am Winter $2024$

Question $15$ of $21$

Current Attempt in Progress

On January $1,2022,$ Wildhorse Company, a small machine$-$tool manufacturer, acquired a piece of new industrial equipment for $$1,960,000.$ The new equipment had a useful life of $5$ years, and the salvage value was estimated to be $$40,000.$ Willhorse estimates that the new equipment can produce $10,000$ machine tools in its first year. It estimates that production will decline by $1,000$ units per year over the remaining useful life of the equipment.

The following depreciation methods may be used: $(1)$ straight$-$line, $(2)$ double$-$declining$-$balance $(3)$ sum$-$of$-$the$-$years$-$digits, and $(4)$ units of output.

$($a$)$

Which depreciation method would maximize net income for financial statement reporting for the three$-$year period ended December $31,2024?$