Cross-Country Transport Company organizes its three divisions, the Southeast, East, and South regions, as profit centers. The

Question:

Cross-Country Transport Company organizes its three divisions, the Southeast, East, and South regions, as profit centers. The chief executive officer (CEO) evaluates divisional performance, using income from operations as a percent of revenues. The following quarterly income and expense accounts were provided from the trial balance as of December 31, 2008:

Revenues'SE Region .... $1,740,000

Revenues'E Region ...... 2,820,000

Revenues'S Region ....... 2,340,000

Operating Expenses'SE Region . 1,134,400

Operating Expenses'E Region ... 2,097,300

Operating Expenses'S Region ... 1,721,700

Corporate Expenses'Dispatching .. 500,000

Corporate Expenses'Equipment .. 525,000

Corporate Expenses'Treasurer's .. 375,000

General Corporate Officers' Salaries . 710,000

The company operates three service departments: the Dispatching Department, the Equipment Management Department, and the Treasurer's Department. The Dispatching Department manages the scheduling and releasing of completed trains. The Equipment Management Department manages the railroad cars inventories. It makes sure the right freight cars are at the right place at the right time. The Treasurer's Department conducts a variety of services for the company as a whole. The following additional information has been gathered:

Instructions
1. Prepare quarterly income statements showing income from operations for the three regions. Use three column headings: Southeast, East, and South.
2. Identify the most successful region according to the profit margin. Round to two decimal places.
3. Provide a recommendation to the CEO for a better method for evaluating the performance of the regions. In your recommendation, identify the major weakness of the presentmethod.