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Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory

Chapter 07
Reporting and Interpreting Cost of
Goods Sold and Inventory

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS

1. Inventory often is one of the largest amounts listed under assets on the balance
sheet which means that it represents a significant amount of the resources
available to the business. The inventory may be excessive in amount, which is a
needless waste of resources; alternatively it may be too low, which may result in
lost sales. Therefore, for internal users inventory control is very important. On
the income statement, inventory exerts a direct impact on the amount of income.
Therefore, statement users are interested particularly in the amount of this effect
and the way in which inventory is measured. Because of its impact on both the
balance sheet and the income statement, it is of particular interest to all
statement users.

2. Fundamentally, inventory should include those items, and only those items,
legally owned by the business. That is, inventory should include all goods that
the company owns, regardless of their particular location at the time.

3. The cost principle governs the measurement of the ending inventory amount.
The ending inventory is determined in units and the cost of each unit is applied to
that number. Under the cost principle, the unit cost is the sum of all costs
incurred in obtaining one unit of the inventory item in its present state.

4. Goods available for sale is the sum of the beginning inventory and the amount of
goods purchased during the period. Cost of goods sold is the amount of goods
available for sale less the ending inventory.

5. Beginning inventory is the stock of goods on hand (in inventory) at the start of the
accounting period. Ending inventory is the stock of goods on hand (in inventory)
at the end of the accounting period. The ending inventory of one period
automatically becomes the beginning inventory of the next period.

7-1
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
6. (a) Average cost–This inventory costing method in a periodic inventory
system is based on a weighted-average cost for the entire period. At the
end of the accounting period the average cost is computed by dividing the
goods available for sale in units into the cost of goods available for sale
in dollars. The computed unit cost then is used to determine the cost of
goods sold for the period by multiplying the units sold by this average unit
cost. Similarly, the ending inventory for the period is determined by
multiplying this average unit cost by the number of units on hand.

(b) FIFO–This inventory costing method views the first units purchased as the
first units sold. Under this method cost of goods sold is costed at the
oldest unit costs, and the ending inventory is costed at the newest unit
costs.

(c) LIFO–This inventory costing method assumes that the last units
purchased are the first units sold. Under this method cost of goods sold is
costed at the newest unit costs and the ending inventory is costed at the
oldest unit costs.

(d) Specific identification–This inventory costing method requires that each


item in the beginning inventory and each item purchased during the period
be identified specifically so that its unit cost can be determined by
identifying the specific item sold. This method usually requires that each
item be marked, often with a code that indicates its cost. When it is sold,
that unit cost is the cost of goods sold amount. It often is characterized as
a pick-and-choose method. When the ending inventory is taken, the
specific items on hand, valued at the cost indicated on each of them, is the
ending inventory amount.

7. The specific identification method of inventory costing is subject to manipulation.


Manipulation is possible because one can, at the time of each sale, select (pick
and choose) from the shelf the item that has the highest or the lowest (or some
other) unit cost with no particular rationale for the choice. The rationale may be
that it is desired to influence, by arbitrary choice, both the amount of income and
the amount of ending inventory to be reported on the financial statements. To
illustrate, assume item A is stocked and three are on the shelf. One cost $100;
the second one cost $115; and the third cost $125. Now assume that one unit is
sold for $200. If it is assumed arbitrarily that the first unit is sold, the gross profit
will be $100; if the second unit is selected, the gross profit will be $85; or
alternatively, if the third unit is selected, the gross profit will be $75. Thus, the
amount of gross profit (and income) will vary significantly depending upon which
one of the three is selected arbitrarily from the shelf for this particular sale. This
assumes that all three items are identical in every respect except for their unit
costs. Of course, the selection of a different unit cost, in this case, also will
influence the ending inventory for the two remaining items.

7-2
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
8. LIFO and FIFO have opposite effects on the inventory amount reported under
assets on the balance sheet. The ending inventory is based upon either the
oldest unit cost or the newest unit cost, depending upon which method is used.
Under FIFO, the ending inventory is costed at the newest unit costs, and under
LIFO, the ending inventory is costed at the oldest unit costs. Therefore, when
prices are rising, the ending inventory reported on the balance sheet will be
higher under FIFO than under LIFO. Conversely, when prices are falling the
ending inventory on the balance sheet will be higher under LIFO than under
FIFO.

9. LIFO versus FIFO will affect the income statement in two ways: (1) the amount of
cost of goods sold and (2) income. When the prices are rising, FIFO will give a
lower cost of goods sold amount and hence a higher income amount than will
LIFO. In contrast, when prices are falling, FIFO will give a higher cost of goods
sold amount and, as a result, a lower income amount.

10. When prices are rising, LIFO causes a lower taxable income than does FIFO.
Therefore, when prices are rising, income tax is less under LIFO than FIFO. A
lower tax bill saves cash (reduces cash outflow for income tax). The total
amount of cash saved is the difference between LIFO and FIFO inventory
amounts multiplied by the income tax rate.

11. LCM is applied when market (defined as current replacement cost) is lower than
the cost of units on hand. The ending inventory is valued at market (lower),
which (a) reduces net income and (b) reduces the inventory amount reported on
the balance sheet. The effect of applying LCM is to include the holding loss on
the income statement (as a part of CGS) in the period in which the replacement
cost drops below cost rather than in the period of actual sale.

12. When a perpetual inventory system is used, the unit cost must be known for each
item sold at the date of each sale because at that time two things happen: (a) the
units sold and their costs are removed from the perpetual inventory record and
the new inventory balance is determined; (b) the cost of goods sold is
determined from the perpetual inventory record and an entry in the accounts is
made as a debit to Cost of Goods Sold and a credit to Inventory. In contrast,
when a periodic inventory system is used the unit cost need not be known at the
date of each sale. In fact, the periodic system is designed so that cost of goods
sold for each sale is not known at the time of sale. At the end of the period,
under the periodic inventory system, cost of goods sold is determined by adding
the beginning inventory to the total goods purchased for the period and
subtracting from that total the ending inventory amount. The ending inventory
amount is determined by means of a physical inventory count of the goods
remaining on hand and with the units valued on a unit cost basis in accordance
with the cost principle (by applying an appropriate inventory costing method).

7-3
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory

ANSWERS TO MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. a) 2. d) 3. a) 4. b) 5. c)
6. c) 7. a) 8. c) 9. c) 10. a)

Authors' Recommended Solution Time


(Time in minutes)

Alternate Cases and


Mini-exercises Exercises Problems Problems Projects
No. Time No. Time No. Time No. Time No. Time
1 5 1 15 1 30 1 30 1 20
2 5 2 20 2 30 2 40 2 20
3 5 3 20 3 40 3 35 3 20
4 10 4 10 4 40 4 40 4 20
5 5 5 15 5 45 5 40
6 5 6 15 6 50 6 20
7 5 7 30 7 40 7 30
8 5 8 30 8 40 8 *
9 10 9 30 9 35
10 30 10 20
11 15
12 20
13 15
14 20
15 15
16 20
17 20
18 20
19 25
20 20
21 25
22 25

* Due to the nature of these cases and projects, it is very difficult to estimate the
amount of time students will need to complete the assignment. As with any open-ended
project, it is possible for students to devote a large amount of time to these
assignments. While students often benefit from the extra effort, we find that some
become frustrated by the perceived difficulty of the task. You can reduce student
frustration and anxiety by making your expectations clear. For example, when our goal
is to sharpen research skills, we devote class time to discussing research strategies.
When we want the students to focus on a real accounting issue, we offer suggestions
about possible companies or industries.

7-4
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory

MINI-EXERCISES

M7–1.
Type of Business
Type of Inventory Merchandising Manufacturing
Work in process X
Finished goods X
Merchandise X
Raw materials X

M7–2.

To record the purchase of 90 new shirts in accordance with the cost principle (perpetual
inventory system):

Inventory (+A) .............................................................. 2,600


Cash (−A).......................................................... 2,600

Cost: $2,250 + $185 + $165 = $2,600.

The $135 interest expense is not a proper cost of the merchandise; it is recorded as
prepaid interest expense and later as interest expense.

M7–3.

(1) Part of (2) Expense


inventory as incurred
a. Wages of factory workers X
b. Costs of raw materials purchased X
c. Sales salaries X
d. Heat, light, and power for the factory building X
e. Heat, light, and power for the headquarters X
office building

7-5
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
M7–4.

Computation: Simply rearrange the basic inventory model (BI + P – EI = CGS):

Cost of goods sold ................................................. $11,571 million


+ Ending inventory .................................................... 3,259 million
– Beginning inventory ............................................... (3,641) million
Purchases .............................................................. $11,189 million

M7–5.

(a) Declining costs


Highest net income LIFO
Highest inventory LIFO
(b) Rising costs
Highest net income FIFO
Highest inventory FIFO

M7–6.

LIFO is often selected when costs are rising because it reduces the company’s tax
liability which increases cash and benefits shareholders. However, it also reduces
reported net income.

M7–7.

Quantity Cost per Replacement Lower of Cost Reported on


Item Cost per Item or Market Balance Sheet
Item A 70 $ 85 $100 $85 70 x $85 = $5,950
Item B 30 60 55 55 30 x $55 = $1,650
Total $7,600

M7–8.

+ (a) Parts inventory delivered daily by suppliers instead of weekly.


NE (b) Extend payments for inventory purchases from 15 days to 30 days.
+ (c) Shorten production process from 10 days to 8 days.

7-6
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
M7–9.

Understatement of the 2011 ending inventory by $100,000 caused 2011 pretax income
to be understated and 2012 pretax income to be overstated by the same amount.
Overstatement of the 2011 ending inventory would have the opposite effect; that is,
2011 pretax income would be overstated by $100,000 and 2012 pretax income
understated by $100,000. Total pretax income for the two years combined would be
correct.

7-7
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory

EXERCISES

E7–1

Item Amount Explanation

Ending inventory (physical count on $34,500 Per physical inventory.


December 31, 2011)

a. Goods purchased and in transit + 700 Goods purchased and in transit,


F.O.B. shipping point, are owned
by the purchaser.

b. Samples out on trial to + 1,800 Samples held by a customer on


customer trial are still owned by the vendor;
no sale or transfer of ownership
has occurred.

c. Goods in transit to customer Goods shipped to customers,


F.O.B. shipping point, are owned
by the customer because
ownership passed when they were
delivered to the transportation
company. The inventory correctly
excluded these items.

d. Goods sold and in transit + 1,500 Goods sold and in transit, F.O.B.
destination, are owned by the seller
until they reach destination.
Correct inventory, December 31, 2011 $38,500

E7–2.
(Italics for missing amounts only.)

Case A Case B Case C

Net sales revenue .......... $7,500 $5,500 $6,000


Beginning inventory ........ $11,200 $ 6,500 $ 4,000
Purchases .................. 5,000 8,550 9,500
Goods available for sale . 16,200 15,050 13,500
Ending inventory ............ 10,200 11,050 9,000
Cost of goods sold.......... 6,000 4,000 4,500
Gross profit .................. 1,500 1,500 1,500
Expenses .................. 400 1,900 700
Pretax income ................ $ 1,100 $ (400) $ 800

7-8
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
E7–3.

(Italics for missing amounts only.)


Pretax
Beg. Total Cost of Income
Sales Inven- Pur- Avail- Ending Goods Gross Ex- or
Case Revenue tory chases able Inventory Sold Profit penses (Loss)
A $ 650 $100 $700 $800 $500 $300 $350 $200 $150
B 1,100 200 900 1,100 300 800 300 150 150
C 600 150 350 500 300 200 400 100 300
D 800 150 550 700 300 400 400 200 200
E 1,000 200 900 1,100 600 500 500 550 (50)

E7–4.

Computations:

Simply rearrange the cost of goods sold equation


BI + P – EI = CGS
P = CGS – BI + EI

Cost of goods sold ................................... $1,178,584,000


– Beginning inventory .................................. (333,153,000)
+ Ending inventory ...................................... 372,422,000
Purchases ................................................ $1,217,853,000

E7-5
Average
Units FIFO LIFO Cost
Cost of goods sold:
Beginning inventory ($5) ............. 2,000 10,000 10,000 10,000
Purchases (March 21) ($7) ......... 5,000 35,000 35,000 35,000
(August 1) ($8) .......... 3,000 24,000 24,000 24,000
Goods available for sale .. 10,000 69,000 69,000 69,000
Ending inventory* ....................... 4,000 31,000 24,000 27,600
Cost of goods sold ........... 6,000 38,000 45,000 41,400

*Ending inventory computations:


FIFO: (3,000 units @ $8) + (1,000 units @ $7) = $31,000.
LIFO: (2,000 units @ $5) + (2,000 units @ $7) = $24,000.
Average: [(2,000 units @ $5) + (5,000 units @ $7) + (3,000 units @ $8)] =
$69,000 ÷ 10,000 units = $6.90 per unit.
4,000 units @ $6.90 = $27,600.

7-9
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory

E7–6

Average
Units FIFO LIFO Cost
Cost of goods sold:
Beginning inventory ($5) ............. 2,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000
Purchases (March 21) ($4) ......... 6,000 24,000 24,000 24,000
(August 1) ($2) .......... 4,000 8,000 8,000 8,000
Goods available for sale .. 12,000 42,000 42,000 42,000
Ending inventory* ....................... 3,000 6,000 14,000 10,500
Cost of goods sold ........... 9,000 $36,000 $28,000 $31,500

*Ending inventory computations:


FIFO: (3,000 units @ $2) = $6,000.
LIFO: (2,000 units @ $5) + (1,000 units @ $4) = $14,000.
Average: [(2,000 units @ $5) + (6,000 units @ $4) + (4,000 units @ $2)] =
$42,000 ÷ 12,000 units = $3.50 per unit.
3,000 units @ $3.50 = $10,500.

E7–7.

Req. 1
ELEMENT COMPANY
Income Statement
For the Year Ended December 31, 2012

Case A Case B
FIFO LIFO

Sales revenue1 .............................. $550,000 $550,000


Cost of goods sold:
Beginning inventory ................ $ 36,000 $ 36,000
Purchases .............................. 210,000 210,000
Goods available for sale2 246,000 246,000
Ending inventory3 .................. 130,000 96,000
Cost of goods sold ........... 116,000 150,000
Gross profit .................................. 434,000 400,000
Expenses .................................. 195,000 195,000
Pretax income ................................ $239,000 $205,000

Computations:
(1) Sales: (11,000 units @ $50) = $550,000

7-10
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
E7–7. (continued)

(2) Goods available for sale (for both cases):

Units Unit Cost Total Cost


Beginning inventory 3,000 $12 $ 36,000
Purchase, April 11, 2012 9,000 10 90,000
Purchase, June 1, 2012 8,000 15 120,000
Goods available for sale 20,000 $246,000

(3) Ending inventory (20,000 available – 11,000 units sold = 9,000 units):

Case A FIFO:
(8,000 units @ $15 = $120,000) +
(1,000 units @ $10 = $10,000) = $130,000.

Case B LIFO:
(3,000 units @ $12 = $36,000)+
(6,000 units @ $10 = $60,000) = $96,000.

Req. 2

Comparison of Amounts
Case A Case B
FIFO LIFO

Pretax Income $239,000 $205,000


Difference $34,000

Ending Inventory 130,000 96,000


Difference 34,000

The above tabulation demonstrates that the pretax income difference between the two
cases is exactly the same as the inventory difference. Differences in inventory have a
dollar-for-dollar effect on pretax income.

Req. 3

LIFO may be preferred for income tax purposes because it reports less taxable income
(when prices are rising) and hence (a) reduces income tax and (b) as a result reduces
cash outflows for the period.

7-11
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
E7–8.

Req. 1
BECK INC.
Income Statement
For the Year Ended December 31, 2012

Case A Case B
FIFO LIFO

Sales revenue1 .............................. $704,000 $704,000


Cost of goods sold:
Beginning inventory ................ $ 35,000 $ 35,000
Purchases .............................. 281,000 281,000
Goods available for sale2 316,000 316,000
Ending inventory3 .................. 128,000 80,000
Cost of goods sold ........... 188,000 236,000
Gross profit .................................. 516,000 468,000
Expenses .................................. 500,000 500,000
Pretax income ................................ $16,000 $(32,000)

Computations:
(1) Sales: (8,000 units @ $28) + (16,000 units @ $30) = $704,000
(2) Goods available for sale (for both cases):

Units Unit Cost Total Cost

Beginning inventory 7,000 $5 $ 35,000


Purchase, March 5, 2012 19,000 9 171,000
Purchase, September 19, 2012 10,000 11 110,000
Goods available for sale 36,000 $316,000

(3) Ending inventory (36,000 available – 24,000 units sold = 12,000 units):

Case A FIFO:
(10,000 units @ $11 = $110,000) +
(2,000 units @ $9 = $18,000) = $128,000.

Case B LIFO:
(7,000 units @ $5 = $35,000)+
(5,000 units @ $9 = $45,000) = $80,000.

7-12
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
E7–8. (continued)

Req. 2

Comparison of Amounts
Case A Case B
FIFO LIFO

Pretax Income $16,000 $(32,000)


Difference $48,000

Ending Inventory 128,000 80,000


Difference 48,000

The above tabulation demonstrates that the pretax income difference between the two
cases is exactly the same as the inventory difference. Differences in inventory have a
dollar-for-dollar effect on pretax income.

Req. 3

LIFO may be preferred for income tax purposes because it reports less taxable income
(when prices are rising) and hence (a) reduces income tax and (b) as a result reduces
cash outflows for the period.

7-13
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
E7–9.

Req. 1
Average
Units FIFO LIFO Cost
Cost of goods sold:
Beginning inventory .................... 2,000 $ 76,000 $ 76,000 $ 76,000
Purchases................................... 8,000 320,000 320,000 320,000
Goods available for sale .. 10,000 396,000 396,000 396,000
Ending inventory* ....................... 1,800 72,000 68,400 71,280
Cost of goods sold ........... 8,200 $324,000 $327,600 $324,720

Average
Income statement FIFO LIFO Cost

Sales revenue ....................................... $615,000 $615,000 $615,000


Cost of goods sold................................. 324,000 327,600 324,720
Gross profit ......................................... 291,000 287,400 290,280
Expenses ......................................... 194,500 194,500 194,500
Pretax income ....................................... 96,500 92,900 95,780
Income tax expense (30%) ......... 28,950 27,870 28,734
Net income ......................................... $ 67,550 $ 65,030 $ 67,046

*Ending inventory computations:


FIFO: 1,800 units @ $40 = $72,000.
LIFO: 1,800 units @ $38 = $68,400.
Average: [(2,000 units @ $38) + (8,000 units @ $40)] ÷ 10,000 units =
$396,000 ÷ 10,000 units = $39.60 per unit.
$39.60 x 1,800 units = $71,280.

Req. 2

FIFO produces a more favorable (higher) net income because when prices are rising it
gives a lower cost of goods sold amount. FIFO allocates the old (lower) unit costs to
cost of goods sold.

LIFO produces a more favorable cash flow than FIFO because, when prices are rising,
it produces a higher cost of goods sold amount and lower taxable income and,
therefore, lower income tax expense for the period. Cash outflow is less under LIFO by
the amount of income tax reduction. LIFO causes these comparative effects because it
allocates the new (higher) unit costs to cost of goods sold.

Req. 3

When prices are falling, the opposite effect occurs–LIFO produces higher net income
and less favorable cash flow than does FIFO.

7-14
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
E7–10.

Req. 1

Average
FIFO LIFO Cost
Cost of goods sold:
Beginning inventory (400 units @ $28)... $11,200 $11,200 $11,200
Purchases (475 units @ $36) ................. 17,100 17,100 17,100
Goods available for sale ......................... 28,300 28,300 28,300
Ending inventory (545 units)*.................. 19,060 16,420 17,625
Cost of goods sold (330 units) ................ $ 9,240 $11,880 $ 10,675

*Computation of ending inventory:


FIFO: (475 units x $36) + (70 units x $28) = $19,060
LIFO: (400 units x $28) + (145 units x $36) = $16,420

Weighted Average: Units Cost

400 $11,200
475 17,100
875 $28,300 = weighted-average unit cost of $32.34.

545 units x $32.34 = $17,625

Req. 2

Average
FIFO LIFO Cost

Sales revenue ($50 x 330) ............................... $16,500 $16,500 $16,500


Cost of goods sold............................................. 9,240 11,880 10,675
Gross profit ..................................................... 7,260 4,620 5,825
Expenses ..................................................... 1,700 1,700 1,700
Pretax income ................................................... $ 5,560 $ 2,920 $ 4,125

7-15
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
E7–10. (continued)

Req. 3

Ranking in order of favorable cash flow: The higher rankings are given to the methods
that produce the lower income tax expense because the lower the income tax expense
the higher the cash savings.

(1) LIFO–produces the lowest pretax income, hence the lowest amount of cash to be
paid for income tax.

(2) Weighted average–produces next lower pretax income.

(3) FIFO–produces the highest pretax income and as a result the highest income
tax. This result causes the lowest cash savings on income tax.

The above comparative effects occurred because prices were rising. If prices were
falling the three methods would have produced the opposite ranking.

7-16
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
E7–11.

LCM
Item Quantity Total Cost Total Market Valuation

A 50 x $15 = $ 750 x $12 = $600 $600


B 80 x 30 = 2,400 x 40 = 3,200 2,400
C 10 x 48 = 480 x 52 = 520 480
D 70 x 25 = 1,750 x 30 = 2,100 1,750
E 350 x 10 = 3,500 x 5 = 1,750 1,750
Total $8,880 $8,170 $6,980

Inventory valuation that should be used (LCM) $6,980

E7–12.

Req. 1

LCM
Item Quantity Total Cost Total Market Valuation

A 20 x $10 = $ 200 x $15 = $300 $200


B 55 x 40 = 2,200 x 44 = 2,420 2,200
C 35 x 57 = 1,995 x 55 = 1,925 1,925
D 10 x 27 = 270 x 32 = 320 270
Total $4,665 $4,965 $4,595

Inventory valuation that should be used (LCM) $4,595

Req. 2

The write-down to lower of cost or market will increase cost of goods sold expense by
the amount of the write-down, $70:

Total Cost − LCM Valuation = Write-down


$4,665 − $4,595 = $70 Write-down

7-17
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
E7–13.

Req. 1

Inventory turnover = Cost of Goods Sold = $50,144 = 48.99


Average Inventory ($1,180+$867)/2

Average days to sell inventory = 365 / inventory turnover = 365 / 48.99 = 7.5 days

Req. 2

The inventory turnover ratio reflects how many times average inventory was produced
and sold during the period. Thus, Dell produced and sold its average inventory nearly
49 times during the year.

The average days to sell inventory indicates the average time it takes the company to
produce and deliver inventory to customers. Thus, Dell takes an average of about 7.5
days to produce and deliver its computer inventory to its customers.

7-18
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
E7–14.

CASE A – FIFO:

Goods available for sale for FIFO:


Units (19 + 25 + 50) ..................................................... 94
Amount ($304 + 350 + 950) ......................................... $1,604

Ending inventory: 94 units – 68 units = 26.

Ending inventory (26 units x $19) ................................ $ 494


Cost of goods sold ($1,604 – $494)............................. $1,110

Inventory turnover = Cost of Goods Sold = $1,110 = 2.78


Average Inventory ($304+$494)/2

CASE B – LIFO:

Goods available for sale for LIFO:


Units (19 + 25 + 50) ..................................................... 94
Amount ($228 + 350 + 950) ......................................... $1,528

Ending inventory: 94 units – 68 units = 26.

Ending inventory (19 units x $12) + (7 units x $14) ..... $ 326


Cost of goods sold ($1,528 – $326)............................. $1,202

Inventory turnover = Cost of Goods Sold = $1,202 = 4.34


Average Inventory ($228+$326)/2

The FIFO inventory turnover ratio is normally thought to be a more accurate indicator
when prices are changing because LIFO can include very old inventory prices in ending
inventory balances.

7-19
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
E7–15.

Current Year Previous Year Change


Inventory 22,813,850 – 20,838,171 = 1,975,679
A/P 9,462,883 – 9,015,376 = 447,507

Increases in inventory cause cash flow from operations to decrease by $1,975,679.


This amount is subtracted in the computation of cash flow from operations. First Team
Sports was able to offset some of this by increasing its A/P by $447,507, which
increases cash flow from operations. This amount is added in the computation of cash
flow from operations. Effectively, the Company is letting its suppliers finance a portion
of its growing inventories.

E7–16.

Req. 1 The reported ending inventory for Ford was $8,618 million. If FIFO were used
exclusively, the ending inventory would have been $891 million higher than
reported, or $9,509 million.

Req. 2 The restated cost of goods sold amount must reflect the restatement of both
beginning and ending inventory:

Beginning inventory ............................................... $1,100 million


Less: Ending inventory .......................................... 891 million
Impact on COGS ................................................... $ 209 million

If FIFO had been used exclusively, cost of goods sold would have been $127,103 +
$209 = $127,312 million. In this case, FIFO cost of goods sold is greater than LIFO cost
of goods sold. This is likely the result of falling prices and/or a reduction in inventory
quantities.

Req. 3 When costs are rising, LIFO normally produces lower net income before taxes
and lower current tax payments.

7-20
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
E7–17.

Req. 1 Net Income for 2011 will be Overstated. An understatement of purchases


produces an understatement of cost of goods sold which produces an
overstatement of the current period’s income.

BI + P - EI = CGS
 
Understate Understate

Req. 2 Net Income for 2012 will be Understated. An overstatement of purchases


produces an overstatement of cost of goods sold which produces an
understatement of the current period’s income.

BI + P - EI = CGS
 
Overstate Overstate

Req. 3 Retained Earnings for December 31, 2011, will be Overstated because of the
overstatement of Net Income for 2011.

Req. 4 Retained Earnings for December 31, 2012, will be Correct because the
overstatement of Net Income for 2011 and understatement of Net Income for
2012 will offset one another.

7-21
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
E7–18.

Req. 1

When the ending inventory is overstated, cost of goods sold is understated which in turn
results in an overstatement of net income. Gibson’s income from operations should be
reduced by $8,806,000 and tax expense should be reduced by $3,460,758 (i.e.,
$8,806,000 x 0.393). Therefore, net income should be:

As reported:........................................................ $25,852,000
Increase in cost of good sold .............................. (8,806,000)
Reduction in tax expense ................................... 3,460,758
Corrected income ............................................... $20,506,758

Req. 2

The incorrect accounts can be summarized as follows:

(a) Year of (b) Subsequent


Account Error Year

Beginning inventory correct overstated


Cost of goods sold understated overstated
Ending inventory overstated correct
Income tax expense overstated understated
Net income overstated understated
Retained earnings overstated correct
Taxes payable* overstated understated

*The income tax payable for each year is incorrect by the same amount; therefore the
total income tax paid was correct.

7-22
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
E7–19.

Req. 1

The $600 understatement of ending inventory produced pretax income amounts that
were incorrect by the amount of $600 for each quarter. However, the effect on pretax
income for each quarter was opposite (i.e., the first quarter pretax income was
understated by $600, and in the second quarter it was overstated by $600). This self-
correcting produces a correct combined income for the two quarters.

Req. 2

The error caused the pretax income for each quarter to be incorrect [see (1) above];
therefore, it produced incorrect EPS amounts for each quarter.

Req. 3

First Quarter Second Quarter

Sales revenue ........................................ $11,000 $18,000


Cost of goods sold:
Beginning inventory ..................... $4,000 $ 4,400
Purchases.................................... 3,000 13,000
Goods available for sale ... 7,000 17,400
Ending inventory .......................... 4,400 9,000
Cost of goods sold ............ 2,600 8,400
Gross profit .......................................... 8,400 9,600
Expenses .......................................... 5,000 6,000
Pretax income ........................................ $3,400 $3,600

Req. 4

1st Quarter 2nd Quarter


Incorrect Correct Error Incorrect Correct Error
Beginning inventory $4,000 $4,000 No error $3,800 $4,400 $600 under
Ending inventory 3,800 4,400 $600 under 9,000 9,000 No error
Cost of goods sold 3,200 2,600 600 over 7,800 8,400 600 under
Gross profit 7,800 8,400 600 under 10,200 9,600 600 over
Pretax income 2,800 3,400 600 under 4,200 3,600 600 over

7-23
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
E7–20. (Supplement A)

Req. 1
This actual footnote from ConocoPhillips illustrates the impact of “dipping into a LIFO
layer.'' Under LIFO, the cost of recently purchased items is assigned to cost of goods
sold. When prices are rising, cost of goods sold, under LIFO, will include unit costs that
are much higher than the unit costs assigned to ending inventory. This process will
continue year after year so that the unit costs assigned to the ending inventory often will
be significantly less than unit costs assigned to cost of goods sold. When a business
permits inventory quantity to decline, old (and often very low) costs are allocated to cost
of goods sold and are matched with revenues that usually are based on the current
(higher) costs. As a result, a decline in LIFO inventory quantity often will produce a
dramatic increase in net income for the company.

Req. 2
When FIFO is used, a decline in inventory quantity will not result in the dramatic
increase in net income that was discussed in requirement (1) because FIFO inventory
costs are represented by the most recent purchases.

E7–21. (Supplement B)

Req. 1 Accounts receivable (+A) ...................................................900


Sales (+R, +SE) ............................................................ 900
Cost of goods sold (+E, −SE) .............................................600
Inventory (−A) ................................................................ 600

Req. 2 Cash (+A) ($900 x 0.98) .....................................................882


Sales discounts (+XR, −R, −SE) ($900 x 0.02) .................. 18
Accounts receivable (−A) .............................................. 900

Req. 3 Cash (+A) ...........................................................................900


Accounts receivable (−A) .............................................. 900

Req. 4 Inventory (+A) .....................................................................


8,400
Accounts payable (+L)................................................... 8,400

Req. 5 8,400
Accounts payable (−L) ........................................................
Inventory (−A) ($8,400 x 0.03) ...................................... 252
Cash (−A) ($8,400 x 0.97)............................................. 8,148

Req. 6 Accounts payable (−L) ........................................................ 8,400


Cash (−A) ..................................................................... 8,400

7-24
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
E7–22. (Supplement C)

CASE A: Perpetual inventory system:

January 14 Accounts receivable (+A) ....................................................950


Sales (+R, +SE) (20 units at $47.50)............................. 950
Cost of goods sold (+E, −SE) .............................................400
Inventory (−A) (20 units at $20) ..................................... 400

April 9 Inventory (+A) (15 units at $20) ..........................................300


Accounts payable (+L)................................................... 300

September 2 Accounts receivable (+A) ....................................................


2,250
Sales (+R, +SE) (45 units at $50).................................. 2,250

Cost of goods sold (+E, −SE) .............................................900


Inventory (−A) (45 units at $20) ..................................... 900

End of year No year-end adjusting entry needed.

CASE B: Periodic inventory system:

January 14 Accounts receivable (+A) ....................................................950


Sales (+R, +SE) (20 units at $47.50)............................. 950

April 9 Purchases (+A) (15 units at $20) ........................................300


Accounts payable (+L)................................................... 300

September 2 Accounts receivable (+A) ....................................................


2,250
Sales (+R, +SE) (45 units at $50).................................. 2,250

End of year Cost of goods sold (+E, −SE) (goods avail. for sale) .......... 2,300
Purchases (−A) ............................................................. 300
Inventory (−A) (Beginning: 100 units at $20) ................ 2,000
Inventory (+A) (Ending: 50 units at $20) ............................1,000
Cost of goods sold (−E, +SE) ........................................ 1,000

Calculation of cost of goods sold:


Beginning inventory (100 units at $20) $2,000
Add purchases 300
Goods available for sale 2,300
Ending inventory (physical count—50 units at $20) 1,000
Cost of goods sold $1,300

7-25
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory

PROBLEMS

P7–1.

Item Amount Explanation

Ending inventory (physical count on $65,000 Per physical inventory.


December 31, 2011)

a. Goods out on trial to customer + 750 Goods held by a customer on trial


are still owned by the vendor; no
sale or transfer of ownership has
occurred.

b. Goods in transit from supplier Goods shipped by a supplier,


F.O.B. destination, are owned by
the supplier until delivery at
destination.

c. Goods in transit to customer Goods shipped to customers,


F.O.B. shipping point, are owned
by the customer because
ownership passed when they were
delivered to the transportation
company. The inventory correctly
excluded these items.

d. Goods held for customer pickup – 1,590 The goods sold, but held for
customer pickup, are owned by the
customer. Ownership has passed.

e. Goods purchased and in transit + 3,550 Goods purchased and in transit,


F.O.B. shipping point, are owned
by the purchaser.

f. Goods sold and in transit + 850 Goods sold and in transit, F.O.B.
destination, are owned by the seller
until they reach destination.

g. Goods held on consignment – 5,700 Goods held on consignment are


owned by the consignor (the
manufacturer), not by the
consignee.
Correct inventory, December 31, 2011 $62,860

7-26
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
P7–2.

a) Goods available for sale for all methods:

Unit Total
Units Cost Cost

January 1, 2012–Beginning inventory 400 $3.00 $ 1,200


January 30, 2012–Purchase 600 3.20 1,920
May 1, 2012–Purchase 460 3.50 1,610
Goods available for sale 1,460 $4,730

Ending inventory: 1,460 units – (160 + 700) = 600 units

b) and c)

1. Average cost:
Average unit cost $4,730 ÷ 1,460 = $3.24
Ending inventory (600 units x $3.24) $1,944
Cost of goods sold ($4,730 – $1,944) $2,786

2. First-in, first-out:
Ending inventory (460 units x $3.50) +
(140 units x $3.20) $2,058

Cost of goods sold ($4,730 – $2,058) $2,672

3. Last-in, first-out:
Ending inventory (400 units x $3.00) +
(200 units x $3.20) $1,840

Cost of goods sold ($4,730 – $1,840) $2,890

4. Specific identification:
Ending inventory ( 0 units x $3.00) +
( 504 units x $3.20) +
( 96 units x $3.50) $1,949

Cost of goods sold ($4,730 – $1,949) $2,781

7-27
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
P7–3.

Req. 1

DONNER COMPANY
Partial Income Statement
For the Month Ended January 31, 2011

(a) (b) (c) (d)


Average Specific
Cost FIFO LIFO Identification

Sales revenue* $9,920 $9,920 $9,920 $9,920


Cost of goods sold** 3,630 3,220 4,040 3,350
Gross profit $ 6,290 $ 6,700 $ 5,880 $ 6,570

Computations:
*620 units @ $16 = $9,920.
**Cost of goods sold:

Average Specific
Units Cost FIFO LIFO Identification

Beginning inventory 500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500


Purchases (net)*** 760 4,880 4,880 4,880 4,880
Goods available for sale 1,260 7,380 7,380 7,380 7,380
Ending inventory**** 640 3,750 4,160 3,340 4,030
Cost of goods sold 620 $3,630 $3,220 $4,040 $3,350

***Purchases:
January 12 600 units @ $6 = $3,600
January 26 160 units @ $8 = 1,280
Totals 760 $4,880

****Ending inventory:
a. Average cost: Units Amount
Beginning inventory 500 $2,500
Purchases (per above) 760 4,880
1,260 $7,380

Average cost:
$7,380 ÷ 1,260 units = $5.86
Ending inventory:
640 units x $5.86 = $3,750

7-28
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
P7–3. (continued)

Req. 1 (continued)

b. FIFO: 160 units @ $8 = $1,280


480 units @ $6 = 2,880
640 $4,160

c. LIFO: 500 units @ $5 = $2,500


140 units @ $6 = 840
640 $3,340

d. Specific identification:
130 units @ $5 = $ 650
350 units @ $6 = 2,100
160 units @ $8 = 1,280
640 $4,030

Req. 2

FIFO reports a higher pretax income than LIFO because (1) prices are rising and (2)
FIFO allocates the old (lower) unit costs to cost of goods sold. For the same reason,
FIFO will report a higher EPS amount because it produces a higher pretax income than
LIFO.

Req. 3

Because LIFO reports a lower pretax income than FIFO for the reasons given in
Requirement (2), the former will derive less income tax by ($6,700 – $5,880) x 30% =
$246.

Req. 4

LIFO will provide a more favorable cash flow than FIFO of $246 because less cash will
be paid for income tax in the current year than would be paid under FIFO (for the
reasons given in Requirements 2 and 3).

7-29
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
P7–4.

Req. 1

Sales revenue $1,151,500


Cost of goods sold* (42 @ $10,000) + (5 @ $11,500) 477,500
Gross profit 674,000
Expenses 300,000
Pretax income $ 374,000

*Ending inventory (15 @ $11,500) $ 172,500

Req. 2

Sales revenue $1,151,500


Cost of goods sold** (20 @ $9,500) + (27 @ $10,000) 460,000
Gross profit 691,500
Expenses 300,000
Pretax income $ 391,500

**Ending inventory (20 @ $11,500) + (15 @ $10,000) $ 380,000

Req. 3

Pretax income increased by $17,500 because of the decision to purchase the additional
units at the end of the year. This decision provided lower cost units to allocate to cost of
goods sold, which increased pretax income.

There is evidence of deliberate income manipulation. Although no information is


provided as to expected future sales, nor the time to order and receive units, the timing
of the purchase of the additional units is suspect because the cost of the equipment will
be decreased again during the first quarter of next year.

(Instructional Note–This problem illustrates the way that income can be manipulated
under LIFO by buying, or not buying, at year-end. This opportunity to manipulate
income is not available under weighted average or FIFO.)

7-30
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
P7–5.

Req. 1

Prices Rising Prices Falling


A B C D
FIFO LIFO FIFO LIFO
Sales revenue (500 units) $15,000 $15,000 $15,000 $15,000
Cost of goods sold:
Beginning inventory
(300 units) 3,300 3,300 3,600 3,600
Purchases (400 units) 4,800 4,800 4,400 4,400
Goods available for sale 8,100 8,100 8,000 8,000
Ending inventory (200 units)* 2,400 (a) 2,200 (b) 2,200 (c) 2,400 (d)
Cost of goods sold
(500 units) 5,700 5,900 5,800 5,600
Gross profit 9,300 9,100 9,200 9,400
Expenses 4,000 4,000 4,000 4,000
Pretax income 5,300 5,100 5,200 5,400
Income tax expense (30%) 1,590 1,530 1,560 1,620
Net income $3,710 $3,570 $3,640 $3,780

*Inventory computations:
(a) FIFO: 200 units @ $12.00 = $2,400
(b) LIFO: 200 units @ $11.00 = 2,200
(c) FIFO: 200 units @ $11.00 = 2,200
(d) LIFO: 200 units @ $12.00 = 2,400

Req. 2

The above tabulation demonstrates that when prices are rising, FIFO gives a higher net
income than LIFO. When prices are falling, the opposite effect results. The difference
in pretax income (as between FIFO and LIFO) is the same as the difference in cost of
goods sold but in the opposite direction. The difference in net income (i.e., after tax) is
equal to the difference in cost of goods sold multiplied by one minus the income tax
rate.

Req. 3

When prices are rising, LIFO derives a more favorable cash position (than FIFO) equal
to the difference in income tax. In contrast, when prices are falling, FIFO derives a
more favorable cash position equal to the difference in income tax.

7-31
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
P7–5. (continued)

Req. 4

Either method can be defended reasonably. If one focuses on current income and EPS,
FIFO derives a more favorable result (higher than LIFO when prices are rising).

Alternatively, if one focuses on income tax expense and cash position, when prices are
rising, LIFO derives more favorable results (lower taxes, better cash position).

However, these comparative results will reverse if prices fall.

FIFO provides a better balance sheet valuation (higher current asset value) but on the
income statement does not match current expense (cost of goods sold) with current
revenues. Alternatively, LIFO better matches expenses with revenues but produces a
less relevant inventory valuation on the balance sheet.

P7–6.

Req. 1

HARVEY COMPANY
Income Statement (LCM basis)
For the Year Ended December 31, 2011

Sales revenue $280,000


Cost of goods sold:
Beginning inventory $ 33,000
Purchases 184,000
Goods available for sale 217,000
Ending inventory 37,850*
Cost of goods sold 179,150
Gross profit 100,850
Operating expenses 62,000
Pretax income 38,850
Income tax expense ($38,850 x 30%) 11,655
Net income $ 27,195

*Computation of ending inventory on LCM basis:

7-32
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
Replacement
Item Quantity Original Cost Cost (Market) LCM Valuation

A 3,050 x $3 = $ 9,150 x $4 = $12,200 $ 9,150


B 1,500 x 5 = 7,500 x3.5 = 5,250 5,250
C 7,100 x1.5 = 10,650 x3.5 = 24,850 10,650
D 3,200 x 6 = 19,200 x 4 = 12,800 12,800
Total $46,500 $55,100

LCM inventory valuation $37,850

Req. 2
Amount of
FIFO LCM Change
Item Changed Cost Basis Basis (Decrease)

Ending inventory $ 46,500 $ 37,850 ($8,650)


Cost of goods sold 170,500 179,150 8,650
Gross profit 109,500 100,850 ( 8,650)
Pretax income 47,500 38,850 ( 8,650)
Income tax expense 14,250 11,655 ( 2,595)
Net income 33,250 27,195 ( 6,055)
P7–6. (continued)

Req. 2 (continued)

Analysis
Ending inventory, cost of goods sold, gross profit, and pretax income each
changed by the change in the valuation of the ending inventory.

Income tax expense decreased because the increase in expense reduced pretax
income.

Net income was reduced by $8,650 (increased expense of $8,650) less the
income tax savings of $2,595 = $6,055.

Req. 3

The inventory costing methods (average cost, FIFO, LIFO, and specific identification)
apply the cost and matching principles. Cost of goods sold, under these principles, is
the actual cost incurred for the merchandise sold during the period; this cost is matched
with sales revenue of the period.

7-33
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory

LCM is an exception to the cost principle. Conceptually, LCM is based on the view that
when replacement is less than the cost incurred for the merchandise, any such goods
on hand should be valued at the lower replacement (market) price. The effect is to
include the holding loss (i.e., the drop from cost to market) in the cost of goods sold
amount for the period in which the replacement cost dropped. LCM recognizes holding
losses in this manner; however, it does not recognize holding gains.

Req. 4

LCM reduced pretax income and income tax expense. There was a cash savings of
$2,595 for 2011 (assuming the LCM results are included on the income tax return). In
subsequent periods pretax income will be greater by the $8,650 and hence, income tax
and cash outflow will be more. The only real gain to the company would be the time
value of money between 2011 and the subsequent periods when increased income
taxes must be paid (of course, a change in tax rates would affect this analysis).

P7–7.

Req. 1

Projected No change from


change beginning of year
Inventory = Cost of Goods Sold $7,008,984 = 14.2 $7,008,984 = 11.8
Turnover Average Inventory $495,005* $595,700**

* ($595,700 + $394,310) ÷ 2
** ($595,700 + $595,700) ÷ 2

Req. 2

Projected decrease in inventory = $595,700 – $394,310 = $201,390

A $201,390 increase in cash flow from operating activities, because a decrease in


inventory would increase cash, all other items held constant.

Req. 3

An increase in the inventory turnover ratio indicates an increase in the number of times
average inventory was produced and sold during the period. A higher ratio indicates that
inventory moves more quickly through the production process to the ultimate customer.
As a consequence, the company can maintain less inventory on hand, all other things
being equal. This can benefit the company because less money is tied up in inventory
and as a result, cash flow from operations will be higher. The excess cash can be
invested, earning interest income, or used to reduce borrowings, reducing interest
expense.

7-34
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
P7–8.

Req. 1

A change that increases beginning inventory will decrease net income while a change
that increases ending inventory will increase net income.

Impact on GM net
income (in millions)

Change in ending inventory $2,077.1


Change in beginning inventory (1,784.5)
Increase in pretax income 292.6
Increase in taxes (30%) (87.8)
Increase in net income $ 204.8

Use of FIFO would result in an increase of $204.8 million in GM reported net income.
The change would result in an increase in income taxes because the LIFO conformity
rule precludes use of LIFO for tax purposes if a method other than LIFO were used for
financial reporting.

Reported net income $320.5


Increase 204.8
FIFO net income $525.3

Req. 2

If FIFO had been used, the ending inventory would have been $2,077.1 million higher.
Instead LIFO was used and the $2,077.1 million was allocated to cost of goods sold in
earlier accounting periods (including the current year). Thus, the cumulative difference
between LIFO pretax income and FIFO pretax income was $2,077.1 million, or a
difference of $1,454 million after taxes ($2,077.1 x .7). Therefore, retained earnings on
a FIFO basis would have been $16,794 million (i.e., $15,340 + $1,454).

Req. 3

The reduction in taxes (compared to FIFO) was $87.8 million (calculated in Req. 1).

7-35
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
P7–9.

Req. 1
2011 2012 2013 2014

Sales revenue $2,025,000 $2,450,000 $2,700,000 $2,975,000


Cost of goods sold 1,505,000 1,645,000* 1,764,000* 2,113,000
Gross profit 520,000 805,000 936,000 862,000
Expenses 490,000 513,000 538,000 542,000
Pretax income 30,000 292,000 398,000 320,000
Income tax expense (30%) 9,000 87,600 119,400 96,000
Net income $ 21,000 $ 204,400 $ 278,600 $ 224,000

*There was an overstatement of the ending inventory in 2012 by $18,000; this caused
cost of goods sold for 2012 to be understated and 2012 net income to be overstated.
Similarly, because this error was carried over automatically to 2013 as the beginning
inventory, cost of goods sold for 2013 was overstated and 2013 net income
understated. The amounts for 2011 and 2014 were not affected. This is called a self-
correcting or counterbalancing error. Cumulative net income for the four-year period
was not affected.

Req. 2
2011 2012 2013 2014

Gross profit ratio (gross profit ÷ sales):


Before correction:
$520,000 ÷ $2,025,000 = .26
$823,000 ÷ $2,450,000 = .34
$918,000 ÷ $2,700,000 = .34
$862,000 ÷ $2,975,000 = .29

After correction:
No change .26
$805,000 ÷ $2,450,000 = .33
$936,000 ÷ $2,700,000 = .35
No change .29

Req. 3

The effect of the error on income tax expense was:


2012 2013
Income tax expense reported $93,000 $114,000
Correct income tax expense 87,600 119,400
Income tax expense overstatement (understatement) $ 5,400 $(5,400)

7-36
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
P7–10. (Supplement A)

Req. 1 Pretax operating profit (loss) for the current year had FIFO accounting been
employed instead of LIFO.

Difference in beginning inventory* (LIFO to FIFO) $2,076


Less: Difference in ending inventory* (LIFO to FIFO) 2,226
Difference in cost of goods sold (LIFO to FIFO) $ (150)

Difference in Pretax Net Income = $150 increase


(*The differences are the beginning and ending LIFO Reserve.)

Req. 2 Since prices are rising, LIFO liquidations increase net income before taxes.
The change in pretax operating profit during the current year is given in the
footnote as $23 million. As a consequence, net income before taxes would be
$23 million lower had there been no inventory quantity reduction.

7-37
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory

ALTERNATE PROBLEMS

AP7−1.

a) Goods available for sale for all methods:

Unit Total
Units Cost Cost

January 1, 2011–Beginning inventory 390 $32 $12,480


February 20, 2011–Purchase 700 34 23,800
June 30, 2011–Purchase 460 37 17,020
Goods available for sale 1,550 $53,300

Ending inventory: 1,550 units – (70 + 750) = 730 units

b) and c)

1. Average cost:
Average unit cost $53,300 ÷ 1,550=$34.39.
Ending inventory (730 units x $34.39) $25,105
Cost of goods sold ($53,300 – $25,105) $28,195

2. First-in, first-out:
Ending inventory (460 units x $37) +
(270 units x $34) $26,200

Cost of goods sold ($53,300 – $26,200) $27,100

3. Last-in, first-out:
Ending inventory (390 units x $32) +
(340 units x $34) $24,040

Cost of goods sold ($53,300 – $24,040) $29,260

4. Specific identification:
Ending inventory (658 units x $34) +
(72 units x $37) $25,036

Cost of goods sold ($53,300 – $25,036) $28,264

7-38
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
AP7–2.

Req. 1

NEWRIDGE COMPANY
Partial Income Statement
For the Month Ended January 31, 2012

(a) (b) (c) (d)


Average Specific
Cost FIFO LIFO Identification

Sales revenue* $3,840 $3,840 $3,840 $3,840


Cost of goods sold** 2,256 2,040 2,560 2,060
Gross profit $1,584 $1,800 $1,280 $1,780

Computations:
*Sales revenue = 240 units @ $16 = $3,840.

**Cost of Goods Sold Amounts:


a) Average Cost
Total
Number of Units x Unit Cost = Cost
120 x $8 = $ 960
380 x 9 = 3,420
200 x 11 = 2,200
Available
$6,580
700 for Sale

$6,580
= = $9.40 per unit
700 units

Cost of Goods Sold = $9.40 x 240 units


= $2,256

Unit Total
Cost of Goods Sold Units Cost Cost
b) FIFO First Units in (Beginning Inventory) 120 $8 $ 960
Next Units in (January 12) 120 9 1,080
Total Cost of Goods Sold (FIFO) 240 $2,040

c) LIFO Last Units in (January 26) 200 $11 $2,200


Next Units in (January 12) 40 9 360
Total Cost of Goods Sold (LIFO) 240 $2,560

7-39
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
AP7–2. (continued)

Unit
Cost of Goods Sold Units Cost Total Cost
d) Specific First sale 100 $ 8 $ 800
Identification Second sale 140 9 1,260
Total Cost of Goods Sold 240 $2,060

Cost of Ending Inventory Amounts:

a) Average Cost
Ending Inventory = $9.40 x 460 units
= $4,324

Unit
Ending Inventory Units Cost Total Cost
b) FIFO Last Units in (January 26) 200 $11 $2,200
Next Units in (January 12) 260 9 2,340
Total Ending Inventory FIFO 460 $4,540

c) LIFO First Units in (Beginning Inventory) 120 $8 $ 960


Next Units in (January 12) 340 9 3,060
Total Ending Inventory LIFO 460 $4,020

Unit
Ending Inventory Units Cost Total Cost
d) Specific Beginning 20 $ 8 $ 160
Identification January 12 240 9 2,160
January 26 200 11 2,200
Total Ending Inventory (Spec.) 460 $4,520

Req. 2

FIFO reports a higher pretax income than LIFO because (1) prices are rising and (2)
FIFO allocates the old (lower) unit costs to cost of goods sold. For the same reason,
FIFO will report a higher EPS amount because it produces a higher pretax income than
LIFO.

7-40
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
AP7–2. (continued)

Req. 3

Because LIFO reports a lower pretax income than FIFO for the reasons given in
Requirement (2), LIFO will result in lower income tax by ($1,800 – $1,280) x 30% =
$156.

Req. 4

LIFO will provide a more favorable cash flow than FIFO of $156 because less cash will
be paid for income tax than would be paid under FIFO (for the reasons given in
Requirements 2 and 3).

7-41
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
AP7–3.

Req. 1

Prices Rising Prices Falling


A B C D
FIFO LIFO FIFO LIFO
Sales revenue (510 units) $13,260 $13,260 $13,260 $13,260
Cost of goods sold:
Beginning inventory
(340 units) 3,060 3,060 3,400 3,400
Purchases (410 units) 4,100 4,100 3,690 3,690
Goods available for sale 7,160 7,160 7,090 7,090
Ending inventory (240 units)* 2,400 (a) 2,160 (b) 2,160 (c) 2,400 (d)
Cost of goods sold
(510 units) 4,760 5,000 4,930 4,690
Gross profit 8,500 8,260 8,330 8,570
Expenses 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000
Pretax income 3,500 3,260 3,330 3,570
Income tax expense (30%) 1,050 978 999 1,071
Net income $2,450 $2,282 $2,331 $2,499

*Inventory computations:
(a) FIFO: 240 units @ $10.00 = $2,400
(b) LIFO: 240 units @ $9.00 = 2,160
(c) FIFO: 240 units @ $9.00 = 2,160
(d) LIFO: 240 units @ $10.00 = 2,400

Req. 2

The above tabulation demonstrates that when prices are rising, FIFO gives a higher net
income than LIFO. When prices are falling, the opposite effect results. The difference
in pretax income (as between FIFO and LIFO) is the same as the difference in cost of
goods sold but in the opposite direction. The difference in net income (i.e., after tax) is
equal to the difference in cost of goods sold multiplied by one minus the income tax
rate.

Req. 3

When prices are rising, LIFO derives a more favorable cash position (than FIFO) equal
to the difference in income tax. In contrast, when prices are falling, FIFO derives a
more favorable cash position equal to the difference in income tax.

7-42
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
AP7–3. (continued)

Req. 4

Either method can be defended reasonably. If one focuses on current income and EPS,
FIFO derives a more favorable result (higher than LIFO when prices are rising).

Alternatively, if one focuses on income tax expense and cash position, when prices are
rising, LIFO derives more favorable results (lower taxes, better cash position).

However, these comparative results will reverse if prices fall.

FIFO provides a better balance sheet valuation (higher current asset value) but on the
income statement does not match current expense (cost of goods sold) with current
revenues. Alternatively, LIFO better matches expenses with revenues but produces a
less relevant inventory valuation on the balance sheet.

AP7–4.

Req. 1

COLCA COMPANY
Income Statements Corrected

2011 2012 2013 2014

Sales revenue $60,000 $63,000 $65,000 $68,000


Cost of goods sold 39,000 41,000* 46,000* 46,000
Gross profit 21,000 22,000 19,000 22,000
Expenses 16,000 17,000 17,000 19,000
Pretax income $ 5,000 $ 5,000 $ 2,000 $ 3,000

* Increase in the ending inventory in 2012 by $2,000 causes a decrease in cost of


goods sold by the same amount. Therefore, cost of goods sold for 2012 is $43,000 –
$2,000 = $41,000. Because the 2012 ending inventory is carried over as the 2013
beginning inventory, cost of goods sold for 2013 was understated by $2,000. Thus,
the correct cost of goods sold amount for 2013 is $44,000 + $2,000 = $46,000.

7-43
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
AP7–4. (continued)

Req. 2

2011 2012 2013 2014

Gross profit ratio (gross profit ÷ sales):


Before correction:
$21,000 ÷ $60,000 = .35
$20,000 ÷ $63,000 = .32
$21,000 ÷ $65,000 = .32
$22,000 ÷ $68,000 = .32

After correction:
No change .35
$22,000 ÷ $63,000 = .35
$19,000 ÷ $65,000 = .29
No change .32

Req. 3

The error would have the following effect on income tax expense:

2012 2013
Before correction:
2012: $3,000 x 30% = $900
2013: $4,000 x 30% = $1,200

After correction:
2012: $5,000 x 30% = 1,500
2013: $2,000 x 30% = 600
Difference $ (600) $ 600

The income tax expense would have been understated by $600 in 2012 and overstated
by $600 in 2013.

7-44
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory

CASES AND PROJECTS


ANNUAL REPORT CASES

CP7–1

Req. 1

The company held $294,928 thousand of merchandise inventory at the end of the
current year. This is disclosed on the balance sheet.

Req. 2

The company purchased $1,823,208 thousand during the current year. The beginning
and ending inventory balances are disclosed on the balance sheet and cost of goods
sold is disclosed on the income statement. Purchases during the year can be computed
by rearranging the basic inventory equation (BI + P – EI = CGS) or using a T-account:
Cost of goods sold ............................................. $1,814,765 thousand
+ Ending inventory ............................................... 294,928 thousand
– Beginning inventory .......................................... (286,485) thousand
Purchases ........................................................ $1,823,208 thousand
Inventory
Beg. Balance 286,485
Purchases 1,823,208 1,814,765 Cost of goods
sold
End. Balance 294,928

Req. 3

The company uses the average cost method to determine the cost of its inventory. This
is disclosed in Note 2 under “Merchandise Inventory.” It indicates that inventory is
valued at the lower of average cost or market.

Req. 4
American Eagle Outfitters
Inventory = Cost of Goods Sold $1,814,765 = 6.24
Turnover Average Inventory 290,706.5*
*(286,485 + $294,928) / 2

It indicates how many times the average inventory was purchased and sold during the
year.

7-45
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
CP7–2.

Req. 1

Given the general trend of little or no inflation every year, it would be unlikely that the
replacement cost of Urban Outfitters’ inventory would be lower than its current book
value. And, unless a severe market downturn (or extreme change in fashion) took
place, it would be unlikely that the net realizable value of the company’s current season
inventory would drop below its original cost. Since the end of the year coincides with
the end of the selling season for winter clothes, only these remaining goods are likely to
have a net realizable value below original cost. Therefore, it is likely that only these
items would require a writedown at the end of the year, because the company’s book
value for other inventory items will be lower than both replacement cost and net
realizable value.

Req. 2

The company uses the first-in, first-out method to determine the cost of its inventory.
This is disclosed in Note 2 under “Inventories.”

Req. 3

If the company had overstated its ending inventory by $10 million, its income before
income taxes would be overstated by $10 million. Recall that ending inventory reduces
cost of goods sold, which is an expense. Therefore, cost of goods sold would be $10
million lower and income before income taxes would be $10 million higher (i.e.,
$309,490,000 reported instead of the correct amount of $299,490,).

Req. 4

Urban Outfitters
Inventory = Cost of Goods Sold $1,121,140 = 6.56
Turnover Average Inventory 170,811.5*

* (171,925 + $169,698) / 2

It indicates how many times the average inventory was purchased and sold during the
year.

7-46
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
CP7–3

Req. 1

American Eagle Urban Outfitters


Outfitters
Inventory = Cost of Goods Sold $1,814,765 = 6.24 $1,121,140 = 6.56
Turnover Average Inventory 290,706.5* 170,811.5**

* ($286,485 + $294,928) / 2
** ($171,925 + $169,698) / 2

Urban Outfitters has a higher inventory turnover ratio than American Eagle
Outfitters. This higher ratio implies that Urban Outfitters was more successful than
American Eagle in moving inventory quickly through the purchasing and sales
processes to the ultimate customer.

Req. 2

Industry American Eagle Urban Outfitters


Average Outfitters
5.92 6.24 6.56

Both American Eagle Outfitters and Urban Outfitters have a higher inventory
turnover than the industry average. That means that they are doing a better job at
managing inventory levels, and moving inventory quickly through the purchasing and
sales processes to the ultimate customer.

7-47
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
FINANCIAL REPORTING AND ANALYSIS CASES

CP7–4.

Req. 1 Production costs included in inventory become cost of goods sold expense on
the income statement in the period the goods are sold.

Req. 2 Since some of the current year’s production is still not sold, some of these
production-related costs that were added to work-in-process inventory during
the production process are still in work-in-process inventory or in finished
goods. This increases total inventory. Since the items have not been sold, the
amounts have not been included in cost of goods sold expense. Thus total
expenses are lower which in turn increases net income.

CP7–5.

Req. 1

Caterpillar 2008 2007 2006


Inventories - LIFO $8,781 $7,204 $6,351
Plus: LIFO Reserve 3,183 2,617 2,403
Inventories - FIFO $11,964 $9,821 $8,754

Cost of goods sold: LIFO $38,415 $32,626


+ Beginning LIFO Reserve 2,617 2,403
- Ending LIFO Reserve 3,183 2,617
Cost of goods sold: FIFO $37,849 $32,412

7-48
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory

2008 LIFO

Inventory turnover = $38,415 = 4.8


($7,204 + $8,781) ÷ 2
2008 FIFO

Inventory turnover = $37,849 = 3.5


($9,821 + $11,964) ÷ 2

2007 LIFO

Inventory turnover = $32,626 = 4.8


($6,351 + $7,204) ÷ 2
2007 FIFO

Inventory turnover = $32,412 = 3.5


($8,754 + $9,821) ÷ 2

CP7–5. (continued)

DEERE (as provided)

2008 LIFO 7.3

2008 FIFO 4.9

Req. 2

In all three cases, the ratio is higher under LIFO than FIFO. The LIFO beginning and
ending inventory numbers (the denominator) are artificially small because they reflect
old lower costs. LIFO cost of goods sold (the numerator) reflects the new higher costs.
Thus, the numerator in the LIFO calculation does not relate in a meaningful way to the
denominator.

7-49
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory

Req. 3

The FIFO inventory turnover ratio is normally thought to be a more accurate indicator
when prices are changing because LIFO can include very old inventory prices in ending
inventory balances. According to the FIFO ratios, Caterpillar has used inventory no
more efficiently during the current period than the prior period. However, it is less
efficient than John Deere. Such comparisons should also consider any changes in
inventory mix between periods or companies, which may also affect the ratio.

7-50
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory

CRITICAL THINKING CASES

CP7–6.

1. The press release states that management believes LIFO is more appropriate
because it better matches current costs with current revenues, and also mentions
that there are tax benefits to adopting LIFO for tax purposes.

2. The decrease in pre-tax income was $28,165,000. Thus, ending inventory was
decreased by $28,165,000 and cost of goods sold was increased by $28,165,000.
Since the company is in the 35% tax bracket, this resulted in a decrease in tax
expense of .35 x $28,165,000 = $9,858,000 (rounded to the nearest thousand) and
a decrease in net income of $ 18,307,000.

3. This $9,858,000 tax postponement is significant and is likely to be the main reason
that management adopted LIFO. A decrease in net income is normally a negative
sign to analysts, since it normally implies a decline in future cash flows. In this case,
however, the change had a positive cash flow effect. Most analysts would look
favorably on a change, the only effect of which is to provide the company with an
additional $9,858,000 in cash.

7-51
Chapter 07 - Reporting and Interpreting Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
CP7–7.

To: The Files


From: The New Staff Member
Re: Effect of restatement

1. The Company understated purchases by $47.3 million. This causes cost of


goods sold to be understated and pre-tax income to be overstated by $47.3
million. Net income is overstated by that amount times 1 – tax rate:

$47.3 x (1 – .404) = $28.2 million overstatement

2. The restatement of the purchases caused the board to rescind management’s


bonuses. Accordingly, pre-tax income will increase by $2.2 million, and net
income will increase by that amount times 1 – tax rate.

$2.2 x (1 – .404) = $1.3 million increase

3. If it is assumed that bonuses are a fixed portion of net income, the bonus rate
can be roughly estimated using the amounts computed in parts 1 and 2.

Change in bonus = Bonus rate per dollar of net income


Change in net income

$2.2 million
= $.078 per dollar of net income (or 7.8%)
$28.2 million

4. The Board likely tied management compensation to net income to align the
interests of management with that of shareholders. Typically, increases in net
income will fuel a rise in the stock price. This type of compensation scheme
does create the possibility that unethical management may alter the financial
results to receive higher bonuses.

FINANCIAL REPORTING AND ANALYSIS PROJECTS

CP7–8.

The solution to this case will depend on the company and/or accounting period selected
for analysis.

7-52
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Title: Carlyle's laugh, and other surprises

Author: Thomas Wentworth Higginson

Release date: May 19, 2022 [eBook #68129]

Language: English

Original publication: United States: Houghton Mifflin Company,


1909

Credits: Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed


Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file
was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CARLYLE'S


LAUGH, AND OTHER SURPRISES ***
Thomas Wentworth Higginson
WORKS. Newly arranged. 7 Vols. 12mo, each, $2.00.

1. Cheerful Yesterdays.
2. Contemporaries.
3. Army Life in a Black Regiment.
4. Women and the Alphabet.
5. Studies in Romance.
6. Outdoor Studies; and Poems.
7. Studies in History and Letters.

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$1.00.
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Postage 18 cents.
LIFE AND TIMES OF STEPHEN HIGGINSON. Illustrated. Large
crown 8vo, $2.00, net. Postage extra.
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net. Postage 15 cents.
EDITED WITH MRS. E. H. BIGELOW.
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HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
Boston and New York

CARLYLE’S LAUGH
AND OTHER SURPRISES

CARLYLE’S LAUGH
AND OTHER SURPRISES

BY
THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press Cambridge
MDCCCCIX

COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON


ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Published October 1909
NOTE
The two papers in this volume which bear the titles “A Keats
Manuscript” and “A Shelley Manuscript” are reprinted by permission
from a work called “Book and Heart,” by Thomas Wentworth
Higginson, copyright, 1897, by Harper and Brothers, with whose
consent the essay entitled “One of Thackeray’s Women” also is
published. Leave has been obtained to reprint the papers on Brown,
Cooper, and Thoreau, from Carpenter’s “American Prose,”
copyrighted by the Macmillan Company, 1898. My thanks are also
due to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for permission to
reprint the papers on Scudder, Atkinson, and Cabot; to the
proprietors of “Putnam’s Magazine” for the paper entitled “Emerson’s
Foot-Note Person”; to the proprietors of the New York “Evening Post”
for the article on George Bancroft from “The Nation”; to the editor of
the “Harvard Graduates’ Magazine” for the paper on “Göttingen and
Harvard”; and to the editors of the “Outlook” for the papers on
Charles Eliot Norton, Julia Ward Howe, Edward Everett Hale, William
J. Rolfe, and “Old Newport Days.” Most of the remaining sketches
appeared originally in the “Atlantic Monthly.”
T. W. H.
CONTENTS
I. CARLYLE’S LAUGH 1
II. A SHELLEY MANUSCRIPT 13
III. A KEATS MANUSCRIPT 21
IV. MASSASOIT, INDIAN CHIEF 31
V. JAMES FENIMORE COOPER 45
VI. CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN 55
VII. HENRY DAVID THOREAU 65
VIII. EMERSON’S “FOOT-NOTE PERSON,”—ALCOTT 75
IX. GEORGE BANCROFT 93
X. CHARLES ELIOT NORTON 119
XI. EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN 137
XII. EDWARD EVERETT HALE 157
XIII. A MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL, RUFUS SAXTON 173
XIV. ONE OF THACKERAY’S WOMEN 183
XV. JOHN BARTLETT 191
XVI. HORACE ELISHA SCUDDER 201
XVII. EDWARD ATKINSON 213
XVIII. JAMES ELLIOT CABOT 231
XIX. EMILY DICKINSON 247
XX. JULIA WARD HOWE 285
XXI. WILLIAM JAMES ROLFE 313
XXII. GÖTTINGEN AND HARVARD A CENTURY AGO 325
XXIII. OLD NEWPORT DAYS 349
XXIV. A HALF-CENTURY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE 367
I
CARLYLE’S LAUGH
CARLYLE’S LAUGH
None of the many sketches of Carlyle that have been published
since his death have brought out quite distinctly enough the thing
which struck me more forcibly than all else, when in the actual
presence of the man; namely, the peculiar quality and expression of
his laugh. It need hardly be said that there is a great deal in a laugh.
One of the most telling pieces of oratory that ever reached my ears
was Victor Hugo’s vindication, at the Voltaire Centenary in Paris, of
that author’s smile. To be sure, Carlyle’s laugh was not like that
smile, but it was something as inseparable from his personality, and
as essential to the account, when making up one’s estimate of him. It
was as individually characteristic as his face or his dress, or his way
of talking or of writing. Indeed, it seemed indispensable for the
explanation of all of these. I found in looking back upon my first
interview with him, that all I had known of Carlyle through others, or
through his own books, for twenty-five years, had been utterly
defective,—had left out, in fact, the key to his whole nature,—
inasmuch as nobody had ever described to me his laugh.
It is impossible to follow the matter further without a little bit of
personal narration. On visiting England for the first time, in 1872, I
was offered a letter to Carlyle, and declined it. Like all of my own
generation, I had been under some personal obligations to him for
his early writings,—though in my case this debt was trifling
compared with that due to Emerson,—but his “Latter-Day
Pamphlets” and his reported utterances on American affairs had
taken away all special desire to meet him, besides the
ungraciousness said to mark his demeanor toward visitors from the
United States. Yet, when I was once fairly launched in that
fascinating world of London society, where the American sees, as
Willis used to say, whole shelves of his library walking about in coats
and gowns, this disinclination rapidly softened. And when Mr. Froude
kindly offered to take me with him for one of his afternoon calls on
Carlyle, and further proposed that I should join them in their habitual
walk through the parks, it was not in human nature—or at least in
American nature—to resist.
We accordingly went after lunch, one day in May, to Carlyle’s
modest house in Chelsea, and found him in his study, reading—by a
chance very appropriate for me—in Weiss’s “Life of Parker.” He
received us kindly, but at once began inveighing against the want of
arrangement in the book he was reading, the defective grouping of
the different parts, and the impossibility of finding anything in it, even
by aid of the index. He then went on to speak of Parker himself, and
of other Americans whom he had met. I do not recall the details of
the conversation, but to my surprise he did not say a single really
offensive or ungracious thing. If he did, it related less to my
countrymen than to his own, for I remember his saying some rather
stern things about Scotchmen. But that which saved these and all his
sharpest words from being actually offensive was this, that, after the
most vehement tirade, he would suddenly pause, throw his head
back, and give as genuine and kindly a laugh as I ever heard from a
human being. It was not the bitter laugh of the cynic, nor yet the big-
bodied laugh of the burly joker; least of all was it the thin and rasping
cackle of the dyspeptic satirist. It was a broad, honest, human laugh,
which, beginning in the brain, took into its action the whole heart and
diaphragm, and instantly changed the worn face into something
frank and even winning, giving to it an expression that would have
won the confidence of any child. Nor did it convey the impression of
an exceptional thing that had occurred for the first time that day, and
might never happen again. Rather, it produced the effect of
something habitual; of being the channel, well worn for years, by
which the overflow of a strong nature was discharged. It cleared the
air like thunder, and left the atmosphere sweet. It seemed to say to
himself, if not to us, “Do not let us take this too seriously; it is my way
of putting things. What refuge is there for a man who looks below the
surface in a world like this, except to laugh now and then?” The
laugh, in short, revealed the humorist; if I said the genial humorist,
wearing a mask of grimness, I should hardly go too far for the
impression it left. At any rate, it shifted the ground, and transferred
the whole matter to that realm of thought where men play with
things. The instant Carlyle laughed, he seemed to take the counsel
of his old friend Emerson, and to write upon the lintels of his
doorway, “Whim.”
Whether this interpretation be right or wrong, it is certain that the
effect of this new point of view upon one of his visitors was wholly
disarming. The bitter and unlovely vision vanished; my armed
neutrality went with it, and there I sat talking with Carlyle as
fearlessly as if he were an old friend. The talk soon fell on the most
dangerous of all ground, our Civil War, which was then near enough
to inspire curiosity; and he put questions showing that he had, after
all, considered the matter in a sane and reasonable way. He was
especially interested in the freed slaves and the colored troops; he
said but little, yet that was always to the point, and without one
ungenerous word. On the contrary, he showed more readiness to
comprehend the situation, as it existed after the war, than was to be
found in most Englishmen at that time. The need of giving the ballot
to the former slaves he readily admitted, when it was explained to
him; and he at once volunteered the remark that in a republic they
needed this, as the guarantee of their freedom. “You could do no
less,” he said, “for the men who had stood by you.” I could scarcely
convince my senses that this manly and reasonable critic was the
terrible Carlyle, the hater of “Cuffee” and “Quashee” and of all
republican government. If at times a trace of angry exaggeration
showed itself, the good, sunny laugh came in and cleared the air.
We walked beneath the lovely trees of Kensington Gardens, then
in the glory of an English May; and I had my first sight of the endless
procession of riders and equipages in Rotten Row. My two
companions received numerous greetings, and as I walked in safe
obscurity by their side, I could cast sly glances of keen enjoyment at
the odd combination visible in their looks. Froude’s fine face and
bearing became familiar afterwards to Americans, and he was
irreproachably dressed; while probably no salutation was ever
bestowed from an elegant passing carriage on an odder figure than
Carlyle. Tall, very thin, and slightly stooping; with unkempt, grizzly
whiskers pushed up by a high collar, and kept down by an ancient
felt hat; wearing an old faded frock coat, checked waistcoat, coarse
gray trousers, and russet shoes; holding a stout stick, with his hands
encased in very large gray woolen gloves,—this was Carlyle. I
noticed that, when we first left his house, his aspect attracted no
notice in the streets, being doubtless familiar in his own
neighborhood; but as we went farther and farther on, many eyes
were turned in his direction, and men sometimes stopped to gaze at
him. Little he noticed it, however, as he plodded along with his eyes
cast down or looking straight before him, while his lips poured forth
an endless stream of talk. Once and once only he was accosted, and
forced to answer; and I recall it with delight as showing how the
unerring instinct of childhood coincided with mine, and pronounced
him not a man to be feared.
We passed a spot where some nobleman’s grounds were being
appropriated for a public park; it was only lately that people had been
allowed to cross them, and all was in the rough, preparations for the
change having been begun. Part of the turf had been torn up for a
road-way, but there was a little emerald strip where three or four
ragged children, the oldest not over ten, were turning somersaults in
great delight. As we approached, they paused and looked shyly at
us, as if uncertain of their right on these premises; and I could see
the oldest, a sharp-eyed little London boy, reviewing us with one
keen glance, as if selecting him in whom confidence might best be
placed. Now I am myself a child-loving person; and I had seen with
pleasure Mr. Froude’s kindly ways with his own youthful household:
yet the little gamin dismissed us with a glance and fastened on
Carlyle. Pausing on one foot, as if ready to take to his heels on the
least discouragement, he called out the daring question, “I say,
mister, may we roll on this here grass?” The philosopher faced
round, leaning on his staff, and replied in a homelier Scotch accent
than I had yet heard him use, “Yes, my little fellow, r-r-roll at
discraytion!” Instantly the children resumed their antics, while one
little girl repeated meditatively, “He says we may roll at
discraytion!”—as if it were some new kind of ninepin-ball.
Six years later, I went with my friend Conway to call on Mr. Carlyle
once more, and found the kindly laugh still there, though changed,
like all else in him, by the advance of years and the solitude of
existence. It could not be said of him that he grew old happily, but he
did not grow old unkindly, I should say; it was painful to see him, but
it was because one pitied him, not by reason of resentment
suggested by anything on his part. He announced himself to be, and
he visibly was, a man left behind by time and waiting for death. He
seemed in a manner sunk within himself; but I remember well the
affectionate way in which he spoke of Emerson, who had just sent
him the address entitled “The Future of the Republic.” Carlyle
remarked, “I’ve just noo been reading it; the dear Emerson, he thinks
the whole warrld’s like himself; and if he can just get a million people
together and let them all vote, they’ll be sure to vote right and all will
go vara weel”; and then came in the brave laugh of old, but briefer
and less hearty by reason of years and sorrows.
One may well hesitate before obtruding upon the public any such
private impressions of an eminent man. They will always appear
either too personal or too trivial. But I have waited in vain to see
some justice done to the side of Carlyle here portrayed; and since it
has been very commonly asserted that the effect he produced on
strangers was that of a rude and offensive person, it seems almost a
duty to testify to the very different way in which one American visitor
saw him. An impression produced at two interviews, six years apart,
may be worth recording, especially if it proved strong enough to
outweigh all previous prejudice and antagonism.
In fine, I should be inclined to appeal from all Carlyle’s apparent
bitterness and injustice to the mere quality of his laugh, as giving
sufficient proof that the gift of humor underlay all else in him. All his
critics, I now think, treat him a little too seriously. No matter what his
labors or his purposes, the attitude of the humorist was always
behind. As I write, there lies before me a scrap from the original
manuscript of his “French Revolution,”—the page being written, after
the custom of English authors of half a century ago, on both sides of
the paper; and as I study it, every curl and twist of the handwriting,
every backstroke of the pen, every substitution of a more piquant
word for a plainer one, bespeaks the man of whim. Perhaps this
quality came by nature through a Scotch ancestry; perhaps it was
strengthened by the accidental course of his early reading. It may be
that it was Richter who moulded him, after all, rather than Goethe;
and we know that Richter was defined by Carlyle, in his very first
literary essay, as “a humorist and a philosopher,” putting the
humorist first. The German author’s favorite type of character—seen
to best advantage in his Siebenkäs of the “Blumen, Frucht, und
Dornenstücke”—came nearer to the actual Carlyle than most of the
grave portraitures yet executed. He, as is said of Siebenkäs,
disguised his heart beneath a grotesque mask, partly for greater
freedom, and partly because he preferred whimsically to exaggerate
human folly rather than to share it (dass er die menschliche Thorheit
mehr travestiere als nachahme). Both characters might be well
summed up in the brief sentence which follows: “A humorist in action
is but a satirical improvisatore” (Ein handelnder Humorist ist blos ein
satirischer Improvisatore). This last phrase, “a satirical
improvisatore,” seems to me better than any other to describe
Carlyle.
II
A SHELLEY MANUSCRIPT
A SHELLEY MANUSCRIPT
Were I to hear to-morrow that the main library of Harvard
University, with every one of its 496,200 volumes, had been reduced
to ashes, there is in my mind no question what book I should most
regret. It is that unique, battered, dingy little quarto volume of
Shelley’s manuscript poems, in his own handwriting and that of his
wife, first given by Miss Jane Clairmont (Shelley’s “Constantia”) to
Mr. Edward A. Silsbee, and then presented by him to the library. Not
only is it full of that aroma of fascination which belongs to the actual
handiwork of a master, but its numerous corrections and
interlineations make the reader feel that he is actually traveling in the
pathway of that delicate mind. Professor George E. Woodberry had
the use of it; he printed in the “Harvard University Calendar” a
facsimile of the “Ode to a Skylark” as given in the manuscript, and
has cited many of its various readings in his edition of Shelley’s
poems. But he has passed by a good many others; and some of
these need, I think, for the sake of all students of Shelley, to be put in
print, so that in case of the loss or destruction of the precious
volume, these fragments at least may be preserved.
There occur in this manuscript the following variations from
Professor Woodberry’s text of “The Sensitive Plant”—variations not
mentioned by him, for some reason or other, in his footnotes or
supplemental notes, and yet not canceled by Shelley:—

“Three days the flowers of the garden fair


Like stars when the moon is awakened, were.”

iii, 1-2.

[Moon is clearly morn in the Harvard MS.]

“And under the roots of the Sensitive Plant.”

iii, 100.
[The prefatory And is not in the Harvard MS.]

“But the mandrakes and toadstools and docks and


darnels
Rose like the dead from their ruined charnels.”

iii, 112.

[The word brambles appears for mandrakes in the Harvard


MS.]

These three variations, all of which are interesting, are the only
ones I have noted as uncanceled in this particular poem, beyond
those recorded by Professor Woodberry. But there are many cases
where the manuscript shows, in Shelley’s own handwriting,
variations subsequently canceled by him; and these deserve study
by all students of the poetic art. His ear was so exquisite and his
sense of the balance of a phrase so remarkable, that it is always
interesting to see the path by which he came to the final utterance,
whatever that was. I have, therefore, copied a number of these
modified lines, giving, first, Professor Woodberry’s text, and then the
original form of language, as it appears in Shelley’s handwriting,
italicizing the words which vary, and giving the pages of Professor
Woodberry’s edition. The cancelation or change is sometimes made
in pen, sometimes in pencil; and it is possible that, in a few cases, it
may have been made by Mrs. Shelley.

“Gazed through clear dew on the tender sky.”

“Gazed through its tears on the tender sky.”

i, 36.

“The beams which dart from many a star


Of the flowers whose hues they bear afar.”

“The beams which dart from many a sphere


Of the starry flowers whose hues they bear.”

i, 81-82.

“The unseen clouds of the dew, which lie


Like fire in the flowers till the sun rides high,
Then wander like spirits among the spheres
Each cloud faint with the fragrance it bears.”

“The unseen clouds of the dew, which lay


Like fire in the flowers till dawning day,
Then walk like spirits among the spheres
Each one faint with the odor it bears.”

i, 86-89.

“Like windless clouds o’er a tender sky.”

“Like windless clouds in a tender sky.”

i, 98.

“Whose waves never mark, though they ever


impress.”

“Whose waves never wrinkle, though they impress.”

i, 106.

“Was as God is to the starry scheme,”

“Was as is God to the starry scheme.”

i, 4.

“As if some bright spirit for her sweet sake


Had deserted heaven while the stars were awake.”

“As some bright spirit for her sweet sake

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