10 Acquisition and Disposition of Property, Plant, and Equipment CONCEPTS FOR ANALYSIS 10
CONCEPTS FOR ANALYSIS
CA10-1 WRITING (Acquisition, Improvements, and Sale of Realty) Tonkawa Company purchased land for use as its corporate headquarters. A small factory that was on the land when it was purchased was torn down before construction of the office building began. Furthermore, a substantial amount of rock blasting and removal had to be done to the site before construction of the building foundation began. Because the office building was set back on the land far from the public road, Tonkawa Company had the contractor construct a paved road that led from the public road to the parking lot of the office building.
Three years after the office building was occupied, Tonkawa Company added four stories to the office building. The four stories had an estimated useful life of 5 years more than the remaining estimated useful life of the original office building.
Ten years later, the land and building were sold at an amount more than their net book value, and Tonkawa Company had a new office building constructed in another state for use as its new corporate headquarters.
Instructions
(a) Which of the expenditures above should be capitalized? How should each be depreciated or amortized? Discuss the rationale for your answers.
(b) How would the sale of the land and building be accounted for? Include in your answer an explanation of how to determine the net book value at the date of sale. Discuss the rationale for your answer.
CA10-2 (Accounting for Self-Constructed Assets) Troopers Medical Labs, Inc., began operations 5 years ago producing stetrics, a new type of instrument it hoped to sell to doctors, dentists, and hospitals. The demand for stetrics far exceeded initial expectations, and the company was unable to produce enough stetrics to meet demand.
The company was manufacturing its product on equipment that it built at the start of its operations. To meet demand, more efficient equipment was needed. The company decided to design and build the equipment, because the equipment currently available on the market was unsuitable for producing stetrics.
In 2017, a section of the plant was devoted to development of the new equipment and a special staff was hired. Within 6 months, a machine developed at a cost of $714,000 increased production dramatically and reduced labor costs substantially.
Elated by the success of the new machine, the company built three more machines of the same type at a cost of $441,000 each.
Instructions
(a) In general, what costs should be capitalized for self-constructed equipment?
(b) Discuss the propriety of including in the capitalized cost of self-constructed assets:
(1) The increase in overhead caused by the self-construction of fixed assets.
(2) A proportionate share of overhead on the same basis as that applied to goods manufactured for sale.
(c) Discuss the proper accounting treatment of the $273,000 ($714,000 − $441,000) by which the cost of the first machine exceeded the cost of the subsequent machines. This additional cost should not be considered research and development costs.
CA10-3 WRITING (Capitalization of Interest) Vania Magazine Company started construction of a warehouse building for its own use at an estimated cost of $5,000,000 on January 1, 2016, and completed the building on December 31, 2016. During the construction period, Vania has the following debt obligations outstanding…
Total cost amounted to $5,200,000, and the weighted average of accumulated expenditures was $3,500,000.
Jane Esplanade, the president of the company, has been shown the costs associated with this construction project and capitalized on the balance sheet. She is bothered by the “avoidable interest” included in the cost. She argues that, first, all the interest is unavoidable—no one lends money without expecting to be compensated for it. Second, why can’t the company use all the interest on all the loans when computing this avoidable interest? Finally, why can’t her company capitalize all the annual interest that accrued over the period of construction?
Instructions
(Round the weighted-average interest rate to two decimal places.)
You are the manager of accounting for the company. In a memo, explain what avoidable interest is, how you computed it (being especially careful to explain why you used the interest rates that you did), and why the company cannot capitalize all its interest for the year. Attach a schedule supporting any computations that you use.
CA10-4 WRITING (Nonmonetary Exchanges) You have two clients that are considering trading machinery with each other.
Although the machines are different from each other, you believe that an assessment of expected cash flows on the exchanged assets will indicate the exchange lacks commercial substance. Your clients would prefer that the exchange be deemed to have commercial substance, to allow them to record gains. Here are the facts:…
Instructions
(a) Record the trade-in on Client A’s books assuming the exchange has commercial substance.
(b) Record the trade-in on Client A’s books assuming the exchange lacks commercial substance.
(c) Write a memo to the controller of Company A indicating and explaining the dollar impact on current and future statements of treating the exchange as having, versus lacking, commercial substance.
(d) Record the entry on Client B’s books assuming the exchange has commercial substance.
(e) Record the entry on Client B’s books assuming the exchange lacks commercial substance.
(f) Write a memo to the controller of Company B indicating and explaining the dollar impact on current and future statements of treating the exchange as having, versus lacking, commercial substance.
CA10-5 (Costs of Acquisition) The invoice price of a machine is $50,000. Various other costs relating to the acquisition and installation of the machine including transportation, electrical wiring, special base, and so on amount to $7,500. The machine has an estimated life of 10 years, with no salvage value at the end of that period.
The owner of the business suggests that the incidental costs of $7,500 be charged to expense immediately for the following reasons.
1. If the machine should be sold, these costs cannot be recovered in the sales price.
2. The inclusion of the $7,500 in the machinery account on the books will not necessarily result in a closer approximation of the market price of this asset over the years, because of the possibility of changing demand and supply levels.
3. Charging the $7,500 to expense immediately will reduce federal income taxes.
Instructions
Discuss each of the points raised by the owner of the business.
(AICPA adapted)
CA10-6 ETHICS (Cost of Land vs. Building—Ethics) Tones Company purchased a warehouse in a downtown district where land values are rapidly increasing. Gerald Carter, controller, and Wilma Ankara, financial vice president, are trying to allocate the cost of the purchase between the land and the building. Noting that depreciation can be taken only on the building, Carter favors placing a very high proportion of the cost on the warehouse itself, thus reducing taxable income and income taxes. Ankara, his supervisor, argues that the allocation should recognize the increasing value of the land, regardless of the depreciation potential of the warehouse.
Besides, she says, net income is negatively impacted by additional depreciation and will cause the company’s stock price to go down.
Instructions
Answer the following questions.
(a) What stakeholder interests are in conflict?
(b) What ethical issues does Carter face?
(c) How should these costs be allocated?
Accounting, Analysis, and Principles
Durler Company purchased equipment on January 2, 2013, for $112,000. The equipment had an estimated useful life of 5 years with an estimated salvage value of $12,000. Durler uses straight-line depreciation on all assets. On January 2, 2017, Durler exchanged this equipment plus $12,000 in cash for newer equipment. The old equipment has a fair value of $50,000.
Accounting
Prepare the journal entry to record the exchange on the books of Durler Company. Assume that the exchange has commercial substance.
Analysis
How will this exchange affect comparisons of the return on asset ratio for Durler in the year of the exchange compared to prior years?
Principles
How does the concept of commercial substance affect the accounting and analysis of this exchange?
