Assessing Earnings Quality: Nuware, Inc. - Case Solution

Assessing Earnings Quality: Nuware, Inc. case study focuses on Associate Jack Hereford who is tasked to do an analysis of the earnings quality of Nuware Imports. It presents Nuware Inc’s income statement to reflect RP Stuart’s assumptions.

Paul Simko
Harvard Business Review ( UV1757-PDF-ENG )
October 13, 2004

Case questions answered:

Restate Nuware’s income statement to reflect RP Stuart’s assumptions (“make Nuware look as if it applied RP Stuart accounting and remove the effects of one-time transactions”)
As stated in the case (p.2), pay particular attention to: Bad debt expense on receivables (which depends on the allowance for doubtful accounts, aka provision for bad debts) Effect of Inventory Accounting Method Depreciation on property, plant, and equipment (PPE) The one-time effect of investment sales is already given in the case (p. 2) See Tata Motors/Ford and Caterpillar problems done in the online session. Refer to FADM if necessary Go over the Sears example presented in the case if it helps, but otherwise, feel free to ignore Exhibit 1.

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Assessing Earnings Quality: Nuware, Inc. Case Answers

This case solution includes an Excel file with calculations.

Income Statement of Nuware Inc (using RP Stuart Accounting Practices) as of 31st January 2013

Nuware's Consolidated Statement of Operations

The explanation for the change in the cost of sales in the RP Stuart Method

RP Stuart uses FIFO accounting practices. For Nuware 2012, the COGS would have been $35.1m higher, and for 2013, $29.5m higher.

The difference in the inventory would be due to the cost of sales using the FIFO method. Hence, $5.6m is the difference that needs to be added when we restate the income statement.

The explanation for the change in Selling, General, and administrative expenses in the RP Stuart method

Both companies use credit cards for customers and hence have large account receivables on the balance sheet.

RP Stuart analyses and uses an aggressive methodology, taking bankruptcy into consideration to determine the ratio of account receivables that need to be expensed out as they are most unlikely to be recovered and are classified as bad debts.

Nuware currently does not…