Consider the following thoughts of a manager at the end of the company’s third quarter:
If I can increase my reported profit by $2 million, the actual earnings per share will exceed analysts’ expectations, and stock prices will increase. The stock options that I am holding will become more valuable. The extra income will also make me eligible to receive a significant bonus. With a son headed to college, it would be good if I could cash in some of these options to help pay his expenses. However, my vice president of finance indicates that such an increase is unlikely. The projected profit for the fourth quarter will just about meet the expected earnings per share. There may be ways, though, that I can achieve the desired outcome. First, I can instruct all divisional managers that their preventive maintenance budgets are reduced by 25 percent for the fourth quarter. That should reduce maintenance expenses by approximately $1 million. Second, I can increase the estimated life of the existing equipment, producing a reduction of
Required:
Comment on the ethical content of the earnings management being considered by the manager. Is there an ethical dilemma? What is the right choice for the manager to make? Is there any way to redesign the accounting reporting system to discourage the type of behavior the manager is contemplating?
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Chapter 1 Solutions
Cornerstones of Cost Management (Cornerstones Series)
- A. Assume that you have completed your plans and proformas for the next year of operations. The upcoming year looks promising. What would you most likely do from the following list? a. From your proformas project your company’s weighted average cost of capital and return on assets, and compare the two b. Take a vacation because you have been working so hard c. Purchase a new house for your personal use because the future is looking so good d. Make sure that your company’s weighted average cost of capital exceeds your company’s return on assets, if not, rework your plans and proformas B. Assume that all sales are on account. If the average accounts receivable balance was $1,000,000 and accounts receivable turnover was 12 for the last year of operations, what was sales revenue? a. $10,000,000 b. $15,000,000 c. $12,000,000 d. $6,000,000arrow_forwardYou will want to invest in a business that requires an initial investment of $5,250. The business is expected to produce cash flows of $750 at the end of Year 1, $1,000 at the end of Year 2, $850 at the end of Year 3, and $6,250 at the end of Year 4. What rate of return would you earn in this business venture?arrow_forwardYou have invested in a business that proudly reports that it is profitable. Your investment of $4000 has produced a profit of $201. The managers think that if you leave your $4500 levested with them, they should be able to generate $291 per year in profits for you in perpetuity. Evaluating other investment opportunites, you note that other long-term investments of similar risk offer an expected return of 7.9%. Should you remain invested in this fr ? The expected ratus of your envestment is__? (Round to one decimal)arrow_forward
- You have recently completed your training contract and managed to save a small amount of money during the three years of your contract. You are thinking about investing the money and are considering investment opportunities which would maximize your return. A friend of yours has recently received a ‘hot tip’ from his uncle for HiFly Ltd, a share on the JSE, which is currently providing high returns. You are looking at investing 40% of your money in HiFly Ltd and the balance in Treasury Bills. The average rate of return on Treasury Bills next year will be 9%. You have been provided with the following relevant information: (Information attached in image below) ROUND ALL ANSWERS TO TWO DECIMAL PLACES REQUIRED: Calculate the expected return of HiFly Ltd. Answer% Calculate the expected return of the market. Answer% Calculate the standard deviation of HiFly Ltd. Answer% Calculate the standard deviation of the market. Answer% Calculate the covariance of returns between the market and HiFly…arrow_forwardplease help mearrow_forwardSolve it correctly please. I will rate it and review it.arrow_forward
- As a savvy entrepreneur, you decided to invest $8,000 in a start-up tech company in 2009. Since then, your investment has grown at a rate of 6.3% each year. Write a function to express the value of your investment, I, in the tech company as a function of t, the number of years since you made the investment. If the pattern continues, when will your investment exceed $18,000? (give the year and determine if it is early, mid, or late of that year) What is the monthly growth rate of your investment? (round answer to 1 decimal place)? What is the decade growth rate of your investment? (round answer to 1 decimal place)? Blank # 1 A/ Blank # 2 Blank # 3arrow_forwardYou are considering investing in a start up company. The founder asked you for $290,000 today and you expect to get $980,000 in 8 years. Given the riskiness of the investment opportunity, your cost of capital is 25%. What is the NPV of the investment opportunity? Should you undertake the investment opportunity? Calculate the IRR and use it to determine the maximum deviation allowable in the cost of capital estimate to leave the decision unchanged.arrow_forwardYou are thinking of pursuing an actuarial career, so you have agreed to serve as an intern at Love Actuaries LLP. The managing partner, Karen Thompson, has asked you to do some quick calculations for her. She wants you to use the current yield curve, flat at 6%, in your calculations. Client Annie Inc. has a pension plan that pays pension benefits annually at a rate of $10 million per year, starting one year from today. The pension obligation will end in 40 years. Karen wants to know the duration of these required pension payments. Client Billy Mack Co. wants to immunize its pension obligations (present value = $150 million with a duration of 22 years) with two $1000 face value bonds. The first bond is a 7-year 5% annual coupon bond issued by Jaime Corp. The second bond issuer, Kari Ltd., has issued a consol bond paying a 10% annual coupon perpetually. Ms. Thompson wants you to calculate the money Billy Mack should allocate to each of these bonds to immunize its pension against…arrow_forward
- You are considering investing in a start up company. The founder asked you for $200,000 today and you expect to get $1,000,000 in 9 years. Given the riskiness of the investment opportunity, your cost of capital is 20%. What is the NPV of the investment opportunity? Should you undertake the investment opportunity? Calculate the IRR and use it to determine the maximum deviation allowable in the cost of capital estimate to leave the decision unchanged.arrow_forwardSuppose you are the financial manager of a large national food processing firm. In your travels, you run across a small regional food processor that you believe will provide your firm with annual returns of over 30%. Returns on your firm’s typical investments are around 20%. Should you propose that your firm acquire this regional food processor? What factors need to be considered in this decision?arrow_forwardAs an analyst for Kingbird Inc., you are responsible for many firms, including ADFC. Currently you have a "hold" recommendation on ADFC. The current price of ADFC is $154. You have conducted an extensive analysis of the industry and you feel that the probability the firm will capture a substantial share of the new market is 25 percent. If the firm is able to capture the new market, you are expecting earnings to grow at a rate of 45 percent per year for the next five years. In that case, the stock price would rise to $234 due to the unusually high growth rate of future earnings. However, you feel there is a 35-percent probability that the firm will face serious difficulties in the near future, in which case the stock price will fall to $114, and the earnings growth rate will drop to 3 percent. There is a 40-percent chance that nothing will change for the firm and its earnings growth rate will remain at 12 percent. Calculate the expected price in the future. (Round intermediate…arrow_forward
- Cornerstones of Cost Management (Cornerstones Ser...AccountingISBN:9781305970663Author:Don R. Hansen, Maryanne M. MowenPublisher:Cengage Learning