Read the following scenario and answer the question in 5-10 sentences. Sarah is the vice president of a computer sales company. Sarah could save significant money by firing one of two employees who service the northwest region: Gary and Brenda. Gary is a long-time employee with an excellent sales record and a forceful demeanor. However, you Sarah and Gary have conflicted in the past when Sarah rejected his request for a significant raise. Brenda has been struggling with her sales quotas lately, but is very popular amongst her co-workers. She has also been a quiet confidant for key sales decisions. Evaluate whether Sarah should layoff Brenda, Gary, or neither employee, and give the reasons for your decision.

Aquatic marine stores company manufactures special metallic materials and decorative fittings for luxury yachts that require highly skilled labor. aquatic uses standard costs to prepare its flexible budget. for the first quarter of the year, direct materials and direct labor standards for one of their popular products were as follows: direct materials: 3 pounds per unit; $ 6 per pound direct labor: 4 hours per unit; $ 19 per hour during the first quarter, aquatic produced 5 comma 000 units of this product. actual direct materials and direct labor costs were $ 65 comma 000 and $ 330 comma 000, respectively. for the purpose of preparing the flexible budget, calculate the total standard direct materials cost at a production volume of 5 comma 000 units.

At the end of year 2, retained earnings for the baker company was $3,550. revenue earned by the company in year 2 was $3,800, expenses paid during the period were $2,000, and dividends paid during the period were $1,400. based on this information alone, retained earnings at the beginning of year 2 was:

Which of the following statements is correct? stockholders should generally be happier than bondholders to have managers invest in risky projects with high potential returns as opposed to safe projects with lower expected returns. potential conflicts between stockholders and bondholders are increased if a firm's bonds are convertible into its common stock. takeovers are most likely to be attempted if the target firm’s stock price is above its intrinsic value. one advantage of operating a business as a corporation is that stockholders can deduct their pro rata share of the taxes the firm pays, thereby eliminating the double taxation investors would face in a partnership.