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Accounting 101 – “BellaVista” Mystery Cache

This cache has been archived.

Alansee: I went to check on this cache today only to find that the hiding place has been spifflicated and the cache gone. I am therefore archiving it, It has had a good run.

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Hidden : 6/14/2008
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

As a counter attack to all of those specialised IT puzzle caches, here is an Accounting based puzzle where you have to answer some simple accounting questions which cachers that have some basic bookkeeping knowledge should find dead easy.  The cache is located in an area that has some relevance to the name.


 

Business plan and background

During the year you set up a GPS importing and retailing business to provide Geocachers with affordable GPS units - mainly Garmins and the superseded Magellan eXplorists, but if it goes well and you find that there is a strong demand for cheaper units, you will look into importing, TomToms, PDA's and bluetooth GPSr's.  You call your business “BellaVista”.

So much for the business plan!

Business transactions

During your first year of operation, the following transactions occurred:

  1. Received $10,000 in cash by issuing equity loans to some members of your supportive family. They secretly don’t expect to ever see their money again so there are no conditions on the repayment of the equity loans nor will there be any dividends issued.
  2. Arranged and received a loan of $25,000 from the bank. One of your mates works at the bank and managed to get the loan for you with no interest payable in the first year as long as $5,000 is paid before the end of the year.
    You make that payment to comply with the agreement. (note: after the first year the interest rate is 10.5% per annum). The balance of the bank loan is not due or repayable until 5 years after the end of this year.
  3. Bought $15,000 of stock on credit which is not payable until the first quarter of the new financial year.
  4. Paid $7,000 in cash for furniture and a PC so that you can check that the GPSr's communicate with the PC and that the base map is ok. Your accounting policy says that you don’t depreciate assets in the year of purchase.
  5. Paid $5,000 for a lavish launch of the business at the Carlton Crest Hotel. Lots of cachers, bushwalkers and 4WDers attended with many stating that they would definitely be buying from you while they were grabbing their 4th smoked salmon canapé and gulping the Pol Roger champagne like it was water!
  6. Sold $10,000 worth of stock for $36,000 and were still owed $18,000 of the $36,000 sales at year end.
    The mark-up looks high, but you are still providing a unit that costs way less than the price of the units currently sold in Australia.
  7. Paid yourself a $15,000 salary.
  8. Also paid $2,000 in freight and duties, although you have worked out a way to reduce this in the following year by dealing with "Chile"! It should also be noted that you don't understand AASB 102.11 and so you ignore it!
  9. Interest earned on the bank balance was $2,000 for the year.

Your task!

At the end of your first year of operation, you are keen to see how profitable your business is.  You know you have a solid bank balance at the end of the year from the balance of the bank statement and you are thinking of giving yourself a bonus because things are looking good.  So you set out to prepare a profit & loss statement and a balance sheet (both excluding tax) to confirm your intuitive feelings.

Once you have prepared a P&L and B/S you look at the results which appear favourable, but you are not sure how the long term commitments will affect the business.  With this uncertainty in mind you wisely decide to postpone your bonus as you also suddenly realise that you may have a tax liability as well (the ATO knows all!), even though as mentioned above these accounts have been prepared exclusive of any income tax calculations. Please also ignore any GST implications relating to the above transactions.

From the P&L and B/S that you have prepared, answer these questions:

  1. What is the balance of your bank account? Divide that by 1,000 = X
  2. What is the total of your net current assets or working capital at the end of the year? Divide that by 1,000 = Y
  3. What is the profit or loss before tax reported in the first year of operation? Divide that by 1,000 = Z

 

S37° 49 (X+Y+Z)*13-2

E145° 01 (X+Y+Z)*10+31


You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Ybj va sebag bs vil pbirerq gerr orfg npprff sebz oruvaq

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)