CASE 1

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Texas A&M University, Texarkana *

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525

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Accounting

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Apr 3, 2024

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docx

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Writing Accounting Research Memos: An Instructional Case to Introduce the Basics Janet M. Huston Texas Tech University Janet A. Samuels Arizona State University APPENDIX A Memorandum To: The 2023 audit file of Dawson Tea and Spice Shoppe From: Lydia P Oviedo Re: Date: October 9, 2023 BACKGROUND/FACTS 1. Greg Dawson started his company in 2002, the business expanded over the years and started offering a broader menu where solid food was involved. 2. In January 2019 more than 100 customers were hospitalized due to salmonella. 3. The CDC linked this outbreak to salads from DTSS. 4. Customers started looking for compensation for their hospital bills, but also for their pain and suffering. Leading to a $20 million lawsuit against DTSS. 5. Auditors received a legal representation letter on August 15, 2019, indicating that it's probable DTSS will be found liable, with an estimated amount of loss between $2 million and $3 million. ISSUES/QUESTIONS Issue 1: Does DTSS need to record a liability? Issue 2: If so, how much?
ANALYSIS Applicable guidance The guidance in Contingencies topic (ASC 450) applies to all entities (see scope guidance in Exhibit 1). The transaction that DTSS is involved in (possible payment of a lawsuit liability) does not meet any of the scope exceptions listed in subtopics ASC 450-10 (Overall) and ASC 450-20 (Loss Contingencies). Hence, subtopic ASC 450-20 is used to address the research questions. Issue 1: Does DTSS need to record a liability? ASC 450-20-25-2 says that “an estimated loss from a loss contingency shall be accrued by a charge to income” but only if some conditions are met. The first condition is, that in order to accrue an estimated loss, there must be clear evidence based on information before issuing the financial statements that it is highly likely that an asset has been negatively affected or a liability has been incurred as of the financial statement date. Meaning that there must be a strong probability that future events will confirm the existence of the loss. The second condition to be met is that the company should be able to determine the amount of the expected loss. In the case of DTSS, the first condition is clearly met with the legal representation letter, dated August 15, 2019, from their legal counsel, which explicitly states that it is probable that DTSS will be found liable, and since they are self-insured DTSS, they should have the funds to cover potential losses or liabilities. In the same letter, an amount is stated so the second condition is also being met. With that being said, DTSS seems the need to record a liability. Issue 2: If so, how much? ASC 450-20-30-1 tells us that when there is a range of possible loss amounts, and one amount seems to be a more reasonable estimate than the others, that specific amount should be recorded. However, if no amount within the range stands out as the best option to estimate, meaning there are a lot of possibilities and none is better than the other, then the lowest amount in the range
should be recorded. It is important to note that while the lowest amount may not necessarily be the final determined loss, it is unlikely that the ultimate loss will be less than the minimum amount. Since “the lawyers estimate that DTSS can expect to pay between $2 million and $3 million in damages and that any number within that range is possible with one number no more likely than another” the amount that will be recorded is $2 million since it is the minimum expected. CONCLUSION/JUDGMENT In conclusion, our assessment of the DTSS case provides a clear answer to our main issue questions, in line with Accounting ASC 450-20, DTSS should record a liability in response to the likely outcome of the salmonella lawsuit. This recommendation is mainly based on the advice from DTSS's lawyers, which strongly suggests a negative legal outcome is likely. The required journal entry can be observed in Exhibit 2, Presentation and Disclosure.
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