Halifax Manufacturing allows its customers to return merchandise for any reason up to 90 days after delivery and receive a credit to their accounts. All of Halifax's sales are for credit (no cash is collected at the time of sale). The company began 2021 with a refund liability of $340,000. During 2021, Halifax sold merchandise on account for $11,600,000. Halifax's merchandise costs is 75% of merchandise selling price. Also during the year, customers returned $575,000 in sales for credit, with $319,000 of those being returns of merchandise sold prior to 2021, and the rest being merchandise sold during 2021. Sales returns, estimated to be 5% of sales, are recorded as an adjusting entry at the end of the year. Required:
a. Prepare the entry to record the merchandise returns and the year-end adjusting entry for estimated returns.
b. What is the amount of the year-end allowance for sales returns after the adjusting entry is recorded?