positive than the actual results for 2009. Not surprisingly, the day following the Web conference, MultiTech's stock rose 15 percent. In early October 2010, the CEO and CFO of MultiTech met and developed revised projections for fiscal 2010, based on actual results for the first three quarters of the year and projections for the final quarter. Their revised projections for 2010 follow: Sales Cost of Goods Sold Gross Margin Operating expenses Operating income $38,000 (30,500) $ 7,500 (4,000) $ 3,500 Upon reviewing these numbers, the CEO turned to the CFO and stated, "I think the market will be forgiving if we come in 5 percent light on the top line (sales), but if we miss operating income by 12.5 percent ($500 $4,000) our stock is going to get ham- mered when we announce fourth quarter and annual results." The CFO mulled the situation over for a couple of days and started to develop a strategy to increase reported income by increasing production above planned lev- els. She believed this strategy could successfully move $500 million from Cost of Goods Sold to Finished Goods Inventory. If so, the firm could meet its early profit projections. a. How does increasing production, relative to the planned level of production, decrease Cost of Goods Sold? b. What other accounts are likely to be affected by a strategy of increasing production to increase income? c. Is the CFO's plan ethical? Explain. d. If you were a stockholder of MultiTech and carefully examined the 2010 financial statements, how might you detect the results of the CFO's strategy?