Question

Wilmington Company reported pretax income of $25,000 during 2018 and $30,000 during 2019. Later it was discovered that the ending inventory for 2018 was understated by $2,000 (and not corrected in 2018). What is the correct pretax income for 2019?

Answer 1

Answer:

$28,000

Explanation:

When closing inventory is understated during an year, it would lead to understated profits during the year i.e understated net income for the year 2018.

So, correct pre tax income for 2018 would be,

= reported pre tax income + the amount by which closing inventory was understated

= $25,000 + $2000 = $27000

Now, since the same closing inventory would become the opening inventory for 2019, this means,  the opening inventory for 2019 was understated.

When opening inventory is understated, it would lead to inflated net income for the year 2019. Thus, the extent by which the inventory has been understated has to be reduced from the reported pre tax profits for the year 2019.

Hence, correct pre tax income for 2019 would be,

= $30,000 - $2000 = $28000