Variable Cost and Waterways Continuing Problem

11. Prepare a table that illustrates the percentage change in costs between the volume-based system and the strategic activity-based system.

Management should note that the level of activity was above what had been planned for the month. This led to an expected increase in profits of $1,100. However, the individual items on the report should not receive much management attention. The favorable variance for revenue and the unfavorable variances for expenses are entirely caused by the increase in activity.

B. 1. The impact of costs on the decision to move forward with the new Maui Sandal line is as follows: As the production continues, the hours needed for each batch, or individual pair, will begin to decrease. By continuing to produce this line the total labor costs will continue to decrease, but most likely, at a slower rate as more sandals are produced. This data can help the company decide employment levels, capacity, costs, and their pricing of this particular merchandise in the open market. The company predicts that it will take 1,000 labor hours for production to complete for the first batch, with 50 total batches between month 1 and month 4.

| Use this information for questions that refer to the World Tennis Ball (WTB) Company case.

According to the calculations in the table above, Job A =47.15, Job B=60.1, Job C=15.25.

Total cost = (F * T/Q) + (H * Q / 2) = (80 * 200,000 / 10,000) + (1.00 * 10,000/2)

The need for water in all of society is of the upmost importance in order for humankind to survive. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) states that the Earth’s surface is made up of about 70% water and only 3.5% of the water is fresh water suitable to consume (Perlman, 2013). In order to have the resource of water that society needs, companies such as the Trinity River Authority (TRA) are formed in different communities around the globe. Water supply and reclamation companies range in size and structure from public to privately owned and run.

* The variances are due to the Mile High Cycle company not forecasting for increased production. The company budgeted for the production of 10,000 cycles but the actual production was 10,800 units. When the company increased production, the production efficiency decreased. The company had to use or rework parts that added extra cost to the expenses; the reworked parts added $25,000 of extra expenses to the wheel assembly production and $45,000 to the final assembly process. The material,

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.

The wages of general production employees who are idled due to machine breakdown are classified as indirect costs. Direct costs are usually variable and change as production volumes change. Thus, direct materials and direct labor are typically variable costs. For special orders, some direct costs can be fixed, however. The costs (depreciation, electricity, and routine maintenance) associated with a machine dedicated to one product are direct costs of that product. Indirect costs cannot be easily and conveniently assigned to a special order. Rather, these costs are common costs, in that they are incurred to produce a variety of special orders. Maintenance costs of general purpose equipment, the supervisor’s salary, and utilities are direct costs needed to produce special orders in general, but are indirect costs for a particular special order. Moreover, general production costs, including property taxes, insurance, lawn care, cafeteria costs, and miscellaneous supplies consumed in production are indirect costs properly allocated to special orders manufactured.

In this table, it reflects the changes in fixed plant overhead from $420,000 to $378,000. The company still has the fixed selling and administrative expense per quarter of $118,000. The new company fixed overhead is now at $496,000 from the past $538,000 ($42,000) change from past to

The Kenton Company processes unprocessed milk to produce two products, Butter Cream and Condensed Milk. The following information was collected for the month of June:

Peter’s Peripherals assembles multimedia upgrade kits --- sets of components for adding sound and video to desktop computers. The demand for their kits for the next four quarters is estimated in the table below. Unit manufacturing cost for each kit is $160. Holding costs on each kit is $80 per quarter. Any kit that must be delivered late is assessed a backorder cost of $120. Each worker is capable of finishing 10 kits per quarter. If the company chooses to vary work force levels, it will incur costs of $400 for each additional worker; $600 for each termination. The company currently has 28 employees.

The above cost system was efficient during the 1980s because it split up overhead over three cost pools, adding an additional pool, which has machine hours as its cost driver. This proved efficient because “[w]ith increased usage of automated machines, direct labor run time no longer reflected the amount of processing being performed on parts, particularly when one operator was responsible for several machines.” Packet, pg. 7.

• 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.