Accounting-for-Decision-Makers Questions Bank

The correct answer is A. The net income of the company . In financial accounting, the overall economic performance of a company for a specific period is generally summarized by net income or net loss . Net income reflects the result of revenues, expenses, gains, and losses recognized during the period under accrual accounting. It is the bottom-line measure on the income statement and is widely used to evaluate profitability and performance. OpenStax describes the income statement as the report that presents revenues and expenses for a period and arrives at net income.

Option B focuses only on cash receipts and cash payments, which is a cash flow perspective rather than the full accrual-based measure of economic performance. Option C refers more narrowly to gross profit , because it compares sales with cost of goods sold only and excludes operating expenses, interest, and taxes. Option D, market value, reflects investor valuation rather than accounting performance for a reporting period. Since the question asks about the company’s overall economic performance for a given time period, the most accurate accounting answer is net income . Therefore, Option A is correct.

The correct answer is B. The company has 1.5% more total liabilities than total assets . The debt ratio is calculated as:

Debt ratio = Total liabilities / Total assets

If the debt ratio is 101.5% , or 1.015 , that means total liabilities are 101.5% of total assets . In other words, liabilities are slightly greater than assets. Specifically, the company has 1.5% more liabilities than assets .

This is an important financial warning sign because it suggests the company may have negative equity . Since the accounting equation is:

Assets = Liabilities + Owners’ equity

if liabilities exceed assets, then owners’ equity must be negative. That can indicate financial distress, accumulated losses, or a highly leveraged position.

Option A is incorrect because the debt ratio does not compare liabilities to sales. Option C is incorrect because it does not compare liabilities to net income. Option D is incorrect because the debt ratio uses total liabilities and total assets , not current liabilities and current assets. Therefore, the only correct interpretation of a 101.5% debt ratio is that total liabilities exceed total assets by 1.5% , making Option B correct.

The correct answer is A. Assets . Assets are economic resources a business owns or controls that can either be converted into cash or used to help generate future cash inflows. Accounting references describe assets as items a business owns, including current assets such as cash, accounts receivable, and inventory, as well as long-term assets like equipment, buildings, and intangible assets that support future operations.

Option B, liabilities , refers to obligations or amounts the business owes to others, not what it owns. Option C, revenues , represents inflows earned from providing goods or services during a period and is an income statement category, not a balance sheet resource category. Option D, owners’ equity , reflects the residual interest of the owners after liabilities are deducted from assets. Because the question asks about what the company owns and what can be turned into cash or used to generate cash, the most accurate balance sheet category is assets. Current assets are especially important because they are closest to cash, but the broader correct category remains Assets . Therefore, Option A is the right answer.

The correct answer is C. $130,000 . A contribution margin income statement separates variable costs from fixed costs , which makes it useful for forecasting profit at different sales levels. OpenStax explains that contribution margin analysis shows how much sales revenue remains after variable costs to cover fixed costs and profit.

First calculate the per-unit amounts based on 10,000 shoes:

Sales per unit = $600,000 / 10,000 = $60

Variable cost per unit = $400,000 / 10,000 = $40

Contribution margin per unit = $20

For 14,000 shoes , total contribution margin would be:

14,000 × $20 = $280,000

Now subtract fixed costs, which stay the same at $150,000 :

Forecasted net income = $280,000 - $150,000 = $130,000

So the company would expect to earn $130,000 if it sells 14,000 shoes. This is exactly why CVP and contribution margin statements are useful for planning: they allow managers to estimate the profit impact of volume changes quickly, as long as selling price, variable cost per unit, and fixed costs remain stable. Therefore, Option C is correct.