Sarasota Company is considering changing its inventory valuation method from FIFO to LIFO because of the potential tax savings. However, management wishes to consider all of the effects on the company, including its reported performance, before making the final decision. The inventory account, currently valued on the FIFO basis, consists of 1,000,000 units at $8 per unit on January 1, 2017. There are 1,000,000 shares of common stock outstanding as of January 1, 2017, and the cash balance is $416,840 The company has made the following forecasts for the period 2017-2019 Unit sales (in millions of units) Sales price per unit Unit purchases (in millions of units) Purchase price per unit Annual depreciation (in thousands of dollars) Cash dividends per share Cash payments for additions to and replacement of 2017 2018 2019 1.10 1.01 1.33 $10 $12 $12 1.2 $9$10 $300 $300 $300 $0.15 $0.15 $0.15 1.01 1.10 plant and equipment (in thousands of dollars) Income tax rate Operating expenses (exclusive of depreciation) as a $350 $350 $350 40% 40% 40% percent of sales Common shares outstanding (in millions) 15% 15% 15%