How would you like a Big Raise?

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Statement Analysis, Fraud Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

Dan Price, the founder of Gravity Systems—a credit card processing company based in Washington—shocked his employees by raising the minimum wage to $70,000 over the next three years. Questions: 1. What percentage raise will that be based on the average wage now? 2. Where did Dan get the idea? 3. Do you think that his… Read more »

Why Can’t I Get A Break on Airline Tickets, with Gas Down to Record Lows?

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, All Articles, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

Even with oil prices down, it seems like airline tickets are either increasing in price or staying level. In fact in October 2014, there were four separate attempts by U.S. airlines to hike airfares with mixed success. But why? Questions: 1. To what conditions does Seany attribute the high airline ticket prices? 2. Do you… Read more »

An expensive proposition

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Currently, it is estimated that an average middle-income family in the United States can expect to spend about $245,000 over 18 years to raise a child. This is from the Department of Agriculture’s annual “Cost of Raising a Child” report. Questions: 1. If you adjust for inflation, how much more will an average middle-income family… Read more »

Welcome to the GMO free zone of the future

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized.

As we head into the hot summer, what sounds great? Well, ice cream, of course! And who is in the news? Ben and Jerry’s. According to the Huffington Post, Ben and Jerry’s is removing a controversial ingredient from its ice cream: Genetically-modified organisms (or GMOs). The back story is that only 80% of Ben &… Read more »

Is it fair that some hospitals are charging 400% above their costs to deliver services?

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized.

According to government data, hospitals charge Medicare wildly differing amounts — sometimes 10 to 20 times what Medicare typically reimburses — for the same procedure. This raises questions about how hospitals determine prices and why they differ so widely. Questions: 1. Discuss the data set and what was included. 2. According to the article, who… Read more »

So, is it a record if you don’t pay for it?

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, All Articles, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

For all you Starbuck’s watchers, remember in February 2012 when Logan Warren held the record for the most expensive Starbuck’s drink? It was a 31-ounce Trenta that cost $23.60. Into it went a Java Chip Frappuccino, enhanced with plenty of that’ll-cost-you-add-ons: 16 shots of espresso, soy milk, caramel, banana and strawberry purees, vanilla beans, and… Read more »

The $10,000 degree – Innovation or Second Rate Degree?

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Texas may be experimenting with an initiative to help students and families struggling with the high costs of college: a bachelor’s degree for $10,000, including tuition fees and even textbooks. Under a plan unveiled in 2011, Republican Gov. Rick Perry is proposing a bachelor’s degree for $10,000, including tuition fees and even textbooks. The governor… Read more »

The Unveiling of the Future?

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

Apple’s iPad Mini will likely be unveiled at a special event on October 23. The device is expected to ship with a 7.85-inch screen and costs about half of what the current starting price for an iPad. Questions: 1. According to both articles, what have iPad sales to the K-12 market been doing to PC… Read more »

The Cost Disease

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, IFRS, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

Much of our political debate is fueled by the rise in the cost of healthcare, education, and other necessary services. Interestingly, the new book “The Cost Disease” is based on the work of William Baumol, who as a young economist in the 1960s promoted the idea tagged “Baumol’s Disease,” which explains that our current predicament… Read more »

Interesting Educational Strategy

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At U.S. colleges, like NYU and Northeastern, some freshmen are beginning their studies abroad during their first and even second semesters. According to Bloomberg, the strategy is one used by universities to enroll larger classes and get more tuition dollars. How? The universities use the students and their tuitions to fill the beds of midyear… Read more »