On January 1, Lions Store had inventory valued at $248,000. January net purchases were $156,000 and January sales were $440,000. On February 1, a fire destroyed most of the inventory. Past accounting records indicate average rate of gross profit was 45% of sales. Merchandise with a cost of $20,000 remained undamaged after the fire. Lions use gross profit method to estimate its ending inventory.

Instructions

a)Calculate the amount of the estimated ending inventory. (4 marks)

b)Calculate the amount of the fire loss. Show appropriate titles for all amounts in your presentation. (2 marks)

c)Explain why the gross profit method is not normally acceptable for financial reporting purposes. (3 marks)