Interpreting Accounts Receivable and Related Footnote Disclosure Following is the current asset section from the W.W. Grainger Inc. balance sheet.

As of December 31 ($ 000s) 2015 2014 2013 Cash and cash equivalents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 290,136 $ 226,644 $ 430,644 Accounts receivable (less allowances for doubtful accounts of $22,288, $22,121 and $20,096, respectively) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,209,641 1,172,924 1,101,656 Inventories—net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,414,177 1,356,396 1,305,520 Prepaid expenses and other assets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85,670 102,669 115,331 Deferred income taxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 61,387 75,819 Prepaid income taxes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49,018 47,529 15,315 Total current assets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,048,642 $2,967,549 $3,044,285 Grainger reports the following footnote relating to its receivables.

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts The following table shows the activity in the allowance for doubtful accounts.

For Years Ended December 31 ($ 000s) 2015 2014 2013 Balance at beginning of period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $22,121 $20,096 $19,449 Provision for uncollectible accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,181 12,945 8,855 Write-off of uncollectible accounts, net of recoveries . . . (10,495)(9,628)(7,942)

Business acquisitions, foreign currency and other . . . . . 481 (1,292) (266)

Balance at end of period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $22,288 $22,121 $20,096 Required

a. What amount do customers owe Grainger at each of the year-ends 2013 through 2015?

b. What percentage of its total accounts receivable does Grainger deem uncollectible? (????int???? Percentage of uncollectible accounts ???? Allowance for uncollectible accounts / Gross accounts receivable)

c. What amount of bad debts expense did Grainger report in its income statement for each of the years 2013 through 2015?

d. Explain the change in the balance of the allowance for uncollectible accounts since 2013. Specifically, did the allowance increase or decrease as a percentage of gross accounts receivable, and why?

e. If Grainger had kept its 2015 allowance for uncollectible accounts at the same percentage of gross accounts receivable as it was in 2013, by what amount would its pretax profit have changed? Explain.

f. Overall, what is our assessment of Grainger’s allowance for uncollectible accounts and the related bad debts expense?