5 A recent annual report of H. Heinz Company includes the following note: Depreciation:

9.5A recent annual report of H. J. Heinz Company includes the following note: Depreciation: For financial reporting purposes, depreciation is provided on the straight- line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets, which generally have the following ranges: buildings— 40 years or less; machinery and equipment— 15 years or less; computer software— 3– 7 years; and lease hold improvements— over the life of the lease, not to exceed 15 years. Accel-erated depreciation methods are generally used for income tax purposes. a. Is the company violating the accounting principle of consistency by using different deprecia-tion methods in its financial statements than in its income tax returns? Explain.

SOLUTION:As per the consistency principle, accountants shall remain consistent in applying accountingprinciples, methods, practices, and procedures from one accounting period to another. In...