Final Paper - Research Project The purpose of this assignment is to apply concepts and theories discussed in the course to practical issues. You will be required to prepare a research paper on Tesla,
Recap –Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Accounting Under Ideal Conditions Accounting under ideal conditions •In a perfect world, accounting information would: –be relevant; –be a faithful representation of “reality” –be understandable; –be verifiable; –be timely; and –facilitate comparisons. Under what conditions would this be achieved? Accounting under ideal conditions •Assume you have a situation where: –the future cash flows of the firm are publicly known with certainty (=$150 at end of year 1, $150 at end of year 2) –the interest rate for the firm’s cash flows is publicly known with certainty=10% •Present value of the asset = $______ •=($__/___) + ($___/___) = $____+ $____= $____ •Who would be willing to pay more for this asset?•Who would be willing to sell this asset for less? Accounting under ideal conditions Balance Sheet of P. V. Ltd at time 0: Capital asset $ ______ Shareholders’ Equity $_____ Accounting under ideal conditions For period 1, the income statement shows:
Revenue $ Amortization Expense _____ Net income (_____*__%) _____ The amortization expense represents the decline in the asset’s service‐rendering potential:
Service rendering potential, time 0: $ Service rendering potential, time 1: ______ Decline ______ Accounting under ideal conditions Balance Sheet of P. V. Ltd at time 1: Cash $ Capital asset S/H equity, t o $ Less amort. ______ + net income ______ $ ______ $ ______ •If there were only one share, it would be worth $_______ Accounting under ideal conditions •For period 2, the income statement shows:
Revenue $ Interest income Amortization Expense ______ Net income ______ The amortization expense represents the decline in the asset’s service‐rendering potential:
Service rendering potential, time 1: $ Service rendering potential, time 2: ______ Decline ______ Accounting under ideal conditions •Balance Sheet of P. V. Ltd at time 2: Cash $ Capital asset S/H equity, t1 $ Less amort. ______ + net income _____ $ _____ $ _____ •Is this information inclusive of the desirable characteristics of relevance, representational faithfulness (reliability), understandability, verifiability, timely, and comparable? Accounting under ideal conditions •Why is the firm's net income in the previous example not considered in the valuation of the firm? A bit of help on the terminology •Info is a “Faithful representation” of the real‐ world economic phenomena if the sub‐criteria of neutrality, completeness and freedom from error are met “Confirmatory Value” is the ability to confirm or correct previous evaluations •Verifiability implies that different knowledgeable and independent observers would reach general consensus, although not necessarily complete agreement, either: a. That the information represents the economic phenomena that it purports to represent without material error or bias (by direct verification); or b. That the chosen recognition or measurement method has been applied without material error or bias (by indirect verification). •Neutrality is the absence of bias intended to attain a predetermined result or to induce a particular behavior Ideal conditions with uncertainty: Q17 •We now consider a situation with the following conditions: –a given fixed interest rate (3%) for firm’s cash flows and borrowings –a complete and publicly known set of states –asset yields publicly known state probabilities Probability annual cash flow .30 (no snow) $300 .70 (snow) $900 –publicly observable state realization –Equipment financed by bank loan of $500 and remainder by issuing common shares –Pays a dividend of $50 at end of each year of operation •What is the present value of North Ltd.'s asset on August 1, 2015 (time 0) and July 31, 2016 (end of year 1)? Q17 cont. What is the present value of North Ltd.'s asset on August 1, 2015 (time 0) and July 31, 2016 (end of year 1)? Q17 cont. •What items would appear on North Ltd.'s balance sheet? Q17 cont. •How do we calculate year one net income? Q17 cont. For 2016, with snowy (good) state realization, the income statement shows:
Revenue $ Amortization expense Interest expense _____ Net income $______ The amortization expense represents the decline in the asset’s service‐rendering potential:
Service rendering potential, time 0: $ Service rendering potential, end of 2010: _______ Decline $ _____ Q17 cont. Alternatively, for 2016, with snowy (good) state realization, the income statement could show:
Accretion of discount ($______ x __) $ Interest accrued on bank loan ($____x__) Abnormal earnings (actual revenues of $900 less expected revenues of $720) _______ Net income $______ •Expected revenues (based on probabilities of outcomes) of $_____ = (__x $___) + (__x $___) = $___+ $___= $___ Q17 cont. •What would the net income be under historical cost accounting? •Assumptions: –North Ltd. paid the present value of the equipment at time 0 (calculated earlier) –The equipment is amortized over 2 years on a straight line basis Q17 cont. •Under the more realistic assumption that ideal conditions do not hold, which measure of net income, present value basis or historical cost basis, is most relevant? Which is most reliable? Why? Don’t get lost in the mechanics: •Investment on B/S = PV of expected future cash flows •Expected future cash flows = sum of (cash flow of each realization * its probability) Traditional Format income statement: •Amortization = change in PV of asset •Cash on hand earns interest Alternative format income statement •Opening asset value*discount rate=accretion=expected income •Difference between actual realizations and expected = unexpected income Chapter 2 –Part 2 Present Va l u e Accounting in the real world •The real world is not characterized by ideal conditions; however, there are real world examples of present value accounting.
•Consider Reserve Recognition Accounting (RRA) for oil and gas companies. •RRA provide sufficient information to prepare a present value based income statement. Reserve Recognition Accounting •RRA requires supplemental disclosure of present value, discounted at 10%, of a firm's proven oil and gas reserves. –No IASB standard –NI 51‐101 (in Canada) requires supplemental disclosure but not RRA –ASC 932 (in the US) requires RRA disclosures Reserve Recognition Accounting •ASC 932 –Requires companies to provide values of provenreserves based on discounted expected future cash flows at a fixed rate of 10%. –Advantages: •Historic cost of these reserves may have little predictive value •Avoids problems of full cost vs. successful efforts –Intent: to provide investors with more relevant information about future cash flows than that contained in conventional historical cost‐based financial statements. The mechanics of RRA •These things affect the reserve “asset” and total assets: –Change in prices, costs, timing, estimates, taxes, quantities –Extensions and discoveries and purchases of reserves in place –Accretion of discount •These things are shifts between the reserve “asset” and other assets: –Sales –Development costs incurred Reserve Recognition Accounting •To address concerns of subjectivity and uncertainty, companies: –Only look at proven reserves –Use a prescribed discount rate of 10% –Use prices and costs in effect at balance sheet date •Nevertheless, substantial estimations and revisions are necessary regarding: –Quantities of reserves –Timing of cash flows –Revisions to prices and costs Reserve Recognition Accounting •Results in asset values and income that: –Fluctuate substantially –Are very different from historic cost counterparts •Mixed evidence whether RRA is informative or not (covered in Chapter 5) Reserve Recognition Accounting •Do oil and gas firms operate under ideal conditions? –What is the impact on present value accounting under RRA requirements? Reserve Recognition Accounting •Without ideal conditions, complete relevance and reliability are no longer jointly attainable. One must be traded off against the other. Why do I have to learn this? •The mechanics of RRA are what accountants have to do in general if we adopt asset valuations based on present values (=revenue recognition at different point). Accounting for asset retirement obligations works similarly to this, for example •Accounting also changes if we adopt asset valuations based on market values Current Va l u e vs. Historical Costs •we have seen that ideal conditions do not hold resulting in volatility and reliability issues (consider RRA discussion) •Will current value accounting (eg. present value accounting) replace historical cost accounting? Current Va l u e vs. Historical Costs •Relevance vs. Reliability •Revenue Recognition •Recognition Lag •Matching of Costs and Revenues Current Va l u e vs. Historical Costs •Relevance vs. Reliability –Historical cost = reliable, not relevant –PV = relevant, not reliable (unless ideal conditions hold) Current Va l u e vs. Historical Costs •Revenue recognition –revenue is recognized earlier under current value accounting vs. historical cost accounting •Recognition Lag –the extent to which timing of revenue recognition lags behind changes in real economic value. Current Va l u e vs. Historical Costs •Matching of costs and revenues –matching is primarily associated with historical cost accounting –matching is accomplished by the use of accruals (accounts receivable, accounts payable, allowance for bad debts, amortization, etc.) –Little matching under current value accounting •What is the impact of matching on reliability of historical cost financial accounting? …think estimates… Current Va l u e vs. Historical Costs •There are often several ways of accounting for the same thing. •Lack of well defined concept of net income (should it be based on changes in current values of assets and liabilities or on historical costs and accruals?) –Requires a great deal of judgement to value assets and measure income … this is why we have an accounting profession Current Va l u e vs. Historical Costs •As there is value in both approaches to financial accounting, the profession has turned their efforts to making financial statements more useful.
•Chapter 3 –The Decision Usefulness Approach to Financial Reporting Recap –Ideal Conditions Recap –Ideal Conditions •Ch. 2. Q7 – Explain why, under ideal conditions, there is no need to make estimates when calculating expected present values? Recap –Ideal Conditions •Ch.2. Q10 – Explain why, under non‐ideal conditions, it is necessary to trade off between relevance and reliability when estimating future cash flows. Define relevance and reliability as part of your answer. Chapter 2 – Part 3 Chapter 2 –Accounting Under Ideal Conditions (Part 3) •Last class we started our discussion on accounting under ideal conditions, let's recap… Recap: Ideal conditions 1) What are the “ideal conditions”? Recap: Ideal conditions •Ideal conditions – conditions where future firm cash flows and interest rates are known with certainty or, if not known with certainty, where there is a complete and publicly known set of states of nature and associated objective probabilities which enables a completely relevant and reliable expected present value of the firm to be calculated. Recap: Ideal conditions Ideal conditions under uncertainty:
1.a given, fixed interest rate which the firms future cash flows are discounted 2.a complete and publicly known set of states of nature 3.state probability objective and publicly known 4.state realization publicly observable Recap: Ideal conditions ABC Co. Example •one asset firm, 2 year useful life, no salvage value (ie. value of $0 at end of year 2) •no liabilities •interest rate is 10% •asset will generate $200 if the economy is good, $100 if the economy is bad •50% chance the economy will be good, and a 50% chance the economy will be bad. ABC Co. cont. •What is ABC Co's asset value at time 0?
•What does ABC Co's balance sheet show at time 0 (based on present values/current values)? ABC Co. cont. What is ABC Co's net income for year one assuming a bad economy? ABC Co. cont. What is ABC Co's net income for year 1 assuming a good economy? ABC Co. cont. •What would happen to the value of ABC Co. if it paid a dividend? ABC Co. cont. •Under ideal conditions, as long as an investor can invest any dividends they receive at the same rate of return as the firm earns on cash flows not paid in dividends, the present value of an investor's overall interest in the firm is independent of the timing of the dividends. •This is true of ABC Co. because there is only one interest rate in the economy. ABC Co. cont. In effect, the firms cash flows establish the size of the "pot" that is ultimately available to investors, and it does not matter if this pot is distributed sooner or later. If it is distributed during the year, investors can earn 10% on the distributions. If it is distributed in a subsequent year, the firm earns 10% on amounts not distributed, but this accrues to the investors through the increase in the value of their investment. The present value to the investor is the same either way. …this is referred to as "dividend irrelevancy" ABC Co. cont. Summary of ABC Co. financial statements:
•Relevant: balance sheet values are based on expected future cash flows •Dividend irrelevancy: fixed known interest rate in economy •Reliable: ideal conditions ensure that present value calculations faithfully represent the firm's expected future cash flows •Management omission, error, and bias are not p ossible. ABC Co. cont. •Reliability vs. volatility –Present value calculations are reliable under ideal conditions, net income and balance sheet value are volatile since end of period present values depend on which sate is realized. –Volatility is demonstrated by abnormal earnings in the ABC Co. example, where net income varied from a loss of $23.97 to income of $76.03 under a bad and good economy, respectively. –The investor bears the risk even when the financial statements are completely reliable. Ideal Conditions ‐Terms •dividend irrelevancy •risk averse •arbitrage •abnormal earnings / unexpected earnings Ideal conditions: class discussion 1) Do ideal conditions hold in real life?
2) What implications do these departures have for accountants and financial statement users? As we depart from ideal conditions: Implications ‐users need financial statements to assess what cash flows are and what rate of return to expect/demand ‐the income statement gains importance ‐quoted market price does not exist for all assets and liabilities ‐estimates are required in financial statements ‐impossible to anticipate all eventualities so “shocks” occur more frequently Implications (cont.): ‐impossible to write contracts that cover all eventualities ‐financial statements provide feedback value as to the state that occurred ‐difficult to disentangle results due to management efforts/talent from nature ‐need auditors and GAAP to minimize chance that management will try to cover up their mistakes, blame them on nature Present Va l u e Accounting in the real world •The real world is not characterized by ideal conditions; however, there are real world examples of present value accounting.
•Consider Reserve Recognition Accounting (RRA) for oil and gas companies. •RRA provide sufficient information to prepare a present value based income statement.