Seceda has expressed concern over inventory shortages, and she has asked Selig to determine whether an abnormal amount of theft and breakage has occurred. The accounting records of Becker Department Stores contain the following amounts on November 30, 2017, the end of the fiscal year. Cost Retail Beginning inventory \( 68,000 \)100,000 Purchases 255,000 400,000 Net markups 50,000 Net markdowns 110,000 Sales revenue 320,000 According to the November 30, 2017, physical inventory, the actual inventory at retail is $115,000. Instructions (a) Describe the circumstances under which the retail inventory method would be applied and the advantages of using the retail inventory method. (b) Assuming that prices have been stable, calculate the value, at cost, of Becker Department Stores’ ending inventory using the last-in, first-out (LIFO) retail method. Be sure to furnish supporting calculations. Problems 487 488 Chapter 9 Inventories: Additional Valuation Issues (c) Estimate the amount of shortage, at retail, that has occurred at Becker Department Stores during the year ended November 30, 2017. (d) Complications in the retail method can be caused by such items as (1) freight-in costs, (2) purchase returns and allowances, (3) sales returns and allowances, and (4) employee discounts. Explain how each of these four special items is handled in the retail inventory method.

Dover Company began operations in 2017 and determined its ending inventory at cost and at LCNRV at December 31, 2017, and December 31, 2018. This information is presented below. Cost Net Realizable Value 12/31/17 \(346,000 \)322,000 12/31/18 410,000 390,000Prepare the journal entries required at December 31, 2017, and December 31, 2018, assuming that the inventory is recorded at LCNRV and a perpetual inventory system using the cost-of-goods-sold method is used. (b) Prepare journal entries required at December 31, 2017, and December 31, 2018, assuming that the inventory is recorded at cost and a perpetual system using the loss method is used. (c) Which of the two methods above provides the higher net income in each year?

Kumar Inc. uses a perpetual inventory system. At January 1, 2017, inventory was \(214,000,000 at both cost and net realizable value. At December 31, 2017, the inventory was \)286,000,000 at cost and $265,000,000 at net realizable value. Prepare the entry under (a) the cost-of-goods-sold method and (b) the loss method.

See all solutions

Recommended explanations on Business Studies Textbooks

View all explanations

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free