Simon Companys year-end balance sheets follow.

At December 31	Current Year	1 Year Ago	2 Years Ago
Assets
Cash	$ 31,521	$ 36,845	$ 37,252
Accounts receivable, net	89,200	62,500	50,200
Merchandise inventory	114,000	83,500	56,000
Prepaid expenses	10,151	9,672	4,139
Plant assets, net	278,907	259,017	221,309
Total assets	$ 523,779	$ 451,534	$ 368,900
Liabilities and Equity
Accounts payable	$ 133,029	$ 77,835	$ 49,669
Long-term notes payable	100,440	105,930	83,157
Common stock, $10 par value	162,500	162,500	162,500
Retained earnings	127,810	105,269	73,574
Total liabilities and equity	$ 523,779	$ 451,534	$ 368,900

The companys income statements for the current year and one year ago follow. Assume that all sales are on credit:

For Year Ended December 31	Current Year		1 Year Ago
Sales		$ 680,913		$ 537,325
Cost of goods sold	$ 415,357		$ 349,261
Other operating expenses	211,083		135,943
Interest expense	11,576		12,358
Income tax expense	8,852		8,060
Total costs and expenses		646,868		505,622
Net income		$ 34,045		$ 31,703
Earnings per share		$ 2.10		$ 1.95

(4-a) Compute days' sales in inventory. (4-b) For each ratio, determine if it improved or worsened in the current year.

Compute days' sales in inventory. For each ratio, determine if it improved or worsened in the current year