Cost Allocation: Step Method with Analysis and Decision Making
Steamco is reviewing its operations to see what additional energy-saving projects it might adopt. The company’s manufacturing plant generates its own electricity using a process capturing steam from its production processes. A summary of the use of service departments by other service departments as well as by the two producing departments at the plant follows:
Direct costs (in thousands) in the various departments follow:
Steamco currently allocates costs of service departments to production departments using the step method. The local power company indicates that it would charge $480,000 per year for the electricity that Steamco now generates internally. Management rejected switching to the power company on the grounds that its rates would cost more than the $330,000 ($90,000 + $240,000) cost of the present, company-owned, system.
Required
- a. What costs of electric
service did management use to prepare the basis for its decision to continue generating power internally? - b. Prepare for management an analysis of the costs of the company’s own electric generating operations. (Use the step method.) The rank order of allocation is (1) S1, (2) S4, (3) S2, and (4) S3.
- c. Add a section to your analysis to management that you prepared for requirement (b) to indicate whether your answer there would change if the company could realize $174,000 per year from the sale of the steam now used for electric generating. (Assume no selling costs.)
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- Young Company is beginning operations and is considering three alternatives to allocate manufacturing overhead to individual units produced. Young can use a plantwide rate, departmental rates, or activity-based costing. Young will produce many types of products in its single plant, and not all products will be processed through all departments. In which one of the following independent situations would reported net income for the first year be the same regardless of which overhead allocation method had been selected? a. All production costs approach those costs that were budgeted. b. The sales mix does not vary from the mix that was budgeted. c. All manufacturing overhead is a fixed cost. d. All ending inventory balances are zero.arrow_forwardThe 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?arrow_forwardCharlies Wood Works produces wood products (e.g., cabinets, tables, picture frames, and so on). Production departments include Cutting and Assembly. The Janitorial and Security departments support the Cutting and Assembly departments. The Assembly Department spans about 46,400 square feet and holds assets valued at about 60,000. The Cutting Department spans about 33,600 square feet and holds assets valued at about 140,000. Charlies Wood Works allocates support department costs using the direct method. If costs from the Janitorial Department are allocated based on square feet and costs from the Security Department are allocated based on asset value, determine (a) the percentage of Janitorial costs that should be allocated to the Assembly Department and (b) the percentage of Security costs that should be allocated to the Cutting Department.arrow_forward
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- 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. 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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. 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