Reference no: EM132653247

Jasper Consulting Ltd. has been providing social media consulting services to its customers for several years. The company provides consulting on an annual contract or special assignment basis. All work is done at the customer's site hence travel is required. Jasper operates out of rented premises and has a modest investment in equipment that is used by the consulting team. Jasper is a private company (shares are largely held by the Jasper family members) that follows ASPE and has a calendar year-end.

At the end of each year, Jasper obtains the services of your accounting firm to complete the annual accounting cycle of the business and prepare any year-end adjusting of journal entries, and the financial statements.

This year, you and a colleague have been sent by your accounting firm to prepare all the necessary work. Upon arrival, you were provided with an unadjusted trial balance (see the Adjusted Trial Balance worksheet in the Excel File provided) and obtained the following additional information to complete this work.

Additional information:

1. Management has been going over the list of accounts receivable for possible accounts that are not collectible. One account for $4,500 must be written off. In the past, 4.5% of the balance of the remaining accounts receivable has been the basis of an estimate for the required balance in the allowance for doubtful accounts. Management feels that this estimate should be followed for 2020 and requires you to make the necessary adjustment.

2. After doing a count of supplies on hand, management determined that $1,400 of supplies remained unused at December 31, 2020.

3. The account balance in Prepaid Insurance of $14,000 represents the twelve-month insurance policy renewal cost for 2020/21. The policy's coverage started April 1, 2020.

4. FV-NI Investments are short-term investments. The fair value of the portfolio of investments was $22,500 at December 31, 2020.

5. In January 2020, some old equipment was sold for proceeds of $385 cash. The entry made by the bookkeeper was debit Cash, credit Gain on Disposal of Equipment. The original cost of the equipment was $14,300 and the accumulated depreciation was $14,200 up to the date of sale.

6. The depreciation expense for the remaining equipment was calculated to be $17,200 for the 2020 fiscal year.

7. The notes receivable from customers are due October 31, 2023, and bear interest at 5%, with interest paid semi-annually. The last interest collected related to the notes was for the six months ended October 31, 2020.

8. Unpaid salaries and wages at December 31, 2020, totaled $1,790. These will be paid as part of the first payroll of 2021.

9. After some analysis, management informs the accountant that the Unearned Revenue account should have a balance of $35,000.

10. Jasper is being sued by one of its former clients for $100,000 for giving bad advice and instructions. Upon discussion with legal counsel, it has been agreed that it will likely take $45,000 to settle this dispute out of court. The settlement is expected to occur in late 2021. No entry has yet been recorded.

11. The accountant is told that a sublet lease arrangement for some excess office space has been negotiated and signed. It will provide Jasper with rent revenue starting on February 1, 2021, at a rate of $400 per month.

12. The bank loan is due in three years with no principal to be repaid in the short-term. The last payment took place on December 31, so there is no accrual required for interest.

13. Jasper has been making income tax instalments as required by the Canada Revenue Agency. All instalment payments have been debited to the Income Taxes Payable account. After recording all of the necessary adjustments and posting to the general ledger, the accountant prepared the tax returns, and determined that a tax rate of 25% needed to be applied to the income before income tax amount. The necessary adjusting entry for taxes has not yet been recorded.

Required:

Question (a) Prepare all necessary adjusting and correcting entries required in the Adjusting Entries Journal provided in the Excel File (under tab of same name) based on the information given. If no entry is required, write "no entry". Show all calculations to the right of the adjusting entry.

Question (b) Using the tab labelled "Adjusted Trial Balance", post the journal entries to the adjustment columns to arrive at an adjusted trial balance. Use the item number as the reference (Ref) in the adjustment columns in your adjusted trial balance. Using cell referencing for all of the above. Make sure that your debit and credit columns balance.

Question (c) Prepare a multi-step statement of income by nature, a statement of retained earnings, and a classified statement of financial position for 2020. (All data and account titles must be cell-referenced to your adjusted trial balance).

Question (d) Respond to the following independent situations in the Excel File in the Theory Tab:

a. You have decided to prepare a pie chart using Excel in order to better analyze the operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2020.

i. What benefits do you see in providing Jasper with such a chart?

ii. Prepare the pie chart using the operating expenses from the first income statement in part (c) (i.e., without discontinued operations). Provide a brief discussion of what the pie graph indicates with respect to the expenses of Jasper Consulting Limited. Make your pie chart as useful and readable as possible.

b. As your work nears completion, the company's owner approaches you - he states that he is currently seeking an additional bank loan to finance expansion of the continuing operations. He wants to present the bank with healthy financial statements that will indicate a strong current ratio as well as high earnings. He knows that these items will be the focus of the banks when deciding to lend the company money. Specifically, he requests the following:

i. You do not record the legal issue in the financial statements for December 31, 2020 since the settlement and subsequent payment will not occur until late in 2021.

ii. You record all the unearned revenue at December 31st as earned since the company will meet all its performance obligations within a week or two of the year end - he feels that a week or so should not matter.

If you were to agree with Jasper's request what effect would this have on the earnings and financial position of the company? What would you say to the company's owner with respect to his request?