Soon after December 31, 2020, the auditor of Morino Manufacturing Corp. asked the company to prepare a depreciation schedule for semi trucks that showed the additions, retirements, depreciation, and other data that affected the company’s income in the four-year period from 2017 to 2020, inclusive. The following data were obtained:

Balance of Trucks account, January 1, 2017:
Truck no. 1, purchased Jan. 1, 2014, cost ............................. $18,000
Truck no. 2, purchased July 1, 2014, cost ............................... 22,000
Truck no. 3, purchased Jan. 1, 2016, cost ............................... 30,000
Truck no. 4, purchased July 1, 2016, cost ............................... 24,000
Balance, January 1, 2017 ........................................................ $94,000

The account Accumulated Depreciation—Trucks had a correct balance of $30,200 on January 1, 2017. (This includes depreciation on the four trucks from the respective dates of purchase, based on a fiveyear life, with no residual value.) No charges had been made against the account before January 1, 2017.

Transactions between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2020, and their records in the ledger were as follows:

July 1, 2017 Truck no. 3 was traded for a larger one (no. 5). The agreed purchase price (fair value) was $34,000. Morino Manufacturing paid the automobile dealer $15,000 cash on the transaction. The entry was a debit to Trucks and a credit to Cash, $15,000.

Jan. 1, 2018 Truck no. 1 was sold for $3,500 cash. The entry was a debit to Cash and a credit to Trucks, $3,500.-

July 1, 2019 A new truck (no. 6) was acquired for $36,000 cash and was charged at that amount to the Trucks account. (Assume truck no. 2 was not retired.)

July 1, 2019 Truck no. 4 was so badly damaged in an accident that it was sold as scrap for $700 cash. Morino Manufacturing received $2,500 from the insurance company. The entry made by the bookkeeper was a debit to Cash, $3,200; and credits to Gain on Disposal of Trucks, $700; and Trucks, $2,500.

Entries for depreciation were made at the close of each year as follows: 2017, $20,300; 2018, $21,100; 2019, $24,450; and 2020, $27,800.

Instructions

a. Auditing For each of the four years, calculate separately the increase or decrease in net income that is due to the company’s errors in determining or entering depreciation or in recording transactions affecting the trucks. Ignore income tax considerations.

b. Prepare one compound journal entry as at December 31, 2020, to adjust the Vehicles account (used for trucks) to reflect the correct balances according to your schedule, and assuming that the books have not been closed for 2020.

c. Digging Deeper Based on the errors noted, what recommendations, if any, would the auditors likely make? Are there any implications for the auditors’ report in detecting errors several years after they have occurred?