Steve Morgan, controller for Newton Industries, was reviewing production cost reports for the year. One amount in these reports continued to bother him-advertising. During the year, the company had instituted an expensive advertising campaign to sell some of its slower-moving products. It was still too early to tell whether the advertising campaign was successful. There had been much internal debate as how to report advertising cost. The vice president of finance argued that advertising costs should be reported as a cost of production, just like direct materials and direct labor. He therefore recommended that this cost be identified as manufacturing overhead and reported as part of inventory costs until sold. Others disagreed. Morgan believed that this cost should be reported as an expense of the current period, based on the conservatism principle. Others argued that it should be reported as Prepaid Advertising and reported as a current asset.
The president finally had to decide the issue. He argued that these costs should be reported as inventory. His arguments were practical ones. He noted that the company was experiencing financial difficulty and expensing this amount in the current period might jeopardize a planned bond offering. Also, by reporting the advertising costs as inventory rather than as prepaid advertising, less attention would be directed to it by the financial community.
Required:
1. Evaluate the recommendation of the Vice president (Treating Ad as cost of production and overhead). The effect on financial statements.
2. Evaluate the recommendation of controller Morgan (Treating Ad as operating expense). The effect on financial statements.
3. Evaluate the recommendation of others (Treating Ad as prepaid advertising). The effect on financial statements.
4. Evaluate the recommendation of the president (Treating Ad as cost of Inventory). The effect on financial statements.
5.Which of the standard of professional ethics are involved and what is the responsibility of the presidents and other member of management in this case?