The Boeing Company reported in its 2019 annual report $1,567 million in depreciation expense and $704 million in amortization expense for the year ending December 31, 2019.
a. Describe how the recognition of depreciation and amortization affects the basic accounting equation.
b. As reported in the footnotes, Boeing's accumulated depreciation balance grew during the year from $ 18,568 million to $ 19,342 million. The cost of property, plant, and equipment was $31,844 and $31,213 in 2019 and 2018, respectively. During 2019, the company purchased property, plant, and equipment for a total of $1,834 million and collected proceeds of $334 million on sales of property, plant, and equipment. Compute the gain or loss on the sale of property, plant, and equipment in 2019. On which financial statement would this appear, and how would these transactions affect the statement of cash flows?