Agency conflicts between managers and shareholders
Remember, an agency relationship can degenerate into an agency conflict when an agent acts in a manner that is not in the best interest of his or her principal. In large corporations, these conflicts most frequently involve the enrichment of the firm’s executives or managers (in the form of money and perquisites or power and prestige) at the expense of the company’s shareholders. This usurping and reallocation of shareholder wealth is most likely to occur when shareholders do not have sufficient information about the decisions and actions being made by the firm’s management.
Consider the following scenario and determine whether an agency conflict exists:
William and Abigail equally own and manage A New Beginning (ANB), a store that sells preowned clothing and furniture. William is responsible for ANB’s back-office activities, and Abigail staffs the store and makes deliveries to customers. Both have equal decision-making authority and, under the terms of their partnership agreement, both are prohibited from making personal purchases using company funds without prior approval of the other partner. William, without Abigail’s knowledge, used the company’s bank account recently to purchase a new sports car. William has acknowledged that the car will not be used to support the business.
Is this a potential agency conflict between William and Abigail?
No; William and Abigail are both authorized to spend ANB’s money, so no conflict of interest can occur.
No; William and Abigail co-own and co-manage ANB and have a partnership agreement that makes them equal, so an agency conflict cannot exist.
Yes; William is misappropriating some of Abigail’s wealth by unilaterally purchasing a nonbusiness asset using ANB’s funds.
Yes; it should have been Abigail who purchased the car.
Consider the following scenario and determine whether an agency conflict exists:
Five years ago, Caesar created a plant-care business that grew, stocked, and maintained fresh plants in office buildings throughout Raleigh. Over time, The Green Zone Inc. (TGZ) has grown from a proprietorship into a corporation, now reaching far beyond Raleigh. To finance and support this growth, TGZ issued shares that were sold to TGZ employees, Caesar’s family members, and selected outsiders. Caesar is TGZ’s chairman of the board of directors and CEO, but he is no longer the largest shareholder.
At the latest annual meeting, two mutually exclusive proposals were placed on the ballot for discussion and vote. The first was put forth by Caesar and TGZ’s management team, and the second was proposed by a small group of other shareholders. Both groups are adamantly opposed to the other group’s proposal, even though both proposals would likely have the same effect on TGZ’s value and riskiness.
Does an agency conflict exist between TGZ’s management and the small group of opposing shareholders?
No; although an agency relationship exists between TGZ’s management—including Caesar as TGZ’s chairman and CEO and the firm’s shareholders—there is no agency conflict, because no expropriation or wasting of the shareholders’ wealth has occurred.
No; Caesar was the original owner of TGZ, so he would always be sensitive to the concerns of the firm’s current owners (shareholders) and would not engage in an agency conflict.
Yes; any conflict or disagreement between the firm’s managers and its shareholders constitutes an agency conflict.
Yes; an agency relationship exists, and an agency relationship always gives rise to agency conflicts, regardless of the actual behavior of the participants.
Which of the following actions will help ease agency conflicts and better align managers’ objectives with the firm’s shareholder wealth?
Pay the manager a large base salary with a huge stock option package that matures on a single date.
Pay the manager a combination of salary and stock options (phased in over several years) that reward him or her for consistently increasing shareholder wealth.
Great Fortunes Baking Company’s stockholders are mostly individual investors, and there is relatively little institutional ownership. If several pension and mutual funds were to take large positions in Great Fortunes Baking Company’s stock, direct shareholder intervention would be more or less likely to motivate the firm’s management.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Congress passed legislation making it more difficult for outside investors to stage hostile takeovers. This legislation likely reduced or increased conflicts between managers and stockholders.

Answer:

1. Yes; William is misappropriating some of Abigail’s wealth by unilaterally purchasing a nonbusiness asset using ANB’s funds.

William is enriching himself at the expense of Abigail so indeed an Agency conflict exists.

2. No; although an agency relationship exists between TGZ’s management—including Caesar as TGZ’s chairman and CEO and the firm’s shareholders—there is no agency conflict, because no expropriation or wasting of the shareholders’ wealth has occurred.

An agency conflict arises only when the agent begins to act in a way that is not in the best interest of their principal and enriches themselves at the expense of their principal. This has not happened here so there is no agency conflict.

3. Pay the manager a combination of salary and stock options (phased in over several years) that reward him or her for consistently increasing shareholder wealth.

This way the manager will have an incentive to keep working for the benefit of the shareholders overtime because it would make them well off as well.

4. MORE LIKELY

When Institutional ownership is available like Pensions and Mutual funds, they will be able to put more pressure on management as they will typically own a larger share of shares while at the same time having the expertise required to influence management.

5. INCREASED CONFLICT.

One incentive that can be used to keep management in check is the risk of Hostile Takeovers and the new management can decide to fire the management for poor performance or selfish behavior. If Congress reduces the chances of hostile takeovers, management will be more likely to engage in agency conflicts.

Leonard, a company that manufactures explosionproof motors, is considering two alternatives for expanding its international export capacity. Option 1 requires equipment purchases of $900,000 now and $560,000 two years from now, with annual M&O costs of $79,000 in years 1 through 10. Option 2 involves subcontracting some of the production at costs of $280,000 per year beginning now through the end of year 10. Neither option will have a significant salvage value.

Required:
Use a present worth analysis to determine which option is more attractive at the company’s MARR of 20% per year. (Note: Check out the spreadsheet exercises for new options that Leonard has been offered recently.)

A stock has an average expected return of 10.8 percent for the next year. The beta of the stock is 1.22. The T-Bill rate is 5% and the T-Bond rate is 3.4 %. What is the market risk premium

Use the information about Billy's Burgers to answer the following question(s):

Billy's Burgers

Figures in​ $ millions

Income Statement 2010 Balance Sheet 2010
Net Sales 246.0 Assets
Costs exc. Dep. 187.0 Cash 8.0
EBITDA 59.0 Accts. Rec. 21.0
Depreciation 17.2 Inventories 23.0
EBIT 41.8 Total Current Assets 52.0
Interest 12.0 Net PP​&E 145.0
Pretax Income 29.8 Total Assets 197.0
Taxes 10.4
Net Income 19.4 Liabilities and Equity Accts.
Payable 18.0 LongTerm Debt 82.0
Total Liabilities 100.0 Total​ Stockholders' Equity 97.0
Total Liabilities and Equity 197.0

Required:
Using the percent of sales method, and assuming 20% growth in sales, estimate Billy's Burgers' Accounts Receivable for 2011.

a. $21.0 million
b. $18.0 million
c. $25.2 million
d. $21.6 million

This activity is important because any business that offers multiple product lines to multiple market segments is faced with the task of making the product/market decisions and prioritizing those decisions. Products and market segments that are growing quickly and are very profitable should get more attention and resources than a product and market segment that does not show as much potential.
Once a marketing manager creates a market-product grid, they must select which segments to target. To do this, the marketing manager should use several criteria in assessing the different segments. Those criteria include: market size, expected growth, competitive position, cost of reaching the segment, and the compatibility with the organization's objectives and resources.
The goal of this exercise is to demonstrate your understanding of the market-product development process by analyzing a gift shop's markets and products.
Read the case below and then answer the questions that follow as you consider its markets and product offerings.
A small local gift shop recently marked its 25th anniversary of being in business. Over that time, the owners have continually changed the products sold in its store to reflect changes in the market. From the early days of selling small gift-type items such as figurines and collectibles, the store now offers a more eclectic mix of merchandise that includes Vera Bradley purses and inexpensive jewelry, as well as items that could be classified as "gift-type" products and merchandise that is best described as "collectibles."
However, the demographics of the store's market, as well as the needs of that market, seem to be changing. There has been an influx of younger customers (20s and 30s) into the area, which has brought the average age of the area down by 9.8 years. This rapidly growing segment doesn't seem interested in buying the same collectibles that their parents bought. Many older residents (60s and 70s) have been leaving the area for retirement. The older customers are still buying the collectibles, but are also buying gifts for children and grandchildren for holidays and special occasions. Indeed, while sales of merchandise aimed at the younger customers have grown 30 percent, sales to the older crowd have been flat. And the younger group has now passed the older segment in terms of the size of the population. While there are other stores in the area selling similar merchandise, this gift shop has managed to get an exclusive on the Vera Bradley line, which has been popular with the younger customers. The owners of the gift shop are considering which market segment should be the focus of their attention and limited resources. This is an especially critical decision because of the limited space in the store and the need to add fixtures for carrying some of the collectible items that are coming on the market.
Based on the limited information in the case, which market segment is larger?
a) the over-80 segment
b) all segments are the same size
c) the 60s and 70s segment
d) the 20s and 30s segment

Kim is trying to decide whether she can afford a loan she needs in order to go to chiropractic school. Right now Kim is living at home and works in a shoe store, earning a gross income of $1,760 per month. Her employer deducts $199 for taxes from her monthly pay. Kim also pays $189 on several credit card debts each month. The loan she needs for chiropractic school will cost an additional $172 per month. Help Kim make her decision by calculating her debt payments-to-income ratio with and without the college loan.

Required:
a. Carl’s house payment is $1,640 per month and his car payment is $482 per month. If Carl's take-home pay is $3,250 per month, what percentage does Carl spend on his home and car?
b. Suppose that your monthly net income is $2,850. Your monthly debt payments include your student loan payment and a gas credit card. They total $1,140. What is your debt payments-to-income ratio?

Read the following sentences, and identify the error.

a. Paolo recruited job applicants for the company that showed promise.

The error in this sentence is a:_________ .

b. We will be visiting our accounts in California, Oregon, and visiting our accounts in Washington.

The error in this sentence is a:________ .

Before you decide whether to use passive or active voice, you should consider the purpose of your message and the nature of the situation. Read the scenario, and then fill in the blanks.

You work for a printing company, and you realize that your colleague sent incorrect price quotes to a client. You begin to write an e-mail to the client to apologize for the mistake. You want to remedy the situation without criticizing your colleague. The sentence excerpted from the e-mail uses ______________ voice. Given the purpose of your message, this voice ___________ appropriate.

The technique recommended by the text to organize an analysis of external strategic factors is called

Svetlana won $1,000,000 in a contest, to be paid in twenty $50,000 payments at yearly intervals, the first payment paid at the time of the contest. (Of course, the present value of her winnings is less than $1,000,000.) Svetlana decided to keep X each year to spend and deposit the remaining $50;000 X into an account earning an annual effective interest rate of 5%. She chose the value X to be as large as possible so that, at the moment of the 20th deposit, the account would have grown to such a size that it would provide Svetlana and her heirs at least X per year in interest forever. Find X.

Tawna Reed was hired for a top managerial position in Nike Corporation because she had creative ability and a good overall feel for the athletic shoe industry. Reed is said to have good _____ skills.

BensonBenson​ & Company is an architectural firm specializing in home remodeling for private clients and new office buildings for corporate clients. charges customers at a billing rate equal to ​% of the​ client's total job cost. A​ client's total job cost is a combination of​ (1) professional time spent on the client ​( per hour cost of employing each​ professional) and​ (2) operating overhead allocated to the​ client's job. allocates operating overhead to jobs based on professional hours spent on the job. estimates its five professionals will incur a total of​ 10,000 professional hours working on client jobs during the year.

AllissaAllissa LarsonLarson hired BensonBenson to design her kitchen remodeling. A total of 35 professional hours were incurred on this job. In​ addition, LarsonLarson​'s remodeling job required one of the professionals to travel back and forth to her house for a total of 155 miles. The blueprints had to be copied four times because LarsonLarson changed the plans several times. In​ addition, 14 hours of secretarial time were used lining up the subcontractors for the job.

All operating costs other than professional salaries​ (travel reimbursements, copy​ costs, secretarial​ salaries, office​ lease, and so​forth) can be assigned to the three activities. Total activity​ costs, cost​ drivers, and total usage of those cost drivers are estimated as​ follows:


Activity Total Activity Cost Cost Driver Usage Total Usage by Corporate Clients Total usage by Private Clients


Transporation to clients. . . . . . $9,000 Round-trip mileage to clients. . . . . 1,500 miles 13,500 miles
Blueprint copying. . . . . . . . . . . 35,000 Number of copies. . . . . . . . . . . . 250 copies 750 copies
Office support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190,000 Secretarial time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,600 secretarial 2,400 secretarial
hours hours
Total operating overhead. . . . $234,000

Required:
a. Calculate the current indirect cost allocation rate per professional hour.
b. Calculate the total amount that would be billed to LarsonLarson given the current costing structure.
c. Calculate the activity cost allocation rates that could be used to allocate operating overhead costs to client jobs.
d. Calculate the amount that would be billed to LarsonLarson using ABC costing.
e. Which type of billing system is more fair to​ clients? Explain.

Tom Cruise Lines Inc. issued bonds five years ago at $1,000 per bond. These bonds had a 20-year life when issued and the annual interest payment was then 13 percent. This return was in line with the required returns by bondholders at that point as described below:
Real rate of return 4 %
Inflation premium 5
Risk premium 4
Total return 13 %
Assume that five years later the inflation premium is only 3 percent and is appropriately reflected in the required return (or yield to maturity) of the bonds. The bonds have 15 years remaining until maturity. Use Appendix B and Appendix D.

Ballou Corporation declared a cash dividend on December 13, 2018, payable on January 10, 2019. By mistake, the company failed to make a journal entry in December 2018. The effect of this error on the financial statements as of December 31, 2018 were:_____.
a. retained earnings was overstated and liabilities were understated.
b. retained earnings was overstated and cash were understated.
c. retained earnings and liabilities were both understated.
d. retained earnings and liabilities were both overstated.

Acute Company manufactures a single product. On December 31, 2014, it adopted the dollar-value LIFO inventory method. The inventory on that date using the dollar-value LIFO inventory method was determined to be $300,000. Inventory data for succeeding years follow:

Year Ended December 31 Inventory at Respective Year-End Prices Relevant Price Index (Base Year 2014)
2015 $363,000 1.10
2016 420,000 1.20
2017 430,000 1.25

Required:
Compute the inventory amounts at December 31, 2015, 2016, and 2017, using the dollar-value LIFO inventory method for each year.

Comfort chair company manufacturers a standard recliner. During February, the firm's Assembly Department started production of 73,000 chairs. During the month, the firm completed 78,000 chairs, and transferred them to the Finishing Department. The firm ended the month with 10,000 chairs in ending inventory. All direct materials costs are added at the beginning of the production cycle and conversion costs are added uniformly throughout the production process. The FIFO method of process costing is used by Comfort. Beginning work in process was 30% complete as to conversion costs, while ending work in process was 80% complete as to conversion costs.
Beginning inventory:
DIrect materials $24,000
Conversion costs $35,000
Manufacturing costs added during the accounting period:
Direct materials $168,000
Conversion costs $278,000
1. What were the equivalent units for conversion costs during February? (HINT: The answer is 81,500, but I need work to support this)
2. What is the amount of direct materials cost assigned to ending work-in-process inventory at the end of February? (HINT: The answer is $23,000, but I need work to support this)

Joni Splish Brothers Inc. has the following amounts reported in its general ledger at the end of the current year.

Organization costs $23,800
Trademarks 15,700
Discount on bonds payable 36,800
Deposits with advertising agency for ads to promote goodwill of company 11,800
Excess of cost over fair value of net identifiable assets of acquired subsidiary 76,800
Cost of equipment acquired for research and development projects; the equipment has an alternative future use 86,800
Costs of developing a secret formula for a product that is expected to be marketed for at least 20 years 82,600

Required:
On the basis of this information, compute the total amount to be reported by Hyde for intangible assets on its balance sheet at year-end.

The revenues budget identifies: a. expected cash flows for each product b. actual sales from last year for each product c. the expected level of sales for the company d. the variance of sales from actual for each product

The following inventory information is available for Ricci Manufacturing Corporation for the year ended December 31, 2017:

Beginning Ending
Inventories: Raw materials $17,000 $19,000
Work in process 9,000 14,000
Finished goods 11,000 8,000
Total $37,000 $41,000

In addition, the following transactions occurred in 2017:

1. Raw materials purchased on account, $75,000.
2. Incurred factory labor, $80,000, all is direct labor. (Credit Factory Wages Payable).
3. Incurred the following overhead costs during the year: Utilities $6,800, Depreciation on manufacturing machinery $8,000, Manufacturing machinery repairs $9,200, Factory insurance $9,000 (Credit Accounts Payable and Accumulated Depreciation).
4. Assigned $80,000 of factory labor to jobs.
5. Applied $36,000 of overhead to jobs. Instructions

Required:
a. Journalize the above transactions.
b. Reproduce the manufacturing cost and inventory accounts.
c. From an analysis of the accounts, compute the following:

1. Raw materials used.
2. Completed jobs transferred to finished goods.
3. Cost of goods sold.
4. Under- or overapplied overhead.

Demarco and Janine Jackson have been married for 20 years and have four children who qualify as their dependents (Damarcus, Janine, Michael, and Candice). The couple received salary income of $100,000 and qualified business income of $10,000 from an investment in a partnership, and they sold their home this year. They initially purchased the home three years ago for $200,000 and they sold it for $250,000. The gain on the sale qualified for the exclusion from the sale of a principal residence. The Jacksons incurred $16,500 of itemized deductions, and they had $3,550 withheld from their paychecks for federal taxes. They are also allowed to claim a child tax credit for each of their children. However, because Candice is 18 years of age, the Jacksons may only claim the child tax credit for other qualifying dependents for Candice. (Use the tax rate schedules.)
Comprehensive Problem 4-55 Parts-c through f
a. What would their taxable income be if their itemized deductions totaled $28,000 instead of $16,500?
b. What would their taxable income be if they had $0 itemized deductions and $6,000 of for AGI deductions?
c. Assume the original facts but now suppose the Jacksons also incurred a loss of $5,000 on the sale of some of their investment assets. What effect does the $5,000 loss have on their taxable income?

Darby Company, operating at full capacity, sold 500,000 units at a price of $94 per unit during the current year. Its income statement is as follows:
Sales $47,000,000
Cost of goods sold 25,000,000
Gross profit $22,000,000
Expenses:
Selling expenses $4,000,000
Administrative expenses 3,000,000
Total expenses 7,000,000
Income from operations $15,000,000
The division of costs between variable and fixed is as follows:
Variable Fixed
Cost of goods sold 70% 30%
Selling expenses 75% 25%
Administrative expenses50% 50%
Management is considering a plant expansion program for the following year that will permit an increase of $3,760,000 in yearly sales. The expansion will increase fixed costs by $1,800,000 but will not affect the relationship between sales and variable costs.
Required:
1. Determine the total variable costs and the total fixed costs for the current year.
Total variable costs $_____
Total fixed costs $_____
2. Determine (a) the unit variable cost and (b) the unit contribution margin for the current year.
Unit variable cost $_____
Unit contribution margin $_____
3. Compute the break-even sales (units) for the current year.
4. Compute the break-even sales (units) under the proposed program for the following year.
5. Determine the amount of sales (units) that would be necessary under the proposed program to realize the $15,000,000 of income from operations that were earned in the current year.
6. Determine the maximum income from operations possible with the expanded plant.
7. If the proposal is accepted and sales remain at the current level, what will the income or loss from operations be for the following year?
8. Based on the data given, would you recommend accepting the proposal?
a. In favor of the proposal because of the reduction in break-even point.
b. In favor of the proposal because of the possibility of increasing income from operations.
c. In favor of the proposal because of the increase in break-even point.
d. Reject the proposal because if future sales remain at the current level, the income from operations will increase.
e. Reject the proposal because the sales necessary to maintain the current income from operations would be below the current year sales.

When all of a firm's inputs are doubled, input prices do not change, and this results in the firm's level of production more than doubling, a firm is operating:

Maisie Taft started her own consulting firm, Maisie Consulting, on May 1, 2020. The following transactions occurred during the month of May.
May 1 Maisie invested $7,000 cash in the business.
2 Paid $900 for office rent for the month.
3 Purchased $800 of supplies on account.
5 Paid $125 to advertise in the County News.
9 Received $4,000 cash for services performed.
12 Withdrew $1,000 cash for personal use.
15 Performed $6,400 of services on account.
17 Paid $2,500 for employee salaries.
20 Made a partial payment of $600 for the supplies purchased on account on May 3.
23 Received a cash payment of $4,000 for services performed on account on May 15.
26 Borrowed $5,000 from the bank on a note payable.
29 Purchased equipment for $4,200 on account.
30 Paid $275 for utilities.

Questions:
A. Prepare an income statement for the month of May.
B. Prepare a balance sheet at May 31, 2020.

The following events pertain to James Cleaning Company:
1. Acquired $15,000 cash from the issue of common stock.
2. Provided services for $6,000 cash.
3. Provided $18,000 of services on account.
4. Collected $11,000 cash from the account receivable created in Event 3.
5. Paid $1,400 cash to purchase supplies.
6. Had $100 of supplies on hand at the end of the accounting period.
7. Received $3,600 cash in advance for services to be performed in the future.
8. Performed one-half of the services agreed to in Event 7.
9. Paid $6,500 for salaries expense.
10. Incurred $2,800 of other operating expenses on account.
11. Paid $2,100 cash on the account payable created in Event 10.
12. Paid a $1,000 cash dividend to the stockholders.
Required:Show the effects of the events on the financial statements using a horizontal statements model like the following one. In the Cash Flows column, use the letters OA to designate operating activity, IA for investing activity, FA for financing activity, NC for net change in cash and NA to indicate accounts not affected by the event. The first event is recorded as an example. (Enter any decreases to account balances and cash outflows with a minus sign

What are two cons of using a credit card?

how can you use information about a person's values to help you relate more effectively to him or her."

Alpha Inc. has receivables from unrelated parties with a face value of $5,000. It transfers these receivables to bank for $4,500, without recourse. It will continue to collect the receivables, depositing them in a non-interest-bearing bank account with the cash flows remitted to the bank at the end of each month. It is not allowed to sell or pledge the receivables to anyone else and is under no obligation to repurchase the receivables from bank. Which of the following is the appropriate treatment for these Accounts receivables?
A) It should show these receivables in its Balance Sheet.
B) It should amortize these receivables.
C) It should derecognize these receivables.
D) It should derecognize these receivables if it retains the interest earned on these.

Midland Petroleum is holding a stockholders’ meeting next month. Ms. Ramsey is the president of the company and has the support of the existing board of directors. All 12 members of the board are up for reelection. Mr. Clark is a dissident stockholder. He controls proxies for 42,001 shares. Ms. Ramsey and her friends on the board control 52,001 shares. Other stockholders, whose loyalties are unknown, will be voting the remaining 24,998 shares. The company uses cumulative voting.

Required:
a. How many directors can Mr. Clark be sure of electing?
b. How many can Ms Rmasey be sure of electing
c. How many votes could clark have if he had all the uncommitted votes
d. Does that give him control?
e. If nine directors were to be elected, and Ms. Ramsey and her friends had 70,001 shares and Mr. Clark had 48,001 shares plus half the uncommitted votes, how many directors could Mr. Clark elect?

Connors Bros., a Maritime seafood products manufacturer, hopes to attract Ontario consumers for its Brunswick sardines through a campaign pushing the small fish as a positive food choice. In the campaign, Conner encouraged consumers to buy more sardines. If consumers purchased more sardines, then supermarkets would stock more sardines, thus creating _____ for the small fish.

Prepare a bank reconciliation as of October 31 from the following information:

a. The October 31 cash balance in the general ledger is $806.
b. The October 31 balance shown on the bank statement is $350.
c. Checks issued but not returned with the bank statement were No. 462 for $24 and No. 483 for $42.
d. A deposit made late on October 31 for $433 is included in the general ledger balance but not in the bank statement balance.
e. Returned with the bank statement was a notice that a customer's check for $80 that was deposited on October 25 had been returned because the customer's account was overdrawn.
f. During a review of the checks that were returned with the bank statement, it was noted that the amount of Check No. 471 was $65 but that in the company's records supporting the general ledger balance, the check had been erroneously recorded as a payment of an account payable in the amount of $56.

Bristo Corporation has sales of 1,750 units at $40 per unit. Variable expenses are 30% of the selling price. If total fixed expenses are $39,000, the degree of operating leverage is:

The following is a partial trial balance for the Green Star Corporation as of December 31, 2021:
Account Title Debits Credits
Sales revenue 1,400,000
Interest revenue 35,000
Gain on sale of investments 55,000
Cost of goods sold 740,000
Selling expenses 185,000
General and administrative expenses 80,000
Interest expense 45,000
Income tax expense 135,000
There were 100,000 shares of common stock outstanding throughout 2021.
Required:
Prepare a single-step income statement for 2021, including EPS disclosures.
Prepare a multiple-step income statement for 2021, including EPS disclosures.