Leverage and Capital Structure

Week 5 – Discussion Forum 2

No unread replies.No replies.

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

 Leverage and Capital Structure [WLOs: 2, 3] [CLO: 3]

“The use of debt to fund the firm (called leveraging) carries with it benefits as well as risks” (Hickman et all., 2013, Chap 8, Overview, para. 4). In the short term, leverage lowers the weighted average cost of capital due to the typically lower required rates of return on debt as compared to equity. In the long run, debt requires interest payments and the principal must be repaid. A firm that cannot repay its debt faces default risk and/or bankruptcy. The risks due to excessive leverage are known as financial risks. Thus, as a firm considers using debt or equity to fund its business, it must consider both the benefits of debt and the financial risks of too much debt. In this discussion, you will evaluate a real-world scenario and consider the implications of the debt financing decision for the firm.

Prepare:

Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum,

 (Links to an external site.)

How Alex Clark Turned $32,000 Into a Chocolate Phenomenon – 30 Under 30 | Forbes (Links to an external site.)

After watching the video, answer the following questions in your post:

  • Did Alex Clark initially fund the business with equity or debt?
  • Initially, Clark’s chocolate business is very small. Compared to publicly traded companies, would Clark’s required rate of return on equity be higher or lower than the “average” required rate of return on equity for small cap companies of 15%? Explain your answer.
  • After the business was established, Clark talked about buying a building to expand. This is a good example of an investment project that a business must evaluate. Would the required rate of return for Clark’s building purchase be higher or lower than the overall chocolate company’s required rate of return? Explain your answer.
  • Should Clark use some bank debt to finance all or a portion of the building purchase?
    • Justify your answer by explaining how the weighted average cost of capital for the company would change if Clark uses bank debt to finance all or a portion of the building purchase.
  • What is the primary risk that Clark faces if she uses debt to finance the entire building purchase? For purposes of this discussion, assume that the debt would then comprise 95% of the company’s capital structure.

Guided Response: Review several of your colleagues’ posts, and reply to at least two of your peers by 11:59 p.m. on Day 7 of the week. In your written responses to your classmates, address the following:

  • Provide feedback on your peers’ answers, including whether you agree or disagree with any of the answers or reasoning provided. Justify your opinion.
  • State your opinion on whether Clark should use debt to finance the building purchase, and if so, how much debt should be used (as a percent of the total building price). Justify your opinion.

collaboration, divisional structure, functional structure, horizontal structure

 Pick one of the following terms for your research: collaboration, divisional structure, functional structure, horizontal structure, matrix structure, outsourcing, reengineering, teams, vertical linkages, or virtual team. 

 

Journal Article Summary & Discussion: Within each module, there is a list of key terms. Each student will select one of the key terms and conduct a search of Campbellsville University’s online Library resources to find 1 recent peer reviewed article (within the past 3 years) that closely relate to the concept. Your submission must include the following information in the following format:

DEFINITION: a brief definition of the key term followed by the APA reference for the term; this does not count in the word requirement. SUMMARY: Summarize the article in your own words- this should be in the 150-200-word range. Be sure to note the article’s author, note their credentials and why we should put any weight behind his/her opinions, research or findings regarding the key term.

DISCUSSION: Using 300-350 words, write a brief discussion, in your own words of how the article relates to the selected chapter Key Term. A discussion is not rehashing what was already stated in the article, but the opportunity for you to add value by sharing your experiences, thoughts and opinions. This is the mostimportant part of the assignment.

REFERENCES: All references must be listed at the bottom of the submission–in APA format. (continued) Be sure to use the headers in your submission to ensure that all aspects of the assignment are completed as required. Any form of plagiarism, including cutting and pasting, will result in zero points for the entire assignment.

Describe the purpose of a Trial Balance and the steps of how to prepare a Trial Balance.

1 page response:

Part 1: Describe the purpose of a Trial Balance and the steps of how to prepare a Trial Balance.

Part 2: Meredith Ward is the assistant chief accountant at Frazier Company, a manufacturer of computer chips and cellular phones. The company presently has total sales of $20 million. It is the end of the first quarter. Meredith is hurriedly trying to prepare a trial balance so that quarterly financial statements can be prepared and released to management and the regulatory agencies. The total credits on the trial balance exceed the debits by $1,000. In order to meet the 4 p.m. deadline, Meredith decides to force the debits and credits into balance by adding the amount of the difference to the Equipment account. She chooses Equipment because it is one of the larger account balances; percentage-wise, it will be the least misstated. Meredith “plugs” the difference! She believes that the difference will not affect anyone’s decisions. She wishes that she had another few days to find the error but realizes that the financial statements are already late.

Answer the following questions:

  • Who are the stakeholders in this situation?
  • What are the ethical issues involved in this case?
  • What are Meredith’s alternatives?

Thank you.

compare accounting principles for private and public companies

In this assignment, you will compare accounting principles for private and public companies. As you may have discovered as you’ve reviewed the materials for this course, most of what is learned in accounting courses focuses on public companies, not private ones. GAAP, as you have also learned from your studies, may be followed by private companies, but it is only required to be used by publicly traded companies. FASB, of course, is designated by the SEC to establish and improve GAAP, so their focus is primarily on publicly traded companies.

FASB has also recognized the importance and potential impact of private company financial statements. According to Forbes, out of the 5.7 million firms with employees in the United States, less than 1 percent have shares listed on a U.S. exchange. Although we tend to think of private companies as small companies, the reality is quite the opposite, with private firms accounting for 86.4 percent of U.S. firms with 500 or more employees.

In recognition of the growing importance and impact of private companies, FASB has come up with a useful publication: Private Company Decision-Making Framework: A Guide for Evaluating Financial Accounting and Reporting for Private Companies.

In this guide, FASB identifies the following five Significant Differential Factors:

  1. Number of primary users and their access to management.
  2. Investment strategies of primary users.
  3. Ownership and capital structure.
  4. Accounting resources.
  5. Learning about new financial reporting guidance.

For this assignment, write a 2–4 page paper in which you:

  • Select two of the differential factors that interest you, and briefly explain why.
  • In your own words, explain the factor and why it is different from a publicly traded company.
  • Identify the accounting risks associated with each of your chosen factors. What would you recommend to minimize those risks?
  • Based on what you have learned this quarter, what components of the Balance Sheet have the most potential to be impacted by the differential factors you have chosen? Identify both positive and negative potential impacts.

Need for GAAP

1. Need for GAAP) Some argue that having various organizations establish accounting principles is wasteful and inefficient. Rather than mandating accounting rules, each company could voluntarily disclose the type of information it considered important. In addition, if an investor wants additional information, the investor could contact the company and pay to receive the additional information desired.

2.

E2.5 (LO 2) (Elements of Financial Statements) Ten interrelated elements that are most directly related to measuring the performance and financial status of an enterprise are provided below. Assets Distributions to owners Expenses Liabilities Comprehensive income Gains Equity Revenues Losses Investments by owners Instructions Identify the element or elements associated with the 12 items below.

a.   Arises from peripheral or incidental transactions.

b.   Obligation to transfer resources arising from a past transaction.

c.   Increases ownership interest.

d.   Declares and pays cash dividends to owners.

e.   Increases in net assets in a period from nonowner sources.

f.   Items characterized by service potential or future economic benefit.

g.   Equals increase in assets less liabilities during the year, after adding distributions to owners and subtracting investments by owners.

h.   Arises from income statement activities that constitute the entity’s ongoing major or central operations.

i.   Residual interest in the assets of the enterprise after deducting its liabilities.

j.   Increases assets during a period through sale of product.

k.   Decreases assets during the period by purchasing the company’s own stock.

l.   Includes all changes in equity during the period, except those resulting from investments by owners and distributions to owners.

Identify the ethical dilemmas 

Ethics assessment

“Poker4u”

Last year, Mark and Jason started a business called Poker4u, based in the British Virgin Islands, through which they run a gambling website called Poker4u.com. For a fee, visitors to the website can play poker and other card games against players from around the world. Game winners earn cash prizes. Poker4u accepts all major credit cards. This website has become very popular with players from across the globe and, as a result, Poker4u has become a very profitable business.

Before playing on Poker4u.com, all players must sign a document stating that they are over 18 years of age and agreeing to assume full responsibility for their debts incurred while playing on the site. Many adults have visited this website, played cards and have lost thousands of dollars. However, despite warnings on the site to discourage underage players, Alan, a 14 year old in Cincinnati, Ohio visited this website and used his father’s credit card to play and lost $20,000.  In addition, Roger, a 12 year old in Thailand, and Jacob, a 16 year old in Australia, committed similar offenses. The website is now demanding full payment from Alan, Roger and Jacob and each of their parents.

Instructions

1) Identify the ethical dilemmas

2) Evaluate who are the stakeholders in this scenario.

3) What are the alternative courses of action. Please discuss the pros and cons of each possible course of action. Make sure you include how the stakeholders will be impacted by the various solutions you are proposing.

4) Discuss the ethical schools of thought in evaluating your decision.

5) Recommend a decision. Make sure to provide the rationale for your decision.

Process costing income statement

Process costing income statement

Answer each of the following questions in detail. Provide in-text citations and include examples

whenever applicable.

1. Explain the process costing income statement and provide a hypothetical example of

process costing income statement in a manufacturing enterprise. Explain how unit

product cost is evaluated in this format. Provide in-text citations and explain your

example in detail.

2. Explain the variable costing income statement and provide a hypothetical example of

variable costing income statement in a manufacturing enterprise. Provide in-text

citations and explain your example in detail.

the answers need to be posted in APA format.

financial manager researching investments for your client

Imagine that you are a financial manager researching investments for your client. Think of a friend or a family member as a client. Define their characteristics and goals such as an employee or employer, relatively young (less than 40 years) or close to retirement, having some savings/property, a risk taker or risk averter, etc. Next, use Nexis Uni at the Strayer University library, located at Nexis Uni, click on “Company Dossier” to research the stock of any U.S. publicly traded company that you may consider as an investment opportunity for your client. Your investment should align with your client’s investment goals. (Note: Please ensure that you are able to find enough information about this company in order to complete this assignment. You will create an appendix, in which you will insert related information.)

Instructions

Your final financial research report will be 6–8 pages long and be completed in two parts. This assignment only covers the first part. This assignment requires you to use at least five quality academic resources and cover the following topics:

  • Rationale for choosing the company in which to invest.
  • Ratio analysis.
  • Stock price analysis.
  • Recommendations.

Refer to the following resources to assist with completing your assignment:

Stock Selection

Market and Company Information

  • U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: Market Structure.
  • Yahoo! Finance.
  • Seeking Alpha (Note: This is also available through the Android or iTunes App store.)
  • Morningstar (Note: You can create a no-cost Basic Access account.)
  • Research Hub, located in the left menu of your course in Blackboard.
Part 1 (1–2 pages)
  1. Provide a rationale for the stock that you selected, indicating the significant economic, financial, and other factors that led you to consider this stock.
  2. Suggest the primary reasons why the selected stock is a suitable investment for your client. Include a description of your client’s profile.
  3. List five resources you’ll use to complete this assignment and begin to build your reference list. Remember you must use at least five quality academic resources for the final assignment.

This course requires the use of Strayer Writing Standards. For assistance and information, please refer to the Strayer Writing Standards link in the left-hand menu of your course. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is as follows:

  • Determine the suitability of an investment strategy that considers external risk factors and a literature review.

Walmart Annual Report

Instructions for final project:

  1. Locate the audited financial statements in the 2019 Walmart Annual Report and 2019 Target Annual Report.
  2. Using the 2019 income statement, prepare a horizontal analysis for both companies. (you will also need 2018 to complete this step)
  3. Using the 2019 balance sheet, prepare a vertical analysis for both companies. You can perform this using only the key accounts/subtotals. Ie. Cash, A/R, Inventory, current assets, PP&E, Total Assets, A/P, current liabilities, Debt, Owners Equity. Each company may have a little different account structure, but the main subtotals will be available for both companies.
  4. Perform the following ratios from chapter 24: Current, Quick, Inventory Turnover, Days of Inventory, Debt to Equity, Interest Coverage, gross profit, operating margin, return on assets,
  5. List 3 observations from your calculations that demonstrate you have analyzed both companies.

 

 

 

Utilize your resources – textbook – chapter 24, Investopedia.com, yahoo finance, etc.

Submit your project on an excel spreadsheet.

Rubric:

Assignment turned in using Excel – one sheet for each step answers highlighted. 20%
Horizontal Analysis completed correctly – formulas are in the spreadsheet (0 points if formulas are not used) 20%
Vertical Analysis completed correctly – formulas are in the spreadsheet (0 points if formulas are not used) 20%
Ratios formulas are provided and each number is identified then calculated (see example provided in Moodle) 20%
Thoughtful observations are presented that demonstrate an understanding of the meaning of the ratios. 20%
  100%

 

predominant leadership style

1.  Define your predominant leadership style (authoritarian, democratic, or laissez-faire). Ask those who work with you if in their honest opinion this is indeed the leadership style that you use most often. What style of leadership do you work best under? What leadership style best describes your present or former managers?

2.  Emotions and Decision-Making Think back on a recent decision you made that was more emotionally laden than usual. Were you self-aware about what emotions were influencing your thinking and how your emotions might have influenced the course(s) of action you chose? Were you able to objectively identify the emotions that others were experiencing and how these emotions may have influenced their actions?

3.  Access one of the following references (leave the course and type address into browser, if unable to open via link), read the Mission Critical file and post a critique of the one websites below and the Mission Critical  to the discussion board. In some cases you may need to copy and paste the links below:

1. Judgment and Decision Making:  sjdm.org

2. Problem solving tools: http://www.problem-solving-techniques.com/Problem-Solving-Tools.html

3. Management and Leadership Skills: https://www.leadershipdirections.com.au/

4. View Mission Critical file- teaches basic concepts on decision-making

Attached is the mission critical file if needed.