Comparative Financial Statements for Bent Stew Enterprises Are Shown Below

question 29

Multiple Choice

Comparative financial statements for Bent Stew Enterprises are shown below: $\begin{array}{lrrr}&\text { December } 31\\&2018&2017\\\text { Assets }\\\text { Current assets: }\\\text { Cash } & \$ 3,000 & \$ 800 \\\text { Accounts receivable } & 8,500 & 6,000 \\\text { Inventory } & 12,000 & 8,200 \\\text { Prepaid expenses } & 1,400 & 900 \\\text { Total current assets } & 24,900 & 15,900 \\\quad \text { Property, plant, and equipment, net } & 103,600 & 123,300 \\\text { Intangible assets, net } & \mathbf{6 4 , 0 0 0} & \underline{47,000} \\\text { Total assets } & \$ 192,500 & \$ 186,200 \\\text { Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity }\\\text { Current liabilities: }\\\text { Accounts payable } & \$ 11,000 & \$ 12,000 \\\text { Other current liabilities } & 11,800 & 3,200 \\\text { Total current liabilities } & 22,800 & 15,200 \\\text { Long-term debt } & \underline{120,000} & 128,000 \\\text { Total liabilities }& \underline{142,800}& \underline{143,200}\\\text { Stockholders' equity: }\\\text { Common stock } & 15,000 & 15,000 \\\text { Additional paid-in capital } & 20,000 & 20,000 \\\text { Retained earnings } & 14,700 & 8,000 \\\text { Total stockholders' equity }&{49,700}&43,000 \\\text { Total liabilities and stockholders' equity } &\$192,500&\$186,200\\&\text { Year Ended December } 31\\&2018&2017\\\text { Sales } & \$ 250,000 & \$ 230,000 \\\text { Cost of goods sold } & 164,000 & 142,300 \\\text { Gross margin } & 86,000 & 87,700 \\\text { Operating expenses } & 64,000 & 54,000 \\\text { Operating income } & 22,000 & 33,700 \\\text { Interest expense } & \underline{7,500} & 5,900 \\\text { Earnings before income taxes } & 14,500 & 27,800 \\\text { Income taxes } & 7,800 & 7,140 \\\text { Net earnings }&\$6,700&\$20,680\end{array}$ Using horizontal analysis, how would you best describe the change in the company's operating expenses from 2017 to 2018?

• A)Operating expenses increased from 1.63% of net earnings to 9.55% of net earnings from 2017 to 2018.
• B)Operating expenses increased by $10,000 from 2017 to 2018.
• C)Operating expenses increased from 23.5% to 25.6% of sales from 2017 to 2018.
• D)Operating expenses increased by 18.5% from 2017 to 2018.

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Definitions:

Future Value

The estimated amount that an investment will grow to over a period of time at a specified rate of interest.

Compounded Annually

Refers to the process of earning interest on both the initial principal and the accumulated interest from previous periods, calculated once per year.

Future Value

The estimated value of an investment or loan including interest or dividends, at a specific future date.

Ordinary Annuity

A series of matching financial discharges made at interval ends throughout a fixed term.