CHAPTER 3
AN INTRODUCTION TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Answers to Questions
1 A corporation becomes a subsidiary when another corporation either directly or indirectly acquires a
majority (over 50 percent) of its outstanding voting stock.
2 Amounts allocated to identifiable assets and liabilities in excess of their recorded amounts on the books of
the subsidiary are not recorded separately by the parent. Instead, the parent company records the purchase
price of the interest acquired in an investment account. The allocation to identifiable asset and liability
accounts is made through working paper entries when the parent and subsidiary financial statements are
consolidated.
3 The land would be shown in the consolidated balance sheet at $100,000, its fair value, assuming that the
purchase price is equal to or greater than the fair value of the interest acquired. If the parent had acquired an
80 percent interest and the purchase price was equal to or greater than the fair value of the interest acquired,
the land would appear in the consolidated balance sheet at $98,000. This amount consists of the $90,000
book value plus 80 percent of the $10,000 excess of fair value over book value of the land.
4 Parent company—a corporation that owns a majority of the outstanding voting stock of another corporation
(its subsidiary).
Subsidiary company—a corporation that is controlled by a parent company that owns a majority of
its outstanding voting stock, either directly or indirectly.
Affiliated companies—companies that are controlled by a single management team through
parent-subsidiary relationships. (Although the term affiliate is a synonym for subsidiary, the parent
company is included in the total affiliation structure.)
Associated companies—companies that are controlled through parent-subsidiary relationships or
whose operations can be significantly influenced through equity investments of 20 percent to 50 percent.
5 A noncontrolling interest is the equity interest in a subsidiary company that is owned by stockholders
outside of the affiliation structure. In other words, it is the equity interest in a subsidiary that is not held by
the parent company or subsidiaries of the parent company.
6 Under the provisions of FASB Statement No. 94, “Consolidation of All Majority-owned Subsidiaries,” a
subsidiary will not be consolidated if control is temporary or if control does not rest with the majority
owner, such as in the case of a subsidiary in reorganization or bankruptcy, or when the subsidiary operates
under severe foreign exchange restrictions or other governmentally imposed restrictions.
7 Consolidated financial statements are intended primarily for the stockholders and creditors of the parent
company, according to ARB No. 51.
8 The amount of capital stock that appears in a consolidated balance sheet is the total par or stated value of
the outstanding capital stock of the parent company.
9 Goodwill from consolidation may appear in the general ledger of the surviving entity in a merger or
consolidation accounted for as a purchase. But goodwill from consolidation would not appear in the general
ledger of a parent company or its subsidiary. Goodwill is entered in consolidation working papers when the
reciprocal investment and equity amounts are eliminated. Working paper entries affect consolidated
financial statements, but they are not entered in any general ledger.