1．At a recent meeting of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Harold Snead, the Commission’s Chief Accounting Officer, stated that he was concerned with the way firms were disclosing their financing liabilities. Snead claimed that an entity’s disclosures related to financing liabilities should be clear and concise so that analysts and the general public can obtain a better understanding of the activities. He made the following two proposals:

Proposal 1: On the cash flow statement firms should show the cash interest expense so that external users of financial statements can compare this amount to the interest expense on the income statement to see the effect of the issuance of discounted debt.

Proposal 2: Not all off-balance sheet liabilities should be treated alike. Only operating leases and the details associated with these lease liabilities should be disclosed in the footnotes to the financial statements. Other off-balance-sheet liabilities should not require additional details in the footnotes to the financial statements.

Are the proposals as stated by Snead, regarding disclosures related to financing liabilities aid analysts and other end-users of financial statements, correct?

A)                         No                                        No

B)                         No                                       Yes

C)                        Yes                                      Yes

D)                        Yes                                       No

2．In analyzing disclosures related to the financing liabilities of a company, which of the following disclosures would be least helpful to the analyst?

A)   The interest expense for the period as provided on the income statement or in a footnote.

B)   The present value of the future bond payments discounted at the coupon rate of the bonds.

C)   Fillings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that disclose all outstanding securities and their features.

D)   The details of the firm’s off-balance-sheet liabilities as disclosed in the footnotes to the financial statements.

答案和详解如下：

1．At a recent meeting of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Harold Snead, the Commission’s Chief Accounting Officer, stated that he was concerned with the way firms were disclosing their financing liabilities. Snead claimed that an entity’s disclosures related to financing liabilities should be clear and concise so that analysts and the general public can obtain a better understanding of the activities. He made the following two proposals:

Proposal 1: On the cash flow statement firms should show the cash interest expense so that external users of financial statements can compare this amount to the interest expense on the income statement to see the effect of the issuance of discounted debt.

Proposal 2: Not all off-balance sheet liabilities should be treated alike. Only operating leases and the details associated with these lease liabilities should be disclosed in the footnotes to the financial statements. Other off-balance-sheet liabilities should not require additional details in the footnotes to the financial statements.

Are the proposals as stated by Snead, regarding disclosures related to financing liabilities aid analysts and other end-users of financial statements, correct?

Proposal 1

Proposal 2

A)                         No                                   No

B)                         No                                 Yes

C)                         Yes                               Yes

D)                         Yes                                 No

The correct answer was D)

For all off-balance-sheet liabilities, including operating leases, take-or-pay or throughput contracts, and account receivables with recourse, the details of each liability should be provided in the footnotes to the financial statements.

2．In analyzing disclosures related to the financing liabilities of a company, which of the following disclosures would be least helpful to the analyst?

A)   The interest expense for the period as provided on the income statement or in a footnote.

B)   The present value of the future bond payments discounted at the coupon rate of the bonds.

C)   Fillings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that disclose all outstanding securities and their features.

D)   The details of the firm’s off-balance-sheet liabilities as disclosed in the footnotes to the financial statements.

The correct answer was B)

When analyzing disclosures related to financing liabilities, analysts would review the balance sheet and find the present value of the promised future liability payments. These payments would then be discounted at the rate in effect at issuance (i.e., the yield to maturity), not the coupon rate of the bonds.