Costco Wholesale Corporation is America’s largest membership retail company. According to its letter to stockholders:
For the first time [in 2011], four of our locations had more than $300 million in annual sales, including one which had more than $400 million in sales. This rate of top line revenue per building stands out in the retail industry and results from our ongoing focus on value—that winning combination of quality and price on every item we sell that, we believe, sets Costco apart from many of its competitors.
To achieve its strategy, Costco must organize its management by functions that relate to the principal activities of a business. Discuss the three basic activities Costco will engage in to achieve its goals, and suggest some examples of each. What is the role of Costco’s management? What functions must its management perform to carry out these activities?
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Principles of Accounting
- Costco is the largest chain of membership warehouse clubs in the world based on sales volume, and it is the fifth largest general retailer in the United States. Costco focuses on selling products at low prices, often at a very high volume. These goods are usually bulk-packaged and marketed primarily to large families and businesses. Costco became the first company to grow from zero to 3 billion in sales in less than six years. In a recent fiscal year, Costcos sales totaled 76.3 billion, a 29.3 percent increase from 2006, and its net income reached 1.30 billion, an 18.1 percent increase from 2006. This information, and much more, can be derived from the financial statements that merchandising firms such as Costco prepare on a regular basis to provide shareholders and other interested parties information about the companys activities and financial performance. 1. What type of information would a classified income statement provide to shareholders and other interested parties? 2. What type of information would a classified balance sheet provide to shareholders and other interested parties? Why would this information be important for calculating the working capital and the current ratio, for example?arrow_forward[The following information applies to the questions displayed below.] Mears and Company has been operating for five years as an electronics component manufacturer specializing in cellular phone components. During this period, it has experienced rapid growth in sales revenue and in inventory. Mr. Mears and his associates have hired you as Mears's first corporate controller. You have put into place new purchasing and manufacturing procedures that are expected to reduce inventories by approximately one-third by year-end. You have gathered the following data related to the changes: Inventory Cost of goods sold (dollars in thousands) Beginning of Year $585,700 End of Year (projected) $392,310 Current Year (projected) $7,018,984 P7-7 Part 2 2. What is the effect of the projected change in the inventory balance on cash flow from operating activities for the year? Effect of change in inventoryarrow_forward[The following information applies to the questions displayed below.] Mears and Company has been operating for five years as an electronics component manufacturer specializing in cellular phone components. During this period, it has experienced rapid growth in sales revenue and in inventory. Mr. Mears and his associates have hired you as Mears's first corporate controller. You have put into place new purchasing and manufacturing procedures that are expected to reduce inventories by approximately one-third by year-end. You have gathered the following data related to the changes: Inventory (dollars in thousands) Beginning of Year $585,700 End of Year (projected) $392,310 Current Year Cost of goods sold P7-7 Part 1 (projected) $7,018,984 Required: 1. Compute the inventory turnover ratio based on two different assumptions: Note: Round your answers to 1 decimal place. a. Those presented in the above table (a decrease in the balance in inventory). b. No change from the beginning-of-the-year…arrow_forward
- In 2014, Apple reported profits of more than $50 billion on sales of $182 billion. For that same period, Microsoft posted a profit of almost $30 billion on sales of $88 billion. So Apple is a better marketer, right? Sales and profits provide information to com- pare the profitability of these two competitors, but between these numbers is information regarding the efficiency of marketing efforts in creating those sales and profits. Appendix 3, Marketing by the Numbers, discusses other marketing profitability mea- sures beyond the return on marketing investment (marketing ROI) measure described in this chapter. Review the Appendix 2 to answer the questions using the following information from the two companies' incomes statements (all numbers are in thousands): Apple Microsoft Sales $182,795,000 $86,833,000 Gross Profit $70,537,000 $59,899,000 Marketing Expenses $8,994,750 $15,474,000 Net Income (Profit) $52,503,000 $27,759,000 2-13. Calculate profit margin, net marketing contribution,…arrow_forwardIn 2014, Apple reported profits of more than $50 billion on sales of $182 billion. For that same period, Microsoft posted a profit of almost $30 billion on sales of $88 billion. So Apple is a better marketer, right? Sales and profits provide information to com- pare the profitability of these two competitors, but between these numbers is information regarding the efficiency of marketing efforts in creating those sales and profits. Appendix 3, Marketing by the Numbers, discusses other marketing profitability mea- sures beyond the return on marketing investment (marketing ROI) measure described in this chapter. Review the Appendix 2 to answer the questions using the following information from the two companies' incomes statements (all numbers are in thousands): Apple Microsoft Sales $182,795,000 $86,833,000 Gross Profit $70,537,000 $59,899,000 Marketing Expenses $8,994,750 $15,474,000 Net Income (Profit) $52,503,000 $27,759,000arrow_forwardFlair ranks the individual customers in the Ma and Pa single-store distribution market on the basis of monthly operating income. The cumulative operating income of the top 20% of customers is $58,120. Best Drugs reports operating losses of $23,670 for the bottom 40% of its customers. Make four recommendations that you think Best Drugs should consider in light of this new customer-profitability information.arrow_forward
- 208. Subject Accountingarrow_forwardYou are analyzing two companies that manufacture electronic toys-Like Games Inc. and Our Play Inc. Like Games was launched eight years ago, whereas Our Play is a relatively new company that has been in operation for only the past two years. However, both companies have an equal market share with sales of $200,000 each. You've collected company data to compare Like Games and Our Play. Last year, the average sales for all industry competitors was $510,000. As an analyst, you want to make comments on the expected performance of these two companies in the coming year. You've collected data from the companies' financial statements. This information is listed as follows: (Note: Assume there are 365 days in a year.) Accounts receivable Net fixed assets Total assets Data Collected (in dollars) Like Games Our Play Industry Average 5,400 7,800 7,700 110,000 160,000 433,500 190,000 250,000 469,200 Using this information, complete the following statements to include in your analysis. 1. Our Play…arrow_forwardZNet Co. is a web-based retail company. The company reports the following for the past year. The company’s CEO believes that sales for next year will increase by 20% and both profit margin (%) and the level of average invested assets will be the same as for the past year. 1. Compute return on investment for the past year. 2. Compute profit margin for the past year. 3. If the CEO’s forecast is correct, what will return on investment equal for next year? 4. If the CEO’s forecast is correct, what will investment turnover equal for next year? Sales . $5,000,000 Operating income . $1,000,000 Average invested assets . $12,500,000arrow_forward
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