Option #2: Toshiba’s Creative Accounting for Construction Contracts
Read the following case study:
Dugar, A., Gujarathi, M. R. (2018). Toshiba’s creative accounting for construction contracts.Links to an external site.. Issues in Accounting Education, 33(3), 117–134.
Case Requirements:
The FASB and the IASB have issued a joint standard on revenue recognition. Although the standard is not applicable to years discussed in the case, the substantive guidance for accounting on long-term contracts was not changed. Therefore, address all the requirements below, including FASB codification references, in accordance with the new U.S. standard (Toshiba follows U.S. GAAP). Read the requirements carefully and answer each part of the following requirements.
Requirement 1:
Are Toshiba’s accounting policies for long-term construction contracts—as described in the accounting policies section of the case—consistent with the U.S. GAAP? Cite authoritative pronouncements from the Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) in support of your answer. Your response should focus on Toshiba’s choice of accounting policies rather than its implementation of those policies.
Requirement 2:
For Project G, the $114 million and $107 million discrepancies were treated as ‘‘uncorrected misstatements’’ and hence were not disclosed. Under U.S. GAAP, is non-disclosure of unresolved differences in opinion between a company’s management and its auditors permissible? On what criterion should the decision to disclose (or not disclose) the unresolved differences be based? Explain.
Requirements:
- Write a 3-to-4-page memo, not counting the title and reference pages (which you must include).
- Copy and an heading for each question into your paper to ensure you have answered each of the assignment requirements.
- Use terms, evidence, and concepts from class readings, including professional business language.
- Cite at least three credible sources for this assignment.
