weat ubject - accounting Data Master is a computer software consulting company. Its three major functional areas are computer programming, information systems consulting, andsoftware training. Cynthia Moore, a pricing analyst in the Accounting Department, has been asked to develop total costs for the functional areas. These costswill be used as a guide in pricing a new contract. In computing these costs, Moore is considering three different methods of allocating overhead costs: thedirect method, the step method, and the reciprocal method. Moore assembled the following data on overhead from its two service departments, theInformation Systems Department and the Facilities Department.Service DepartmentsUser DepartmentsInfo Systems Facilities Computer Program Consulting$ 50,000$110,000600$25,000400$75,0001,100400,000200,000600,000information systems are allocated on the basis of hours of computer usage; facilities are allocated on the basis of floor space.Required:Allocate the service department costs to the user departments using the reciprocal method. Round to the nearest whole dollar.Budgeted OverheadInfo Systems (hours)Facilities (Square feet)Essay Tonthar navinationTraining$ 85,000900800,000Total$ 345,0003,0002,000,000

The reciprocal method is one of the methods of cost allocation which is the most accurate method of…

Answered: Required: Allocate the service…

Required: Allocate the service department costs to the user departments using the reciprocal method. Round to the nearest whole dollar

Cornerstones of Cost Management (Cornerstones Series)

4th Edition

ISBN:9781305970663

Author:Don R. Hansen, Maryanne M. Mowen

Publisher:Don R. Hansen, Maryanne M. Mowen

Chapter11: Strategic Cost Management

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 4CE: Kagle design engineers are in the process of developing a new green product, one that will...

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The management of Wheeler Company has decided to develop cost formulas for its major overhead activities. Wheeler uses a highly automated manufacturing process, and power costs are a significant manufacturing cost. Cost analysts have decided that power costs are mixed; thus, they must be broken into their fixed and variable elements so that the cost behavior of the power usage activity can be properly described. Machine hours have been selected as the activity driver for power costs. The following data for the past eight quarters have been collected: Required: 1. Prepare a scattergraph by plotting power costs against machine hours. Does the scatter-graph show a linear relationship between machine hours and power cost? 2. Using the high and low points, compute a power cost formula. 3. Use the method of least squares to compute a power cost formula. Evaluate the coefficient of determination. 4. Rerun the regression and drop the point (20,000; 26,000) as an outlier. Compare the results from this regression to those for the regression in Requirement 3. Which is better?
Tom Young, vice president of Dunn Company (a producer of plastic products), has been supervising the implementation of an activity-based cost management system. One of Toms objectives is to improve process efficiency by improving the activities that define the processes. To illustrate the potential of the new system to the president, Tom has decided to focus on two processes: production and customer service. Within each process, one activity will be selected for improvement: molding for production and sustaining engineering for customer service. (Sustaining engineers are responsible for redesigning products based on customer needs and feedback.) Value-added standards are identified for each activity. For molding, the value-added standard calls for nine pounds per mold. (Although the products differ in shape and function, their size, as measured by weight, is uniform.) The value-added standard is based on the elimination of all waste due to defective molds (materials is by far the major cost for the molding activity). The standard price for molding is 15 per pound. For sustaining engineering, the standard is 60 percent of current practical activity capacity. This standard is based on the fact that about 40 percent of the complaints have to do with design features that could have been avoided or anticipated by the company. Current practical capacity (the first year) is defined by the following requirements: 18,000 engineering hours for each product group that has been on the market or in development for five years or less, and 7,200 hours per product group of more than five years. Four product groups have less than five years experience, and 10 product groups have more. There are 72 engineers, each paid a salary of 70,000. Each engineer can provide 2,000 hours of service per year. There are no other significant costs for the engineering activity. For the first year, actual pounds used for molding were 25 percent above the level called for by the value-added standard; engineering usage was 138,000 hours. There were 240,000 units of output produced. Tom and the operational managers have selected some improvement measures that promise to reduce non-value-added activity usage by 30 percent in the second year. Selected actual results achieved for the second year are as follows: The actual prices paid per pound and per engineering hour are identical to the standard or budgeted prices. Required: 1. For the first year, calculate the non-value-added usage and costs for molding and sustaining engineering. Also, calculate the cost of unused capacity for the engineering activity. 2. Using the targeted reduction, establish kaizen standards for molding and engineering (for the second year). 3. Using the kaizen standards prepared in Requirement 2, compute the second-year usage variances, expressed in both physical and financial measures, for molding and engineering. (For engineering, explain why it is necessary to compare actual resource usage with the kaizen standard.) Comment on the companys ability to achieve its targeted reductions. In particular, discuss what measures the company must take to capture any realized reductions in resource usage.
Classify the following cost drivers as structural, executional, or operational. a. Number of plants b. Number of moves c. Degree of employee involvement d. Capacity utilization e. Number of product lines f. Number of distribution channels g. Engineering hours h. Direct labor hours i. Scope j. Product configuration k. Quality management approach l. Number of receiving orders m. Number of defective units n. Employee experience o. Types of process technologies p. Number of purchase orders q. Type and efficiency of layout r. Scale s. Number of functional departments t. Number of planning meetings
Larsen, Inc., produces two types of electronic parts and has provided the following data: There are four activities: machining, setting up, testing, and purchasing. Required: 1. Calculate the activity consumption ratios for each product. 2. Calculate the consumption ratios for the plantwide rate (direct labor hours). When compared with the activity ratios, what can you say about the relative accuracy of a plantwide rate? Which product is undercosted? 3. What if the machine hours were used for the plantwide rate? Would this remove the cost distortion of a plantwide rate?
Kagle design engineers are in the process of developing a new green product, one that will significantly reduce impact on the environment and yet still provide the desired customer functionality. Currently, two designs are being considered. The manager of Kagle has told the engineers that the cost for the new product cannot exceed 550 per unit (target cost). In the past, the Cost Accounting Department has given estimated costs using a unit-based system. At the request of the Engineering Department, Cost Accounting is providing both unit-and activity-based accounting information (made possible by a recent pilot study producing the activity-based data). Unit-based system: Variable conversion activity rate: 100 per direct labor hour Material usage rate: 20 per part ABC system: Labor usage: 15 per direct labor hour Material usage (direct materials): 20 per part Machining: 75 per machine hour Purchasing activity: 150 per purchase order Setup activity: 3,000 per setup hour Warranty activity: 500 per returned unit (usually requires extensive rework) Customer repair cost: 25 per repair hour (average) Required: 1. Select the lower-cost design using unit-based costing. Are logistical and post-purchase activities considered in this analysis? 2. Select the lower-cost design using ABC analysis. Explain why the analysis differs from the unit-based analysis. 3. What if the post-purchase cost was an environmental contaminant and amounted to 10 per unit for Design A and 40 per unit for Design B? Assume that the environmental cost is borne by society. Now which is the better design?
Abernathy, Inc., produces two different generators and is concerned about their quality. The company has identified the following quality activities and costs associated with the two products: Required: 1. Calculate the quality cost per unit for each product, and break this unit cost into quality cost categories. Which of the two seems to have the lowest quality? 2. How might a manager use the unit quality cost information?
Aaron McKinney is a cost accountant for Majik Systems Inc. Martin Dodd, Vice President of Marketing, has asked Aaron to meet with representatives of Majik Systems major competitor to discuss product cost data. Martin indicates that the sharing of these data will enable Majik Systems to determine a fair and equitable price for its products. Would it be ethical for Aaron to attend the meeting and share the relevant cost data? Explain your answer.
Joseph Fox, controller of Thorpe Company, has been in charge of a project to install an activity-based cost management system. This new system is designed to support the companys efforts to become more competitive. For the past six weeks, he and the project committee members have been identifying and defining activities, associating workers with activities, and assessing the time and resources consumed by individual activities. Now, he and the project committee are focusing on three additional implementation issues: (1) identifying activity drivers, (2) assessing value content, and (3) identifying cost drivers (root causes). Joseph has assigned a committee member the responsibilities of assessing the value content of five activities, choosing a suitable activity driver for each activity, and identifying the possible root causes of the activities. Following are the five activities with possible activity drivers: The committee member ran a regression analysis for each potential activity driver, using the method of least squares to estimate the variable and fixed cost components. In all five cases, costs were highly correlated with the potential drivers. Thus, all drivers appeared to be good candidates for assigning costs to products. The company plans to reward production managers for reducing product costs. Required: 1. What is the difference between an activity driver and a cost driver? In answering the question, describe the purpose of each type of driver. 2. For each activity, assess the value content and classify each activity as value-added or non-value-added (justify the classification). Identify some possible root causes of each activity, and describe how this knowledge can be used to improve activity performance. For purposes of discussion, assume that the value-added activities are not performed with perfect efficiency. 3. Describe the behavior that each activity driver will encourage, and evaluate the suitability of that behavior for the companys objective of becoming more competitive.
Reducir, Inc., produces two different types of hydraulic cylinders. Reducir produces a major subassembly for the cylinders in the Cutting and Welding Department. Other parts and the subassembly are then assembled in the Assembly Department. The activities, expected costs, and drivers associated with these two manufacturing processes are given below. Note: In the assembly process, the materials-handling activity is a function of product characteristics rather than batch activity. Other overhead activities, their costs, and drivers are listed below. Other production information concerning the two hydraulic cylinders is also provided: Required: 1. Using a plantwide rate based on machine hours, calculate the total overhead cost assigned to each product and the unit overhead cost. 2. Using activity rates, calculate the total overhead cost assigned to each product and the unit overhead cost. Comment on the accuracy of the plantwide rate. 3. Calculate the global consumption ratios. 4. Calculate the consumption ratios for welding and materials handling (Assembly) and show that two drivers, welding hours and number of parts, can be used to achieve the same ABC product costs calculated in Requirement 2. Explain the value of this simplification. 5. Calculate the consumption ratios for inspection and engineering, and show that the drivers for these two activities also duplicate the ABC product costs calculated in Requirement 2.
Walsh & Coggins, a professional accounting firm, collects cost information about the services they provide to their clients. Describe the types of cost data they would collect and explain the importance of analyzing this cost data.
Evans, Inc., has a unit-based costing system. Evanss Miami plant produces 10 different electronic products. The demand for each product is about the same. Although they differ in complexity, each product uses about the same labor time and materials. The plant has used direct labor hours for years to assign overhead to products. To help design engineers understand the assumed cost relationships, the Cost Accounting Department developed the following cost equation. (The equation describes the relationship between total manufacturing costs and direct labor hours; the equation is supported by a coefficient of determination of 60 percent.) Y=5,000,000+30X,whereX=directlaborhours The variable rate of 30 is broken down as follows: Because of competitive pressures, product engineering was given the charge to redesign products to reduce the total cost of manufacturing. Using the above cost relationships, product engineering adopted the strategy of redesigning to reduce direct labor content. As each design was completed, an engineering change order was cut, triggering a series of events such as design approval, vendor selection, bill of materials update, redrawing of schematic, test runs, changes in setup procedures, development of new inspection procedures, and so on. After one year of design changes, the normal volume of direct labor was reduced from 250,000 hours to 200,000 hours, with the same number of products being produced. Although each product differs in its labor content, the redesign efforts reduced the labor content for all products. On average, the labor content per unit of product dropped from 1.25 hours per unit to one hour per unit. Fixed overhead, however, increased from 5,000,000 to 6,600,000 per year. Suppose that a consultant was hired to explain the increase in fixed overhead costs. The consultants study revealed that the 30 per hour rate captured the unit-level variable costs; however, the cost behavior of other activities was quite different. For example, setting up equipment is a step-fixed cost, where each step is 2,000 setup hours, costing 90,000. The study also revealed that the cost of receiving goods is a function of the number of different components. This activity has a variable cost of 2,000 per component type and a fixed cost that follows a step-cost pattern. The step is defined by 20 components with a cost of 50,000 per step. Assume also that the consultant indicated that the design adopted by the engineers increased the demand for setups from 20,000 setup hours to 40,000 setup hours and the number of different components from 100 to 250. The demand for other non-unit-level activities remained unchanged. The consultant also recommended that management take a look at a rejected design for its products. This rejected design increased direct labor content from 250,000 hours to 260,000 hours, decreased the demand for setups from 20,000 hours to 10,000 hours, and decreased the demand for purchasing from 100 component types to 75 component types, while the demand for all other activities remained unchanged. Required: 1. Using normal volume, compute the manufacturing cost per labor hour before the year of design changes. What is the cost per unit of an average product? 2. Using normal volume after the one year of design changes, compute the manufacturing cost per hour. What is the cost per unit of an average product? 3. Before considering the consultants study, what do you think is the most likely explanation for the failure of the design changes to reduce manufacturing costs? Now use the information from the consultants study to explain the increase in the average cost per unit of product. What changes would you suggest to improve Evanss efforts to reduce costs? 4. Explain why the consultant recommended a second look at a rejected design. Provide computational support. What does this tell you about the strategic importance of cost management?
Pelder Products Company manufactures two types of engineering diagnostic equipment used in construction. The two products are based upon different technologies, X-ray and ultrasound, but are manufactured in the same factory. Pelder has computed the manufacturing cost of the X-ray and ultrasound products by adding together direct materials, direct labor, and overhead cost applied based on the number of direct labor hours. The factory has three overhead departments that support the single production line that makes both products. Budgeted overhead spending for the departments is as follows: Pelders budgeted manufacturing activities and costs for the period are as follows: The budgeted cost to manufacture one ultrasound machine using the activity-based costing method is: a. 225. b. 264. c. 293. d. 305.