Cost Accounting Questions on Wilkerson Company Case Analysis

Assuming that the company’s goal is to maximize profits, the current cost system is not an appropriate tool for strategic planning. The ambiguity of the overhead costs per product makes it difficult to accurately analyze the cause and effect relationships of changes and/or improvements to specific product line.

In using the ABC system, Valves and Pumps are matching the company’s target of 35% of gross margin apart from Flow Controllers. With the use of TAC, the gross margin on pump sales is 19.5% that well below the company's target gross margin of 35%. This indicates that the current overhead cost allocation practice did not reflect the real costs incurred on the products. The lower actual gross profit obtained was mainly due to wrong cost allocation on the pump product.

11. If 8,000 units are produced, what is the total amount of manufacturing overhead cost incurred to support this level of production? What is the total amount expressed on a per unit basis?

Overhead costs are not in proportion to the production output because of the method they are using. This leads to inaccurate pricing and costing decisions. An Activity Based Costing System would help find the real relationship between the products produced and overhead.

Company Wide Overhead Rate equal Forecast Overhead divided by Expected Machine Hours Overhead Rate equal $480,000 equal $6 per machine hour 80,000. Company Wide Rate: Direct Material Costs x Batch Size plus Direct Labor Costs x Batch Size Maxiflow: Alaska: 135 x 20 equal 2700 110 x 20 equal 2200 75 x 20 equal 1500 95 x 20 equal 1900 equal $4200 per batch equal $4100 per batch Departmental Rate. Direct Materials Costs plus Direct Labor Costs divided by Each Department Hour Maxiflow: 135 plus 75 equal $210 Radiator Parts Fabrication: 210 divided by 28 equal $7.50 per batch Radiator Assembly, Weld, and Test equal 210 divided by 30 equal $7 per batch Compressor Parts Fabrication: 210 divided by 32 equal $6.60 per batch Compressor Assembly and Test: 210 divided by 26 equal $8.10 per batch Alaska: 110 plus 95 equal 205 Radiator Parts Fabrication: 205 divided by 16 equal $12.80 per batch Radiator Assembly, Weld, and Test: 205 divided by 74 equal $2.70 per batch Compressor Parts Fabrication: 205 divided by 8 equal $25.60 per batch Compressor Assembly and Test: 205 divided by 66 equal $3.10 per batch. There was only a $100 difference between Maxiflow and Alaska when it came to company-wide rates per batch.

Wilkerson employs a Normal Cost System, which means that they use predetermined overhead rates along with actual costs for direct material and direct labor. Normal costing systems are appropriate when overhead costs are a relatively small percentage of total manufacturing costs and product diversity is limited. For Wilkerson, normal costing does not make sense. Overhead costs make up over 50 percent of total manufacturing costs and their product offering is relatively more diverse. This indicates that the current accounting system in place may be distorting costs significantly. Supporting data:

Under a traditional system, overhead cost is allocated to an activity based on hours or rates for direct labor or machine usage. However, this approach does not clearly indicate how much overhead cost will be needed in order to complete a job through a particular function. ABC methodology is to be used as an alternative to traditional accounting where a business 's overhead costs (indirect costs such as electrical energy consumption for heating or cooling, or indirect cost associated with marketing) are allocated as a proportion of direct costs, to an activity. This approach is unsatisfactory because there can be cases where two activities could absorb the same direct costs

However, as a new member with a new product, electronic product in North American market, the reputation is also an important attribute. Especially, quick delivery time is a key attribute for this company, due to the demand of quick delivery in all markets. Moreover, the manufacturing process of the new product, electronic product, on which our company will definitely focus, has a lot demands. Such as, technology, innovation and quick delivery time even the ability to make the product be the first one appearing in the market (other company, which is developing the same product, may become our competitive opponents). Especially, technology is predicted to play the most important role in the manufacturing process. On the other hand, the traditional cost system has a lot of limitations. Traditional costing system focuses on the cost reduction and the efficiency, particular the products with relatively few standardized components; Clifton, however, produces a wide range of airplane components. In addition, nonfinancial aspects of

3.) The estimated product costs for valves, pumps, and flow controllers using ABC for overhead activities (primarily Ex. 1 & 4) and direct cost data from the Exhibits are:

• This cost method does not provide the best system for JDCW’s cost allocation. By using only three overhead rates the present system grossly undermines the true production costs since other activities of the production process are not acknowledged.

Cost accounting is a type of accounting process that aims to capture a company's costs of production by assessing the input costs of each step of production as well as fixed costs such as depreciation of capital equipment. Cost accounting will first measure and record these costs individually, then compare input results to output or actual results to aid company management in measuring financial performance (Cost Accounting, n.d.).

line items in order | 1 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 10 |

A problem faced by a Restaurateur (Joe) as revealed by his Accountant-Efficiency Expert (Eff. Ex.)

The incremental cost per unit is $2.09 and is determined by adding the direct labor and direct materials per unit to the variable overhead. Variable overhead is determined by multiplying the number of machine hours by the “rule of thumb” for variable overhead, which is stated in the case as $13 per machine hour of “running time,” and dividing the product by the number of units.

| |Within the relevant range, if there is a change in the level of the cost driver, then: | | | |