Wie Company has been operating for just 2 years, producing specialty golf equipment for women golfers. To date, the company has been able to finance its successful operations with investments from its principal owner, Michelle Wie, and cash flows from operations. However, current expansion plans will require some borrowing to expand the company’s production line.

As part of the expansion plan, Wie is contemplating a borrowing on a note payable or issuance of bonds. In the past, the company has had little need for external borrowing so the management team has a number of questions concerning the accounting for these new non-current liabilities. They have asked you to conduct some research on this topic.

Instructions
Access the IFRS authoritative literature at the IASB website (http://eifrs.iasb.org/). (Click on the IFRS tab and then register for free eIFRS access if necessary.) When you have accessed the documents, you can use the search tool in your Internet browser to respond to the following questions. (Provide paragraph citations.)

  (a) With respect to a decision of issuing notes or bonds, management is aware of certain costs (e.g., printing, marketing, selling) associated with a bond issue. How will these costs affect Wie’s reported earnings in the year of issue and while the bonds are outstanding?
  (b) If all goes well with the plant expansion, the financial performance of Wie Company could dramatically improve. As a result, Wie’s market rate of interest (which is currently around 12%) could decline. This raises the possibility of retiring or exchanging the debt, in order to get a lower borrowing rate. How would such a debt extinguishment be accounted for?