Margaret is the manager of a medium-size company. A few years ago, Margaret persuaded the owner to base a part of her compensation on the net income of the company. Each December she estimates year-end financial figures in anticipation of the bonus she will receive. If the bonus is not as high as she would like, she offers several recommendations to the accountant for year-end adjustments. One of her favorite recommendations is for the controller to reduce the estimate of doubtful accounts. What type of internal control(s) might be useful for this company in overseeing the manager's recommendation for accounting changes?

Margaret is the manager of a medium-size company. A few years ago, Margaret persuaded the owner to base a part of her compensation on the net income of the company. Each December she estimates year-end financial figures in anticipation of the bonus she will receive. If the bonus is not as high as she would like, she offers several recommendations to the accountant for year-end adjustments. One of her favorite recommendations is for the controller to reduce the estimate of doubtful accounts. What type of internal control(s) might be useful for this company in overseeing the manager's recommendation for accounting changes?

SWFT Comprehensive Volume 2019

42nd Edition

ISBN:9780357233306

Author:Maloney

Publisher:Maloney

Chapter9: Deductions: Employee And Self-employed-related Expenses

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 25P

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Margaret is the manager of a medium-size company. A few years ago, Margaret persuaded the owner to base a part of her compensation on the net income of the company. Each December she estimates year-end financial figures in anticipation of the bonus she will receive. If the bonus is not as high as she would like, she offers several recommendations to the accountant for year-end adjustments. One of her favorite recommendations is for the controller to reduce the estimate of doubtful accounts. What effect does lowering the estimate for doubtful accounts have on the income statement and balance sheet?
Margaret is the manager of a medium-sized company. A few years ago, Margaret persuaded the owner to base a part of her compensation on the net income of the company. Each December she estimates year-end financial figures in anticipation of the bonus she will receive. If the bonus is not as high as she would like, she offers several recommendations to the accountant for year-end adjustments. One of her favorite recommendations is for the controller to reduce the estimate of doubtful accounts. What effect does lowering the estimate for doubtful accounts have on the income statement and balance sheet? What type of internal control(s) might be useful for this company in overseeing the manager's recommendation for accounting changes?
Anton Blair is the manager of a medium-size company. A few years ago, Blair persuaded the owner to base a part of his compensation on the net income the company earns each year. Each December he estimates year-end financial figures in anticipation of the bonus he will receive. If the bonus is not as high as he would like, he offers several recommendations to the accountant for year-end adjustments. One of his favorite recommendations is for the controller to reduce the estimate of doubtful accounts. Required 1. What effect does lowering the estimate for doubtful accounts have on the income statement and balance sheet? 2. Do you believe Blair’s recommendation to adjust the allowance for doubtful accounts is within his rights as manager, or do you believe this action is an ethics violation? Justify your response. 3. What type of internal control(s) might be useful for this company in overseeing the manager’s recommendations for accounting changes?
Anton Blair is the manager of a medium-sized company. A few years ago, Blair persuaded the owner to base a part of his compensation on the net income the company earns each year. Each December he estimates year-end financial figures in anticipation of the bonus he will receive. If the bonus is not as high as he would like, he offers several recommendations to the accountant for year-end adjustments. One of his favorite recommendations is for the controller to reduce the estimate of doubtful accounts. 1. What effect does lowering the estimate for doubtful accounts have on the income statement and balance sheet? 2. Do you believe Blair's recommendation to adjust the allowance for doubtful accounts is within his rights as a manager, or do you believe this action is an ethics violation? Justify your response. 3. What type of internal control(s) might be useful for this company in overseeing the manager's recommendations for accounting changes?
Anita Brown is the manager of a wholesale food company. Her compensation, in part, is incentive-based. In other words, the higher the company income, the higher her incentive compensation. Each year, in an effort to influence her bonus, Anita makes several recommendations, concerning adjusting entries, to the company controller. One of her favorites is to ask the controller to reduce the estimate of doubtful accounts.1. How does lowering the estimate of doubtful accounts affect the income statement and balance sheet?2. Is there an ethical consideration in this case? If so, what is it?3. Should Anita be permitted to weigh in on adjusting entries under these circumstances? Why or why not?
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Flo Choi owns a small business and manages its accounting. Her company just finished a year in which a large amount of borrowed funds was invested in a new building addition as well as in equipment and fixture additions. Choi’s banker requires her to submit semiannual financial statements so he can monitor the financial health of her business. He has warned her that if profit margins erode, he might raise the interest rate on the borrowed funds to reflect the increased loan risk from the bank’s point of view. Choi knows profit margin is likely to decline this year. As she prepares year-end adjusting entries, she decides to apply the following depreciation rule: All asset additions are considered to be in use on the first day of the following month. (The previous rule assumed assets are in use on the first day of the month nearest to the purchase date.) Required 1. Identify decisions that managers like Choi must make in applying depreciation methods. 2. Is Choi’s rule an ethical…
Harmony is the Senior accountant of a Bank. Junior accountants of all the branches reportto her. While preparing for the final quarter sales report, she finds that two out of the fourbranches have failed to achieve the sales targets for the second consecutive quarter.According to the company policy, the branches that fail to achieve targets in twoconsecutive quarters have to be closed. Harmony feels sad for all the people losing theirjobs and decides that she will overstate the sales revenue generated by every branch andreport manipulated figures in the financial statements. Answer the following questions. Describe Harmony’s actions from ethical standpoint. Is she doing the right thing? What can be the consequences of Harmony’s actions. What are the risks involved? What would you suggest to Harmony? (please cite paragraph according to the MLA citation? Please note this is not an essay.
Recently, the owner of a Trader Joe's franchise decided to change how she compensated her top manager. Last year, she paid him a fixed salary of $65,000, and her store made $120,000 in profits (not counting payment to her top manager). She suspected the store could do much better and feared the fixed salary was causing her top manager to shirk on the job. Therefore, this year she decided to offer him a fixed salary of $30,000 plus 15 percent of the store's profits. Since the change, the store is performing much better, and she forecasts profits this year to be $280,000 (again, not counting the payment to her top manager). Assuming the change in compensation is the reason for the increased profits, and that the forecast is accurate, (a) Which compensation method (the old one or the new one) will the manager prefer? Please explain why. (b) Which compensation method (the old one or the new one) would the owner of the franchise prefer? Please explain why. (c) If there was another…
Over the past two years, Kermit Stone, The comptroller of Hilton Company, Has been concerned that the company has been paying a large amount of money for state unemployment taxes. On reviewing the "unemployment file" with the head accountant, Deborah Martha, he learns that the companies tax rate is near the top of the range of the states experience-rating system. After calling the local unemployment office, stone realizes that the turnover of employees at Hilton company has had an adverse effect on the companies tax rates. In addition, after consulting with Murtha, he discovers that the eligibility reports that come from the state unemployment office or just signed and sent back to the state without any review. The eligibility reports or notices that an ex employee has filed a claim for unemployment benefits. By signing these reports "blindly", The company, in effect, tells the state that the employee is eligible for the benefits. Any benefits paid or charged by the state against…
Your client is preparing financial statements to show the bank. You know that he has incurred a refrigeration repair expense during the month, but you see no such expense on the books. When you question the client, he tells you that he has not yet paid the 1,255 bill. Your client is on the accrual basis of accounting. He does not want the refrigeration repair expense on the books as of the end of the month because he wants his profits to look good for the bank. Is your client behaving ethically by suggesting that the refrigeration repair expense not be booked until the 1,255 is paid? Are you behaving ethically if you agree to the clients request? What principle is involved here?
Terry House, the controller for MicroTech Software Company, is responsible for preparing the company’s financial statements. He learns that sales for the first quarter of the year have dropped so dramatically that the company is in danger of bankruptcy. As a result, he applies for an accounting position with another software company that competes with MicroTech. During his job interview, Terry is asked why he wants to leave MicroTech. He replies truthfully, “The company’s sales are down another 10% this quarter. I fear they will go out of business.” At that time, MicroTech had not released its sales results to the public. Discuss the ethics of this situation.