Recently, you have been offered a summer internship to serve as staff accountant for a mid-sized corporation. In accepting the position, you have the choice to work in two different departments - the financial or managerial accounting group. After remembering the content of this course, you decide that you are interested in exploring managerial accounting in more detail and decide to work as a management accounting intern. Mid-way through the internship, your career advisor approaches you with the following questions:

What are the differences between the purpose of financial accounting and managerial accounting? How has the role of the managerial accountant changed in recent years? How can Biblical principles be integrated into an accountant's responsibilities? What is the difference between strategic and operational planning? When reviewing the decisions that this company must make, what factors and costs are relevant?

After addressing these questions, your direct supervisor comes to you with a small project for analysis. The manager of the manufacturing department is trying to decide if a plant 100 miles from corporate headquarters should continue to operate or shut down resulting in the discontinuance of a product line. You are presented with the following information and questions:

Identify two pieces of financial information that would be relevant to the decision. Also, identify two pieces of financial information that would not be relevant to the decision. Finally, what are two pieces of nonfinancial information that would be relevant to the decision. The manager provides you with two financial statements - a traditional income statement and a contribution margin income statement. What are the fundamental decisions between the two types of statements? The manufacturing manager also provides you with the following operational information: Current Sales = 40,000 units; Sales = $705,000; Variable Costs = $490,000; Fixed Costs = $220,000. Based upon this information, what is the total contribution margin, the contribution margin ratio, the unit contribution margin, and the break-even point in dollars and in units. Based upon these calculations, what would happen to the contribution margin if fixed costs decrease and variable costs remain constant? How could this manufacturing unit decrease its break-even point? Assume that after a full evaluation of the results above and alternatives, the decision has been made to discontinue operations of the product. Discuss the obligations the company has to report this information and also the obligations the company has to workers that will be displaced taking into consideration biblical principles.