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CA16-4 WRITING (Stock Compensation Plans) The following two items appeared on the Internet concerning the GAAP requirement to expense stock options.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—February 17, 2005 Congressman David Dreier (R–CA), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (D–CA) reintroduced legislation today that will preserve broad-based employee stock option plans and give investors critical information they need to understand how employee stock options impact the value of their shares.

“Last year, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted for legislation that would have ensured the continued ability of innovative companies to offer stock options to rank-and-file employees,” Dreier stated. “Both the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continue to ignore our calls to address legitimate concerns about the impact of FASB’s new standard on workers’ ability to have an ownership stake in the New Economy, and its failure to address the real need of shareholders: accurate and meaningful information about a company’s use of stock options.”

In December 2004, FASB issued a stock option expensing standard that will render a huge blow to the 21st century economy,” Dreier said. “Their action and the SEC’s apparent lack of concern for protecting shareholders, requires us to once again take a firm stand on the side of investors and economic growth. Giving investors the ability to understand how stock options impact the value of their shares is critical. And equally important is preserving the ability of companies to use this innovative tool to attract talented employees.”

“Here We Go Again!” by Jack Ciesielski (2/21/2005, http://www.accountingobserver.com/blog/2005/02/here-we-go-again) On February 17, Congressman David Dreier (R–CA), and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (D–CA), officially entered Silicon Valley’s bid to gum up the launch of honest reporting of stock option compensation: They co-sponsored a bill to “preserve broad-based employee stock option plans and give investors critical information they need to understand how employee stock options impact the value of their shares.” You know what “critical information” they mean: stuff like the stock compensation for the top five officers in a company, with a rigged value set as close to zero as possible. Investors crave this kind of information. Other ways the good Congresspersons want to “help” investors: The bill “also requires the SEC to study the effectiveness of those disclosures over three years, during which time, no new accounting standard related to the treatment of stock options could be recognized. Finally, the bill requires the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a study and report to Congress on the impact of broad-based employee stock option plans on expanding employee corporate ownership, skilled worker recruitment and retention, research and innovation, economic growth, and international competitiveness.”

It’s the old “four corners” basketball strategy: stall, stall, stall. In the meantime, hope for regime change at your opponent, the FASB.

Instructions

(a) What are the major recommendations of the stock-based compensation pronouncement?

(b) How do the provisions of GAAP in this area differ from the bill introduced by members of Congress (Dreier and Eshoo), which would require expensing for options issued to only the top five officers in a company? Which approach do you think would result in more useful information? (Focus on comparability.)

(c) The bill in Congress urges the FASB to develop a rule that preserves “the ability of companies to use this innovative tool to attract talented employees.” Write a response to these Congress-people explaining the importance of neutrality in financial accounting and reporting.

Short Answer

Expert verified
  1. Stock-based compensation is reported as a general compensation expense.
  2. U.S. GAAP requiresto report all stock-based compensation as non-cash expenses under operating expenses.
  3. Neutrality ensures that the financial statement is free from biasness.

Step by step solution

01

Definition of Stock-Based Compensation

Stock-based compensation is the method of rewarding employees using shares and options rather than using cash. Such compensation is also reported in the financial statements of the business entity.

02

Recommendation for stock-based compensation pronouncement

The stock-based compensation must be accounted for as general compensation. It must be reflected in the financial statement of the business entity as the cost paid for employee services. All the shares of the stock-based compensation must be recognized at the fair value of the options. The option pricing model is used to determine the fair value of the government company’s option. After granting the option, no adjustment will be made to the share price.

The value of the award will be included as an expense in the financial statement of the period in which the employees provide the services. Such a period is considered as vesting period.

Business entities made adjustments for the options that employees did not vest.

03

Difference in the approaches to exercising the option

The bill introduced by the member of congress reflects that the company must record only those options provided to the top five executives of the company. Under U.S. GAAP, all stock-based compensation is reported as non-cash operating expenses.

Based on comparability, recording stock-based compensation for some shares only will not provide useful information to the users of the financial statement and analysts. It will become difficult for the analyst to compare the compensation cost of the companies where one is paying through the share option, and another is paying in cash.

04

Importance of neutrality in the financial statement

The financial statement users are best served when the financial statement is prepared using neutral accounting standards. It means that all accounting information must be true and fair. Neutrality is not concerned with influencing human behaviour. At the same time, neutrality means that accounting information of the business entity is free from biasness and reflects the true picture of the business entity. Neutrality is one of the characteristics of the international financial reporting standards.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

16-18 (L04) (EPS: Simple Capital Structure) Flagstad Inc. presented the following data.

Net income \(2,500,000

Preferred stock: 50,000 shares outstanding,

\)100 par, 8% cumulative, not convertible 5,000,000

Common stock: Shares outstanding 1/1 750,000

Issued for cash, 5/1 300,000

Acquired treasury stock for cash, 8/1 150,000

2-for-1 stock split, 10/1

Instructions

Compute earnings per share.

CA16-6 WRITING (EPS, Antidilution) Brad Dolan, a stockholder of Rhode Corporation, has asked you, the firm’s accountant, to explain why his stock warrants were not included in diluted EPS. In order to explain this situation, you must briefly explain what dilutive securities are, why they are included in the EPS calculation, and why some securities are antidilutive and thus not included in this calculation.

Rhode Corporation earned \(228,000 during the period, when it had an average of 100,000 shares of common stock outstanding. The common stock sold at an average market price of \)25 per share during the period. Also outstanding were 30,000 warrants that could be exercised to purchase one share of common stock at $30 per warrant.

Instructions

Write Mr. Dolan a 1–1.5-page letter explaining why the warrants are not included in the calculation.

E16-29 (L06) (Stock-Appreciation Rights) On December 31, 2013, Beckford Company issues 150,000 stock-appreciation rights to its officers entitling them to receive cash for the difference between the market price of its stock and a pre-established price of \(10. The fair value of the SARs is estimated to be \)4 per SAR on December 31, 2014; \(1 on December 31, 2015; \)10 on December 31, 2016; and $9 on December 31, 2017. The service period is 4 years, and the exercise period is 7 years.

Instructions

(a) Prepare a schedule that shows the amount of compensation expense allocable to each year affected by the stockappreciation rights plan.

(b) Prepare the entry at December 31, 2017, to record compensation expense, if any, in 2017.

(c) Prepare the entry on December 31, 2017, assuming that all 150,000 SARs are exercised.

Bedard Corporation reported net income of \(300,000 in 2017 and had 200,000 shares of common stock outstanding throughout the year. Also outstanding all year were 45,000 options to purchase common stock at \)10 per share. The average market price of the stock during the year was $15. Compute diluted earnings per share.

On January 1, 2017 (the date of grant), Lutz Corporation issues 2,000 shares of restricted stock to its executives. The fair value of these shares is \(75,000, and their par value is \)10,000. The stock is forfeited if the executives do not complete 3 years of employment with the company. Prepare the journal entry (if any) on January 1, 2017, and on December 31, 2017, assuming the service period is 3 years.

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