Selected transactions for sophie’s dog care are as follows during the month of march.

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LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1

Identify the forms of business organization and the uses of accounting information. 

Suppose you graduate with a business degree and decide you want to start your own business. But what kind of business? You enjoy working with people, especially teaching them new skills. You also spend most of your free time outdoors, kayaking, backpacking, skiing, rock climbing, and mountain biking. You think you might be successful in opening an outdoor guide service where you grew up, in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

FORMS OF BUSINESS ORGANIZATION Your next decision is to determine the organizational form of your business. You have three choices—sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation.

SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP

You might choose the sole proprietorship form for your outdoor guide service. A business owned by one person is a sole proprietorship. It is simple to set up and gives you control over the business. Small owner-operated businesses such as barber shops, law of�ices, and auto repair shops are often sole proprietorships, as are farms and small retail stores.

PARTNERSHIP

Another possibility is for you to join forces with other individuals to form a partnership. A business owned by two or more persons associated as partners is a partnership. Partnerships often are formed because one individual does not have enough economic resources to initiate or expand the business. Sometimes partners bring unique skills or resources to the partnership. You and your partners should formalize your duties and contributions in a written partnership agreement. Retail and service-type businesses, including professional practices (lawyers, doctors, architects, and certi�ied public accountants), often organize as partnerships.

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Alternative Terminology notes present synonymous terms that you may come across in practice.

CORPORATION

As a third alternative, you might organize as a corporation. A business organized as a separate legal entity owned by stockholders is a corporation. Investors in a corporation receive shares of stock to indicate their ownership claim. Buying stock in a corporation is often more attractive than investing in a partnership because shares of stock are easy to sell (transfer ownership). Selling a proprietorship or partnership interest is much more involved. Also, individuals can become stockholders by investing relatively small amounts of money. Therefore, it is easier for corporations to raise funds. Successful corporations often have thousands of stockholders, and their stock is traded on organized stock exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange. Many businesses start as sole proprietorships or partnerships and eventually incorporate.

Other factors to consider in deciding which organizational form to choose are taxes and legal liability. If you choose a sole proprietorship or partnership, you generally receive more favorable tax treatment than a corporation. However, proprietors and partners are personally liable for all debts and legal obligations of the business; corporate stockholders are not. In other words, corporate stockholders generally pay higher taxes but have no personal legal liability. We will discuss these issues in more depth in a later chapter.

Finally, while sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations represent the main types of business organizations, hybrid forms are now allowed in all states. These hybrid business forms combine the tax advantages of partnerships with the limited liability of corporations. Probably the most common among

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these hybrids types are limited liability companies (LLCs) and subchapter S corporations. These forms are discussed extensively in business law classes.

The combined number of proprietorships and partnerships in the United States is more than �ive times the number of corporations. However, the revenue produced by corporations is eight times greater. Most of the largest businesses in the United States—for example, Coca-Cola, ExxonMobil, General Motors, Citigroup, and Microsoft—are corporations. Because the majority of U.S. business is done by corporations, the emphasis in this textbook is on the corporate form of organization.

ALTERNATIVE TERMINOLOGY

Stockholders are sometimes called shareholders.

USERS AND USES OF FINANCIAL INFORMATION The purpose of �inancial information is to provide inputs for decision-making. Accounting is the information system that identi�ies, records, and communicates the economic events of an organization to interested users. Users of accounting information can be divided broadly into two groups: internal users and external users.

Internal Users

Internal users of accounting information are managers who plan, organize, and run a business. These include marketing managers, production supervisors, �inance directors, and company of�icers. In running a business, managers must answer many important questions, as shown in Illustration 1-1 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Kimmel.2745.17.1/sections/ch01lo1#c01-�ig-0001) .

ILLUSTRATION 1-1 Questions that internal users ask

Accounting Across the Organization boxes show applications of accounting information in various business functions.

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To answer these and other questions, you need detailed information on a timely basis. For internal users, accounting provides internal reports, such as �inancial comparisons of operating alternatives, projections of income from new sales campaigns, and forecasts of cash needs for the next year. In addition, companies present summarized �inancial information in the form of �inancial statements.

 ACCOUNTING ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION 

Clif Bar & Company

Owning a Piece of the Bar

The original Clif Bar® energy bar was created in 1990 after six months of experimentation by Gary Erickson and his mother in her kitchen. Today, the company has almost 300 employees and is considered one of the leading Landor's Breakaway Brands®. One of Clif Bar & Company's proudest moments was the creation of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) in 2010. This plan gives its employees 20% ownership of the company. The ESOP also resulted in Clif Bar enacting an open-book management program, including the commitment to educate all employee-owners about its �inances. Armed with basic accounting knowledge, employees are more aware of the �inancial impact of their actions, which leads to better decisions.

What are the bene�its to the company and to the employees of making the �inancial statements available to all employees? (Go to WileyPLUS for this answer and additional questions.)

External Users

There are several types of external users of accounting information. Investors (owners) use accounting information to make decisions to buy, hold, or sell stock. Creditors such as suppliers and bankers use accounting information to evaluate the risks of selling on credit or lending money. Some questions that investors and creditors may ask about a company are shown in Illustration 1-2 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Kimmel.2745.17.1/sections/ch01lo1#c01-�ig-0002) .

ILLUSTRATION 1-2 Questions that external users ask

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The information needs and questions of other external users vary considerably. Taxing authorities, such as the Internal Revenue Service, want to know whether the company complies with the tax laws. Customers are interested in whether a company like General Motors will continue to honor product warranties and otherwise support its product lines. Labor unions, such as the Major League Baseball Players Association, want to know whether the owners have the ability to pay increased wages and bene�its. Regulatory agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Federal Trade Commission, want to know whether the company is operating within prescribed rules. For example, Enron, Dynegy, Duke Energy, and other big energy-trading companies reported record pro�its at the same time as California was paying extremely high prices for energy and suffering from blackouts. This disparity caused regulators to investigate the energy traders to make sure that the pro�its were earned by legitimate and fair practices.

ACCOUNTING ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION

Spinning the Career Wheel

How will the study of accounting help you? A working knowledge of accounting is desirable for virtually every �ield of business. Some examples of how accounting is used in business careers include the following.

General management: Managers of Ford Motors, Massachusetts General Hospital, California State University– Fullerton, a McDonald's franchise, and a Trek bike shop all need to understand accounting data in order to make wise business decisions.

Marketing: Marketing specialists at Procter & Gamble must be sensitive to costs and bene�its, which accounting helps them quantify and understand. Making a sale is meaningless unless it is a pro�itable sale.

Finance: Do you want to be a banker for Citicorp, an investment analyst for Goldman Sachs, or a stock broker for Merrill Lynch? These �ields rely heavily on accounting knowledge to analyze �inancial statements. In fact, it is dif�icult to get a good job in a �inance function without two or three courses in accounting.

Real estate: Are you interested in being a real estate broker for Prudential Real Estate? Because a third party—the bank —is almost always involved in �inancing a real estate transaction, brokers must understand the numbers involved: Can the buyer afford to make the payments to the bank? Does the cash �low from an industrial property justify the purchase price? What are the tax bene�its of the purchase?

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How might accounting help you? (Go to WileyPLUS for this answer and additional questions.)

ETHICS IN FINANCIAL REPORTING People won't gamble in a casino if they think it is “rigged.” Similarly, people won't “play” the stock market if they think stock prices are rigged. At one time, the �inancial press was full of articles about �inancial scandals at Enron, WorldCom, HealthSouth, and AIG. As more scandals came to light, a mistrust of �inancial reporting in general seemed to be developing. One article in the Wall Street Journal noted that “repeated disclosures about questionable accounting practices have bruised investors' faith in the reliability of earnings reports, which in turn has sent stock prices tumbling.” Imagine trying to carry on a business or invest money if you could not depend on the �inancial statements to be honestly prepared. Information would have no credibility. There is no doubt that a sound, well-functioning economy depends on accurate and dependable �inancial reporting.

United States regulators and lawmakers were very concerned that the economy would suffer if investors lost con�idence in corporate accounting because of unethical �inancial reporting. Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) to reduce unethical corporate behavior and decrease the likelihood of future corporate scandals. As a result of SOX, top management must now certify the accuracy of �inancial information. In addition, penalties for fraudulent �inancial activity are much more severe. Also, SOX increased both the independence of the outside auditors who review the accuracy of corporate �inancial statements and the oversight role of boards of directors.

ETHICS NOTE

Circus-founder P.T. Barnum is alleged to have said, “Trust everyone, but cut the deck.” What Sarbanes-Oxley does is to provide measures that (like cutting the deck of playing cards) help ensure that fraud will not occur.

Ethics Notes help sensitize you to some of the ethical issues in accounting.

Effective �inancial reporting depends on sound ethical behavior. To sensitize you to ethical situations and to give you practice at solving ethical dilemmas, we address ethics in a number of ways in this textbook. (1) A number of the Feature Stories and other parts of the text discuss the central importance of ethical behavior to �inancial reporting. (2) Ethics Insight boxes and marginal Ethics Notes highlight ethics situations and issues in actual business settings. (3) Many of the People, Planet, and Pro�it Insight boxes focus on ethical issues that companies face in measuring and reporting social and environmental issues. (4) At the end of each chapter, an Ethics Case simulates a business situation and asks you to put yourself in the position of a decision-maker in that case.

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When analyzing these various ethics cases and your own ethical experiences, you should apply the three steps outlined in Illustration 1-3 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Kimmel.2745.17.1/sections/ch01lo1#c01-�ig-0003) .

ILLUSTRATION 1-3 Steps in analyzing ethics cases

 ETHICS INSIGHT 

Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP

I Felt the Pressure—Would You?

“I felt the pressure.” That's what some of the employees of the now- defunct law �irm of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP indicated when they helped to overstate revenue and use accounting tricks to hide losses and cover up cash shortages. These employees worked for the former �inance director and former chief �inancial of�icer (CFO) of the �irm. Here are some of their comments:

“I was instructed by the CFO to create invoices, knowing they would not be sent to clients. When I created these invoices, I knew that it was inappropriate.”

“I intentionally gave the auditors incorrect information in the course of the audit.”

What happened here is that a small group of lower-level employees over a period of years carried out the instructions of their bosses. Their bosses, however, seemed to have no concern as evidenced by various e-mails with one another in which they referred to their �inancial manipulations as accounting tricks, cooking the books, and fake income.

Source: Ashby Jones, “Guilty Pleas of Dewey Staff Detail the Alleged Fraud,” Wall Street Journal (March 28, 2014).

Why did these employees lie, and what do you believe should be their penalty for these lies? (Go to WileyPLUS for this answer and additional questions.)

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Insight boxes provide examples of business situations from various perspectives—ethics, investor, international, and corporate social responsibility. Guideline answers to the critical thinking questions are available in WileyPLUS and at www.wiley.com/college/weygandt (http://www.wiley.com/college/weygandt) . Additional questions are offered in WileyPLUS.

DO IT! 1

Business Organization Forms

DO IT! exercises prompt you to stop and review the key points you have just studied. The Action Plan offers you tips about how to approach the problem.

In choosing the organizational form for your outdoor guide service, you should consider the pros and cons of each. Identify each of the following organizational characteristics with the organizational form or forms with which it is associated.

1. Easier to raise funds.

2. Simple to establish.

3. No personal legal liability.

4. Tax advantages.

5. Easier to transfer ownership.

Action Plan ✓ Know which organizational form best matches the business

type, size, and preferences of the owner(s).

http://www.wiley.com/college/weygandt

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SOLUTION

1. Easier to raise funds: Corporation.

2. Simple to establish: Sole proprietorship and partnership.

3. No personal legal liability: Corporation.

4. Tax advantages: Sole proprietorship and partnership.

5. Easier to transfer ownership: Corporation.

Related exercise material: BE1-1 and DO IT! 1-1.

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3

The Accounting Information System

 CHAPTER PREVIEW 

As indicated in the Feature Story, a reliable information system is a necessity for any company. The purpose of this chapter is to explain and illustrate the features of an accounting information system.

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Accidents Happen

How organized are you �inancially? Take a short quiz. Answer yes or no to each question:

Does your wallet contain so many cash machine receipts that you've been declared a walking �ire hazard?

Do you wait until your debit card is denied before checking the status of your funds?

Was Aaron Rodgers (the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers) playing high school football the last time you veri�ied the accuracy of your bank account?

If you think it is hard to keep track of the many transactions that make up your life, imagine how dif�icult it is for a big corporation to do so. Not only that, but now consider how important it is for a big company to have good accounting records, especially if it has control of your life savings. MF Global Holdings Ltd was such a company. As a large investment broker, it held billions of dollars of investments for clients. If you had your life savings invested at MF Global, you might be slightly displeased if you heard this from one of its representatives: “You know, I kind of remember an account for someone with a name like yours—now what did we do with that?”

Unfortunately, that is almost exactly what happened to MF Global's clients shortly before it �iled for bankruptcy. During the days immediately following the bankruptcy �iling, regulators and auditors struggled to piece things together. In the words of one regulator, “Their books are a disaster … we're trying to �igure out what numbers are real numbers.” One company that considered buying an interest in MF Global walked away from the deal because it “couldn't get a sense of what was on the balance sheet.” That company said the information that should have been instantly available instead took days to produce.

It now appears that MF Global did not properly segregate customer accounts from company accounts. And, because of its sloppy recordkeeping, customers were not protected when the company had �inancial troubles. Total customer losses were approximately $1 billion. As you can see, accounting matters!

Source: S. Patterson and A. Lucchetti, “Inside the Hunt for MF Global Cash,” Wall Street Journal Online (November 11, 2011).

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LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1

Analyze the effect of business transactions on the basic accounting equation. 

The accounting cycle graphic above illustrates the steps companies follow each period to record transactions and eventually prepare �inancial statements.

The system of collecting and processing transaction data and communicating �inancial information to decision-makers is known as the accounting information system. Factors that shape an accounting information system include the nature of the company's business, the types of transactions, the size of the company, the volume of data, and the information demands of management and others.

Most businesses use computerized accounting systems—sometimes referred to as electronic data processing (EDP) systems. These systems handle all the steps involved in the recording process, from initial data entry to preparation of the �inancial statements. In order to remain competitive, companies continually improve their accounting systems to provide accurate and timely data for decision-making. For example, in a recent annual report, Tootsie Roll stated, “We also invested in additional processing and data storage hardware during the year. We view information technology as a key strategic tool, and are committed to deploying leading edge technology in this area.” In addition, many companies have upgraded their accounting information systems in response to the requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley.

Accounting information systems rely on a process referred to as the accounting cycle. As you can see from the graphic above, the accounting cycle begins with the analysis of business transactions and ends with the preparation of a post-closing trial balance. We explain each of the steps in this chapter as well as in Chapter 4 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Kimmel.2745.17.1/sections/ch04#ch04) .

In this chapter, in order to emphasize the underlying concepts and principles, we focus on a manual accounting system. The accounting concepts and principles do not change whether a system is computerized or manual.

ACCOUNTING TRANSACTIONS To use an accounting information system, you need to know