Section A – THIS ONE question is compulsory and MUST be attempted
The following draft financial statements relate to Marchant, a public limited company.
Marchant Group: Draft statements of profit or loss and other comprehensive income for the year ended 30 April 2014.
The following information is relevant to the preparation of the group statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income:
1. On 1 May 2012, Marchant acquired 60% of the equity interests of Nathan, a public limited company. The purchase consideration comprised cash of $80 million and the fair value of the identifiable net assets acquired was $110 million at that date. The fair value of the non-controlling interest (NCI) in Nathan was $45 million on 1 May 2012. Marchant wishes to use the ‘full goodwill’ method for all acquisitions. The share capital and retained earnings of Nathan were $25 million and $65 million respectively and other components of equity were $6 million at the date of acquisition. The excess of the fair value of the identifiable net assets at acquisition is due to non-depreciable land.
Goodwill has been impairment tested annually and as at 30 April 2013 had reduced in value by 20%. However at 30 April 2014, the impairment of goodwill had reversed and goodwill was valued at $2 million above its original value. This upward change in value has already been included in above draft financial statements of Marchant prior to the preparation of the group accounts.
2. Marchant disposed of an 8% equity interest in Nathan on 30 April 2014 for a cash consideration of $18 million and had accounted for the gain or loss in other income. The carrying value of the net assets of Nathan at 30 April 2014 was $120 million before any adjustments on consolidation. Marchant accounts for investments in subsidiaries using IFRS 9 Financial Instruments and has made an election to show gains and losses in other comprehensive income. The carrying value of the investment in Nathan was $90 million at 30 April 2013 and $95 million at 30 April 2014 before the disposal of the equity interest.
3. Marchant acquired 60% of the equity interests of Option, a public limited company, on 30 April 2012. The purchase consideration was cash of $70 million. Option’s identifiable net assets were fair valued at $86 million and the NCI had a fair value of $28 million at that date. On 1 November 2013, Marchant disposed of a 40% equity interest in Option for a consideration of $50 million. Option’s identifiable net assets were $90 million and the value of the NCI was $34 million at the date of disposal. The remaining equity interest was fair valued at $40 million. After the disposal, Marchant exerts significant influence. Any increase in net assets since acquisition has been reported in profit or loss and the carrying value of the investment in Option had not changed since acquisition. Goodwill had been impairment tested and no impairment was required. No entries had been made in the financial statements of Marchant for this transaction other than for cash received.
4. Marchant sold inventory to Nathan for $12 million at fair value. Marchant made a loss on the transaction of $2 million and Nathan still holds $8 million in inventory at the year end.
5. The following information relates to Marchant’s pension scheme:
The pension costs have not been accounted for in total comprehensive income.
6. On 1 May 2012, Marchant purchased an item of property, plant and equipment for $12 million and this is being depreciated using the straight line basis over 10 years with a zero residual value. At 30 April 2013, the asset was revalued to $13 million but at 30 April 2014, the value of the asset had fallen to $7 million. Marchant uses the revaluation model to value its non-current assets. The effect of the revaluation at 30 April 2014 had not been taken into account in total comprehensive income but depreciation for the year had been charged.
7. On 1 May 2012, Marchant made an award of 8,000 share options to each of its seven directors. The condition attached to the award is that the directors must remain employed by Marchant for three years. The fair value of each option at the grant date was $100 and the fair value of each option at 30 April 2014 was $110. At 30 April 2013, it was estimated that three directors would leave before the end of three years. Due to an economic downturn, the estimate of directors who were going to leave was revised to one director at 30 April 2014. The expense for the year as regards the share options had not been included in profit or loss for the current year and no directors had left by 30 April 2014.
8. A loss on an effective cash flow hedge of Nathan of $3 million has been included in the subsidiary’s finance costs.
9. Ignore the taxation effects of the above adjustments unless specified. Any expense adjustments should be amended in other expenses.
Required:
(a) (i) Prepare a consolidated statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income for the year ended 30 April 2014 for the Marchant Group. (30 marks)
(ii) Explain, with suitable calculations, how the sale of the 8% interest in Nathan should be dealt with in the group statement of financial position at 30 April 2014. (5 marks)
(b) The directors of Marchant have strong views on the usefulness of the financial statements after their move to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs). They feel that IFRSs implement a fair value model. Nevertheless, they are of the opinion that IFRSs are failing users of financial statements as they do not reflect the financial value of an entity.
Required:
Discuss the directors’ views above as regards the use of fair value in IFRSs and the fact that IFRSs do not reflect the financial value of an entity. (9 marks)
(c) Marchant plans to update its production process and the directors feel that technology-led production is the only feasible way in which the company can remain competitive. Marchant operates from a leased property and the leasing arrangement was established in order to maximise taxation benefits. However, the financial statements have not shown a lease asset or liability to date.
A new financial controller joined Marchant just after the financial year end of 30 April 2014 and is presently reviewing the financial statements to prepare for the upcoming audit and to begin making a loan application to finance the new technology. The financial controller feels that the lease relating to both the land and buildings should be treated as a finance lease but the finance director disagrees. The finance director does not wish to recognise the lease in the statement of financial position and therefore wishes to continue to treat it as an operating lease. The finance director feels that the lease does not meet the criteria for a finance lease, and it was made clear by the finance director that showing the lease as a finance lease could jeopardise the loan application.
Required:
Discuss the ethical and professional issues which face the financial controller in the above situation. (6 marks)
胞质中无颗粒的细胞是
A. 原始淋巴细胞
B. 幼稚淋巴细胞
C. 大淋巴细胞
D. 幼稚浆细胞
E. 浆细胞
Because non-audit work is important to Hum and Hoo, staff have ‘business growth’ criteria strongly linked with bonuses and promotion. This means that many of the professional accountants in the firm actively seek to increase sales of non-audit services to businesses in the Deetown area, including from audit clients. The culture of the firm is such that everybody is expected to help out with any project which needs to be done, and this sometimes means that staff help out on a range of both audit and non-audit tasks. The lines between audit and non-audit services are sometimes blurred and staff may work on either, as workload needs demand. Managing partner Cherry Hoo told staff that the non-audit revenue is now so important to the firm that staff should not do anything to threaten that source of income.
Cherry Hoo said that she was thinking of beginning to offer a number of other services including advice on environmental reporting and the provision of environmental auditing services. She said she had spoken to local companies which were looking to demonstrate their environmental sustainability and she believed that environmental reporting and auditing might be ways to help with this. She said she was confused by the nature of environmental reporting and so was not sure about what should be audited.
Required:
(a) Explain ‘ethical threat’ and ‘ethical safeguard’ in the context of external auditing, and discuss the benefits of effective ethical safeguards for Hum and Hoo. (8 marks)
(b) Explain ‘environmental audit’ and assess how environmental reporting and auditing might enable companies to ‘demonstrate their environmental sustainability’ as Cherry Hoo suggested. (8 marks)
(c) Some corporate governance codes prohibit audit firms such as Hum and Hoo from providing some non-audit services to audit clients without the prior approval of the client’s audit committee. This is because it is sometimes believed to be against the public interest.
Required:
Explain ‘public interest’ in the context of accounting services and why a client’s audit committee is a suitable body to advise on the purchase of non-audit services from Hum and Hoo. (9 marks)
Mahmood is a junior employee of Tzo Company (a large, listed company). Tzo is a processor of food labelled as containing only high quality meat. The company enjoys the trust and confidence of its customers because of its reputation for high quality products. One day, when passing through one area of the plant, Mahmood noticed some inferior meat being mixed with the normal product. He felt this must be unauthorised so he informed his supervisor, the factory manager, who told Mahmood that this was in fact a necessary cost reduction measure because company profits had been declining in recent months. Mahmood later found out that all stages of the production process, from purchasing to final quality control, were adapted in order to make the use of the inferior meat possible.
The factory manager told Mahmood that the inferior meat was safe for humans to eat and its use was not illegal. However, he told Mahmood that if knowledge of the use of this meat was made public, it would mean that customers might stop buying the products. Many jobs could be lost, probably including Mahmood’s own. The factory manager ordered Mahmood to say nothing about the inferior meat and to conduct his job as normal. Mahmood later discovered that the main board of Tzo was aware of the use of the inferior meat and supported its use in seeking to reduce costs and maintain profits. In covering up the use of the inferior meat, the factory produced a fraudulent quality control report to show that the product was purely based on high quality meat when the company knew that this was not so.
When Mahmood heard this, he was very angry and considered telling an external source, such as the local newspaper, about what he had seen and about how the company was being dishonest with its customers.
Required:
(a) Explain how Mahmood might act, in each case, if he were to adopt either conventional or post-conventional ethical assumptions according to Kohlberg’s definitions of these terms. Your answer should include an explanation of these two terms. (8 marks)
(b) Construct an ethical case for Mahmood to take this matter directly to an external source such as a newspaper. (8 marks)
(c) Some jurisdictions have a compulsory regulatory requirement for an auditor-reviewed external report on the operation and effectiveness of internal controls (such as s.404 of Sarbanes Oxley).
Required:
Explain how such a requirement may have helped to prevent the undisclosed use of the inferior meat at Tzo Company. (9 marks)