Express Co. purchased equipment on March 1, 2019, for $95,000 on account. The equipment had an estimated useful life of five years, with a residual value of $5,000. The equipment is disposed of on February 1, 2022. Express Co. uses the diminishing-balance method of depreciation with a 20% rate and calculates depreciation for partial periods to the nearest month. The company has an August 31 year end.

Instructions

a. Record the acquisition of the equipment on March 1, 2019.

b. Record depreciation at August 31, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

c. Record the disposal on February 1, 2022, under the following assumptions:

1. It was scrapped with no residual value.

2. It was sold for $55,000.

3. It was sold for $45,000.

4. It was traded for new equipment with a list price of $97,000. Express was given a trade-in allowance of $52,000 on the old equipment and paid the balance in cash. Express determined the old equipment’s fair value to be $47,000 at the date of the exchange.

What are the arguments in favour of recording gains and losses on disposals of property, plant, and equipment as part of profit from operations? What are the arguments in favour of recording them as non-operating items?