Question: Why would a company wish to reduce its bond indebtedness before its bonds reach maturity? Indicate how this can be done and the correct accounting treatment for such a transaction.

Short Answer

Expert verified

Answer

It is occasionally expected to diminish bond indebtedness so as to take benefit of lessening existing rate of interest. Any interrelated premium or discount is duly amortized and upon extinguishment of bond, gain or loss, if any, should be listed in income.

Step by step solution

01

Meaning of bond indebtedness

Bond indebtedness implies any properly executed agreement in writing displaying a promise made by a government unit to pay off to the other a particular amount of money, at a certain date.

02

Companies desire to decrease its bond indebtedness before reaching its bond maturity

Bond indebtedness is decreased because the firm may not desire to make an extensive cash outlay altogether at the time of bond maturity. Bond indebtedness may also be decreased by issuing callable bonds after a particular date and subsequently by calling some or all of them, or by buying bonds on the open market and then retiring them.

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

On April 1, 2017, Seminole Company sold 15,000 of its 11%, 15-year, \(1,000 face value bonds at 97. Interest payment dates are April 1 and October 1, and the company uses the straight-line method of bond discount amortization. On March 1, 2018, Seminole took advantage of favorable prices of its stock to extinguish 6,000 of the bonds by issuing 200,000 shares of its \)10 par value common stock. At this time, the accrued interest was paid in cash. The company’s stock was selling for $31 per share on March 1, 2018.

Instructions

Prepare the journal entries needed on the books of Seminole Company to record the following.

(a) April 1, 2017: issuance of the bonds.

(b) October 1, 2017: payment of semi-annual interest.

(c) December 31, 2017: accrual of interest expense.

(d) March 1, 2018: extinguishment of 6,000 bonds. (No reversing entries made.)

What are the two methods of amortizing discount and premium on bonds payable? Explain each.

On January 2, 2012, Banno Corporation issued \(1,500,000 of 10% bonds at 97 due December 31, 2021. Interest on the bonds is payable annually each December 31. The discount on the bonds is also being amortized on a straight-line basis over the 10 years. (Straight-line is not materially different in effect from the preferable “interest method.”)

The bonds are callable at 101 (i.e., at 101% of face amount), and on January 2, 2017, Banno called \)900,000 face amount of the bonds and redeemed them.

Instructions

Ignoring income taxes, compute the amount of loss, if any, to be recognized by Banno as a result of retiring the $900,000 of bonds in 2017 and prepare the journal entry to record the redemption.

Question: What is the “call” feature of a bond issue? How does the call feature affect the amortization of bond premium or discount?

On December 31, 2017, American Bank enters into a debt restructuring agreement with Barkley Company, which is now experiencing financial trouble. The bank agrees to restructure a 12%, issued at par, \(3,000,000 note receivable by the following modifications:

  1. Reducing the principal obligation from \)3,000,000 to \(2,400,000.
  2. Extending the maturity date from December 31, 2017, to January 1, 2021.
  3. Reducing the interest rate from 12% to 10%.

Barkley pays interest at the end of each year. On January 1, 2021, Barkley Company pays \)2,400,000 in cash to American Bank.

Instructions

  1. Will the gain recorded by Barkley be equal to the loss recorded by American Bank under the debt restructuring?
  2. Can Barkley Company record a gain under the term modification mentioned above? Explain.
  3. Assuming that the interest rate Barkley should use to compute interest expense in future periods is 1.4276%, prepare the interest payment schedule of the note for Barkley Company after the debt restructuring.
  4. Prepare the interest payment entry for Barkley Company on December 31, 2019.
  5. What entry should Barkley make on January 1, 2021?
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