*** Please be concise and give full explanation ***

Compare and contrast the protein-first versus RNA-first hypotheses. Which hypothesis has the most supporting evidence?

The production department of Priston Company has submitted the following forecast of units to be produced by quarter for the upcoming fiscal year. 1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter Units to be produced 5,000 6,000 7,000 4,000 In addition, the beginning raw materials inventory for the 1st Quarter is budgeted to be 1,500 pounds and the beginning accounts payable for the 1st Quarter is budgeted to be $9,500. Each unit requires two pounds of raw material that costs $2.00 per pound. Management desires to end each quarter with a raw materials inventory equal to 15% of the following quarter’s production needs. The desired ending inventory for the 4th Quarter is 3,000 pounds. Management plans to pay for 70% of raw material purchases in the quarter acquired and 30% in the following quarter. Each unit requires 0.5 direct labor-hours and direct labor-hour workers are paid $10 per hour. Required:

1a. Prepare the company’s direct materials budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

WORKING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
You have recently been hired to work in your company’s newly established treasury department. The company is a small company that produces cardboard boxes in a variety of sizes for different purchases. The owner of the company, works primarily in the sales and production areas of the company. Currently, the company puts all receivables in one shoe box and all payables in another. Because of the disorganized system, the finance area needs work – and that’s what you have been brought in to do.
The company currently has a cash balance of $305,000 and it plans to purchase new box-folding machinery in the fourth quarter at a cost of $525,000. The machinery will be purchased with cash because of a discount offered. The company’s policy is to maintain a minimum cash balance of #125,000. All sales and purchases are made on credit.
The owner has projected the following gross sales for each of the next four quarters.

                             Q1                               Q2                          Q3                       Q4

Gross sales $1,310,000 $1,390,000 $1,440,000         $1,530,000

Also, gross sales for the first quarter of the next year are projected at $1,405,000. The company currently has an accounts receivable period of 53 days and an accounts receivable balance of $645,000. 20% of the accounts receivable balance is from a company that has just entered bankruptcy, and it is likely this portion of the accounts receivable will never be collected.
The company typically orders 50% of the next quarter’s projected gross sales in the current quarter, and suppliers are typically paid in 42 days. Wages, taxes and other costs run about 30% of gross sales. The company has a quarterly interest payment of $135,000 on its long tern debt.
The company uses a local bank for its short-term financial needs. It pays 1.5% per quarter on all short-term borrowing and maintains a money market accounts that pays 1% per quarter on all short-term deposits.
You have been asked to prepare a cash budget and short-term financial plan for the company under the current policies. You have also been asked to prepare additional/alternative plans based on changes in several inputs.

Respond to the following questions. Written responses must comprise at least three complete sentences, with proper grammar and punctuation. Cite any referenced materials using APA format. In the Excel spreadsheets provided, all calculations that support your answers must be shown as formulae.
1. Use the numbers given to complete the cash budget and short-tern financial plan in Excel. (Sheet 1)
2. Rework the cash budget and short-term financial plan assuming the minimum balance is changed to $100,000 (Sheet 2)
3. You have looked at the credit policy offered by the competition and determined that the industry standard credit policy is 1/19 net 40. The discount will begin to be offered on the first day of the first quarter. You want to examine how this credit policy would affect the cash budget and short-term financial plan. If this credit policy is implemented, you believe that 40% of all sales will take advantage of it, and the outstanding accounts receivable period will decline to 36 days.
a. Rework the cash budget and short-term financial plan under the new credit policy and a minimum cash balance of $100,000. (Sheet 3)
b. What interest rate are you effectively offering your customers?
4. You have talked to the company’s suppliers about the credit terms that you receive. Currently, the company receives terms of net 45. The suppliers have stated that they would offer new credit terms of 1.5/15, net 40. The discount would begin to be offered on the first day of the first quarter.
a. What interest rate are suppliers offering the company?
b. Rework the cash budget and short-term financial plan assuming you take the offered credit terms on all orders and the minimum cash balance is $100,000. Also assume the company offers the credit terms detailed in Question 3. (Sheet 4)

When business managers of firms in a competitive market observe falling profits, they are likely to infer that the market is characterised by:

Determine which scenario would NOT call for the Fed to intervene.

• Annual inflation is around 2%.

• Prices are decreasing quickly; real value of the currency is rising.

• The economy is reaching hyperinflation.

• Prices are increasing rapidly; real value of the currency is falling.

Suppose 400 students take an exam and the distribution of their scores can be treated as normal. Find the number of scores falling into each of the following ranges:

(a)   Within 1 standard deviation of the mean.

(b)  Within 2 standard deviations of the mean.

Which of the given is not a requirement for the validity of the chi‑square goodness‑of‑fit test?

1) independent observations

2) all observations falling into one of k outcome classes

3) a fixed number of observations

4) normally distributed data

Calculate the tidal force on a 75 kg person 2 meter height falling into a solar mass black hole just as they cross the event horizon. Compare that to the force of Earth's gravity on that same person (given by their mass multiplied by 9.8).

State whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE. Give the reason, If a statement is true, explain why; if it is false, identify the mistake and try to correct it. Use the diagram for explanation if needed. (NOTE: Marks are based on your reasoning, not only for T/F marking)

(i). Change in quantity demanded and change in demand are the same things.

(ii). If the demand curve for good A is flatter, and if the demand curve for good B is highly             

       steeper, then for any same amount of price change for both goods, the total revenue for good A     

       will be more than total revenue for good B.

(iii). When the price ceiling and price flooring are imposed than both consumer and producer surplus    

         are Maximized.

(iv). The value of elasticity does not change along the demand curve when it vertical or horizontal.

(v). From a budget line, the change in real income is only affected due to change in nominal income,  

        keeping other things constant.                                 

(vi). When marginal cost is above average total cost, average total cost must be falling.

Daniel Company uses a periodic inventory system. Data for the current year: beginning merchandise inventory (ending inventory December 31, prior year), 2,070 units at $35; purchases, 7,920 units at $37; expenses (excluding income taxes), $193,500; ending inventory per physical count at December 31, current year, 1,670 units; sales, 8,320 units; sales price per unit, $77; and average income tax rate, 36 percent.

1. Compute cost of goods sold and prepare income statements under the FIFO, LIFO, and average cost inventory costing methods. (Round your final answers to nearest whole dollar. Do not round your intermediate calculations.)

2. Between FIFO and LIFO, which method is preferable in terms of (a) net income and (b) income taxes paid (cash flow)?

3. Between FIFO and LIFO, which method is preferable in terms of (a) net income and (b) income taxes paid (cash flow), assuming that prices were falling?