Suppose you work in the loan department of Superior Bank. Dean Young, owner of Dean Young Beauty Aids, has come to you seeking a loan for $500,000 to expand operations. Young proposes to use accounts receivable as collateral for the loan and has provided you with the following information from the company’s most recent financial statements:

Â	20X7	20X6	20X5
Â	Â	(In thousands)	Â
Sales	$1,475	$1,001	$902
Cost of goods sold	876	647	605
Gross profit	$ 81	$ 67	$ 44
Other expenses	$ 128	$ 107	$ 94
Net profit or (loss) before taxes	13	11	9
Accounts receivable	599	354	297
Allowance for doubtful accounts	518	287	253

Required

Analyze the trends of sales, days’ sales in receivables, and cash collections from customers for 20X7 and 20X6. Would you make the loan to Young? Support you decision with facts and figures. Sunnyvale Loan Company is in the consumer loan business. Sunnyvale borrows from banks and loans out the money at higher interest rates. Sunnyvale’s bank requires Sunnyvale to submit quarterly financial statements to keep its line of credit. Sunnyvale’s main asset is Notes Receivable. Therefore, Uncollectible-Account Expense and Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts are important accounts for the company. Kimberly Burnham, the company’s owner, prefers for net income to increase in smooth pattern, rather than increase in some periods and decrease in other periods. To report smoothly increasing net income, Burnham underestimates Uncollectible-Account Expense in some periods. In other periods, Burnham overestimates the expense. She reasons that the income overstatements roughly offset the income understatements over time.

Required

Is Sunnyvale Loans’ practice of smoothing income ethical? Why or why not?