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9.1 - Introduction
Within this section, we will focus on the liability side of the balance sheet, focusing on current and long term
liabilities, including capital and operating leases. Pay close attention to the section concerning the classification
of leases as capital vs. operating, and how each classification affects other accounts. This concept is tested
heavily in the CFA Level 1 exam.
Current liability – These are debts that are due to be paid within one year or the operating cycle,
whichever is longer; further, such obligations will typically
involve the use of current assets, the creation of another
current liability or the provision of some service.
Long-term liability – These areobligations that are reasonably expected to be liquidated at some date
beyond one year or one operating cycle. Long-term obligations are reported as the present value of all
future cash payments.
Warranties
When a company sells a product, it sometimes offers its customers a warranty of a certain number of years. To
be consistent with the matching principle, companies, at the time of the sale, must estimate an amount that must
be allocated to the costs associated with the warranties. Most companies will use a historical or industry average
to estimate its warranty cost. The estimated warranty cost or liability will be allocated to the estimated warranty
liability. For example, say Company ABC sells 100 appliances at $100 and estimates that each appliance will
carry a $10 warranty liability.
Journal entry:
Taxes
Due to timing differences, companies will report deferred income tax liabilities. These are taxes that have not
yet been paid but are expected to be paid in the future. For example, say Company ABC estimates its tax bill
will total $500. At year-end it has an actual tax bill of $600.
Vacation-pay Liability
This liability arises when employees do not take their vacation during an accounting period. Even though
they have not taken their vacation, they are still entitled to them, and the result is a future liability.
For example, say an executive has three weeks of earned but unfulfilled vacation days, which have a total
value to $10,000.
Contingent Liabilities
Contingent liabilities are liabilities that will materialize if some future event occurs. They are contingent on a
specific outcome. The most frequent contingent liability is a pending lawsuit. The liability will materialize only
if the firm is found guilty.
The disclosure and/or inclusion of contingent liabilities in a company’s financial statements will depend on the
company’s ability to estimate the amount of the liability and the likelihood that it will occur.
Rules:
If the liability is probable and can be reasonably estimated, it must be included in the company’s
financial statements. The loss will be included in the financial statements, and the liability must be
included on the balance sheet.
If the liability is probable but cannot be reasonably
estimated, then only a footnote disclosure is required.
If the liability is not probable and cannot be reasonably
estimated, then no disclosure is required.
Differences between taxable income and financial income occur because tax regulations and GAAP are
frequently different. This will create a temporary difference between the tax basis of an asset or liability and its
reported amount in the financial statements. This difference will result in taxable amounts or deductible
amounts in future years when the asset is recovered or the liability is settled. This is known as "deferred income
taxes".
Tax payable includes total taxes to be paid within the accounting period. Said differently, it is equal to
the amount of income taxes paid or payable for the period.
Deferred tax expenses represent the increase in the deferred tax-liability balance from the beginning to
the end of the accounting period (noncash expense).
Income tax expense includes tax payable and deferred income tax expenses. It is composed of cash and
noncash items. Thus it is not the actual tax paid to the government within the accounting period.
Deferred tax asset represents the increase in taxes refundable (saved) in future years as a result of
deductible temporary differences at the end of the current year.
Deferred tax liability represents the increase in taxes payable in future years as a result of taxable
temporary differences existing at the end of the current year.
Other terminology:
Valuation allowance represents that portion of the deferred tax asset that is more likely not to be
realized.
Types of Differences
Temporary difference is the difference between the book basis and tax basis of an asset or liability that
is expected to reverse over time.
Permanent difference is the difference between the book basis and tax basis of an asset or liability that
is not expected to reverse over time.
Look Out!
Calculation:
1. Book basis - tax basis of asset or liability = cumulative temporary difference (cumulative temporary
difference x enacted tax rate).
2. Scheduling of deductible amounts.
Deferred Method
The amount of deferred income tax is based on tax rates in effect when temporary differences originate. It is an
income-statement-oriented approach. It emphasizes proper matching of expenses with revenues in the period
when a temporary difference originates. Finally, it is not acceptable under GAAP.
Asset-liability Method
The amount of deferred income tax is based on the tax rates expected to be in effect during the periods in which
the temporary differences reverse. It is a balance-sheet-oriented approach. It emphasizes the usefulness of
financial statements in evaluating financial position and predicting future cash flows. Most importantly, it is the
only method accepted by GAAP.
Increasing the valuation allowance increases deferred income tax expense; decreasing the allowance does the
opposite. Changes in the allowance affect income tax expense. Although the need for an allowance is subjective,
its existence and magnitude reveals management's expectation of future earnings. Management can use changes
in the allowance to “manipulate” NI by affecting income tax expense. Analysts should scrutinize these types of
changes.
Deferred tax liabilities that should be treated as equity in the following circumstances:
1. A company has created a deferred tax liability because it used accelerated depreciation for tax purposes
and not for financial-reporting purposes. If the company expects to continue purchasing equipment
indefinitely, it is unlikely that the reversal will take place, and, as such it should be considered as equity.
But if the company stops growing its operations, then we can expect this deferred liability to materialize,
and it should be considered a true liability.
2. An analyst determines that the deferred tax liability is unlikely to be realized for other reasons; the
liability should then be reclassified as stockholders' equity.
Look Out!
Over the life of the firm, total depreciation expense and bad debts expense are unaffected by the method. What
is affected is how much expense is recognized in any given period. Temporary differences are said to "reverse"
because if they cause book income to be higher (or lower) than taxable income in one period, they must cause
taxable income to be higher (or lower) than book income in another period.
Permanent differences are differences that never reverse. That is, they are items of book (or tax) revenue or
expense in one period, but they are never items of tax (or book)
revenue or expense. They are either nontaxable revenues (book
revenues that are nontaxable) or nondeductible expenses (book
expenses that are nondeductible). Examples of permanent
differences are (nontaxable) interest revenue on municipal bonds
and (nondeductible) goodwill (GW) amortization expense under the purchase method for acquisitions.
Calculating Income Tax Expense, Income Taxes Payable, Deferred Tax Assets, and Deferred Tax
Liabilities
We'll explain this concept by example:
Company ABC purchased a machine for $2m with a salvage value of $200,000. It used the accelerated
depreciation method for tax purposes and straight-line depreciation for reporting purposes. Tax rate is 40%.
Tax differential:
Calculation:
Income tax expense = reported income before tax * tax rate
Income tax payable = IRS reported income * tax rate
Deferred tax liability (asset) = income tax expense – income
tax payable
An increase in the expected tax rate at time of reversal will create a larger tax burden than expected for the
company once the transaction is reversed. That said, the current tax expense also increases. This will have a
negative impact on current net income and decrease stockholders’ equity. A decrease in the tax rate will have the
opposite effect.
Tax expense = tax payable in year 2 - decrease in deferred taxes in year 2 – benefits from tax rate on year-1
taxes
= $8,889+$899–$2,667= $4,667
9.7 - Long-Term Liability Basics
Reporting Debt Issues
A company can issue debt securities to finance its operations.
These debt securities are bonds. A bond is a promise, in most
cases, to pay a predetermined annual or semiannual interest
payment and to pay back the principal (face value) when the
bond matures. When a company issues a bond with coupon
payments that are equal to the current market rate, the bond is
said to be issued at par. From an accounting point of view, this
means that if a company issues a $1m bond at par, the company
will get $1m for the bond.
Bonds that are issued with coupon payments that are not equal
to the current interest rate are said to be issued at a "premium"
or "discount". If Company ABC issues a bond that will pay 9%
a year for five years and similar bonds are paying 10%, why
would investors buy Company ABC's bond if they can purchase
the other bond that will give them 10%. The only way they will purchase the bond is if the company sells the
bond at a discount of it par value to compensate for the lower coupon payments. The company will ultimately
get less money for its bond than the stated par value and is said to sell at a discount. If Company ABC issues a
bond that will pay 10% a year for five years and similar bonds are paying 9%, why would the company pay
more to investors? The only way the company will sell this bond to investors is if the company sells the bond at
a premium to its par value (for more money) to compensate the company for the paying a higher coupon. The
company will ultimately get more money for its bond than the stated par value, and the bond is said to sell at a
premium.
From an accounting standpoint, a company that sells a bond at a discount (or premium) will record on a cash
basis a smaller interest payment but in reality will have a higher interest expense because it received fewer
dollars for its bond. In accordance with the matching principle, premium and discounts must be amortized over
the life of the bond. U.S. GAAP allows companies to amortize premiums or discounts by utilizing a straight-line
amortization or the effective interest rate method.
If coupon > market rate, the bond is issued at a premium. The issuing company will get more money at
initiation than it will pay to investors at maturity. In exchange it will pay a higher coupon than it would have to
if the bond was issued at par.
If coupon < market rate, the bond is issued at a discount. The issuing company will get less money at
initiation than it will pay to investors at maturity. In exchange it will pay a lower coupon than it would have to
if the bond was issued at par.
9.8 - Journal Entries and Accounting Impact
We will now discuss the journal entries and accounting impact of bonds issued at par, a premium, or a discount.
Formula 9.1
Par-value bonds
Company ABC issues a $1m bond that will pay a 10% semiannual (coupon) for five years and similar
bonds are paying 10%.
Straight-line Depreciation
Formula 9.2
Example
Company ABC issues a $1m bond that will pay a 11% semiannual (coupon) for five years and similar bonds are
paying 10%. Bond premiums are amortized using straight-line depreciation. The company issues at $1,038,609
and face value is $1m.
Interest expense = coupon payments – unamortized portion of bond premium for the period
The carry value = total market value at time of issue – cumulative amortized premium or discount
Unamortized portion of bond premium for every period (six months in this example) = $38,609 / (10 payment
periods) = $3,860.9
Result
Under this method the issuing company will recognize an equal amount of unamortized depreciation for every
period.
Effective Interest Rate Method
Effective interest rate method results in an interest expense that is a constant percentage of the carrying
value of the bonds; thus interest expense varies from period to period. In contrast, the straight-line
method results in a constant interest expense from period to period.
Formula 9.3
The carry value = total market value at time of issue – cumulative amortized premium or discount
Formula 9.4
Example
Company ABC issues a $1m bond that will pay a 11% semiannual (coupon) for five years, and similar bonds
are paying 10%. Bond premiums are amortized using the effective interest rate depreciation method. The
company issues at $1,038,609 and face value is $1m.
Journal entry
Retiring Bonds Prior to Maturity
Sometimes bonds can be retired before they mature. They can be retired, or if they are convertible bonds, they
can be converted to another form of securities such as common stock.
If a company retires a bond prior to maturity, the stated book value (or carry value for a discount or premium
bond) will most likely be the same as market value for which the company repurchased the bond. This
difference creates an extraordinary gain or loss for the repurchasing company. This gain or loss is classified as
extraordinary because it is non-recurring in nature. Extraordinary gains and losses are reported on the income
statement below the operating line net of taxes.
Formula 9.5
To compute the gain or loss, compare the carrying value of the bonds with the amount we pay to redeem the bonds.
Formula 9.6
Look Out!
If the carrying value is less than the cash paid, there is a loss
on the bond retirement.
Journal entry:
A company retires a bond with a $1m face value early for $1.2m and creates a loss of $200,000.
Example: Bondholders converted $20,000 worth of convertible bonds into the issuer's $5-par common
stock. Each $1,000 bond is can be converted into 10 shares of common stock. The carrying value of the bonds at
the time of conversion is $21,500.
Journal entry
Long-term leases
Companies generally acquire the right to use an asset by
purchasing it outright. But in some cases companies can
lease an asset as opposed to an outright purchase. Leases
can be classified as operating leases or capital leases.
Operating leases are defined as short-term leases by which
the company enters into an agreement with the lessor to use
the asset for a portion of the asset’s economic life. The lessee
(the company leasing the equipment) will have no obligation
to purchase the asset in the future. Capital leases, on the
other hand, are long-term leases that create a long-term
obligation for the lessee. If the asset qualifies as a capital
lease, the asset is recorded on the balance sheet and the
present value of the lease obligations are also recorded on the balance sheet. The asset is amortized over
the life of the lease by using a straight-line depreciation method. Each rental payment includes a portion
that is allocated to interest expenses and repayment of principal.
Pensions
A pension plan is a qualified retirement plan set up by a corporation, labor union, government or other
organization for its employees. A pension plan is an agreement under which the employer agrees to pay
monetary benefits to employees once their period of active service has come to an end. A third party
frequently manages the pension plan.
Look Out!
A defined-benefit pension plan promises a specific benefit at retirement to its employees. Since the
benefits are defined, the employer is responsible for accumulating sufficient funds. Such plans insulate
employees from investments that perform poorly, but it also prevents them from enjoying the entire
upside potential of the pension if it does well.
That said, pension funds are governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
(ERISA), a more conservative investment approach, and large gains are unlikely to occur. Corporations
refrain from setting up these types of plans because they can create enormous pension liabilities for a
company if the pension’s portfolio does not perform well.
Defined pension plans need to be revalued periodically by an actuary. Under SFAS 87, companies are
required to use the same actuarial cost method and are required to disclose assumptions about the
pension obligation and pension cost. The major issue with SFAS 87 is that a company may make
pension contributions using different assumptions.
A defined-contribution pension plan, by contrast, specifies how much the employer will contribute
annually. The actual amount the employee will receive at retirement will depend on the overall
performance of the pension fund. With such a plan, investments that perform poorly mean lower income
in retirement, and vice versa. Under this plan the company does not carry any risk and does not create
any pension liabilities if it pays its annual contribution amount. Contributions made are simply expenses
on an annual basis.
Accounting for pension funds. To be able to pay their pension obligations, companies must accumulate
funds known as the “plan assets”. Plan assets are not formally recognized on the balance sheet, but are
actively monitored in the employer’s informal records. The plan assets can change due to returns on plan
assets – such as dividends, interest, market-price appreciation and cash contributions - employer
contributions and retiree benefits paid, which are benefits actually paid to retired employees. The
composition of pension expenses is beyond this problem set.
Look Out!
Though the pension plan assets and liabilities are not included in the
financial statement, companies are required to include the following
information in the footnotes:
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9.12 - Post-Retirement Obligations
Post-retirement benefits include all retiree health and welfare
benefits other than pensions and can include:
Medical Coverage
Dental coverage
Life insurance
Group legal services
1. Accounting for post-retirement benefits is, to the extent it is possible, the same as for pension benefits.
2. Any differences are due to fundamental differences between pensions and other post-retirement
benefits.
3. The main difference from an accounting perspective is that post-retirement healthcare benefits usually
are “all-or-nothing” plans in which a certain level of coverage is promised upon retirement, and the
coverage is independent of the length of service beyond the eligibility date. Cost is unrelated to service
and is attributed to the years from the employee’s date of hire to the full-eligibility date.
Service cost
Interest cost
Return on plan assets
Amortization and deferral
Amortization of unrecognized prior service cost
Amortization of transition asset and liability
SFAS 106 permits the amortization of the transition liability over 20 years, versus the average remaining service
period of active employment found under pension plans.
9.13 - Effects Of Debt Issuance
Bonds Issued at Par - Effects On:
Income statement - The income statement will include
an interest expense equal to the bond’s coupon payment
attributable to the specified accounting period.
Balance sheet - The balance sheet will include at all times a long-term liability equal to the face value
of the bond.
Cash flow statement - Going forward, cash flow from operations will include the interest expense
recorded on the income statement. As of the issuing date, the company will account in cash flow from
financing the total amount received for the bond.
Computation
Company ABC issues a $1m bond that will pay a 10% semiannual (coupon) for three years; the company
will generate $500,000 EBITDA over the next three years. Contract the effect if market rate at the time of
issuance was 10%, 11% and 9%. (Straight-line depreciation is used for premiums and discounts). Taxes
are not considered.
If none of these criteria are met, the lease can be classified as an operating lease.
Tax incentive
o The tax benefit of owning an asset (depreciation expense) can be exploited best by transferring it
to a party that has a higher tax bracket.
o A firm with a lower tax bracket will have incentives to classify a lease as an operating lease.
o A firm with a higher tax bracket will be more likely to classify a lease as a capital lease.
Non-tax incentives
o o If a lease is classified as an operating lease, no asset and liability are recorded on the
balance sheet. This will allow a company to display a higher return on assets than it would
display had it classified the lease as a capital lease. It will also allow a company to display better
solvency ratios such as debt-to-equity.
o o Off-balance sheet financing because the operating lease classification keeps the liability
off the balance sheet. Since no liability is recognized, the company would display to its debt
lenders better debt covenant ratios.
o o Some companies link management bonuses to specific ratios, such as return on capital,
since return on capital will be higher if a lease is classified as an operating lease.
o o If the leased asset is going to be used for a short period of time and/or the lessee feels that
the equipment may experience a large decrease in value over time, the lessee will want to
structure it as an operating lease.
There are limited benefits to classifying leases as capital leases. The only benefits are:
Since the total lease expense is higher in the first years of a capital lease, a company will may benefit
from a tax saving.
Operating cash flow will be higher under a capital lease.
Option 2
Company L&R has also approached Company ABC to rent equipment from it. Under the term of the rental
agreement, Company ABC will rent the equipment from Company L&R for an annual fee of $20,000. This
equipment has an estimated useful life of 10 years.
Classification
If Company ABC accepts Company Leasing's offer, the lease agreement has to be classified as a capital lease
because the non-cancelable lease term is equal to 75% or more of the expected economic life of the asset. (At
the end the five years, the equipment is sold for scrap).
9.18 - Determining The Value Of The Lease And The Lease Asset
The discount rate used will be 6% because it is the lesser of the lessor’s implied rate and the lessee’s
incremental borrowing rate.
Book
Ending Value
Interest
Beginning Princiapl Lease Lease Of
Expense
Year Lease (3) Payment value Depreciation The
(2)
Value (1) =(4)-(1) (4) (liability) Asset
=
=(1)-(3) (fixed
(1)*6%
assest)
0 - - - - 84,247 - 84,247
1 84,247 5,055 14,945 20,000 69,302 16,849 67,398
2 69,302 4,158 15,842 20,000 53,460 16,849 50,548
3 53,460 3,208 16,792 20,000 36,668 16,849 33,699
4 36,668 2,200 17,800 20,000 18,868 16,849 16,849
On the other hand, the lease obligation is reduced by the principal-repayment amount during each
specified accounting period.
This interest component is determined by multiplying the beginning-period lease value with the discount
rate used in the determination of the PV of the lease obligation.
Since the lease obligation decreases with time, it is highest in the first year and declines over time.
That said, the principal repayment on the lease liability is determined by subtracting the interest
component for the specified period with the actual lease payment to the lessor.
As a result, the principal-repayment amount increases with time and is lowest in the first year.
Look Out!
Under a capital lease, operating expenses include the depreciable portion of the leased asset, and the interest
portion is classified as a non-operating expense and is included in earnings before tax.
As noted earlier, the interest expense that emerges from capital leases is highest in the first years and
decreases over time (unlike depreciation expense, which is constant).
This creates a variation in a company’s reported total expenses. In the earlier years, a company using a
capital lease will report a lower net income than a company using an operating lease.
This will also create a tax benefit for the company that uses a capital lease in the first years.
This tax benefit will cancel out because in the later years, the interest component will decrease and
reported income will increase.
Cash flow statements remain unaffected by the choice of classifying leases as operating or capital leases. That
said, cash flow from operations will include only the interest portion of the capital-lease obligation. The
principal repayment on the lease obligation payment will be included as a cash outflow from cash flow from
financing activities. As a result, capital leases will overstate CFO by the amount included in CFF and understate
CFF.
A leaseback arrangement is useful when companies need to untie the cash invested in an asset for other
investments, but the asset is still needed in order to operate. Leaseback deals can also provide the seller with
additional tax deductions. The lessor benefits in that they will receive stable payments for a specified period of
time.
A more elaborate sale of account receivables is a parent company selling its receivables to a finance subsidiary
where the parent owns less than 50% of the subsidiary. If the parent owns less than 50%, the financial asset and
liability of the subsidiary are not included in the parent balance sheet; only the investment in the subsidiary is
recorded as an asset. (If less than 50%, the equity method is used). Furthermore, the parent generally supports
the subsidiary borrowings through extensive income-maintenance agreements and direct and indirect guarantees
of debt.
Joint ventures – Companies may enter into a joint venture with a supplier or other company. To obtain
financing for such a venture, companies often enter into a take-or-pay or throughput contract with
minimum payments designed to meet the venture’s debt-service requirements. Furthermore, direct or
indirect guarantees may be present. Generally, companies account their investments in joint ventures
using the equity method since no single company holds a controlling interest. As a result, the balance
sheet reports on the net investment in the venture.
Investments – Some companies issue long-term debt that is exchangeable for common shares of another
publicly-traded company. Since the debt is secured by another liquid asset, the interest expense on the
loan is usually smaller.
This issuance is also used by companies with a large capital-gain liability on stock held. The company’s
biggest concern in this case would be the large capital-
gains tax liability they would have to pay should they
default on the loan and have to exchange the debt for the
securities it holds.
Sales of receivables
Sales of receivables artificially reduce the receivables and short-term borrowing needs. Furthermore,
they distort the pattern of cash flow from operations as the firm receives cash earlier than it would if the
receivables had been collected in due course.
In addition, the potential liability associated with the buyer-recourse provision is not displayed on the
balance sheet. From an analytical point of view, the current-asset ratio, working capital and receivable
turnover will be overstated.
On the other hand, the leverage ratios such as debt-to-equity will be too high. The reported income will
also be too high because if it did not sell its receivables, the company would have had to borrow the
funds it acquired from the sale of the receivables to finance its current operations.
Analysts should adjust the balance sheet by adding back the amount of accounts receivables sold and
increase short-term borrowing by an equal amount. Furthermore, the income statement needs to be
restated and include the interest expense that would have been incurred by the firm had it not sold its
receivables and borrowed the money instead.
Direct-Financing Lease
As its name implies, a direct-financing lease is basically the
coupling of a sale and financing transaction. In this case, the
lessor removes the leased asset from its books and replaces it
with a receivable from the lessee.
The only income recognized by the lessor is the interest received. The implied rate is taken by calculating IRR
of the asset; cash inflow is equal to lease payments and cash outflow is equal to the book value of the lease
asset.
Sales-Type Lease
A sales-type lease is accounted for like a direct-financing lease, except that profit on a sale is recognized upon
inception of the lease, in addition to the interest income recognized during the lease term. The gross profit
recognized at the inception of the lease is the PV of all lease payments minus the cost of the leased asset.