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Prior to 2017, Heberling Inc. excluded manufacturing overhead costs from work in process and finished goods inventory. These costs have been expensed as incurred. In 2017, 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 2016 and 2017?

Short Answer

Expert verified

An accounting error is the omission of principles, and the change mentioned above will be reflected as the restatement of the opening balance of retained earnings for the year 2017.

Step by step solution

01

Definition of an accounting error

An accounting error is defined as the omission of any fundamental accounting principles in the financial statement of the business.

02

Explanation of the effect of change

The change made in this problem is the change in accounting principle, which is not generally accepted. So, this change should be considered as the correction of the error. Therefore, this change should be corrected by the restatement or alteration of the beginning balance of the retained earnings.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

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

Oliver Corporation has owned stock of Conrad Corporation since 2014. At December 31, 2017, its balances related to this investment were:

Equity Investments \(185,000

Fair Value Adjustment (AFS) 34,000 Dr.

Accumulated Unrealized Holding Gain or Lossโ€”Income (recorded in Retained Earnings) 34,000 Cr.

On January 1, 2018, Oliver purchased additional stock of Conrad Company for \)475,000 and now has significant influence over Conrad. If the equity method had been used in 2014โ€“2017, Oliverโ€™s share of income would have been $33,000 greater than dividends received. Prepare Oliverโ€™s journal entries to record the purchase of the investment and the change to the equity method.

On March 5, 2018, you were hired by Hemingway Inc., a closely held company, as a staff member of its newly created internal auditing department. While reviewing the companyโ€™s records for 2016 and 2017, you discover that no adjustments have yet been made for the following items. Items

1. Interest income of \(14,100 was not accrued at the end of 2016. It was recorded when received in February 2017.

2. A computer costing \)4,000 was expensed when purchased on July 1, 2016. It is expected to have a 4-year life with no salvage value. The company typically uses straight-line depreciation for all fixed assets.

3. Research and development costs of \(33,000 were incurred early in 2016. They were capitalized and were to be amortized over a 3-year period. Amortization of \)11,000 was recorded for 2016 and \(11,000 for 2017.

4. On January 2, 2016, Hemingway leased a building for 5 years at a monthly rental of \)8,000. On that date, the company paid the following amounts, which were expensed when paid. Security deposit \(20,000 First monthโ€™s rent 8,000 Last monthโ€™s rent 8,000 \)36,000

5. The company received \(36,000 from a customer at the beginning of 2016 for services that it is to perform evenly over a 3-year period beginning in 2016. None of the amount received was reported as unearned revenue at the end of 2016.

6. Merchandise inventory costing \)18,200 was in the warehouse at December 31, 2016, but was incorrectly omitted from the physical count at that date. The company uses the periodic inventory method.

Instructions

Indicate the effect of any errors on the net income figure reported on the income statement for the year ending December 31, 2016, and the retained earnings figure reported on the balance sheet at December 31, 2017. Assume all amounts are material, and ignore income tax effects. Using the following format, enter the appropriate dollar amounts in the appropriate columns. Consider each item independent of the other items. It is not necessary to total the columns on the grid.

(Change in Estimate) Mike Crane is an audit senior of a large public accounting firm who has just been assigned to the Frost Corporationโ€™s annual audit engagement. Frost has been a client of Craneโ€™s firm for many years. Frost is a fastgrowing business in the commercial construction industry. In reviewing the fixed asset ledger, Crane discovered a series of unusual accounting changes, in which the useful lives of assets, depreciated using the straight-line method, were substantially lowered near the midpoint of the original estimate. For example, the useful life of one dump truck was changed from 10 to 6 years during its fifth year of service. Upon further investigation, Mike was told by Kevin James, Frostโ€™s accounting manager, โ€œI donโ€™t really see your problem. After all, itโ€™s perfectly legal to change an accounting estimate. Besides, our CEO likes to see big earnings!โ€

Instructions Answer the following questions.

(a) What are the ethical issues concerning Frostโ€™s practice of changing the useful lives of fixed assets?

(b) Who could be harmed by Frostโ€™s unusual accounting changes?

(c) What should Crane do in this situation?

Joy Cunningham Co. purchased a machine on January 1, 2015, for $550,000. At that time, it was estimated that the machine would have a 10-year life and no salvage value. On December 31, 2018, the firmโ€™s accountant found that the entry for depreciation expense had been omitted in 2016. In addition, management has informed the accountant that the company plans to switch to straight-line depreciation, starting with the year 2018. At present, the company uses the sum-of-the-yearsโ€™-digits method for depreciating equipment. Instructions Prepare the general journal entries that should be made at December 31, 2018, to record these events. (Ignore tax effects.)

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