Simon Companys year-end balance sheets follow.

At December 31	Current Year	1 Year Ago	2 Years Ago
Assets
Cash	$ 30,365	$ 35,493	$ 35,537
Accounts receivable, net	89,000	62,900	51,700
Merchandise inventory	110,000	82,500	57,000
Prepaid expenses	9,778	9,317	3,949
Plant assets, net	260,522	240,536	200,314
Total assets	$ 499,665	$ 430,746	$ 348,500
Liabilities and Equity
Accounts payable	$ 128,149	$ 74,980	$ 47,382
Long-term notes payable	96,755	102,044	79,329
Common stock, $10 par value	162,500	162,500	162,500
Retained earnings	112,261	91,222	59,289
Total liabilities and equity	$ 499,665	$ 430,746	$ 348,500

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		$ 649,565		$ 512,588
Cost of goods sold	$ 396,235		$ 333,182
Other operating expenses	201,365		129,685
Interest expense	11,043		11,790
Income tax expense	8,444		7,689
Total costs and expenses		617,087		482,346
Net income		$ 32,478		$ 30,242
Earnings per share		$ 2.00		$ 1.86

(2-a) Compute accounts receivable turnover. (2-b) For each ratio, determine if it improved or worsened in the current year.

(3-a) Compute inventory turnover. (3-b) For each ratio, determine if it improved or worsened in the current year.

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