R 6 Inventories You are an internal auditor at EPL. As an internal auditor, you report directly to the board of directors. While conducting your review of the preliminary financial statement for 2021, you collected the following information: Preliminary Audited 2021 (000's) 2020 000's $ 5,365 $ 3,830 Cash 20,357 18,754 Accounts receivable 72,970 47,050 Inventories 4,322 2,883 Other $103,014 Total current assets $ 72,517 $247,592 Revenue $222,659 Cost of goods sold 176,642 164,203 Gross profit $ 70,950 $ 58,456 Accounting policies: Inventories are carried at the lower of cost, derived using the FIFO method, and net realizable value. Cost of goods sold includes export tariffs amounting to $17.7 million in 2021 (2020 - $28.5 million); these amounts were paid on exports to the United States. Operating information: Sales volume increased from 500,000 mbf in 2020 to 600,000 mbf in 2021. Average sales price declined from $445/mbf in 2020 to $413/mbf in 2021. Fixed costs of production have been approximately $34 million per year. Inventory at the beginning of 2020 was $46,053,000. In conversations with the controller, she tells you that she felt 2021 had been a successful year despite the significant decline in lumber prices. She attributed the success to the ability of the factory to control costs, which resulted in cost of goods sold per unit declining by 2.4%. The production manager was in agreement with this assessment and pointed out that production costs decreased by $10/mbf from $272 to $262/mbf. Required: Analyze the information you have collected and evaluate EPL's performance in 2021. As board of directors to address these concerns in the future? what would you recommend to the