Topic 1:
MoviesPlus, Inc. is in its third year of business. The company offers DVD rental to online customers for a fixed monthly fee. For $20 per month, a customer receives three DVDs each month, one at a time as the previous one is returned. No matter how many DVDs a customer uses (up to three), the fee is fixed at $20 per month. Customers sign a contract for a year, so MoviesPlus recognizes sales revenue of $240 each time a customer signs up for the service. The owner of MoviesPlus, Bob Colbert, has heard about GAAP, but he does not see any reason to follow these accounting principles. Although MoviesPlus is not publicly traded, Bob does put the company's financial statements on the company's Web page for customers to see. Explain how MoviesPlus would account for its revenue if it did follow GAAP. Explain to Bob Colbert why he should use GAAP, and describe why his financial statements may now be misleading. Do you see this as an ethical issue? Explain.
Topic 2:
You are a business consultant providing information and advice to future small business owners. One difficult concept for your clients to understand is the concept of economic substance. Accountants do not base the recognition of revenues and expenses on the income statement on the collection of cash or on the disbursement of cash. Revenues and expenses are recognized when the economic substance of the transaction has taken place. Create a PowerPoint presentation for a seminar aimed at future business owners. Explain the meaning and importance of economic substance and how it relates to the financial statements.
Topic 3:
You own an automobile parts company and have been approached by a leading car manufacturer to supply parts to the company. How would you determine that the car manufacturer has a good record of servicing sales and paying its suppliers? What are the signs you would look out for in the financial statements for the possibility of bad debts? What are the advantages and disadvantages of allowing customers to make purchases on credit? Give reasons for your answers
Topic 4:
You are a business consultant providing information and advice to future small business owners. Controls are especially important with respect to cash. Three of them are clear assignment of responsibility, specific procedures for documentation, and independent internal verification of the data. Create a PowerPoint presentation for a seminar aimed at future business owners who will be dealing with large amounts of cash. Explain the importance of the three areas of cash control and make recommendations for procedures that could be implemented.
Topic 5:
Retail firms are at risk that their inventory will become obsolete. What can a firm do to minimize this risk? What types of firms are most at risk? Least at risk? Select a retail firm that you think might be concerned about obsolete inventory and another that you believe would not be very concerned. Then, find their financial statements and calculate the inventory turnover ratio of these two firms for the past two fiscal years. Are your results what you expected? Explain what you expected to find and your results.
Topic 6:
In Week 1 you examined the four basic financial statements for a publicly traded corporation. For the questions you are unsure about, provide a possible method for determining the answer (additional research, etc.). Help other students with questions they are unable to answer.