When Ted Castle was a hockey coach at the University of Vermont, his players were self-motivated by their desire to win. Hockey was a game you usually either won or lost. But at Rhino Foods, Inc., a bakery-foods company he founded in Burlington, Vermont, he discovered that manufacturing-line workers were not so self-motivated. Ted thought, what if he turned the food-making business into a game, with rules, strategies, and trophies?
In a game, knowing the score is all-important. Ted felt that only if the employees know the score—know exactly how the business is doing daily, weekly, monthly—could he turn food-making into a game. But Rhino is a closely held, family-owned business, and its financial statements and profits were confidential. Ted wondered, should he open Rhino's books to the employees?
A consultant put Ted's concerns in perspective when he said, “Imagine you're playing touch football. You play for an hour or two, and the whole time I'm sitting there with a book, keeping score. All of a sudden I blow the whistle, and I say, ‘OK, that's it. Everybody go home.’ I close my book and walk away. How would you feel?” Ted opened his books and revealed the financial statements to his employees.
The next step was to teach employees the rules and strategies of how to “win” at making food. The first lesson: “Your opponent at Rhino is expenses. You must cut and control expenses.” Ted and his staff distilled those lessons into daily scorecards—production reports and income statements—that keep Rhino's employees up-to-date on the game. At noon each day, Ted posts the previous day's results at the entrance to the production room. Everyone checks whether they made or lost money on what they produced the day before. And it's not just an academic exercise: There's a bonus check for each employee at the end of every four-week “game” that meets profitability guidelines.
Rhino has flourished since the first game. Employment has increased from 20 to 130 people, while both revenues and profits have grown dramatically.
A worksheet is a multiple-column form used in the adjustment process and in preparing financial statements. As its name suggests, the worksheet is a working tool. It is not a permanent accounting record. It is neither a journal nor a part of the general ledger. The worksheet is merely a device used in preparing adjusting entries and the financial statements. Companies generally computerize work-sheets using an electronic spreadsheet program such as Excel.
Illustration 4-1 shows the basic form of a worksheet and the five steps for preparing it. Each step is performed in sequence. The use of a worksheet is optional. When a company chooses to use one, it prepares financial statements directly from the worksheet. It enters the adjustments in the worksheet columns and then journalizes and posts the adjustments after it has prepared the financial statements. Thus, worksheets make it possible to provide the financial statements to management and other interested parties at an earlier date.
We will use the October 31 trial balance and adjustment data of Pioneer Advertising Agency from Chapter 3 to illustrate how to prepare a worksheet. We describe each step of the process and demonstrate these steps in Illustration 4-2 (page 164) and transparencies 4-3A, B, C, and D.
Enter all ledger accounts with balances in the account titles column. Enter debit and credit amounts from the ledger in the trial balance columns. Illustration 4-2 shows the worksheet trial balance for Pioneer Advertising Agency. This trial balance is the same one that appears in Illustration 2-31 (page 73) and Illustration 3-3 (page 103).
Turn over the first transparency, Illustration 4-3A. When using a worksheet, enter all adjustments in the adjustments columns. In entering the adjustments, use applicable trial balance accounts. If additional accounts are needed, insert them on the lines immediately below the trial balance totals. A different letter identifies the debit and credit for each adjusting entry. The term used to describe this process is keying. Companies do not journalize the adjustments until after they complete the worksheet and prepare the financial statements.
The adjustments for Pioneer Advertising Agency are the same as the adjustments in Illustration 3-23 (page 117). They are keyed in the adjustments columns of the worksheet as follows.
(a) Pioneer debits an additional account, Supplies Expense, $1,500 for the cost of supplies used, and credits Supplies $1,500.
(b) Pioneer debits an additional account, Insurance Expense, $50 for the insurance that has expired, and credits Prepaid Insurance $50.
(c) The company needs two additional depreciation accounts. It debits Depreciation Expense $40 for the month's depreciation, and credits Accumulated Depreciation—Equipment $40.
(d) Pioneer debits Unearned Service Revenue $400 for services performed, and credits Service Revenue $400.
(e) Pioneer debits an additional account, Accounts Receivable, $200 for services performed but not billed, and credits Service Revenue $200.
(f) The company needs two additional accounts relating to interest. It debits Interest Expense $50 for accrued interest, and credits Interest Payable $50.
(g) Pioneer debits Salaries and Wages Expense $1,200 for accrued salaries, and credits an additional account, Salaries and Wages Payable, $1,200.
After Pioneer has entered all the adjustments, the adjustments columns are totaled to prove their equality.
Turn over the second transparency, Illustration 4-3B. Pioneer determines the adjusted balance of an account by combining the amounts entered in the first four columns of the worksheet for each account. For example, the Prepaid Insurance account in the trial balance columns has a $600 debit balance and a $50 credit in the adjustments columns. The result is a $550 debit balance recorded in the adjusted trial balance columns. For each account, the amount in the adjusted trial balance columns is the balance that will appear in the ledger after journalizing and posting the adjusting entries. The balances in these columns are the same as those in the adjusted trial balance in Illustration 3-25 (page 119).
(Note: Text continues on page 165, following acetate overlays.)
After Pioneer has entered all account balances in the adjusted trial balance columns, the columns are totaled to prove their equality. If the column totals do not agree, the financial statement columns will not balance and the financial statements will be incorrect.
Helpful Hint Every adjusted trial balance amount must be extended to one of the four statement columns.
Turn over the third transparency, Illustration 4-3C. The fourth step is to extend adjusted trial balance amounts to the income statement and balance sheet columns of the worksheet. Pioneer enters balance sheet accounts in the appropriate balance sheet debit and credit columns. For instance, it enters Cash in the balance sheet debit column, and Notes Payable in the balance sheet credit column. Pioneer extends Accumulated Depreciation—Equipment to the balance sheet credit column. The reason is that accumulated depreciation is a contra asset account with a credit balance.
Because the worksheet does not have columns for the owner's equity statement, Pioneer extends the balance in owner's capital to the balance sheet credit column. In addition, it extends the balance in owner's drawings to the balance sheet debit column because it is an owner's equity account with a debit balance.
The company enters the expense and revenue accounts such as Salaries and Wages Expense and Service Revenue in the appropriate income statement columns. Illustration 4-3C shows all of these extensions.
Turn over the fourth transparency, Illustration 4-3D. The company now must total each of the financial statement columns. The net income or loss for the period is the difference between the totals of the two income statement columns. If total credits exceed total debits, the result is net income. In such a case, as shown in Illustration 4-3D, the company inserts the words “Net Income” in the account titles space. It then enters the amount in the income statement debit column and the balance sheet credit column. The debit amount balances the income statement columns; the credit amount balances the balance sheet columns. In addition, the credit in the balance sheet column indicates the increase in owner's equity resulting from net income.
What if total debits in the income statement columns exceed total credits? In that case, the company has a net loss. It enters the amount of the net loss in the income statement credit column and the balance sheet debit column.
After entering the net income or net loss, the company determines new column totals. The totals shown in the debit and credit income statement columns will match. So will the totals shown in the debit and credit balance sheet columns. If either the income statement columns or the balance sheet columns are not equal after the net income or net loss has been entered, there is an error in the worksheet. Illustration 4-3D shows the completed worksheet for Pioneer Advertising Agency.
After a company has completed a worksheet, it has at hand all the data required for preparation of financial statements. The income statement is prepared from the income statement columns. The balance sheet and owner's equity statement are prepared from the balance sheet columns. Illustration 4-4 (page 166) shows the financial statements prepared from Pioneer's worksheet. At this point, the company has not journalized or posted adjusting entries. Therefore, ledger balances for some accounts are not the same as the financial statement amounts.
The amount shown for owner's capital on the worksheet is the account balance before considering drawings and net income (or loss). When the owner has made no additional investments of capital during the period, this worksheet amount for owner's capital is the balance at the beginning of the period.
Using a worksheet, companies can prepare financial statements before they journalize and post adjusting entries. However, the completed worksheet is not a substitute for formal financial statements. The format of the data in the financial statement columns of the worksheet is not the same as the format of the financial statements. A worksheet is essentially a working tool of the accountant; companies do not distribute it to management and other parties.
A worksheet is not a journal, and it cannot be used as a basis for posting to ledger accounts. To adjust the accounts, the company must journalize the adjustments and post them to the ledger. The adjusting entries are prepared from the adjustments columns of the worksheet. The reference letters in the adjustments columns and the explanations of the adjustments at the bottom of the worksheet help identify the adjusting entries. The journalizing and posting of adjusting entries follows the preparation of financial statements when a worksheet is used. The adjusting entries on October 31 for Pioneer Advertising Agency are the same as those shown in Illustration 3-23 (page 117).
Helpful Hint Note that writing the explanation to the adjustment at the bottom of the worksheet is not required.
DO IT!
Worksheet
Action Plan
Balance sheet: Extend assets to debit column. Extend liabilities to credit column. Extend contra assets to credit column. Extend drawings account to debit column.
Income statement: Extend expenses to debit column. Extend revenues to credit column.
Susan Elbe is preparing a worksheet. Explain to Susan how she should extend the following adjusted trial balance accounts to the financial statement columns of the worksheet.
Cash | Owner's Drawings |
Accumulated Depreciation—Equipment | Service Revenue |
Accounts Payable | Salaries and Wages Expense |
Solution
Income statement debit column—Salaries and Wages Expense
Income statement credit column—Service Revenue
Balance sheet debit column—Cash; Owner's Drawings
Balance sheet credit column—Accumulated Depreciation—Equipment; Accounts Payable
Related exercise material: BE4-1, BE4-2, BE4-3, E4-1, E4-2, E4-5, E4-6, and DO IT! 4-1.
At the end of the accounting period, the company makes the accounts ready for the next period. This is called closing the books. In closing the books, the company distinguishes between temporary and permanent accounts.
Temporary accounts relate only to a given accounting period. They include all income statement accounts and the owner's drawings account. The company closes all temporary accounts at the end of the period.
In contrast, permanent accounts relate to one or more future accounting periods. They consist of all balance sheet accounts, including the owner's capital account. Permanent accounts are not closed from period to period. Instead, the company carries forward the balances of permanent accounts into the next accounting period. Illustration 4-5 identifies the accounts in each category.
Alternative Terminology Temporary accounts are sometimes called nominal accounts, and permanent accounts are sometimes called real accounts.
At the end of the accounting period, the company transfers temporary account balances to the permanent owner's equity account, Owner's Capital, by means of closing entries.1
Closing entries formally recognize in the ledger the transfer of net income (or net loss) and owner's drawings to owner's capital. The owner's equity statement shows the results of these entries. Closing entries also produce a zero balance in each temporary account. The temporary accounts are then ready to accumulate data in the next accounting period separate from the data of prior periods. Permanent accounts are not closed.
Journalizing and posting closing entries is a required step in the accounting cycle. (See Illustration 4-12 on page 175.) The company performs this step after it has prepared financial statements. In contrast to the steps in the cycle that you have already studied, companies generally journalize and post closing entries only at the end of the annual accounting period. Thus, all temporary accounts will contain data for the entire year.
In preparing closing entries, companies could close each income statement account directly to owner's capital. However, to do so would result in excessive detail in the permanent Owner's Capital account. Instead, companies close the revenue and expense accounts to another temporary account, Income Summary, and they transfer the resulting net income or net loss from this account to owner's capital.
Companies record closing entries in the general journal. A center caption, Closing Entries, inserted in the journal between the last adjusting entry and the first closing entry, identifies these entries. Then the company posts the closing entries to the ledger accounts.
Companies generally prepare closing entries directly from the adjusted balances in the ledger. They could prepare separate closing entries for each nominal account, but the following four entries accomplish the desired result more efficiently:
1. Debit each revenue account for its balance, and credit Income Summary for total revenues.
2. Debit Income Summary for total expenses, and credit each expense account for its balance.
3. Debit Income Summary and credit Owner's Capital for the amount of net income.
4. Debit Owner's Capital for the balance in the Owner's Drawings account, and credit Owner's Drawings for the same amount.
Illustration 4-6 presents a diagram of the closing process. In it, the boxed numbers refer to the four entries required in the closing process.
Helpful Hint Owner's Drawings is closed directly to Owner's Capital and not to Income Summary. Owner's Drawings is not an expense.
If there were a net loss (because expenses exceeded revenues), entry 3 in Illustration 4-6 would be reversed: there would be a credit to Income Summary and a debit to Owner's Capital.
In practice, companies generally prepare closing entries only at the end of the annual accounting period. However, to illustrate the journalizing and posting of closing entries, we will assume that Pioneer Advertising Agency closes its books monthly. Illustration 4-7 (page 170) shows the closing entries at October 31. (The numbers in parentheses before each entry correspond to the four entries diagrammed in Illustration 4-6.)
Note that the amounts for Income Summary in entries (1) and (2) are the totals of the income statement credit and debit columns, respectively, in the worksheet.
A couple of cautions in preparing closing entries: (1) Avoid unintentionally doubling the revenue and expense balances rather than zeroing them. (2) Do not close Owner's Drawings through the Income Summary account. Owner's Drawings is not an expense, and it is not a factor in determining net income.
Illustration 4-8 shows the posting of the closing entries and the underlining (ruling) of the accounts. Note that all temporary accounts have zero balances after posting the closing entries. In addition, notice that the balance in owner's capital (Owner's Capital) represents the total equity of the owner at the end of the accounting period. This balance is shown on the balance sheet and is the ending capital reported on the owner's equity statement, as shown in Illustration 4-4 on page 166. Pioneer uses the Income Summary account only in closing. It does not journalize and post entries to this account during the year.
As part of the closing process, Pioneer totals, balances, and double-underlines its temporary accounts—revenues, expenses, and Owner's Drawings, as shown in T-account form in Illustration 4-8. It does not close its permanent accounts—assets, liabilities, and Owner's Capital. Instead, Pioneer draws a single underline beneath the current-period entries for the permanent accounts. The account balance is then entered below the single underline and is carried forward to the next period. (For example, see Owner's Capital.)
Helpful Hint The balance in Income Summary before it is closed must equal the net income or net loss for the period.
ACCOUNTING ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION
Cisco Performs the Virtual Close
Technology has dramatically shortened the closing process. Recent surveys have reported that the average company now takes only six to seven days to close, rather than 20 days. But a few companies do much better. Cisco Systems can perform a “virtual close”—closing within 24 hours on any day in the quarter. The same is true at Lockheed Martin Corp., which improved its closing time by 85% in just the last few years. Not very long ago, it took 14 to 16 days. Managers at these companies emphasize that this increased speed has not reduced the accuracy and completeness of the data.
This is not just showing off. Knowing exactly where you are financially all of the time allows the company to respond faster than competitors. It also means that the hundreds of people who used to spend 10 to 20 days a quarter tracking transactions can now be more usefully employed on things such as mining data for business intelligence to find new business opportunities.
Source: “Reporting Practices: Few Do It All,” Financial Executive (November 2003), p. 11.
Who else benefits from a shorter closing process? (See page 211.)
Closing Entries
Action Plan
Close Income Summary to Owner's Capital.
Close Owner's Drawings to Owner's Capital.
The worksheet for Hancock Company shows the following in the financial statement columns:
Owner's drawings $15,000
Owner's capital $42,000
Net income $18,000
Prepare the closing entries at December 31 that affect owner's capital.
Solution
Related exercise material: BE4-4, BE4-5, BE4-6, E4-4, E4-7, E4-8, E4-11, and DO IT! 4-2.
After Pioneer has journalized and posted all closing entries, it prepares another trial balance, called a post-closing trial balance, from the ledger. The post-closing trial balance lists permanent accounts and their balances after the journalizing and posting of closing entries. The purpose of the post-closing trial balance is to prove the equality of the permanent account balances carried forward into the next accounting period. Since all temporary accounts will have zero balances, the post-closing trial balance will contain only permanent—balance sheet—accounts.
Illustration 4-9 shows the post-closing trial balance for Pioneer Advertising Agency.
Pioneer prepares the post-closing trial balance from the permanent accounts in the ledger. Illustration 4-10 shows the permanent accounts in Pioneer's general ledger.
A post-closing trial balance provides evidence that the company has properly journalized and posted the closing entries. It also shows that the accounting equation is in balance at the end of the accounting period. However, like the trial balance, it does not prove that Pioneer has recorded all transactions or that the ledger is correct. For example, the post-closing trial balance still will balance even if a transaction is not journalized and posted or if a transaction is journalized and posted twice.
The remaining accounts in the general ledger are temporary accounts, shown in Illustration 4-11. After Pioneer correctly posts the closing entries, each temporary account has a zero balance. These accounts are double-underlined to finalize the closing process.
Illustration 4-12 summarizes the steps in the accounting cycle. You can see that the cycle begins with the analysis of business transactions and ends with the preparation of a post-closing trial balance.
Steps 1–3 may occur daily during the accounting period. Companies perform Steps 4–7 on a periodic basis, such as monthly, quarterly, or annually. Steps 8 and 9—closing entries and a post-closing trial balance—usually take place only at the end of a company's annual accounting period.
There are also two optional steps in the accounting cycle. As you have seen, companies may use a worksheet in preparing adjusting entries and financial statements. In addition, they may use reversing entries, as explained below.
Some accountants prefer to reverse certain adjusting entries by making a reversing entry at the beginning of the next accounting period. A reversing entry is the exact opposite of the adjusting entry made in the previous period. Use of reversing entries is an optional bookkeeping procedure; it is not a required step in the accounting cycle. Accordingly, we have chosen to cover this topic in an appendix at the end of the chapter.
Unfortunately, errors may occur in the recording process. Companies should correct errors, as soon as they discover them, by journalizing and posting correcting entries. If the accounting records are free of errors, no correcting entries are needed.
You should recognize several differences between correcting entries and adjusting entries. First, adjusting entries are an integral part of the accounting cycle. Correcting entries, on the other hand, are unnecessary if the records are error-free. Second, companies journalize and post adjustments only at the end of an accounting period. In contrast, companies make correcting entries whenever they discover an error. Finally, adjusting entries always affect at least one balance sheet account and one income statement account. In contrast, correcting entries may involve any combination of accounts in need of correction. Correcting entries must be posted before closing entries.
To determine the correcting entry, it is useful to compare the incorrect entry with the correct entry. Doing so helps identify the accounts and amounts that should—and should not—be corrected. After comparison, the accountant makes an entry to correct the accounts. The following two cases for Mercato Co. illustrate this approach.
Ethics Note
When companies find errors in previously released income statements, they restate those numbers. Perhaps because of the increased scrutiny caused by Sarbanes-Oxley, in a recent year companies filed a record 1,195 restatements.
On May 10, Mercato Co. journalized and posted a $50 cash collection on account from a customer as a debit to Cash $50 and a credit to Service Revenue $50. The company discovered the error on May 20, when the customer paid the remaining balance in full.
Comparison of the incorrect entry with the correct entry reveals that the debit to Cash $50 is correct. However, the $50 credit to Service Revenue should have been credited to Accounts Receivable. As a result, both Service Revenue and Accounts Receivable are overstated in the ledger. Mercato makes the following correcting entry.
On May 18, Mercato purchased on account equipment costing $450. The transaction was journalized and posted as a debit to Equipment $45 and a credit to Accounts Payable $45. The error was discovered on June 3, when Mercato received the monthly statement for May from the creditor.
Comparison of the two entries shows that two accounts are incorrect. Equipment is understated $405, and Accounts Payable is understated $405. Mercato makes the following correcting entry.
Instead of preparing a correcting entry, it is possible to reverse the incorrect entry and then prepare the correct entry. This approach will result in more entries and postings than a correcting entry, but it will accomplish the desired result.
ACCOUNTING ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION
Yale Express Loses Some Transportation Bills
Yale Express, a short-haul trucking firm, turned over much of its cargo to local truckers to complete deliveries. Yale collected the entire delivery charge. When billed by the local trucker, Yale sent payment for the final phase to the local trucker. Yale used a cutoff period of 20 days into the next accounting period in making its adjusting entries for accrued liabilities. That is, it waited 20 days to receive the local truckers’ bills to determine the amount of the unpaid but incurred delivery charges as of the balance sheet date.
On the other hand, Republic Carloading, a nationwide, long-distance freight forwarder, frequently did not receive transportation bills from truckers to whom it passed on cargo until months after the year-end. In making its year-end adjusting entries, Republic waited for months in order to include all of these outstanding transportation bills.
When Yale Express merged with Republic Carloading, Yale's vice president employed the 20-day cutoff procedure for both firms. As a result, millions of dollars of Republic's accrued transportation bills went unrecorded. When the company detected the error and made correcting entries, these and other errors changed a reported profit of $1.14 million into a loss of $1.88 million!
What might Yale Express's vice president have done to produce more accurate financial statements without waiting months for Republic's outstanding transportation bills? (See page 211.)
The balance sheet presents a snapshot of a company's financial position at a point in time. To improve users’ understanding of a company's financial position, companies often use a classified balance sheet. A classified balance sheet groups together similar assets and similar liabilities, using a number of standard classifications and sections. This is useful because items within a group have similar economic characteristics. A classified balance sheet generally contains the standard classifications listed in Illustration 4-17.
These groupings help financial statement readers determine such things as (1) whether the company has enough assets to pay its debts as they come due, and (2) the claims of short- and long-term creditors on the company's total assets. Many of these groupings can be seen in the balance sheet of Franklin Company shown in Illustration 4-18 below. In the sections that follow, we explain each of these groupings.
Helpful Hint Recall that the basic accounting equation is Assets = Liabilities + Owner's Equity.
Current assets are assets that a company expects to convert to cash or use up within one year or its operating cycle, whichever is longer. In Illustration 4-18, Franklin Company had current assets of $22,100. For most businesses the cutoff for classification as current assets is one year from the balance sheet date. For example, accounts receivable are current assets because the company will collect them and convert them to cash within one year. Supplies is a current asset because the company expects to use them up in operations within one year.
Some companies use a period longer than one year to classify assets and liabilities as current because they have an operating cycle longer than one year. The operating cycle of a company is the average time that it takes to purchase inventory, sell it on account, and then collect cash from customers. For most businesses this cycle takes less than a year, so they use a one-year cutoff. But, for some businesses, such as vineyards or airplane manufacturers, this period may be longer than a year. Except where noted, we will assume that companies use one year to determine whether an asset or liability is current or long-term.
Common types of current assets are (1) cash, (2) investments (such as short-term U.S. government securities), (3) receivables (notes receivable, accounts receivable, and interest receivable), (4) inventories, and (5) prepaid expenses (supplies and insurance). On the balance sheet, companies usually list these items in the order in which they expect to convert them into cash.
Illustration 4-19 presents the current assets of Southwest Airlines Co.
As explained later in the chapter, a company's current assets are important in assessing its short-term debt-paying ability.
Long-term investments are generally (1) investments in stocks and bonds of other companies that are normally held for many years, (2) long-term assets such as land or buildings that a company is not currently using in its operating activities, and (3) long-term notes receivable. In Illustration 4-18, Franklin Company reported total long-term investments of $7,200 on its balance sheet.
Yahoo! Inc. reported long-term investments in its balance sheet as shown in Illustration 4-20.
Alternative Terminology Long-term investments are often referred to simply as investments.
Property, plant, and equipment are assets with relatively long useful lives that a company is currently using in operating the business. This category includes land, buildings, machinery and equipment, delivery equipment, and furniture. In Illustration 4-18, Franklin Company reported property, plant, and equipment of $29,000.
Depreciation is the practice of allocating the cost of assets to a number of years. Companies do this by systematically assigning a portion of an asset's cost as an expense each year (rather than expensing the full purchase price in the year of purchase). The assets that the company depreciates are reported on the balance sheet at cost less accumulated depreciation. The accumulated depreciation account shows the total amount of depreciation that the company has expensed thus far in the asset's life. In Illustration 4-18, Franklin Company reported accumulated depreciation of $5,000.
Illustration 4-21 presents the property, plant, and equipment of Cooper Tire & Rubber Company.
Alternative Terminology Property, plant, and equipment is sometimes called fixed assets or plant assets.
International Note
Recently, China adopted International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This was done in an effort to reduce fraud and increase investor confidence in financial reports. Under these standards, many items, such as property, plant, and equipment, may be reported at current fair values rather than historical cost.
Helpful Hint Sometimes intangible assets are reported under a broader heading called “Other assets.”
Many companies have long-lived assets that do not have physical substance yet often are very valuable. We call these assets intangible assets. One significant intangible asset is goodwill. Others include patents, copyrights, and trademarks or trade names that give the company exclusive right of use for a specified period of time. In Illustration 4-18, Franklin Company reported intangible assets of $3,100.
Illustration 4-22 shows the intangible assets of media giant Time Warner, Inc.
PEOPLE, PLANET, AND PROFIT INSIGHT
Regaining Goodwill
After falling to unforeseen lows amidst scandals, recalls, and economic crises, the American public's positive perception of the reputation of corporate America is on the rise. Overall corporate reputation is experiencing rehabilitation as the American public gives high marks overall to corporate America, specific industries, and the largest number of individual companies in a dozen years. This is according to the findings of the 2011 Harris Interactive RQ Study, which measures the reputations of the 60 most visible companies in the United States.
The survey focuses on six reputational dimensions that influence reputation and consumer behavior. Four of these dimensions, along with the five corporations that ranked highest within each, are as follows.
• Social Responsibility: (1) Whole Foods Market, (2) Johnson & Johnson, (3) Google, (4) The Walt Disney Company, (5) Procter & Gamble Co.
• Emotional Appeal: (1) Johnson & Johnson, (2) Amazon.com, (3) UPS, (4) General Mills, (5) Kraft Foods
• Financial Performance: (1) Google, (2) Berkshire Hathaway, (3) Apple, (4) Intel, (5) The Walt Disney Company
• Products and Services: (1) Intel Corporation, (2) 3M Company, (3) Johnson & Johnson, (4) Google, (5) Procter & Gamble Co.
Source: www.harrisinteractive.com.
Name two industries today which are probably rated low on the reputational characteristics of “being trusted” and “having high ethical standards.” (See page 212.)
DO IT!
Assets Section of Classified Balance Sheet
Action Plan
Present current assets first. Current assets are cash and other resources that the company expects to convert to cash or use up within one year.
Present current assets in the order in which the company expects to convert them into cash.
Subtract accumulated depreciation—equipment from equipment to determine the book value of equipment.
Baxter Hoffman recently received the following information related to Hoffman Company's December 31, 2014, balance sheet.
Prepaid insurance | $ 2,300 |
Cash | 800 |
Equipment | 10,700 |
Inventory | $3,400 |
Accumulated depreciation—equipment | 2,700 |
Accounts receivable | 1,100 |
Prepare the assets section of Hoffman Company's classified balance sheet.
Solution
Related exercise material: BE4-10 and DO IT! 4-3.
In the liabilities and owner's equity section of the balance sheet, the first grouping is current liabilities. Current liabilities are obligations that the company is to pay within the coming year or its operating cycle, whichever is longer. Common examples are accounts payable, salaries and wages payable, notes payable, interest payable, and income taxes payable. Also included as current liabilities are current maturities of long-term obligations—payments to be made within the next year on long-term obligations. In Illustration 4-18, Franklin Company reported five different types of current liabilities, for a total of $16,050.
Illustration 4-23 shows the current liabilities section adapted from the balance sheet of Marcus Corporation.
Ethics Note
A company that has more current assets than current liabilities can increase the ratio of current assets to current liabilities by using cash to pay off some current liabilities. This gives the appearance of being more liquid. Do you think this move is ethical?
Users of financial statements look closely at the relationship between current assets and current liabilities. This relationship is important in evaluating a company's liquidity—its ability to pay obligations expected to be due within the next year. When current assets exceed current liabilities, the likelihood for paying the liabilities is favorable. When the reverse is true, short-term creditors may not be paid, and the company may ultimately be forced into bankruptcy.
ACCOUNTING ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION
Can a Company Be Too Liquid?
There actually is a point where a company can be too liquid—that is, it can have too much working capital (current assets less current liabilities). While it is important to be liquid enough to be able to pay short-term bills as they come due, a company does not want to tie up its cash in extra inventory or receivables that are not earning the company money.
By one estimate from the REL Consultancy Group, the thousand largest U.S. companies have on their books cumulative excess working capital of $764 billion. Based on this figure, companies could have reduced debt by 36% or increased net income by 9%. Given that managers throughout a company are interested in improving profitability, it is clear that they should have an eye toward managing working capital. They need to aim for a “Goldilocks solution”—not too much, not too little, but just right.
Source: K. Richardson, “Companies Fall Behind in Cash Management,” Wall Street Journal (June 19, 2007).
What can various company managers do to ensure that working capital is managed efficiently to maximize net income? (See page 212.)
Long-term liabilities are obligations that a company expects to pay after one year. Liabilities in this category include bonds payable, mortgages payable, long-term notes payable, lease liabilities, and pension liabilities. Many companies report long-term debt maturing after one year as a single amount in the balance sheet and show the details of the debt in notes that accompany the financial statements. Others list the various types of long-term liabilities. In Illustration 4-18, Franklin Company reported long-term liabilities of $11,300.
Illustration 4-24 shows the long-term liabilities that The Procter & Gamble Company reported in its balance sheet.
The content of the owner's equity section varies with the form of business organization. In a proprietorship, there is one capital account. In a partnership, there is a capital account for each partner. Corporations divide owners’ equity into two accounts—Common Stock (sometimes referred to as Capital Stock) and Retained Earnings. Corporations record stockholders’ investments in the company by debiting an asset account and crediting the Common Stock account. They record in the Retained Earnings account income retained for use in the business. Corporations combine the Common Stock and Retained Earnings accounts and report them on the balance sheet as stockholders’ equity. (We'll learn more about these corporation accounts in later chapters.) Nordstrom, Inc. recently reported its stockholders’ equity section as follows.
Alternative Terminology Common stock is sometimes called capital stock.
DO IT!
Balance Sheet Classifications
The following accounts were taken from the financial statements of Callahan Company.
________ Salaries and wages payable | ________ Stock investments (long-term) |
________ Service revenue | ________ Equipment |
________ Interest payable | ________ Accumulated depreciation—equipment |
________ Goodwill | |
________ Debt investments (short-term) | ________ Depreciation expense |
________ Mortgage payable (due in 3 years) | ________ Owner's capital |
________ Unearned service revenue |
Match each of the following to its proper balance sheet classification, shown below. If the item would not appear on a balance sheet, use “NA.”
Current assets (CA) | Current liabilities (CL) |
Long-term investments (LTI) | Long-term liabilities (LTL) |
Property, plant, and equipment (PPE) | Owner's equity (OE) |
Intangible assets (IA) |
Solution
Action Plan
Analyze whether each financial statement item is an asset, liability, or owner's equity.
Determine if asset and liability items are short-term or long-term.
__CL__ | Salaries and wages payable |
__NA__ | Service revenue |
__CL__ | Interest payable |
__IA__ | Goodwill |
__CA__ | Debt investments (short-term) |
__LTL__ | Mortgage payable (due in 3 years) |
__LTI__ | Stock investments (long-term) |
__PPE__ | Equipment |
__PPE__ | Accumulated depreciation—equipment |
__NA__ | Depreciation expense |
__OE__ | Owner's capital |
__CL__ | Unearned service revenue |
Related exercise material: BE4-11, E4-14, E4-15, E4-16, E4-17, and DO IT! 4-4.
At the end of its first month of operations, Watson Answering Service has the following unadjusted trial balance.
Action Plan
In completing the worksheet, be sure to (a) key the adjustments; (b) start at the top of the adjusted trial balance columns and extend adjusted balances to the correct statement columns; and (c) enter net income (or net loss) in the proper columns.
In preparing a classified balance sheet, know the contents of each of the sections.
In journalizing closing entries, remember that there are only four entries and that Owner's Drawings is closed to Owner's Capital.
1. Insurance expires at the rate of $200 per month.
2. $1,000 of supplies are on hand at August 31.
3. Monthly depreciation on the equipment is $900.
4. Interest of $500 on the notes payable has accrued during August.
Instructions
(a) Prepare a worksheet.
(b) Prepare a classified balance sheet assuming $35,000 of the notes payable are long-term.
(c) Journalize the closing entries.
Solution to Comprehensive DO IT!
__________
1We explain closing entries for a partnership and for a corporation in Chapters 12 and 13, respectively.
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