The following is an excerpt from a telephone conversation between Ben Simpson, presi- dent of Main Street Co., and Tami Lundgren, owner of Reliable Employment Co. Ben: Tami, youre going to have to do a better job of finding me a new computer programmer. That last guy was great at programming, but he didnt have any common sense. Tami: What do you mean? The guy had a masters degree with straight As. Ben: Yes, well, last month he developed a new financial reporting system. He said we could do away with manually preparing an end-of-period spreadsheet (work sheet) and financial statements. The computer would automatically generate our financial statements with a push of a button. Tami: So whats the big deal? Sounds to me like it would save you time and effort. Ben: Right! The balance sheet showed a minus for supplies! Tami: Minus supplies? How can that be? Ben: Thats what I asked. Tami: So, what did he say? Ben: Well, after he checked the program, he said that it must be right. The minuses were greater than the pluses. . . . Tami: Didnt he know that Supplies cant have a credit balanceit must have a debit balance? Ben: He asked me what a debit and credit were. Tami: I see your point.

1. Comment on the (a) the desirability of computerizing Main Street Co.'s financial reporting system, (b) the elimination of the end-of-period spreadsheet in a computerized accounting system, and (c) the computer programmer's lack of accounting knowledge.

2. Explain to the programmer why Supplies could not have a credit balance.