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This case raises the question: How does a company reasonably estimate and record entries for uncollectible trade receivables, and under what circumstances are receivables written off as uncollectible? The required accounting transactions for the case involve estimating a receivables allowance both as a percentage of sales and as a percentage of accounts receivable and making specific account judgments under the direct write?off method. The subjective issues involve analyzing and assessing a company's methods of collection and accounting for bad debts.

Students are presented with the income-taxes footnote from Ann Taylor Stores Corporation's 2004 Annual Report and are asked to respond to several questions regarding information in the footnote. Questions center around what can be inferred about income-tax expense, deferred-tax expense, and deferred-tax assets and liabilities from the footnote.

Students are presented with the balance sheet, income statement, accounts-receivable footnote, excerpts from the footnote on significant accounting policies, and excerpts from Management's Discussion and Analysis from MGM Mirage's 2004 Annual Report, and are asked to respond to several questions regarding information in the materials. Questions center around what can be inferred about the impact of accounts receivable, allowance for doubtful accounts, write-offs, and other data on the balance sheet and income statement.

The assistant vice-president of strategic development for a trucking company, must investigate the feasibility of moving dispatchers within the long-haul operations department in Quebec, to the head office building in Mississauga, Ontario. Students are given practice using differential analysis as an analytical tool, and are exposed to a work environment involving unions and labor issues within a unionized workforce.

The partners of a furniture company manufacturing Muskoka chairs from hockey sticks must decide whether to expand the distribution of their current product offering, or to introduce new and complimentary products. Students are required to discuss strategy, calculate costs, and determine the long-term impact on the company when volume and additional products are added.

This case provides students with an opportunity to practice a set of activity-based costing calculations. More importantly, it provides an instructor with the opportunity to challenge students to think about and to discuss the rationale used by the case protagonist to revise the means by which the company allocates corporate support costs to the product lines and to the business units. It is best used as an introduction to activity-based costing and/or the more general topic of cost allocations. As such, it is amenable to undergraduate and graduate managerial accounting courses, as well as executive education financial management programs.

The partners of a small jewelry design company have decisions to make regarding distribution alternatives for their products. Students are asked to: 1) identify those items relevant to the decision and categorize them as investment, fixed costs, or variables; 2) calculate the unit contribution and contribution margin for each necklace and earring set at both wholesale and retail selling price points; 3) calculate the weighted-average-contribution margin for each of the two product lines; 4) perform a breakeven analysis and identify what information would be useful in the interpretation of these breakeven levels and 6) project the profitability of both distribution strategies and perform sensitivity analysis around the expected sales levels.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 106068.

Introduces the role for time-driven activity-based costing. Identifies the value from an accurate costing model, describes the difficulties of traditional ABC, and illustrates how time-driven ABC provides a simpler and more powerful method.

The owner of a large greenhouse is preparing a cash budget for the upcoming selling season. He has made projections regarding future sales and expenses and also mentioned what the effect of a late spring or early winter would have on his sales.

Theatre Calgary was a non-profit performing arts organization in Calgary, Canada. In its 2002/03 season, it faced a financial crisis that nearly ended in bankruptcy. It survived the crisis and made many changes to its budgeting and control systems to solve some of the deficiencies that had led to the financial difficulties. As the president prepares for a board meeting, the board of directors want to know if the current budgeting and control systems will ensure long-term stability. This case details Theatre Calgary's budgeting system and paints an accurate picture of the organization, and provides students the opportunity to recommend changes to control systems.

Theatre Calgary was a non-profit performing arts organization in Calgary, Canada. In its 2002/03 season, it faced a financial crisis that nearly ended in bankruptcy. It survived the crisis and made many changes to its budgeting and control systems to solve some of the deficiencies that had led to the financial difficulties. As the president prepares for a board meeting, the board of directors want to know if the current budgeting and control systems will ensure long-term stability. This case details Theatre Calgary's budgeting system and paints an accurate picture of the organization, and provides students the opportunity to recommend changes to control systems.

Presents details related to Sarbanes-Oxley, with special emphasis on Section 404.

Presents a time-driven version of the Wilkerson Co. activity-based costing case (101092). Faced with declining profits, Sippican Corp. is struggling to understand why it is encountering severe price competition on one product line. The controller collects data that will enable development of a time-driven, activity-based cost model to explain better the different demands of each product line on Sippican's indirect and support resources. Illustrates a powerful connection between strategic planning and operational budgeting.

Supplements the (A) case.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 106040.

Examines forecasting earnings/performance for a commodity chemical firm during a period of high uncertainty, highlighting the combined effects of input process (natural gas), industry capacity/utilization, and cyclicality. Assuming the role of Kevin McCarthy (the top chemical industry analyst in 2004), students must analyze macro, industry, and firm-level data to determine the future performance of this firm.

The partners of a furniture company manufacturing Muskoka chairs from hockey sticks must decide whether to expand the distribution of their current product offering, or to introduce new and complimentary products. Students are required to discuss strategy, calculate costs, and determine the long-term impact on the company when volume and additional products are added.

The assistant vice-president of strategic development for a trucking company, must investigate the feasibility of moving dispatchers within the long-haul operations department in Quebec, to the head office building in Mississauga, Ontario. Students are given practice using differential analysis as an analytical tool, and are exposed to a work environment involving unions and labor issues within a unionized workforce.

Martin Field, the new controller for the automobile replacement-parts company Run, Inc., is not comfortable with a large write-off that the family-owned company plans to make in 2004. Fairly new to the position, Field had not prepared the financial information for the annual report and he hesitated to alert anyone about the balance between the receivables and inventory items. Although external auditors give Run, Inc.'s financials a clean bill of health, Field was still not comfortable and must decide what steps to take.