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Today, the two most prevalent types of broadband residential access are digital subscriber line (DSL) and fiber to the home (FFTH).

Question 2. Pension: The Company provides the following information about its defined benefit pension plan for the year 2023: Plan assets at January 1, 2023 $ 820,000 Projected benefit obligation at January 1, 2023 790,000 Accumulated OCI – PSC at January 1, 2023 116,200 Accumulated OCI – Net Gain at January 1, 2023 93,000 Service cost 72,000 Contributions to the plan 45,000 Benefits paid 31,000 Actual return on plan assets 23,000 Expected rate of return on plan assets 7% Settlement rate 8% Average remaining service life 14 years Assume the Company amortizes its prior service costs straight-line over the average remaining service life, rather than using the years-of-service method. Required: (9 Points) What amount of pension expense will the Company report on its income statement for 2023? If necessary, round your answer to the nearest whole dollar.

Question 2.  Benmont Corporation (“the Company”) started operations on January 1, 2018, and has used the average-cost method of inventory valuation since its inception. At the beginning of 2023, the Company decides to switch to the FIFO method. The Company determined its net income for each year since 2018 as follows (ignore all tax effects):   Net Income Year Average-Cost FIFO Difference 2018 53,000 68,000 15,000 2019 81,000 92,000 11,000 2020 95,000 82,000 (13,000) 2021 74,000 78,000 4,000 2022 99,000 91,000 (8,000) 2023 87,000 94,000 7,000 The Company is publicly traded and as a result, is required to disclose the two most recent prior years’ information along with the current year within its comparative income statement and statement of retained earnings. Required: (9 Points) Provide your answers below related to the fact pattern for Benmont Corporation:

Question 2a. What journal entry will be recorded when the Company changes to the FIFO method from the average-cost method in 2023? Account Debit Credit [account1] [debit1] [credit1] [account2] [debit2] [credit2] [account3] [debit3] [credit3] [account4] [debit4] [credit4] [account5] [debit5] [credit5] [account6] [debit6] [credit6]  

Question 2b. What adjustment, if any, would be reported to beginning retained earnings for the earliest period presented within the 2023 comparative financial statements for the effect of the change? If the adjustment decreases beginning retained earnings, present your answer below as a negative amount or in parenthesis. Note: Disregard the fact that this question is labeled as having “0 points” – this question does have points associated and you should answer this question. All parts within this question will be graded together for a combined total of 9 points.

Required: Part 3(a) (16 Points) Prepare the journal entry to reflect all of the pension plan transactions and events that occurred during 2023. As a general rounding rule, if required, round final answers to the nearest whole dollar. Pension Journal Entry for 2023: Account Debit Credit [account1] [debit1] [credit1] [account2] [debit2] [credit2] [account3] [debit3] [credit3] [account4] [debit4] [credit4] [account5] [debit5] [credit5] [account6] [debit6] [credit6] [account7] [debit7] [credit7] [account8] [debit8] [credit8] [account9] [debit9] [credit9] [account10] [debit10] [credit10]  

On January 1, 2023, Axl Company (“the Company”) acquired 6,000 shares of Slash Corporation for $102,000. Slash Corporation has 30,000 total shares outstanding. On November 15, Slash Corporation declared and paid a total dividend of $117,000 to all shareholders. Slash Corporation reported net income of $380,000 for 2023. The fair value of Slash Corporation’s stock was $14 per share on December 31, 2023. How much higher would the Company’s net income be if the Company accounted for the investment in Slash Corporation under the equity method, as opposed to the fair value method?

Part 4: Free Response – Leases (22 Points) Jovi Company (“Lessee”) and Sambora Corporation (“Lessor”) sign a non-cancellable lease agreement dated January 1, 2023, in which Lessor leases equipment to Lessee beginning immediately on January 1, 2023. The following information relates to the lease agreement: The term of the lease is two years and requires equal rental payments at the beginning of each year, beginning in 2023. The Lessor sets the annual rental rate to earn a rate of return of 8% per year; the Lessee is unaware of this rate. The lease contains no renewal options; the equipment will revert to the Lessor at the termination of the lease. The equipment has a fair value at the commencement of the lease of $350,000, a cost to the Lessor of $280,000, and an estimated economic life of three years. If relevant, assume that at the end of the equipment’s economic life, the estimated salvage value is $6,400. The Lessor estimates that the equipment will have a residual value of $43,000 at the end of the lease and the residual value is not guaranteed by the Lessee. If relevant, the Lessee anticipates that it is probable that the value of the equipment at the end of the lease term will be only $37,000. If relevant, both parties depreciate similar equipment owned on a straight-line basis. If relevant, the Lessee’s incremental borrowing rate is 6% per year. Important Note regarding Grading: If you would like the opportunity to receive partial credit at the instructor’s discretion (strongly recommended), please email me at cindy.dosch@warrington.ufl.edu a picture or a scan of your work within 15 minutes of submitting your exam. Be sure to clearly label your work. The work must agree to the final answer originally submitted within Canvas to be eligible for partial credit. Required: Record your final answers to the required items in the table immediately below and provide the requested journal entries beginning on the next page. As a general rounding rule, if required, round final answers to the nearest whole dollar. If an amount is zero, write “0” – DO NOT leave blank.   Item Your Answer (a) Amount of annual rental payment $[answer-a] (b) Classification of lease by Lessee [answer-b] (c) Classification of lease by Lessor [answer-c]

Part 2: Free Response – Income Taxes (20 Points) Willie Nelson Co. had the following cumulative temporary differences as of December 31, 2022: Taxable temporary differences – Installment sales: $86,000 Deductible temporary difference – Bad debts:   $63,000 Additionally, as of 2022, the enacted tax rate was 20% for 2022 and all future periods. In 2023, the Company reported pre-tax financial accounting income of $610,000. During 2023, legislation was passed that changed the enacted tax rate from 20% to 28% for all future years, beginning in 2024. The following additional information is available: During the prior year, on January 1, 2022, the Company completed a contract and recognized $129,000 in gross profit on an accrual basis. For tax purposes, the Company will recognize the gross profit on an installment basis evenly over three years, beginning in 2022. During 2023, the Company received $29,000 in municipal bond interest income. In 2023, bad debt expense was estimated to be $2,000. Write-offs of uncollectible accounts in 2023 totaled to $8,000. For 2023, depreciation for financial accounting purposes is $74,000, whereas depreciation under MACRS is $82,000. During 2023, the Company incurred fines for pollution violations of $8,000. Finally, assume that there was no beginning balance in the income taxes payable account as of January 1, 2023. Important Note regarding Grading: If you would like the opportunity to receive partial credit at the instructor’s discretion (strongly recommended), please email me at cindy.dosch@warrington.ufl.edu a picture or a scan of your work within 15 minutes of submitting your exam. Be sure to clearly label your work. The work must agree to the final answer originally submitted within Canvas to be eligible for partial credit. Required: (20 Points) Record your final answers to the required items in the table immediately below. As a general rounding rule, if required, round final answers to the nearest whole dollar. If an amount is zero, write “0” – DO NOT leave blank.   Item as of December 31, 2023 Your Answer (a) Income tax expense (benefit) – Current [answer-a] (b) Income tax expense (benefit) – Deferred [answer-b] (c) Income taxes payable [answer-c] (d) Net DTA per balance sheet [answer-d] (e) Net DTL per balance sheet [answer-e]

Part 5: Free Response – Investments and Derivatives (18 Points) The following information relates to two independent fact patterns concerning R. Stewart Company’s investments and derivatives. As a general rounding rule, if required, round percentages to the second decimal (e.g., 5.75%) and final answers to the nearest whole dollar.