1.
2.
counting periods by $52 million.
Chapter 6, C 2.
Yes, it would be expected in a company that is experiencing financial difficulty.
An overstatement of ending inventory is a way in which a company can cover
up disappointing results and inflate the reported net income. This is possible
because the amount of the overstatement is a cost that is carried forward to
The effect of an overstatement of ending merchandise inventory is to overstate
the reported net income (or reduce the net loss) of the business. In the case of
Crazy Eddie, the overstatement of inventory by $52 million means that income
before income taxes had been overstated (or losses understated) in prior ac-
of declining prices.
LIFO—or last-in, first-out—is an inventory pricing method that transfers the costs
Chapter 6, C 3.
the chemical and computer industries since an important motivation in both indus-
of the most recent purchases to cost of goods sold while retaining the costs of the
earliest purchases in ending inventory. It represents an assumption about cost flows
These tendencies explain the difference in the inventory costing methods used by
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