Meltdown Incorporated (MI) recycles plastic and then sells it to manufacturing companies to produce toys, household items (such as coffee makers), and so on. MI was founded in 1998 by Samuel Abdesselam. Sam has maintained full ownership of MI, deciding not to take it public when so many other recycling companies were going public. While Sam is the only shareholder, MI does have a substantial bank loan and the bank requires an annual audit of MI’s financial statements and MI follows ASPE. Sam has a background in operations, but is also very strong in accounting.

It is now early 2018 and you are the controller for MI, having been hired just days before the December 31, 2017, year end. In October 2017, Sam decided to step away from the business and spend more time at his second home in Florida. In order to ensure there was someone at the MI facility to oversee production and day-to-day operations, Sam hired a chief operating officer, Fred Finklestein. Fred’s background is sales and operations and he has limited knowledge of accounting. Fred tried to run the accounting side of MI when he was hired, but determined that it wasn’t his area of strength. He received Sam’s permission to hire you to help him with accounting for some of the activities in preparation for year end, and to help him understand the accounting function better.

Required Sam has some very specific activities for you and has provided you with the information he requires in Exhibit I. Prepare a report to Sam that answers his questions and be sure to provide him with all the necessary backup and calculations to support your discussion.

EXHIBIT I – MELTDOWN INFORMATION »»»»»»»»
It is MI’s policy to prorate depreciation in the year of acquisition and year of disposal (based on the month acquired or disposed). Depreciation is only calculated and recorded once per year, at yearend, unless an asset is sold. On March 1, 2017, MM purchased a new delivery truck with a cost of $54,000, a residual value of $3,000, and a useful life of eight years. The truck is being depreciated on a straight-line basis. Fred would like you to calculate and prepare the journal entry to record the depreciation on the truck for the December 31, 2017, year end. Fred is also considering selling the truck on March 1, 2018. He expects to be able to get $45,000 cash for it and would like to know what the accounting implication would be if this happened. He feels that he would understand it better if you provided a journal entry with supporting calculations. During 2017, MI purchased a parcel of land with a building on it across the street from its current location. The purchase price was $450,000 for the land and the building. MI intends to build a new production warehouse on the land and demolished the old building on it. The cost of demolishing the building was $20,000 and MI was able to recoup $8,000 of these costs by selling the scrap to a recycler. Fred is unsure of how this should be accounted for and has asked you to provide the journal entry with support. MI also purchased new equipment on November 1, 2017. The equipment cost $125,000. In addition, MI had to pay $5,000 in shipping fees to have the equipment delivered and $8,000 to have a cement pad poured for the installation of equipment. Fred believes there was $15,000 of labour downtime as a result of the installation. The equipment has an expected salvage value of $8,000 and it is standard MI practice to depreciate equipment using a declining balance rate of 20%. Fred has asked you to set up the equipment on the books at the total cost of $153,000 and record the depreciation for the year end. Fred came to you and wanted to know why the land across the street that was purchased in 2017 could not be recorded at the estimated fair value of $800,000. “Since we purchased that land, prices have skyrocketed in the area. Just yesterday, I had a call from a casino developer asking if they could buy it for $780,000. I think we could easily get $800,000 for it, but Sam doesn’t want to sell it. I think we should record it at what we could get for it. What do you think?” During 2017, Fred worked hard to attract new business. In November, he managed to sign a contract with Simcoe Toys (ST) that would see MI selling 500,000 kg of recycled plastic to ST over the next two years at a price of $2 per kilogram. Fred is quite excited about the contract and the fact that ST paid $200,000 in advance of the start of production. The amount was received December 1, 2017. As of December 31, 2017, MI had produced and delivered 50,000 kg of recycled plastic to ST. You noted to Fred that it appears that the $200,000 deposit was recorded as revenue. Fred has asked you if there is anything wrong with that entry. If there is, he would like to know why and for you to make any correcting entry that you feel is appropriate. MI sells to many customers on credit. MI employs a credit manager who reviews a client’s fi nancial history prior to allowing them to buy on credit. It is MI’s policy to use the allowance for doubtful accounts method based upon the aging of receivables. The balance is adjusted yearly aft er taking intoaccount any adjustments for customers’ accounts written off . A snapshot of MI’s current accounts receivable balance at year end shows that it has a balance of $529,200 with an allowance for doubtful accounts debit balance of $6,000. (Note that this is prior to any adjusting journal entries that you would make.) A more detailed breakdown of the accounts receivable balance shows the following amounts aged:

You note that included in the above aged balances is an amount of $30,000 from a customer, Cutthroat Kitchens. This customer went bankrupt in November 2017 and there is no possibility ofreceiving payment from it. Fred doesn’t know what to do with this amount but knows that you will.
It is standard MI policy that 2% of receivables from 0–30 days will ultimately be uncollectible, 4% for 31–60 days, 20% for 61–90 days, and 80% greater than 90 days will be uncollectible. Th is policy is implemented after adjusting for any amounts at year end that will definitely not be collected.
» In January, MI decided to stop using a significant piece of manufacturing equipment. Th e equipment, purchased in 2015, is still quite useful because it can be retrofitted to produce many diff erent items, but it no longer fits within MI’s strategic plan. Details of the disposal are as follows:

According to the board of directors’ meeting minutes, while management of MI intends to sell the machinery because it is only three years old and still has considerable life, the company may continue to use it to produce some units until a buyer is found.
Management is responsible for these asset disposal decisions. Assets can be ready within 30 days’ notice, and the marketing department has begun advertising on local websites in order to sell the equipment.
Based on the area in which MI is located, there are many manufacturers and a sale should occur in the short term. When it was advertised for sale in January 2017, MI posted an asking price of $450,000 for the equipment.
MI predicts that it will take approximately one month to disassemble the equipment. MI has had a number of interested buyers but one in particular has expressed some strong interest. A new company wanting to produce outdoor resin furniture is interested, but is unable to purchase the equipment immediately because it won’t be opening up until February 2018. The potential buyer is, however, willing to place a 25% deposit on the equipment immediately.
» As a means of cutting costs, Fred is considering revising the presentation of the fi nancial statements to show just revenues and expenses instead of the current presentation of showing a full cost of goods sold statement. Fred is questioning the purpose of presenting such detail in the fi nancial statements. “You and I know what is going on in these books, why do we need to show all this stuff?” He has also asked you to include in your report reasons why financial statements are prepared annually.

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0 to 30 days: 31 to 60 days: 61 to 90 days: Greater than 90 days: $280,000 $155,000 $ 75,600 $ 18,600