COST ACCOUNTING
16th Edition
ISBN: 9781323694008
Author: Horngren
Publisher: PEARSON C
expand_more
expand_more
format_list_bulleted
Videos
Textbook Question
Chapter 1, Problem 1.36P
Professional ethics and end-of-year actions. Phoenix Press produces consumer magazines. The house and home division, which sells home-improvement and home-decorating magazines, has seen a 20% reduction in operating income over the past 9 months, primarily due to an economic cession and a depressed consumer housing market. The division’s controller, Sophie Gellar, has felt pressure from the CFO to improve her division’s berating results by the end of the year. Gellar is considering the following options for improving the division’s performance by year-end:
- a. Cancelling two of the division’s least profitable magazines, resulting in the layoff of 25 employees.
- b. Selling the new printing equipment that was purchased in January and replacing it with discarded equipment from one of the company’s other divisions. The previously discarded equipment no longer meets current safety standards.
- c. Recognizing unearned subscription revenue (cash received in advance for magazines that will be delivered in the future) as revenue when cash is received in the current month (just before fiscal year-end) instead of showing it as a liability.
- d. Reducing the liability and related expense related to employee pensions. This would increase the division’s operating income by 3%.
- e. Recognizing advertising revenues that relate to January in December.
- f. Switching from declining balance to straight-line
depreciation to reduce depreciation expense in the current year. - 1. What are the motivations for Gellar to improve the division’s year-end operating earnings?
Required
- 2. From the point of view of the “Standards of Ethical Behavior for Practitioners of
Management Accounting andFinancial Management ,” Figure 1-7 (page 17), which of the preceding items (a–f) are acceptable? Which are unacceptable? - 3. What should Gellar do about the pressure to improve performance?
Expert Solution & Answer
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solution
Students have asked these similar questions
Professional ethics and end-of-year actions. Phoenix Press produces consumer magazines. The house and home division, which sells home-improvement and home-decorating magazines, has seen a 20% reduction in operating income over the past 9 months, primarily due to an economic recession and a depressed consumer housing market. The division’s controller, Sophie Gellar, has felt pressure from the CFO to improve her division’s operating results by the end of the year. Gellar is considering the following options for improving the division’s performance by year-end:
Cancelling two of the division’s least profitable magazines, resulting in the layoff of 25 employees.
Selling the new printing equipment that was purchased in January and replacing it with discarded equipment from one of the company’s other divisions. The previously discarded equipment no longer meets current safety standards.
Recognizing unearned subscription revenue (cash received in advance for magazines that will be delivered…
Phoenix Press produces consumer magazines. Thehouse and home division, which sells home-improvement and home-decorating magazines, has seen a 20%reduction in operating income over the past 9 months, primarily due to an economic recession and a depressedconsumer housing market. The division’s controller, Sophie Gellar, has felt pressure from the CFO toimprove her division’s operating results by the end of the year. Gellar is considering the following options forimproving the division’s performance by year-end:a. Cancelling two of the division’s least profitable magazines, resulting in the layoff of 25 employees.b. Selling the new printing equipment that was purchased in January and replacing it with discardedequipment from one of the company’s other divisions. The previously discarded equipment no longermeets current safety standards.c. Recognizing unearned subscription revenue (cash received in advance for magazines that will bedelivered in the future) as revenue when cash is received…
Phoenix Press produces consumer magazines. Thehouse and home division, which sells home-improvement and home-decorating magazines, has seen a 20%reduction in operating income over the past 9 months, primarily due to an economic recession and a depressedconsumer housing market. The division’s controller, Sophie Gellar, has felt pressure from the CFO toimprove her division’s operating results by the end of the year. Gellar is considering the following options forimproving the division’s performance by year-end:
a. Cancelling two of the division’s least profitable magazines, resulting in the layoff of 25 employees.b. Selling the new printing equipment that was purchased in January and replacing it with discardedequipment from one of the company’s other divisions. The previously discarded equipment no longermeets current safety standards.c. Recognizing unearned subscription revenue (cash received in advance for magazines that will bedelivered in the future) as revenue when cash is received…
Chapter 1 Solutions
COST ACCOUNTING
Ch. 1 - How does management accounting differ from...Ch. 1 - Management accounting should not fit the...Ch. 1 - How can a management accountant help formulate...Ch. 1 - Describe the business functions in the value...Ch. 1 - Explain the term supply chain and its importance...Ch. 1 - Management accounting deals only with costs. Do...Ch. 1 - How can management accountants help improve...Ch. 1 - Prob. 1.8QCh. 1 - Prob. 1.9QCh. 1 - What three guidelines help management accountants...
Ch. 1 - Prob. 1.11QCh. 1 - Prob. 1.12QCh. 1 - Prob. 1.13QCh. 1 - Prob. 1.14QCh. 1 - Prob. 1.15QCh. 1 - Which of the following is not a primary function...Ch. 1 - Value chain and classification of costs, computer...Ch. 1 - Prob. 1.18ECh. 1 - Value chain and classification of costs, fast-food...Ch. 1 - Key success factors. Dominion Consulting has...Ch. 1 - Key success factors. Vargas Construction Company...Ch. 1 - Planning and control decisions. Gregor Company...Ch. 1 - Planning and control decisions. Gavin Adams is the...Ch. 1 - Prob. 1.24ECh. 1 - Five-step decision-making process, service firm....Ch. 1 - Professional ethics and reporting division...Ch. 1 - Professional ethics and reporting division...Ch. 1 - Planning and control decisions, Internet company....Ch. 1 - Prob. 1.29PCh. 1 - Prob. 1.30PCh. 1 - Management accounting guidelines. For each of the...Ch. 1 - Prob. 1.32PCh. 1 - Prob. 1.33PCh. 1 - Budgeting, ethics, pharmaceutical company. Chris...Ch. 1 - Professional ethics and end-of-year actions. Linda...Ch. 1 - Professional ethics and end-of-year actions....Ch. 1 - Ethical challenges, global company environmental...
Additional Business Textbook Solutions
Find more solutions based on key concepts
Fundamental and Enhancing Characteristics. Identify whether the following items are fundamental characteristics...
Intermediate Accounting
This year, Prewer Inc. received a 160,000 dividend on its investment consisting of 16 percent of the outstandin...
PRINCIPLES OF TAXATION F/BUS.+INVEST.
18. What is the calculation for return on assets (ROA)? Explain what ROA measures.
Horngren's Financial & Managerial Accounting, The Financial Chapters (Book & Access Card)
Analysis of inventory errors A2 Hallam Company’s financial statements show the following. The company recently ...
FINANCIAL ACCT.FUND.(LOOSELEAF)
Preparing Financial Statements from a Trial Balance The following accounts are taken from Equilibrium Riding, I...
Fundamentals of Financial Accounting
How is activity-based costing useful for pricing decisions?
Cost Accounting (15th Edition)
Knowledge Booster
Learn more about
Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, accounting and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.Similar questions
- At the beginning of the last quarter of 20x1, Youngston, Inc., a consumer products firm, hired Maria Carrillo to take over one of its divisions. The division manufactured small home appliances and was struggling to survive in a very competitive market. Maria immediately requested a projected income statement for 20x1. In response, the controller provided the following statement: After some investigation, Maria soon realized that the products being produced had a serious problem with quality. She once again requested a special study by the controllers office to supply a report on the level of quality costs. By the middle of November, Maria received the following report from the controller: Maria was surprised at the level of quality costs. They represented 30 percent of sales, which was certainly excessive. She knew that the division had to produce high-quality products to survive. The number of defective units produced needed to be reduced dramatically. Thus, Maria decided to pursue a quality-driven turnaround strategy. Revenue growth and cost reduction could both be achieved if quality could be improved. By growing revenues and decreasing costs, profitability could be increased. After meeting with the managers of production, marketing, purchasing, and human resources, Maria made the following decisions, effective immediately (end of November 20x1): a. More will be invested in employee training. Workers will be trained to detect quality problems and empowered to make improvements. Workers will be allowed a bonus of 10 percent of any cost savings produced by their suggested improvements. b. Two design engineers will be hired immediately, with expectations of hiring one or two more within a year. These engineers will be in charge of redesigning processes and products with the objective of improving quality. They will also be given the responsibility of working with selected suppliers to help improve the quality of their products and processes. Design engineers were considered a strategic necessity. c. Implement a new process: evaluation and selection of suppliers. This new process has the objective of selecting a group of suppliers that are willing and capable of providing nondefective components. d. Effective immediately, the division will begin inspecting purchased components. According to production, many of the quality problems are caused by defective components purchased from outside suppliers. Incoming inspection is viewed as a transitional activity. Once the division has developed a group of suppliers capable of delivering nondefective components, this activity will be eliminated. e. Within three years, the goal is to produce products with a defect rate less than 0.10 percent. By reducing the defect rate to this level, marketing is confident that market share will increase by at least 50 percent (as a consequence of increased customer satisfaction). Products with better quality will help establish an improved product image and reputation, allowing the division to capture new customers and increase market share. f. Accounting will be given the charge to install a quality information reporting system. Daily reports on operational quality data (e.g., percentage of defective units), weekly updates of trend graphs (posted throughout the division), and quarterly cost reports are the types of information required. g. To help direct the improvements in quality activities, kaizen costing is to be implemented. For example, for the year 20x1, a kaizen standard of 6 percent of the selling price per unit was set for rework costs, a 25 percent reduction from the current actual cost. To ensure that the quality improvements were directed and translated into concrete financial outcomes, Maria also began to implement a Balanced Scorecard for the division. By the end of 20x2, progress was being made. Sales had increased to 26,000,000, and the kaizen improvements were meeting or beating expectations. For example, rework costs had dropped to 1,500,000. At the end of 20x3, two years after the turnaround quality strategy was implemented, Maria received the following quality cost report: Maria also received an income statement for 20x3: Maria was pleased with the outcomes. Revenues had grown, and costs had been reduced by at least as much as she had projected for the two-year period. Growth next year should be even greater as she was beginning to observe a favorable effect from the higher-quality products. Also, further quality cost reductions should materialize as incoming inspections were showing much higher-quality purchased components. Required: 1. Identify the strategic objectives, classified by the Balanced Scorecard perspective. Next, suggest measures for each objective. 2. Using the results from Requirement 1, describe Marias strategy using a series of if-then statements. Next, prepare a strategy map. 3. Explain how you would evaluate the success of the quality-driven turnaround strategy. What additional information would you like to have for this evaluation? 4. Explain why Maria felt that the Balanced Scorecard would increase the likelihood that the turnaround strategy would actually produce good financial outcomes. 5. Advise Maria on how to encourage her employees to align their actions and behavior with the turnaround strategy.arrow_forwardIn 20x5, Major Company initiated a full-scale, quality improvement program. At the end of the year, Jack Aldredge, the president, noted with some satisfaction that the defects per unit of product had dropped significantly compared to the prior year. He was also pleased that relationships with suppliers had improved and defective materials had declined. The new quality training program was also well accepted by employees. Of most interest to the president, however, was the impact of the quality improvements on profitability. To help assess the dollar impact of the quality improvements, the actual sales and the actual quality costs for 20x4 and 20x5 are as follows by quality category: All prevention costs are fixed (by discretion). Assume all other quality costs are unit-level variable. Required: 1. Compute the relative distribution of quality costs for each year and prepare a pie chart. Do you believe that the company is moving in the right direction in terms of the balance among the quality cost categories? Explain. 2. Prepare a one-year trend performance report for 20x5 (compare the actual costs of 20x5 with those of 20x4, adjusted for differences in sales volume). How much have profits increased because of the quality improvements made by Major Company? 3. Estimate the additional improvement in profits if Major Company ultimately reduces its quality costs to 2.5 percent of sales revenues (assume sales of 10 million).arrow_forwardRecently, Ulrich Company received a report from an external consulting group on its quality costs. The consultants reported that the companys quality costs total about 21 percent of its sales revenues. Somewhat shocked by the magnitude of the costs, Rob Rustin, president of Ulrich Company, decided to launch a major quality improvement program. For the coming year, management decided to reduce quality costs to 17 percent of sales revenues. Although the amount of reduction was ambitious, most company officials believed that the goal could be realized. To improve the monitoring of the quality improvement program, Rob directed Pamela Golding, the controller, to prepare monthly performance reports comparing budgeted and actual quality costs. Budgeted costs and sales for the first two months of the year are as follows: The following actual sales and actual quality costs were reported for January: Required: 1. Reorganize the monthly budgets so that quality costs are grouped in one of four categories: appraisal, prevention, internal failure, or external failure. (Essentially, prepare a budgeted cost of quality report.) Also, identify each cost as variable (V) or fixed (F). (Assume that no costs are mixed.) 2. Prepare a performance report for January that compares actual costs with budgeted costs. Comment on the companys progress in improving quality and reducing its quality costs.arrow_forward
- Suppose that Kicker had the following sales and cost experience (in thousands of dollars) for May of the current year and for May of the prior year: In May of the prior year, Kicker started an intensive quality program designed to enable it to build original equipment manufacture (OEM) speaker systems for a major automobile company. The program was housed in research and development. In the beginning of the current year, Kickers accounting department exercised tighter control over sales commissions, ensuring that no dubious (e.g., double) payments were made. The increased sales in the current year required additional warehouse space that Kicker rented in town. (Round ratios to four decimal places. Round sales dollars computations to the nearest dollar.) Required: 1. Calculate the contribution margin ratio for May of both years. 2. Calculate the break-even point in sales dollars for both years. 3. Calculate the margin of safety in sales dollars for both years. 4. CONCEPTUAL CONNECTION Analyze the differences shown by your calculations in Requirements 1, 2, and 3.arrow_forwardQ2. Wintz Publishing House produces consumer magazines. The House and Home Division, which sells home-improvement and home-decorating magazines, has seen a 20% reduction in operating income over the past 9 months, primarily due to an economic recession and a depressed consumer housing market. The division's controller, Happy Franklin, has felt pressure from the CFO to improve her division's operating results by the end of the year. Franklin is considering the following options for improving the division's performance by year-end: (a.) Cancelling two of the division's least profitable magazines, resulting in the layoff of 25 employees. (b.) Selling the new printing equipment that was purchased in January and replacing it with discarded equipment from one of the company's other divisions. The previously discarded equipment no longer meets current safety standards. (c.) Recognizing unearned subscription revenue (cash received in advance for magazines that will be delivered in the future)…arrow_forwardLuke Corporation produces a variety of products, each within their own division. Last year, the managers at Luke developed and began marketing a new chewing gum, Bubbs, to sell in vending machines. The product, which sells for $5.25 per case, has not had the market success that managers expected and the company is considering dropping Bubbs. The product-line income statement for the past 12 months follows: Revenue $ 14,682,150 Costs Manufacturing costs $ 14,440,395 Allocated corporate costs (@5%) 734,108 15,174,503 Product-line margin $ (492,353 ) Allowance for tax (@20%) 98,470 Product-line profit (loss) $ (393,883 ) All products at Luke receive an allocation of corporate overhead costs, which is computed as 5 percent of product revenue. The 5 percent rate is…arrow_forward
- Luke Corporation produces a variety of products, each within their own division. Last year, the managers at Luke developed and began marketing a new chewing gum, Bubbs, to sell in vending machines. The product, which sells for $6.25 per case, has not had the market success that managers expected and the company is considering dropping Bubbs. The product-line income statement for the past 12 months follows: Revenue $ 14,712,150 Costs Manufacturing costs $ 14,450,395 Allocated corporate costs (@5%) 735,608 15,186,003 Product-line margin $ (473,853 ) Allowance for tax (@20%) 94,770 Product-line profit (loss) $ (379,083 ) All products at Luke receive an allocation of corporate overhead costs, which is computed as 5 percent of product revenue. The 5 percent rate is computed based on the most recent year’s corporate cost as a percentage of revenue. Data on corporate costs and revenues for…arrow_forwardMcNulty, Inc., produces desks and chairs. A new CFO has just been hired and announces a new policy that if a product cannot earn a margin of at least 20 percent, it will be dropped. The margin is computed as product gross profit divided by reported product cost. Manufacturing overhead for year 1 totaled $800,000. Overhead is allocated to products based on direct labor cost. Data for year 1 show the following. Chairs Desks Sales revenue $ 1,150,000 $ 2,105,000 Direct materials 584,000 800,000 Direct labor 160,000 340,000 Required: a-1. Based on the CFO's new policy, calculate the profit margin for both chairs and desks. a-2. Which of the two products should be dropped? b. Regardless of your answer in requirement (a), the CFO decides at the beginning of year 2 to drop the chair product. The company cost analyst estimates that overhead without the chair line will be $650,000. The revenue and costs for desks are expected to be the same as last…arrow_forwardMcNulty, Inc., produces desks and chairs. A new CFO has just been hired and announces a new policy that if a product cannot earn a margin of at least 35 percent, it will be dropped. The margin is computed as product gross profit divided by reported product cost. Manufacturing overhead for year 1 totaled $1,071,000. Overhead is allocated to products based on direct labor cost. Data for year 1 show the following. Chairs Desks Sales revenue $1,580,800 $2,786,000 Direct materials 595,000 910,000 Direct labor 230,000 400,000 Required: a-1. Based on the CFO's new policy, calculate the profit margin for both chairs and desks. a-2. Which of the two products should be dropped? b. Regardless of your answer in requirement (a), the CFO decides at the beginning of year 2 to drop the chair product. The company cost analyst estimates that overhead without the chair line will be $760,000. The revenue and costs for desks are expected to be the same as last year. What is the…arrow_forward
- Regular Company produces audio equipment, specifically headphones and speakers. A new CEO has just been hired and announces a new policy that if a product cannot earn a markup of at least 25 percent, it will be dropped. The markup is computed as product gross profit divided by reported product cost. Manufacturing overhead for year 1 totaled $996,000. Overhead is allocated to products based on direct materials cost. Data for year 1 show the following: Headphones Speakers Sales revenue $ 2,247,640 $ 2,141,940 Direct materials 730,000 930,000 Direct labor 492,000 252,000 Required: a-1. Calculate the markup for both headphones and speakers. a-2. Based on the CFO's new policy, which of the two products should be dropped? b. Regardless of your answer in requirement (a), the CFO decides at the beginning of year 2 to drop the speakers from the product line. The company cost analyst estimates that overhead without the speaker line will be $630,000. The revenue and costs for…arrow_forwardProfessional ethics and reporting division performance. Maria Mendez is division controller and James Dalton is division manager of the Hestor Shoe Company. Mendez has line responsibility to Dalton, but she also has staff responsibility to the company controller. pizthot Dalton is under severe pressure to achieve the budgeted division income for the year. He has asked Mendez to book $200,000 of revenues on December 31. The customers' orders are firm, but the shoes are still in the production process. They will be shipped on or around January 4. Dalton says to Mendez, "The key event is getting the sales order, not shipping the shoes. You should support me, not obstruct my reaching oni terd apaln wioe M division goals."s m no vitr 1. Describe Mendez's ethical responsibilities. 2. What should Mendez do if Dalton gives her a direct order to book the sales? Poarrow_forwardConnelly Incorporated, a manufacturer of quality electric ice cream makers, has experienced a steady growth in sales over the past few years. Because her business has grown, Jan DeJaney, the president, believes she needs an aggressive advertising campaign next year to maintain the company’s growth. To prepare for the growth, the accountant prepared the following data for the current year: Variable costs per ice cream maker Direct labor $ 13.50 Direct materials 14.50 Variable overhead 6.00 Total variable costs $ 34.00 Fixed costs Manufacturing $ 82,500 Selling 42,000 Administrative 356,000 Total fixed costs $ 480,500 Selling price per unit $ 67.00 Expected sales (units) 30,000 a. What will be the new breakeven point if the additional $200,000 is spent on advertising? b. Prepare a contribution income statement at the new breakeven point. c. What is the percentage change in both fixed costs and in the breakeven point?arrow_forward
arrow_back_ios
SEE MORE QUESTIONS
arrow_forward_ios
Recommended textbooks for you
Managerial AccountingAccountingISBN:9781337912020Author:Carl Warren, Ph.d. Cma William B. TaylerPublisher:South-Western College Pub
Cornerstones of Cost Management (Cornerstones Ser...AccountingISBN:9781305970663Author:Don R. Hansen, Maryanne M. MowenPublisher:Cengage Learning
Managerial Accounting: The Cornerstone of Busines...AccountingISBN:9781337115773Author:Maryanne M. Mowen, Don R. Hansen, Dan L. HeitgerPublisher:Cengage Learning
Business Its Legal Ethical & Global EnvironmentAccountingISBN:9781305224414Author:JENNINGSPublisher:Cengage
Essentials of Business Analytics (MindTap Course ...StatisticsISBN:9781305627734Author:Jeffrey D. Camm, James J. Cochran, Michael J. Fry, Jeffrey W. Ohlmann, David R. AndersonPublisher:Cengage Learning
Managerial Accounting
Accounting
ISBN:9781337912020
Author:Carl Warren, Ph.d. Cma William B. Tayler
Publisher:South-Western College Pub
Cornerstones of Cost Management (Cornerstones Ser...
Accounting
ISBN:9781305970663
Author:Don R. Hansen, Maryanne M. Mowen
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Managerial Accounting: The Cornerstone of Busines...
Accounting
ISBN:9781337115773
Author:Maryanne M. Mowen, Don R. Hansen, Dan L. Heitger
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Business Its Legal Ethical & Global Environment
Accounting
ISBN:9781305224414
Author:JENNINGS
Publisher:Cengage
Essentials of Business Analytics (MindTap Course ...
Statistics
ISBN:9781305627734
Author:Jeffrey D. Camm, James J. Cochran, Michael J. Fry, Jeffrey W. Ohlmann, David R. Anderson
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Understanding Systems Development Life Cycle; Author: GreggU;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shNOYFlmBOU;License: Standard Youtube License