S-A E 305
How is a gain or loss on the sale of a plant asset computed?
S-A E 306(Ethics)
Physician Reference Service (PRS) provides services to physicians including research assistance, diagnosis coding and medical practice software including an advanced medical record cross-referencing system. PRS is aggressive in monitoring other firms' offerings and ensuring that its services are comparable to all others.
Because of its need to stay abreast of new product offerings, PRS spends a lot of money sending professionals to trade shows. In addition, PRS has agreements with several clients whereby the client requests a presentation of a competitor's services. A PRS employee poses as an employee of the client's office and attends the presentation, obtaining as much data and sample information as possible. The cost of the travel and attending presentations is charged to Product Development and expensed during the current year.
In April of this year, PRS began selling a software product substitute before the competitor's software was released. The competitor, Compu-Med, sued for copyright infringement and won. PRS had to withdraw its product from the market and pay $1.5 million in damages. PRS immediately negotiated an agreement with Compu-Med to sell Compu-Med's product (since it was prohibited from offering its own version for five years.) This agreement cost an additional $1.3 million, but it allowed PRS to continue to offer a full line of services.
PRS's accountant, Mary Linsey, initially recorded the cash payments as "Loss from Lawsuit" and "Product Development," respectively. However, Jack Grand, the controller, instructed Mary to create an intangible asset, named "Goodwill" and charge both costs to this account. "We're protected from another lawsuit as long as this agreement is in effect," he says. "It's about as close to goodwill as we'll ever get from our competitors. We might as well amortize the cost rather than take the full hit to income, anyway."
Required:
1.What are the ethical issues?
2.What should Mary do?
S-A E 307(Communication)
The Restor-It is a company specializing in the restoration of old homes. To showcase its work, the company purchased an old Victorian home in downtown Pittsburg, Kansas. The original home was purchased for $125,000. A new heating and air-conditioning system was added for $30,000. The house was completely rewired and re-plumbed at a cost of $50,000. Custom cabinets were added, and the floors and trim were refurbished to their original condition, at a cost of $75,000.
The project was such a success, that Restor-It decided to purchase another very large home, this time in nearby Joplin, Missouri. A realtor offered to purchase the home in Pittsburg for $175,000. He plans to lease it as luxury short-term apartments for visiting dignitaries. Restor-It decided that a modest return was all that was required, and so they agreed to sell. Only afterward did they learn that they had a $10,000 loss on the sale. The president of the company, Dan Carlin, does not believe that a loss is possible. "We sold that house for more than we paid for it," he said. "I know we put some money in it, but we had depreciated it for three years. How in the world can we have a loss?"
Required:
Write a short memo to Mr. Carlin explaining how it would be possible to have a loss. Do not try to use specific numbers for cost or depreciation.