ACTG 3000 Lecture 5: VALUATION MULTIPLES
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ASSIGNMENT
Question:(1) Do a management Comment Letter to the Boardof Directors
(2) Do an analysis on Inventory Valuation and do arecommendation to the management
(3) Do an analysis on the Cost of Goods Sold and do arecommendation to management
DO THE ANALYSIS BASE ON US GAAP REQUIREMENTS ONINVENTORY VALUATION AND COST OF GOODS SOLD.
RECOMMENDATION SHOULD BE BASE ON GAAP ALSO.
Case Narrative
Scenario and Client Background
You are an audit senior at Smith, Brown, and Jones, PLC(SB&J) a public accounting firm. You have been assigned to theaudit of Northwest Technologies, Inc., (NWT) for fiscal year endingDecember 31, 2009. NWT is a publicly traded manufacturer ofcomputer chips.
NWT has been a good audit client of the firm for the prior sixyears (2003 through 2008), paying its fees on time, employingcooperative management, and complying with authoritative accountingpronouncements. During those years, however, NWT has been losingmarket share in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.Although NWTâs unit sales have been increasing each year, theydrastically lag behind industry increases. Currently, stagnation inthe computer chip and router markets is significantly reducing themarket demand for NWTâs chips. The companyâs stock has declined invalue from approximately $95 per share in 2003 to $32 per share in2009. Although some of this reduction can be attributed to thegeneral economic slow down, it is relatively greater than declinesin value of competitorsâ stock.
Despite these downward trends, however, NWT remains a widelyrecognized name in the computer chip market.
Planning Meeting
At the instruction of the engagement partner, Steve Smart, youhold a planning meeting with Samantha Strong, NWTâs CEO, to discusscurrent year events and plan the strategy for the upcoming audit.In your meeting, Samantha indicates that NWT is going to have avery good year, despite some difficulties in the recent past. Thecompanyâs main difficulty involves revocation of its line ofcredit: As a result of lower-than-expected sales volume last year,NWT violated its bad debt covenants, and the bank has refused torenew the line of credit. Samantha indicates, however, that a newdiscount policy which encourages customers to pay on a more timelybasis has increased cash flow, and operations have not beenhampered, despite the lack of credit from the bank.
Samantha further indicates that in May 2009, Jane Smith, CFO,resigned to pursue other opportunities. Jane was replaced as chieffinancial officer by Samanthaâs close personal friend, JonathanWhite. Samantha praises Jonathanâs mastery of accounting andreporting, commending his ability to record financial transactionsin ways that âmore accurately reflect the operations of thebusinessâ than had Janeâs methods. Samantha feels that Jonathanâsphilosophy is more practical than Janeâs âoverly conservativeâapproach to accounting. âJonathanâs logical approach to recordingtransactions and his ability to record results that better reflectour performance is doing wonders for our business. Just knowingthat we were doing things so wrong in the past has bothered metremendously,â Samantha states.
Samantha indicates that one of NWTâs major suppliers was on strikeduring June and July of the current year. During this strike, NWTwas forced to buy parts from another supplier at significantlyhigher costs. Nevertheless, Samantha explains, the companyâs bottomline did not suffer. The new CFO (Jonathan) performed a study ofthe overhead application process and redistributed items that wereincorrectly accounted for in the past. As a result of the loweroverhead cost allocation, Samantha indicates that product cost wassignificantly lower after the month of July than it had been inprior years. She explains: âDespite the increase in product costfor those two months during the strike, we experienced no negativegross profit impact because Jonathan reworked the overhead formulato reflect overhead costs more accurately. In fact, our productsare significantly cheaper than we thought. Now we can reduce salesprices and increase volume because of more competitivepricing.â
Samantha indicates that no other significant events occurred thisyear. She mentions a few âminor items,â such as the purchase of asignificant amount of fixed assets and a growth in the customerbase as a result of a new credit-granting policy.
While discussing your planning meeting with the audit partner, younote the following concerns and areas of risk:
Managements integrity (specifically concerns about the new CFO)â the drastic improvement in current year results.
Inventory valuation â the new overhead application formula
Propriety of cost of goods sold â the new overhead applicationformula
Possibility of a going concern issue â lack of bank funding
Valuation of reserves and liabilities
Potential risk of loss â new credit-granting policy
Audit Fieldwork
1. Salesand Cost of Goods Sold
In performing your regression analysis of sales and cost ofgoods sold, you note that, according to prior year work-papers,gross profit rates have averaged between 38% and 41% over the pastsix years (2003-2008). The client has provided the followingcurrent-year data for your analysis:
Month | Sales | COGS | Gross Profit Rate |
January | $14,534,672 | $8,867,134 | 38.99% |
February | 15,068,010 | 9,063,465 | 39.85% |
March | 14,835,456 | 8,968,979 | 39.54% |
April | 14,236,726 | 8,613,564 | 39.50% |
May | 15,255,664 | 8,974,685 | 41.17% |
June | 15,365,790 | 8,313,646 | 42.13% |
July | 15.489.454 | 9.016,465 | 41.79% |
August | 14,964,889 | 8,065,646 | 46.10% |
September | 15,032,469 | 8,074,656 | 46.29% |
October | 17,028,646 | 8,765,646 | 48.52% |
November | 18,900,644 | 9,564,698 | 49.39% |
December | 19,365,471 | 9,679,879 | 50.01% |
TOTAL | $189,077,891 | $105,968,463 |
In reviewing the data provided by the client, you note that salesincreased significantly in the last three months of the year.Additionally, you note that gross profit margins increasedbeginning in August and further increased beginning in October.Discussions with Richard Jones, accounting manager, indicate thefollowing:
Profit margins would have increased more beginning in June, butthe strike affected the cost of direct materials used inproduction.
The cost of goods sold formula was altered to exclude insurance,depreciation, and sales salaries. Jones indicated that such itemswere excluded from overhead because they are paid for and utilizedby non-production departments.
Overtime paid to production workers is now charged to the HumanResources Department as a fringe benefit. Such cost hashistorically been tracked in the production department and includedas a component of cost of goods sold. Jonathan White, the CFO,changed this policy under the rationale that this overtime premiumis given by the Human Resources Department as part of the newcontract it negotiated with the production workers, and should,therefore, be a Human Resourceâs expense and included as anadministration expense item on the income statement rather thanbeing included as a component of cost of goods sold. This policywent into effect in October.
In October, NWT initiated a special sales promotion in which thecompany shipped bulk quantities of computer chips to a significantnumber of customers. This is part of a campaign in which NWT istrying to promote the use of its products by making them readilyavailable in bulk to customers. NWT shipped these additionalquantities to customers âin good faith,â along with the customersâregular orders. In a letter to customers, NWT stated, âWe want tobe your supplier of choice for computer chips. Please accept thesechips for use in your production needs. If you do not need or usethem, you may return them within three months with no obligation.âNWT recorded a sale of goods and related account receivable uponshipment of these additional bulk quantities.
2. Fixed Asset Additions andDisposals
Remembering Samantha Strongâs statement that considerable fixedassets were purchased during the year, you ask Joseph Danna, fixedasset clerk in the accounting department, about the nature of thesefixed assets. Dana indicates that a significant portion of thefixed asset additions represents labor of company mechanics. Suchlabor was incurred during a routine, two-week plant shutdown inwhich each machine was thoroughly cleaned and inspected by themaintenance department. Additionally, plant walkways and work areaswere resurfaced. Joseph tells you that these costs were capitalizedbecause they enhance the useful lives of the machinery andequipment. Furthermore, all replacement parts bought during theyear for the machines (nuts, bolts, compressors, etc.) werecapitalized because they become part of the fixed asset.
When you ask Dana why these labor and replacement costs weretreated as fixed assets, he replies that Jonathan, the CFO, orderedthe change to the previous capitalization policy. Dana states thathe believes the new policy is correct because these items and laborcosts are ârelated to fixed assets and should be capitalized.â Whenyou contact Mr. White for confirmation of this new policy, hemaintains that capitalization treatment is correct for all theadditions.
Continuing your discussion of fixed assets, you ask whether anydisposals occurred during the year. Dana is not aware of any;however, he does tell you that such disposals occur at thediscretion of individual plant managers and are not brought to theattention of the accounting department.
3. Credit-Granting Policy
While talking to Richard Jones, accounting manager, you learn thatNWT is relaxing its credit-granting guidelines. In the past, onlythe credit manager could approve credit. Now, however, thecredit-approval procedure has been decentralized. Each credit clerkis responsible for a region of the market and is authorized togrant credit for that region without obtaining approval from thecredit manager. Furthermore, the clerks are also now responsiblefor determining bad-debts write-offs and recoveries for their ownregion based on whether or not, in their professional judgment,they feel that collection will be made. Jones tells you that thispolicy change was initiated âto empower the employees and create agreater sense of participation in management.â
Conclusion
When you complete the audit fieldwork, you report the progress tothe engagement partner, Steve Smart. Although NTâs net income hasincreased significantly in the current year and outpaced theindustry average, Steve is uneasy with this increase. He isconcerned that the companyâs sales policy is too aggressive andthat the accounting for certain sales is possibly not in accordancewith GAAP. Additionally, Steve is not sure whether the companyâsoverhead policies follow procedures recommended under GAAP. Steveis uncertain about the companyâs ability to continue as a goingconcern and about Smith, Brown, and Jonesâs ability to issue anunqualified opinion without significant adjustment to the financialstatements.
The following assignments are based on the information in thiscase narrative:
[1] This comprehensive audit engagement exercise set is adaptedfrom a case prepared by Ryan R. Fox of Deloitte and Touche,L.L.P.
Financial Statement Analysis ProjectâA Comparative Analysis ofOracle Corporation and Microsoft Corporation
Here is the link for the financial statements for OracleCorporation for the fiscal year ending 2011. First, select 2011using the drop-down arrow labeled Year on the right-hand side ofthe page, and then select Annual Reports using the drop-down arrowlabeled Filing Type on the left-hand side of the page.
You should select the 10k dated 6/28/2011 and choose to downloadin PDF, Word, or Excel format.
http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/investor-relations/sec/index.html
Here is the link for the financial statements for MicrosoftCorporation for the fiscal year ending 2011. You need to press theword Go on the left-hand side of the page. Then you shouldselect the 10k dated 7/28/2011 and choose to download in Word orExcel format.
http://www.microsoft.com/investor/SEC/default.aspx?year=2011&filing=annual
A sample project template is available for download in DocSharing. The sample project compares the ratio performance ofTootsie Roll and Hershey using the 2012 financial statements ofTootsie Roll and Hershey provided at their websites.
Description | |
This course contains a Course Project. You will be required tosubmit one draft of the project at the end of Week 5 and the final,completed project at the end of Week 7. Using the financialstatements for Oracle Corporation and Microsoft Corporation,respectively, you will calculate and compare the financial ratioslisted further down this document for the fiscal year ending 2011and prepare your comments about the two companiesâ performancebased on your ratio calculations. The entire project will be gradedby the instructor at the end of the final submission in Week 7, andone grade will be assigned for the entire project.
Overall Requirements | |
For the Final Submission
Your final Excel workbook submission should contain thefollowing items. You cannot use any software but Excel to completethis project.
A completed worksheet title page tab, which is really acoversheet with your name, the course, the date, your instructorâsname, and the title for the project.
A completed worksheet profiles tab that contains a one-paragraphdescription regarding each company with information about theirhistories, what products they sell, where they are located, and soon.
All 16 ratios for each company, with the supporting calculationsand commentary on your worksheet ratio tab. Supporting calculationsmust be shown either as a formula or as text typed into a differentcell. The ratios are listed further down this document. Yourcomments for each ratio should include more than just a definitionof the ratio. You should focus on interpreting each ratio numberfor each company and support your comments with the numbers foundin the ratios.
The Summary and Conclusions worksheet tab is an overallcomparison of how each company compares in terms of the majorcategory of ratios described in Chapter 13 of your textbook. A niceway to conclude is to state which company you think is the betterinvestment and why.
The Bibliography worksheet tab must contain at least yourtextbook as a reference. Any other information you use to profilethe companies should also be cited as a reference.
Required Ratios for Final ProjectSubmission
Earnings per Share of Common Stock
Current Ratio
Gross Profit Margin
Rate of Return on Sales (Net Profit Margin)
Inventory Turnover
Daysâ Inventory Outstanding (DIO)
Accounts Receivable Turnover
Daysâ Sales Outstanding (DSO)
Asset Turnover
Rate of Return on Total Assets (ROA)
Debt Ratio
Times Interest Earned Ratio
Dividend Yield (For the purposes of this ratio, useYahoo Finance to look up current dividend yield and stock price;just note the date that you looked up thisinformation.)
Rate of Return on Common Stockholdersâ Equity (ROE)
Free Cash Flow
Price/Earnings Ratio (Multiple) (For the purpose of thisratio, for Oracle, use the market price per share on May 30, 2011and for Microsoft, use the market price per share on June 30,2011.)
The Excel files uploaded inthe Dropboxes should not include any unnecessary numbers orinformation (such as previous years' ratios, ratios that were notspecifically asked for in the project, etc.).
Here are some of theMicrosoft Ratios â (first 12) to ensure you are on the righttrack.
1. EPS â $2.73
2. Current ratio â 2.6
3. Gross profit rate â 77.7%
4. Profit margin ratio â 33.1%
5. Inventory turnover â 14.8
6. Day in inventory â 25 days
7. Receivable turnover â 5.0
8. Average Collection Period â 73 days
9. Asset Turnover Ratio â 0.72
10. Return on Assets Ratio â23.8%
11. Debt to Total AssetsRatio â 47.5%
12. Times Interest Earned â96.2
Thank you.
