Please provide high quality answers for 4 questions in the assignment #2 file and the case study is for question1. The assignment should be 8 to 15 pages long, double spaced, using 12-pt Times New Rom

Read the case Forge Group Ltd Case Study (A): The Revealing Nature of Numbers, and complete the following requirements.

REQUIREMENTS:

1. Complete ratio analysis for the years 2010 through 2014, calculating the following ratios
   (2 marks each).
   Use the unaudited data for 2014. For any ratios that use an average of 2 years in the formula, you can assume that the 2010 ending balance approximates the 2010 average. (The ratios that use an average of 2 years in the formula include accounts receivable turnover, inventory turnover, return on assets, and return on equity.) You are not given the 2009 data to calculate the average for 2010, so you can assume that the average for 2010 is equal to the year-end balance. Show your calculations for each ratio or complete in Excel worksheet using formulas:
   

1. 1. Current ratio

   2. Receivables turnover

   3. Day’s sales in receivables

   4. Inventory turnover

   5. Inventory holding period

   6. Rate of return on net sales

   7. Rate of return on total assets

   8. Rate of return on stockholders’ equity

   9. Asset turnover

   10. EPS

   11. Debt ratio

   12. Times interest earned
       
       

1. Provide a discussion of the company’s performance in terms of liquidity, profitability, and leverage. Be sure to discuss each ratio. In your discussion, identify the key indicators that showed the downfall of Forge Group. (6 marks)

Question 2 (20 marks)

Hyde Park Elementary has plans to build a new playground in 2017. They received a $120,000 government grant to be used for building the playground. They are hoping to break ground in May 2017 and complete the project by the start of school in September. Before they can start the project, however, they must dismantle the existing playground that has become unsafe based on current safety standards. They are also planning to complete soil testing once the existing playground is dismantled as a number of residential properties in the community have tested positive for soil contamination. Due to recent news articles, parents are very concerned about the potential for soil contamination and are demanding a full test to ensure their kids are not playing on a contaminated playground.

Sonya Muhammed, the school principal, has compiled the following estimates related to the new playground:

The costs for installation, resurfacing, landscaping, and soil removal are the costs quoted by professional contractors. Sonya was approached by the president of the student council, Josh Schwinn, who has volunteered the council’s time for installing and landscaping the new playground. This will save the school approximately $25,000 in costs and Sonya has decided to accept this offer as two of the council members who will be helping are journeymen carpenters.

The school has two options in terms of dealing with the contaminated soil. The first option is to not partake in the soil testing and to simply resurface the play area with a poured-rubber matting that can cover the entire play surface. This will cost, as Sonya indicated in her estimates above, approximately $55,000 – a large chunk of the playground budget. The other option is to perform the soil testing. A municipal worker has estimated that there is a 40% chance that the soil is contaminated. If this is the case, the school will either need to resurface the area for $55,000 or it can have the contaminated soil removed and replaced for a hefty cost of $73,000 plus the cost of gravel. However, there is a 60% chance that the soil will not be contaminated. Sonya is wondering what they should do and has asked for your help.

REQUIRED

Prepare an analysis of the potential project costs for the following scenarios. Note: There is no need for gravel in the resurfacing scenario.

1. Resurface ground without doing soil testing (5 marks).
   

2. Complete the soil testing. In this case there are two outcomes:

1. 1. remove/replace the soil if contaminated.

   2. resurface if contaminated.
      

Use the probabilities provided by the municipal worker to determine a weighted cost for each of these outcomes. (10 marks)

1. What option would you recommend for the school? Why? Are there other non-financial considerations that you need to include in your decision? (5 marks)

Clean-It-Up manufactures industrial dryers and washers. The following information is available for February:

REQUIRED:

1. Determine the sales-mix and sales-quantity variances. (6 marks)

2. Determine the market-share and market-size variances. (6 marks)

3. Discuss the potential causes of variance. (3 marks)

Giggles Comedy Emporium provides entertainment for birthday parties. Over the last year, Giggles has entertained at over 150 birthday parties. Giggles’ business is booming! The company has parties booked solid for the next six months. Customers generally must book 6-8 months in advance to secure a spot. Mark Spear, the owner of Giggles Comedy Emporium, however, is worried. His business is busy, his customers are extremely happy, his employees are happy, but he is barely breaking even. He cannot understand, with his business being so successful, why he is barely able to pay himself a wage. Mark has asked you to help him figure out what he is doing wrong.

The services provided at each party vary. Some customers only want a clown to perform and they handle the other party details themselves. Other customers want a full package – food, cake, entertainment, cleanup, party favours, decorations, and costumes for the kids. Mark has identified the following services that can be provided at a party.

• Clown: most, if not all, parties include a clown who performs for one hour at the party. Mark pays the clown $40 for each party.

• Food (excluding cake): when customers order food for their party through Giggles, Mark outsources this service to Carl’s Catering. Carl charges an average of $12 per child for food.

• Cake: Mark orders birthday cakes through his sister, Sarah, who has a small bakery and makes custom cakes for Giggles. Her smallest cake is 8” (which will serve up to 10 kids) and costs $40. She also makes a 10” cake for $60 (which serves 20 kids).

• Cleanup: Giggles also provides cleanup service. Cleaning staff are paid $15 per hour. Cleanup averages 2 hours per 20 kids.

• Party favours: Party favours can also be ordered through Giggles. These cost $5 per bag to assemble.

• Decorations: Giggles will also fully decorate a party. Decorating staff are paid $15 per hour and take one hour to decorate a party for 20 kids. Decorations cost an average of $50 for party of 20 kids.

• Costumes: Giggles also provides costumes for parties so the kids can dress up in a theme. On average, costumes cost $40 each and can be worn 25 times before needed to be replaced. Costumes are cleaned after every party at a cost of $5 each.

Mark has set up a fee schedule for each service as follows:

During the two weeks, Mark catered 6 parties. Some details of the parties are shown below:

REQUIRED:

1. Calculate the customer-level operating income for each customer by preparing a customer profitability analysis. Rank the customers according to profitability. (15 marks)
   

2. Mark would like to earn a return of 50% on costs. What price should he have charged per child for each customer to earn a 50% return on costs? How does this compare the original fee he charged per child? What are the main reasons for this variance? Do you have any suggestions on how Mark could adjust his fee schedule? (10 marks)

Question 5 (10 marks)

Identify the risk mitigation strategy that would be most appropriate in the following circumstances. Identify the risk each company is facing, the strategy you would use to mitigate the risk, and your reason for suggesting the strategy.

1. Boom Corporation produces fireworks for commercial use. The company developed a new type of firework called the Nuclear Fusion, which they intend to market extensively in 2017. Like other fireworks, the Nuclear Fusion is made of saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal. The unique blue colour of the Nuclear Fusion firework is made from copper compounds, strontium salts, and lithium salts. The supplier of copper compounds provided a substandard material to Boom. They state it will have no effect on the firework display or safety.
   

2. Big T Enterprises has been making freeze-dried foods for the survivalist community for the last 10 years. They guarantee their product will last 20-25 years in storage. Recently, a customer complained when food they had in storage for the last 8 years was found to be rancid.
   

3. Julie’s eBooks is an online seller of books. Unlike other book sellers, they only sell eBooks in order to remove the needs for inventory. They are able to sell their eBooks for 30% less than the paperback price. They have recently had a large number of complaints about not offering hardcopy books. Many potential customers do not want to read a book on digital device.
   

4. Big Apple Cakes makes New York style cheesecakes that are frozen and distributed across Canada to consumers. Cheesecakes, which sell for $30 each, cost $14 to make and $3 to ship. Recently the shipper who handles all of Big Apple’s shipping announced an increase in shipping charges, to $7 per cake. They informed Big Apple that the refrigeration requirements make the current shipping cost of $3 unprofitable. Big Apple called around and found that other shipping companies have comparable costs of $7 per cake.
   

5. The manager of sales for True North Industries has just been informed of a potential error in a quote to a key customer. The labour charges were doubled by accident. Unfortunately, the quote was already received by the customer and accepted.