American Movieplex, a large movie theater chain, leases most of its theater facilities. In conjunction with recent operating leases, the company spent $28 million for seat and carpeting. The question being discussed over breakfast on Wednesday morning was the length of the depreciation period for these leasehold improvements. The company controller, Sarah Keene, was surprised by the suggestion of Larry Person, her new assistant.

Keene: Why 25 years? We've never depreciated leasehold improvements for such a long period.

Person: I noticed that in my review of back records. But during our expansion to the Midwest, we don't need expenses to be any higher than necessary.

Keene: But isn't that a pretty rosy estimate of these assets' actual life? Trade publications show an average depreciation period of 12 years.

Read through the dilemma. For the Original Post*, you will be arguing in favor of Larry Person's proposal to increase the depreciation period for leasehold improvements. Remember to use logic and the accounting principles you have learned thus far to develop your argument. You must include at least three points as to why this route is the best route to go (with one of those points being related to the learned accounting principles).

American Movieplex, a large movie theater chain, leases most of its theater facilities. In conjunction with recent operating leases, the company spent $28 million for seat and carpeting. The question being discussed over breakfast on Wednesday morning was the length of the depreciation period for these leasehold improvements. The company controller, Sarah Keene, was surprised by the suggestion of Larry Person, her new assistant. Keene: Why 25 years? We've never depreciated leasehold improvements for such a long period. Person: I noticed that in my review of back records. But during our expansion to the Midwest, we don't need expenses to be any higher than necessary. Keene: But isn't that a pretty rosy estimate of these assets' actual life? Trade publications show an average depreciation period of 12 years. Read through the dilemma.

For the Original Post*, you will be arguing in favor of Larry Person's proposal to increase the depreciation period for leasehold improvements. Remember to use logic and the accounting principles you have learned thus far to develop your argument. You must include at least three points as to why this route is the best route to go (with one of those points being related to the learned accounting principles).

Amy Richardson had been a well-paid sales manager of a major hotel chain for 15 years. Due to a hotel owner's illness, Amy was offered the opportunity to purchase a hotel near a seaside vacation area she had often visited. After obtaining a lawyer and a financial accountant to assist her, Amy did an analysis of the most recent financial statements of the hotel. Since the hotel had consistently shown a profit during the past few years, Amy thought that the price of the hotel was reasonable, so she decided to purchase the hotel. She resigned her position, obtained a loan, and purchased the hotel.

During the first year as a hotel manager, Amy received an offer from a tour operator who proposed to guarantee a considerable number of room reservations, including during the off-season. However, she turned down the offer because the tour operator asked for a 20% price reduction compared to the regular room rate. A few weeks later, she decided to shut down the restaurant, located in the main building of the hotel, in order to save expenses. With regard to general expenses, she was particularly concerned with the high room cleaning and service costs. On the sales side, although the reservations for the cheaper standard rooms were a bit sluggish, the more expensive large-size superior rooms had a very good occupancy rate of over 90%. The following year, there was a severe economic downturn and also a very bad weather season that reduced the number of guests and also caused a resulting mold situation in the hotel building that required expensive repair work. Amy ran short of cash, became emotionally distraught, and eventually had to sell the hotel at a significant loss.

Question:

Analyze Amy’s purchase decision and the subsequent events using the following key management accounting tools and concepts: Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis, Using Relevant Costs to Make Short-Term Decisions, Cost Management Using Full Costs and Budgeting. Make sure that you clearly indicate how each tool/concept could be used to explain potential management errors that Amy had made and could have helped her to improve decision-making and the financial results of the business.

Amy Richardson had been a well-paid sales manager of a major hotel chain for 15 years. Due to a hotel owner's illness, Amy was offered the opportunity to purchase a hotel near a seaside vacation area she had often visited. After obtaining a lawyer and a financial accountant to assist her, Amy did an analysis of the most recent financial statements of the hotel. Since the hotel had consistently shown a profit during the past few years, Amy thought that the price of the hotel was reasonable, so she decided to purchase the hotel. She resigned her position, obtained a loan, and purchased the hotel.

During the first year as a hotel manager, Amy received an offer from a tour operator who proposed to guarantee a considerable number of room reservations, including during the off-season. However, she turned down the offer because the tour operator asked for a 20% price reduction compared to the regular room rate. A few weeks later, she decided to shut down the restaurant, located in the main building of the hotel, in order to save expenses. With regard to general expenses, she was particularly concerned with the high room cleaning and service costs. On the sales side, although the reservations for the cheaper standard rooms were a bit sluggish, the more expensive large-size superior rooms had a very good occupancy rate of over 90%.

The following year, there was a severe economic downturn and also a very bad weather season that reduced the number of guests and also caused a resulting mold situation in the hotel building that required expensive repair work. Amy ran short of cash, became emotionally distraught, and eventually had to sell the hotel at a significant loss.

Required:

Analyze Amy’s purchase decision and the subsequent events using key management accounting tools and concepts. Make sure that you clearly indicate how each tool/concept could be used to explain potential management errors that Amy had made and could have helped her to improve decision-making and the financial results of the business.

• Introduction to Management Accounting
• Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis   
• Using Relevant Costs to Make Short-Term Decisions
• Cost Management Using Full Costs
• Budgeting

What is the difference between a management contract, a brand, and a hotel franchise agreement? Are all three necessary to run a successful hotel?

5.Contrast the level of security in a hotel that uses a hard-key system with that in a hotel that uses an electronic key or smart card system.

Exercise 1-4. Information Age [LO 4]

The Wellington Hotel is a posh hotel in Manhattan that uses a customer relationship management (CRM) system to track customer preferences and purchases.

Provide two examples of specific information the CRM system might capture and how the hotel could use the information to enhance revenue and/or the customer experience.

A survey of 1935 people who took trips revealed that 181 of them included a visit to a theme park. Based on those survey results, a management consultant claims that less than 10 % of trips include a theme park visit. Test this claim using the ?=0.01 significance level.

(a) The test statistic is

(b) The P-value is

(c) The conclusion is  

A. There is not sufficient evidence to support the claim that less than 10 % of trips include a theme park visit.
B. There is sufficient evidence to support the claim that less than 10 % of trips include a theme park visit.

New York City is the most expensive city in the United States for lodging. The mean hotel room rate is $205 per night (USA Today, April 30, 2012). Assume that room rates are normally distributed with a standard deviation of $55. Use Table 1 in Appendix B.

a. What is the probability that a hotel room costs $227 or more per night (to 4 decimals)?

b. What is the probability that a hotel room costs less than $143 per night (to 4 decimals)?

c. What is the probability that a hotel room costs between $201 and $299 per night (to 4 decimals)?

d. What is the cost of the 20% most expensive hotel rooms in New York City? Round up to the next dollar.
$ or - Select your answer -more less