CHAPTER 3 ACTIVITY COST BEHAVIOR LEARNING OBJECTIVES AFTER STUDYING THIS CHAPTER, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO: 1. Define and describe fixed, variable, and mixed costs. 2. Explain the use of the resources and activities and their relationship to cost behavior. 3. Separate mixed costs into their fixed and variable components using the high-low method, the scatterplot method, and the method of least squares. 4. Evaluate the reliability of the cost formula. 5. Explain how multiple regression can be used to assess cost behavior. 6. Define the learning curve, and discuss its impact on cost behavior. 7. Discuss the use of managerial judgment in determining cost behavior. CHAPTER SUMMARY THIS CHAPTER INTRODUCES COST BEHAVIOR AS …show more content…
■ Purchasing a long-lived asset or entering a long-term contract (buildings and equipment, either purchased or leased). 2. Discretionary fixed expenses are the costs incurred for the acquisition of short-term activity capacity. They are independent of actual activity usage, but the levels of usage can be changed quickly. Example: ■ Salaries of employees, because workers may not be laid off if there is a short-term drop in production. D. Implications for Control and Decision Making 1. Operational control information systems encourage managers to pay more attention to controlling resource usage and spending and to eliminate excess capacity. 2. Managers need to calculate and evaluate the changes in supply and demand of resources resulting from different decisions. E. Step-Cost Behavior A step-cost function displays a constant level of cost for a range of activity output and then jumps to a higher level of cost at some point, where it remains for a similar range of activity. 1. Step-variable costs are costs that follow a step-cost behavior with narrow steps (resources must be purchased in small chunks). ■ Step-variable costs can be approximated with a strictly variable cost assumption. 2. Step-fixed costs are costs that follow a step-cost behavior with wide steps (resources are acquired at large
Semi-fixed, where costs are fixed for a given level of activity but change in steps when activity levels exceed or fall below these given levels.
clock; in addition there were operations wages paid hourly workers who were required when the
Operational controls focus on techniques and procedures put in place by Information Technology staff or systems managers. The purpose is to increase security and provide deterrence via system controls.
The Marginal Cost graph intersects the Average Total Cost graph and the Average Variable Cost graphs at their minimum points. As long as the cost of producing one additional unit remains less than average total cost, the average total cost continues to fall. When marginal cost finally exceeds average total cost, average total cost begins to rise in response. The same effect applies to the relationship between marginal cost and average variable cost.
A more difficult task is identify and planning for variable costs. Variable costs can change from month to month and sometimes cannot be planned for.
3. Fixed costs will often be irrelevant because they: A. B. C. D. Are fixed in amount. Are the same each time period. Typically do not differ between options. Are not committed.
To effectively plan overhead costs for a product the management must aim to eliminate activities that do not add any value to the product in question. The process of costing is very important in that it supplies information on evaluation and control to various aspects of a business enterprise. Variance measures price and quantity differences that occur in any budgeted and actual prices and quantities. There exist a difference between fixed overhead spending variance and variable overhead spending variance in that the fixed overhead spending variance does not include estimation error while variable spending variable does.
According to this method, every unit of the product is assigned all direct, fixed, and variable costs. This method includes the cost of direct materials and labor as well as a portion of the overhead costs associated with it in the final costing of every unit of the product.
The variable cost rate (per unit) remains constant, however the total variable costs increase or decrease as the volume changes (within a relevant range).
A variable cost is a corporate expense that varies with production output. Variable costs are those costs that vary depending on a company's production volume; they rise as production increases and fall as production decreases (Variable Cost, n.d.); in the case study for all cost per event such
Prestige Data Service has two variable costs: operation wages (or salaries) and power expense. However, both of them are quasi-fixed costs. This means that they have a fixed component and partly depend on the total revenue hours. Operation wages (or salaries) consists of fixed salaries and variable wages. Power expense is also a quasi-fixed expense which has monthly fixed power cost and variable cost. Since we have high frequency cost and output data, we can use excel to figure out relatively
Variable costs are costs that vary with output. Variable cost changes according to the quantity of a good or service being produced. Generally variable costs increase at a constant rate relative to labor and capital. Variable costs may include wages, utilities, materials used in production, etc. The inputs of Listerine start with Raw Materials (generally composed of diluents, antibacterial agents, soaps, flavorings,
In other words, variable cost per unit is equal to the slope of the cost volume line (i.e. change in total cost ÷ change in number of units produced).
There are different costs that respond to the different activities like variable costs are directly associated with the products sold. The cost behavior patterns of selling, general, administrative, and other operating expenses are determined, and these expenses are budgeted accordingly. For example, sales commissions will be a function of the forecast of either sales dollars or units. The historical pattern of some expenses will be affected by changes in strategy that management may plan for the budget period. In a participative budgeting system, the manager of each department or cost responsibility center will submit the anticipated cost of the department 's planned activities, along with descriptions of the activities and explanations of significant differences from past experience. After review by higher levels of management, and perhaps negotiation, a final budget will be established. Because of the necessity to recognize cost behavior patterns for planning and control purposes, overhead costs will be classified as variable or fixed.