Case Study #2: Danville Bottlers is a wholesale beverage company. Danville used the FIFO inventory method to determine the cost of its ending inventory. Ending inventory quantities are determined by a physical count. For the fiscal year end June 30, 2018, ending inventory was originally determined to be $3,265,000. However, on July 17, 2018, John Howard, the company’s controller, discovered an error in the ending inventory count. He determined that the correct ending inventory amount should be $2,600,000.

Advanced Financial Reporting – Project

Case Study #2:

Danville Bottlers is a wholesale beverage company. Danville used the FIFO inventory method to determine the cost of its ending inventory. Ending inventory quantities are determined by a physical count. For the fiscal year end June 30, 2018, ending inventory was originally determined to be $3,265,000. However, on July 17, 2018, John Howard, the company’s controller, discovered an error in the ending inventory count. He determined that the correct ending inventory amount should be $2,600,000.

Danville is a privately owned corporation with significant financing provided by a local bank. The bank requires annual audited financial statements as a condition of the loan. By July 17, the auditors had completed their review of the financial statements which are schedule to be issued on July 25. They did not discover the inventory error.

John’s first reaction was to communicate his finding to the auditors and to revise the financial statements before they are issued. However, he knows that his and his fellow workers’ profit-sharing plans are based on annual pretax earnings and that if he revises the statements, everyone’s profit sharing bonus will be significantly reduced.

Required:

1. Why will bonuses be negatively affected? What is the effect on pretax earnings?

2. If the error is not correct in the current year and is discovered by the auditors during the following year’s audit, how will it be reported in the company’s financial statements?

3. Discuss the ethical dilemma John Howard faces.

Case Study #3:

Corporations frequently invest in securities issued by other corporations. Some investments are acquired to secure a favorable business relationship with another company. On the other hand, others are intended only to earn an investment return from the dividends or interest the securities pay or from increase in the market prices of the securities – the same motivations that might cause you to invest in stocks, bonds, or other securities. This diversity in investment objectives means no single accounting method is adequate to report every investment.

Merck & Co., Inc. invests in securities of other companies. Access Merck’s 2015 10K (which includes financial statements) using EDGAR at www.sec.gov. Note: Merck’s 2015 financial statements were issued prior to the effective date of ASU 2016-01, so do not be surprised by the fact that Merck includes equity investments amount it’s available for sale investments.

Required:

1. What is the amount and classification of any investment securities reported on the balance sheet? In which current and noncurrent asset categories are investments reported by Merck? What criteria are used to determine the classification?

2. How are unrealized gains or losses reports? Realized gains and losses?

3. Are any investments reported by the equity method?

4. What amounts from equity method investments are reported in the comparative income statements?

5. Are cash flow effects of these investment reflected in the company’s comparative statements of cash flows? If so, what information is provided by this disclosure?

Case Study #4:

The following appeared in the October 15, 2018, issue of the Financial Smarts Journal:

This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale or an offer to buy securities.

New Issue

October 15, 2018

$750,000,000

Craft Foods, Inc.

7.75% Debentures Due October 1, 2028

Price 99.57%

Plus accrued interest if any from date of issuance

Copies of the prospectus and the related prospectus supplement may be obtained from such of the undersigned as may legally offer these securities under applicable securities laws.

Required:

1. Explain what is being described by the announcement.

2. Can you think of a psychological reason for the securities to be priced as they are?

3. What are the accounting considerations for Craft Foods, Inc.? Describe how Craft recorded the sale?

Case Study #5:

Access the 2015 financial statements and related disclosure notes of Ford Motor Company from its website at corporate.ford.com.

Required:

1. In Note 21, find Ford’s net deferred tax asset or liability. What is the number?

2. Does Ford show a valuation allowance against deferred tax assets? If so, what is the number, and what is Ford’s explanation for it?

3. Does Ford have any NOL carryforwards? What is the amount of any carryforward, what deferred tax asset or liability is associated with it, and what effect tax rate does that imply was used to calculate its deferred tax effect?

Case Study #6:

Refer to the 2015 financial statements and related disclosure notes of FedEx Corporation. The financial statements can be found at the company’s website (www.fedex.com).

Required:

1. What pension and other post retirement benefit plans does FedEx sponsor for its employee’s? Explain.

2. What amount does FedEx report in its balance sheet for its pension and other postretirement benefit plans? Explain.

3. FedEx reports three actuarial assumptions used in its pension calculations. Did reported changes in those assumptions from the previous year increase or decrease the projected benefit obligation? What?

Case Study #7:

You are assistant controller of Stamos and Company, a medium size manufacturer or machine parts. On October 22, 2017, the board of directors approved a stock option plan for key executives. On January 1, 2018, a specific number of stock options were granted. The options were exercisable between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2024, at 100% of the quoted market price at the grant date. The service period is for 2018 through 2020.

Your boss, the controller, is on of the executives to receive options. Neither he nor you have had occasion to deal with GAAP on accounting for stock options. He and you are aware of the traditional approach your company used years ago but do not know the newer method. Your boss understands how options might benefit him personally but wants to be aware also of how the options will be reported in the financial statements. He has asked you for a one-page synopsis of accounting for stock options under the fair value approach. He instructed you, “I don’t care about the effect on taxes or earning per share – just the basics, please.”

Required:

Prepare such a report that includes the following:

1. At what point should the compensation cost be measured? How should it be measured?

2. How should compensation expense be measured for the stock option plan in 2018 and later?

3. If options are forfeited because an executive resigns before vesting, what is the effect of that forfeiture of the stock options on the financial statements?

4. If options are allowed to lapse after vesting, what is the effect on the financial statements?