174. “You Decide” Essay
You are financial news reporter for the Wall Street Journal. During a recent press conference with the Chief
Financial Officer of Lackluster Video, Inc. the executive stated that the company’s financial health was
excellent and that she expected their recent history of successful and strategic growth to continue to generate
significant profits in the future as they expanded their video stores into several new major geographical
markets.
To corroborate the CFO’s statements, you examined the statement of cash flows and found that the company
has reported negative operating cash flows, positive investing cash flows, and positive financing cash flows for
each of the last five years.
Does the statement of cash flows support the CFO’s statements?
175. “You Decide” Essay
You are the Controller for McBride & Associates. Your accounting intern from the local university has been
assigned the task of preparing your company’s statement of cash flows. The intern has come to you with a
question. She is not sure how to report some dividends the company had received during the year. She explains
that on first thought, it seems like dividends represent a financing activity since they are related to shares of
stock that companies issue to finance their businesses. But she is having second thoughts. Explain to your
intern how dividends (both received and paid) should be classified on the cash flow statement.