This document outlines an assignment for a course on intermediate accounting. The assignment requires students to: 1) Analyze Delta Airlines' annual reports from 2012-2013 to identify property, plant, and equipment costs and perform ratio calculations related to these assets. 2) Determine Delta's depreciation methods and suggest alternatives, proposing the best method to improve asset reporting. 3) Analyze note disclosures on property, plant, and equipment and recommend additional useful data. The assignment must be 5-6 pages and use at least 3 academic resources, following specific formatting guidelines. It addresses learning outcomes involving accounting for long-lived assets.

1. 1.
Assignment 1: Delta Airlines Property, Plant, and Equipment
Due Week 8 and worth 200 points
According to the textbook, U.S. companies and foreign
companies are affected by deprecation rules. When companies
write off the cost of long-lived assets over a period of time, the
term used is
depreciation
.
In order to complete this assignment, review Delta Airlines’
annual reports for the years 2012 and 2013, located at
http://ir.delta.com/stock-and-financial/sec-filings/
.
Write a five to six (5-6) page paper in which you:
1.
Briefly outline Delta Airlines company’s history, products, and
services, and identify the costs reported in the balance sheet for
property, plant, and equipment. Prepare a horizontal analysis of
Delta’s property, plant, and equipment for 2012 and 2013. Next,
calculate the asset turnover ratio, return on asset ratio, and the
debt to total assets ratio. Based on your calculations, indicate
the conclusions that you can draw, based on the changes in
property, plant, and equipment.
2.
Determine the method or methods of depreciation that Delta
Airlines uses to depreciate its property, plant, and equipment.
Suggest three (3) alternative methods that Delta Airlines could
use in order to depreciate assets. Based on your suggestions,
propose the method that Delta Airlines could use in order to
improve the reporting of its property, plant and equipment.
Provide a rationale for your response.

2. 3.
Analyze the information disclosed in Delta Airlines’ notes to
their financial statements on property, plant, and equipment.
Recommend additional data that Delta Airlines could include
that would be useful to potential investors and creditors.
4.
Use at least three (3) quality academic resources in this
assignment.
Note:
Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic
resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
·
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size
12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references
must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your
professor for any additional instructions.
·
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the
student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the
date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in
the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this
assignment are:
·
Demonstrate, analyze, and explain the proper accounting for
acquisition and valuation of property, plant, and equipment;
valuation; costs subsequent to acquisition; and disposition of
plant assets.
·

3. Demonstrate, analyze, and explain the proper accounting for
depreciation, impairments, and depletion.
·
Use technology and information resources to research issues in
intermediate accounting.
·
Write clearly and concisely about intermediate accounting using
proper writing mechanics.
Click
here
to view the grading rubric.