Question

On January 1, 2017, Alison, Inc., paid $90,000 for a 40 percent interest in Holister Corporation’s common stock. This investee had assets with a book value of $247,000 and liabilities of $94,500. A patent held by Holister having a $6,000 book value was actually worth $52,500. This patent had a six-year remaining life. Any further excess cost associated with this acquisition was attributed to goodwill. During 2017, Holister earned income of $46,500 and declared and paid dividends of $16,000. In 2018, it had income of $57,200 and dividends of $21,000. During 2018, the fair value of Allison’s investment in Holister had risen from $102,400 to $104,480.

a. Assuming Alison uses the equity method, what balance should appear in the Investment in Holister account as of December 31, 2018?

b. Assuming Alison uses fair-value accounting, what income from the investment in Holister should be reported for 2018?

Answer 1