Whittier Construction Co. had followed the practice of

In recent years, the Wall Street Journal has indicated that many companies have changed their accounting principles. What are the major reasons why companies change accounting methods?

State how each of the following items is reflected in the financial statements. (a) Change from FIFO to LIFO method for inventory valuation purposes. (b) Charge for failure to record depreciation in a previous period. (c) Litigation won in current year, related to prior period. QUESTIONS Questions 1383 (d) Change in the realizability of certain receivables. (e) Write-off of receivables. (f) Change from the percentage-of-completion to the completed-contract method for reporting net income.

Discuss briefly the three approaches that have been suggested for reporting changes in accounting principles.

Identify and describe the approach the FASB requires for reporting changes in accounting principles.

What is the indirect effect of a change in accounting principle? Briefly describe the reporting of the indirect effects of a change in accounting principle.

Define a change in estimate and provide an illustration. When is a change in accounting estimate effected by a change in accounting principle?

Lenexa State Bank has followed the practice of capitalizing certain marketing costs and amortizing these costs over their expected life. In the current year, the bank determined that the future benefits from these costs were doubtful. Consequently, the bank adopted the policy of expensing these costs as incurred. How should the bank report this accounting change in the comparative financial statements?

Indicate how the following items are recorded in the accounting records in the current year of Coronet Co. (a) Impairment of goodwill. (b) A change in depreciating plant assets from accelerated to the straight-line method. (c) Large write-off of inventories because of obsolescence. (d) Change from the cash basis to accrual basis of accounting. (e) Change from LIFO to FIFO method for inventory valuation purposes. (f) Change in the estimate of service lives for plant assets.

Whittier Construction Co. had followed the practice of expensing all materials assigned to a construction job without recognizing any salvage inventory. On December 31, 2014, it was determined that salvage inventory should be valued at $52,000. Of this amount, $29,000 arose during the current year. How does this information affect the financial statements to be prepared at the end of 2014?

Parsons Inc. has proposed a change from the completedcontract to the percentage-of-completion method for financial reporting purposes. The auditor indicates that a change would be permitted only if it is to a preferable method. What difficulties develop in assessing preferability?

Discuss how a change to the LIFO method of inventory valuation is handled when it is impracticable to determine previous LIFO inventory amounts.

How should consolidated financial statements be reported this year when statements of individual companies were presented last year?

Simms Corp. controlled four domestic subsidiaries and one foreign subsidiary. Prior to the current year, Simms Corp. had excluded the foreign subsidiary from consolidation. During the current year, the foreign subsidiary was included in the financial statements. How should this change in accounting entity be reflected in the financial statements?

Distinguish between counterbalancing and noncounterbalancing errors. Give an example of each.

Discuss and illustrate how a correction of an error in previously issued financial statements should be handled.

Prior to 2014, Heberling Inc. excluded manufacturing overhead costs from work in process and finished goods inventory. These costs have been expensed as incurred. In 2014, the company decided to change its accounting methods for manufacturing inventories to full costing by including these costs as product costs. Assuming that these costs are material, how should this change be reflected in the financial statements for 2013 and 2014?

Elliott Corp. failed to record accrued salaries for 2013, $2,000; 2014, $2,100; and 2015, $3,900. What is the amount of the overstatement or understatement of Retained Earnings at December 31, 2016?

In January 2014, installation costs of $6,000 on new machinery were charged to Maintenance and Repairs Expense. Other costs of this machinery of $30,000 were correctly recorded and have been depreciated using the straight-line method with an estimated life of 10 years and no salvage value. At December 31, 2015, it is decided that the machinery has a remaining useful life of 20 years, starting with January 1, 2015. What entry(ies) should be made in 2015 to correctly record transactions related to machinery, assuming the machinery has no salvage value? The books have not been closed for 2015 and depreciation expense has not yet been recorded for 2015.

On January 2, 2014, $100,000 of 11%, 10-year bonds were issued for $97,000. The $3,000 discount was charged to Interest Expense. The bookkeeper, Mark Landis, records interest only on the interest payment dates of January 1 and July 1. What is the effect on reported net income for 2014 of this error, assuming straight-line amortization of the discount? What entry is necessary to correct for this error, assuming that the books are not closed for 2014?

An entry to record Purchases and related Accounts Payable of $13,000 for merchandise purchased on December 23, 2015, was recorded in January 2016. This merchandise was not included in inventory at December 31, 2015. What effect does this error have on reported net income for 2015? What entry should be made to correct for this error, assuming that the books are not closed for 2015?

Equipment was purchased on January 2, 2014, for $24,000, but no portion of the cost has been charged to depreciation. The corporation wishes to use the straight-line method for these assets, which have been estimated to have a life of 10 years and no salvage value. What effect does this error have on net income in 2014? What entry is necessary to correct for this error, assuming that the books are not closed for 2014?