The Car Engine Group Inc. (Group) is domiciled in Connecticut and is in the business of manufacturing

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Question:

The Car Engine Group Inc. (Group) is domiciled in Connecticut and is in the business of manufacturing engine parts for new and used car engines. Its business has been impacted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and the measures adopted by the State of Connecticut to mitigate its spread. Although the State of Connecticut did not close manufacturing and construction entities during the pandemic, many Car Engine Group customers in other states were forced to close their operations, at least partially, during the 2020 calendar year.

Group management has concluded that there are no material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt on its ability to continue as a going concern; however, reaching that conclusion involved significant management judgements about the COVID-19 outlook for 2021 going into 2021.

In March 2020, product demand dropped off substantially due to auto manufacturing curtailing across the country as new car manufactures slowed their new car production. s manufacturing plant has three distinct, but equal, manufacturing lines in the Connecticut plant. Because of the slowdown in auto manufacturing, only one manufacturing line stayed open while two lines were temporarily closed. The employees working on the two lines were also temporarily furloughed.

Group management considered themselves fortunate: the manufacturing building and equipment was owned outright by Car Engine Group Inc. and the only bank debt carried by Group was a working line of credit based on inventory and accounts receivable by a local Connecticut bank. Group management started discussions with the bank about loan modifications when the product slowdown occurred.

As abruptly as product demand slowed down in March 2020, product demand suddenly accelerated in both the new and used car market throughout the summer of 2000. Remaining inventory stockpiled in March 2000 sold out rapidly. Group management quickly recalled the furloughed employees. However, Group management was only able to recall about 75% of its furloughed employees as the remaining 25% found new employment in other Connecticut manufacturers, and a tight labor market for employees with manufacturing skill sets made new employees difficult to find.

Demand accelerated so quickly that Group manufacturing added a second shift to two of the three manufacturing lines. Because the labor market was tight, Car Engine Group raised wages for all its employees and paid “stay” bonuses to current employees. Price increases were difficult to pass through to the major car manufacturers, however, so Group profit margins were squeezed despite higher sales volume in the last five months of the 2020 calendar year.

Required:

You are the auditor for Car Engine Group Inc. for the January 31, 2021 year end. US GAAP now requires LLC’s management to consider Going Concern based on guidelines in FASB ASU 2014-15. Group management has written a footnote to address the Going Concern issues during its January 31, 2021 year end and has asserted it’s probablethe going concern issues have been alleviated for 12 months beyond the expected report release date of May 15, 2021. As auditors, what types of forward looking analyses and does management need to present to the auditors to support Group’s conclusions?

Consider issues like:

(a) bank lending capacity;

(b) Expected Group cash positions at both January 31, 2021 and beyond;

(c) Cash flow and operating income scenarios for 2021; (d) potential labor shortages and supply disruptions. (Remember there is no one “right” analysis. )