On January 1, 2016, Aspen Company acquired 80 percent of Birch Companys voting stock for $288,000. Birch reported a $300,000 book value, and the fair value of the noncontrolling interest was $72,000 on that date. Then, on January 1, 2017, Birch acquired 80 percent of Cedar Company for $104,000 when Cedar had a $100,000 book value and the 20 percent noncontrolling interest was valued at $26,000. In each acquisition, the subsidiarys excess acquisition-date fair over book value was assigned to a trade name with a 30-year remaining life.

These companies report the following financial information. Investment income figures are not included.

	2016	2017	2018
Sales:
Aspen Company	$415,000	$545,000	$688,000
Birch Company	200,000	280,000	400,000
Cedar Company	Not available	160,000	210,000
Expenses:
Aspen Company	$310,000	$420,000	$510,000
Birch Company	160,000	220,000	335,000
Cedar Company	Not available	150,000	180,000
Dividends declared:
Aspen Company	$ ?20,000	$?40,000	$?50,000
Birch Company	10,000	20,000	20,000
Cedar Company	Not available	2,000	10,000

Assume that each of the following questions is independent:

If all companies use the equity method for internal reporting purposes, what is the December 31, 2017, balance in Aspens Investment in Birch Company account?

What is the consolidated net income for this business combination for 2018?

What is the net income attributable to the noncontrolling interest in 2018?

Assume that Birch made intra-entity inventory transfers to Aspen that have resulted in the following intra-entity gross profits in inventory at the end of each year:

Date	Amount
12/31/16	?$10,000
12/31/17	?16,000
12/31/18	?25,000

What is the accrual-based net income of Birch in 2017 and 2018, respectively?