BTN 3-1 Jessica Boland works for Sea Biscuit Co. She and Farah Smith, her manager, are preparing adjusting entries for annual financial statements. Boland computes depreciation and records it as Smith agrees with her computation but says the credit entry should be directly to the Equipment account. Smith argues that while accumulated depreciation is technically correct, "it is less hassle not to use a contra account and just credit the Equipment account directly. And besides, the balance sheet shows the same amount for total assets under either method." Required 1. How should depreciation be recorded? Do you support Boland or Smith? 2. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Smith's reasons for preferring her method. 3. Indicate whether the situation Boland faces is an ethical problem. Explain. ETHICS CHALLENGE P2 P3 BTN 7-1 Anton Blair is the manager of a medium-size company. A few years ago, Blair persuaded the owner to base a part of his compensation on the net income the company earns each year. Each December he estimates year-end financial figures in anticipation of the bonus he will receive. If the bonus is not as high as he would like, he offers several recommendations to the accountant for year-end adjustments. One of his favorite recommendations is for the controller to reduce the estimate of doubtful accounts. Required 1. What effect does lowering the estimate for doubtful accounts have on the income statement and balance sheet? 2. Do you believe Blair's recommendation to adjust the allowance for doubtful accounts is within his rights as manager, or do you believe this action is an ethics violation? Justify your response. 3. What type of internal control(s) might be useful for this company in overseeing the manager's recommendations for accounting changes? Paxy211 ETHICS CHALLENGE C 3 BTN 11-1 Harriet Moore is an accountant for New World Pharmaceuticals. Her duties include tracking research and development spending in the new product development division. Over the course of the past six months, Harriet has noticed that a great deal of funds have been spent on a particular project for a new drug. She hears "through the grapevine" that the company is about to patent the drug and expects it to be a major advance in antibiotics. Harriet believes that this new drug will greatly improve company performance and will caus the company's stock to increase in value. Harriet decides to purchase shares of New World in order to benefit from this expected increase. Required What are Harriet's ethical responsibilities, if any, with respect to the information she has learned through her duties as an accountant for New World Pharmaceuticals? What are the implications of her planned purchase of New World shares