Scenario: Your team has been hired to provide financial analysis for a start-up company, Bobble in Style, which produces customized bobble heads.
The bobble heads are made out of less rigid materials and are more true to life than those of competitors. The company inventors, Mr. and Mrs. Lee, are going to pitch their idea to Shark Tank in a few months, but first they need to have a better understanding of the business financials.
The Lee's are already creating and selling their product from their home-based office and work area. They know what costs are involved with making the bobble heads on a small scale, but they don't have an understanding of financial figures beyond basic costs. They need you to make sense of various financial figures for them.
The Project: There are several financial analysis tasks involved with this project, which are outlined below (#1-8). Once you have worked through each task, you will need to produce a PowerPoint presentation to introduce and highlight your findings.
Your PowerPoint presentation should include a title slide, an executive summary slide(s), subsequent slides that illustrate your findings, any additional recommendations that you would like to make, and a conclusion slide. The PowerPoint presentation should be approximately 15-25 slides in length.
Include notes in the presentation as needed. You will also need to create a written executive summary (one page in length). Your final submission will include the PowerPoint presentation, the executive summary, and an Excel file with relevant calculations. The specific financial analysis tasks and related information are listed below (#1-8).
Working in a Group: Your instructor will assign you into a group during Week 4. This allows time for students to drop/add during the first 3 weeks of the course. Starting early will allow for adequate time to develop timelines and assign responsibilities as a team.
Group Projects provide the opportunity to work with your classmates and are a necessary part of the Financial Management workforce. Please use this occasion to demonstrate your strengths and allow group members to do the same. Critically thinking and creativity are vital to your success in the work place and this project is a great chance to build those talents.
It is a group project so you will need to coordinate with various members of your group on how to progress with the project. Often students are reluctant to work in groups, but as you have experienced in the workplace, working in a group will not be an option. You will learn together and find out more about flexibility and sharing of responsibilities with the project.
All team members should contribute to the financial analysis tasks. A timeline for completion of these tasks should be determined by the team. The completed PowerPoint presentation should be cohesive and professional in appearance.
You may decide to split the Executive Summary and PowerPoint presentations between all members, or you may decide to have 2 students focus on the Executive Summary Word document and content for the associated PowerPoint slide while the rest of the team members focus on the PowerPoint presentation. The decision should be based on what works best for your team. Also determine a timeline for this portion of the assignment. Consider how editing will be done within your team.
We very seldom have all of the information we would like to make decisions. You will probably feel the same way in completing the Group Project. In this case, you will have to make assumptions, just as you would in the real world. Document the assumptions you make and I will consider them in my evaluation of your work on the project.
1. Financial Statements: Develop an Income Statement for 20XX, Cash Flow Statement for 20XX, and Balance Sheet as of the end of 20XX based on the data provided below for year 20XX. All sales are collected when the sale is made and all expenses are paid when the expense is incurred. Explain the purpose of each financial statement.
Income Statement Data for 20XX:
Units produced and sold = 420
Sales ($80 per unit selling price) = $33600
Cost of goods sold ($30 per unit, all variable costs) = $12600
Labor = $0 (Mr. and Mr. Lee were the only ones working and did not pay themselves)
Advertising fees =$2000
Bank fees = $150
Phone/internet = $1200
Shipping ($3 per unit) = $1260
Utilities = $900
Office supplies = $800
Interest expense on note payable = $350
Depreciation expense (straight line) = $800
Income tax rate = 26 %
Other Financial Data for 20XX:
Proceeds from sale of equipment = $3000. The equipment originally cost $1000 and had accumulated depreciation of $200.
Purchase of equipment = $1600 (The machine is purchased on the last day of 20XX so no depreciation expense is recorded.)
Repayment of note payable = $5000
Consider any data relevant from the income statement.
Balance Sheet Data for Beginning of 20XX:
Cash and cash equivalents = $10000
Accounts receivable = $0 (Cash is received at time of sale)
Raw materials inventory = $10500
Equipment = $5000 (This includes the $1000 cost of the equipment sold in 20XX).
Accumulated depreciation = $1,000 (This includes the accumulated depreciation of 200 for the equipment sold in 20XX.
Accounts payable = $0 (Cash is paid at the time of purchase.)
Note payable = $5000 (This is the note payable which is repaid in 20XX)
Common stock = $15000
Retained earnings = $4500
2.Financial Ratios: Calculate the following financial ratios and explain the meaning of the results.
Net Profit Margin
Quick Ratio
Debt-to-Equity Ratio
3. Cost Classification: The Lee's have provided you with the following costs and relevant information that are assumed for year 20XY.
A. Classify each of the costs (a. through j.) below under C. as a variable cost or a fixed cost.
B. Explain the importance of distinguishing between variable and fixed costs.
C. Prepare a budgeted income statement, assuming 600 units to be produced and sold, a per unit selling price of $85, an income tax rate of 28% and the following information.
a. Cost of goods sold of $35 per unit
b. Labor = $400/month
c. One part-time employee will be hired to take care of packaging and shipping. This employee will be paid $10 per hour. He or she is estimated to work 40 hours total per month.
d. Advertising fees = $3,000
e. Bank fees = $200
f. Phone/internet = $150 per month
g. Shipping = $3 per unit
h. Utilities = $100 per month
i. Office Supplies = $900
j. Conference Exhibitor Fee = $3000
Travel Expenses for Conference (e.g. airfare, meals, taxi) = $1200
4. Net Present Value: The Lees are considering adding a new piece of equipment that will speed up the process of building the bobble heads. The cost of the piece of equipment is $42000. It is expected that the new piece of equipment will lead to cash flows of $17000, $29000, and $40000 over the next 3 years. If the appropriate discount rate is 12%, what is the NPV of this investment? Explain the findings.
5. Budget Preparation: The Lees believe that production and sales could double after being on Shark Tank which is scheduled in December of 20XY. They want to be prepared for this. Based on the budgeted income statement calculated above for 20XY, create a new budgeted income for 20XZ assuming that the production and sales is double the level of 20XY.
6. Incremental Analysis: If production does increase dramatically after their presentation on Shark Tank, the Lees will need more space for production. They have two options. Option 1 is to rent out a spacious warehouse nearby. If they pursue this option, there rent will be $1200 per month and utilities are estimated to cost an additional $350 per month. Their second option, Option 2, is to rent a smaller storefront space that is also nearby.
The storefront rent is $1350 per month. However, utilities will likely only cost an additional $150 per month. They want to compare their options over one year's time (since each rental contract is a 1 year commitment). What is the incremental analysis if the Lees choose Option 1 over Option 2?
7. Break-Even Analysis: You have been asked to calculate how many units need to be sold to break even, based on the costs provided in task #3. Assume that only one conference will be attended and the estimated expenses associated with this conference are on target. Use the information in task #3 except do not consider taxes.)
8. Contribution Margin: Based on the Break-Even Analysis just performed, what is the contribution margin per unit and the total contribution margin?