Shepherd Industries had the following cash flows by major categories during the current year:

Cash provided by:

Receipts from customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $560,000

Sale of bonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400,000

Sale of treasury stock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,000

Interest and dividends received . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,000

Sale of equipment (at a $56,000 loss) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236,000

Cash used for:

Payments to employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $135,000

Payments to purchase inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190,000

Dividends on common stock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60,000

Purchase of treasury stock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,000

Interest expense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78,000

a. Calculate the net amount of cash provided by or used for financing activities for the year.

b. Briefly justify why you excluded any of the above items in your calculation in part a.

c. Briefly explain your treatment of interest expense in your calculation in part a.