Concept explainers
Benchmarking, ethics. Amanda McNall is the corporate controller of Scott Quarry. Scott Quarry operates 12 rock-crushing plants in Scott County, Kentucky, that process huge chunks of limestone rock extracted from underground mines.
Given the competitive landscape for pricing, Scott’s managers pay close attention to costs. Each plant uses a process-costing system, and at the end of every quarter, each plant manager submits a production report and a production-cost report. The production report includes the plant manager’s estimate of the percentage of completion of the ending work in process as to direct materials and conversion costs, as well as the level of processed limestone inventory. McNall uses these estimates to compute the cost per equivalent unit of work done for each input for the quarter. Plants are ranked from 1 to 12, and the three plants with the lowest cost per equivalent unit for direct materials and conversion costs are each given a bonus and recognized in the company newsletter.
McNall has been pleased with the success of her benchmarking program. However, she has recently received anonymous e-mails that two plant managers have been manipulating their monthly estimates of percentage of completion in an attempt to obtain the bonus.
- 1. Why and how might managers manipulate their monthly estimates of percentage of completion and level of inventory?
- 2. McNall’s first reaction is to contact each plant controller and discuss the problem raised by the anonymous communications. Is that a good idea?
- 3. Assume that each plant controller’s primary reporting responsibility is to the plant manager and that each plant controller receives the phone call from McNall mentioned in requirement 2. What is the ethical responsibility of each plant controller (a) to Amanda McNall and (b) to Scott Quarry in relation to the equivalent-unit and inventory information each plant provides?
- 4. How might McNall learn whether the data provided by particular plants are being manipulated?
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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.arrow_forwardTom 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.arrow_forwardVargas, Inc., produces industrial machinery. Vargas has a machining department and a group of direct laborers called machinists. Each machinist is paid 25,000 and can machine up to 500 units per year. Vargas also hires supervisors to develop machine specification plans and to oversee production within the machining department. Given the planning and supervisory work, a supervisor can oversee three machinists, at most. Vargass accounting and production history reveal the following relationships between units produced and the costs of direct labor and supervision (measured on an annual basis): Required: 1. Prepare two graphs: one that illustrates the relationship between direct labor cost and units produced, and one that illustrates the relationship between the cost of supervision and units produced. Let cost be the vertical axis and units produced the horizontal axis. 2. How would you classify each cost? Why? 3. Suppose that the normal range of activity is between 2,400 and 2,450 units and that the exact number of machinists is currently hired to support this level of activity. Further suppose that production for the next year is expected to increase by an additional 400 units. How much will the cost of direct labor increase (and how will this increase be realized)? Cost of supervision?arrow_forward
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- Communications Jamarcus Bradshaw, plant manager of Georgia Paper Companys papermaking mill, was looking over the cost of production reports for July and August for the Papermaking Department. The reports revealed the following: Jamarcus was concerned about the increased cost per ton from the output of the department. As a result, he asked the plant controller to perform a study to help explain these results. The controller, Leann Brunswick, began the analysis by performing some interviews of key plant personnel in order to understand what the problem might be. Excerpts from an interview with Len Tyson, a paper machine operator, follow: Len: We have two papermaking machines in the department. I have no data, but I think paper machine No. 1 is applying too much pulp and, thus, is wasting both conversion and materials resources. We haven't had repairs on paper machine No. 1 in a while. Maybe this is the problem. Leann: How does too much pulp result in wasted resources? Len: Well, you see, if too much pulp is applied, then we will waste pulp material. The customer will not pay for the extra product; we just use more material to make the product. Also, when there is too much pulp, the machine must be slowed down in order to complete the drying process. This results in additional conversion costs. Leann: Do you have any other suspicions? Len: Well, as you know, we have two productsgreen paper and yellow paper. They are identical except for the color. The color is added to the papermaking process in the paper machine. I think that during August these two color papers have been behaving very differently. I don't have any data, but it just seems as though the amount of waste associated with the green paper has increased. Leann: Why is this? Len: I understand that there has been a change in specifications for the green paper, starting near the beginning of August. This change could be causing the machines to run poorly when making green paper. If this is the case, the cost per ton would increase for green paper. Leann also asked for a database printout providing greater detail on Augusts operating results. September 9 Requested by: Leann Brunswick Papermaking DepartmentAugust detail Prior to preparing a report, Leann resigned from Georgia Paper Company to start her own business. You have been asked to take the data that Leann collected, and write a memo to Jamarcus Bradshaw with a recommendation to management. Your memo should include analysis of the August data to determine whether the paper machine or the paper color explains the increase in the unit cost from July. Include any supporting schedules that are appropriate. Round any calculations to the nearest cent.arrow_forwardElizabeth Flanigan and Associates is an engineering and design firm that specializes in developing plans for recycling plants for municipalities. The firm uses a job costing system to accumlate the cost associated with each design project. Flanigan employs three levels of employee: senior engineers, associate engineers, and clerical staff. The salary cost of the clerical staff is included in overhead, along with the cost of engineering supplies, automobile travel, and equipment depreciation. The cost of airline travel, motels, building permits, and fees from other consultants is charged to each project as direct materials. Overhead is applied to projects using a predetermined overhead rate based on total engineering hours. The rate for 20X0 is $5 per hour. The six different salary levels for 20X1 for the employees of Elizabeth Flanigan and Associates are listed below. The hourly rate is determined by dividing the yearly salary by 2,000 hours per year. Senior engineer Level 1:…arrow_forwardBest Practices, Inc., is a management consulting firm. Its Corporate Division advises private firms on the adoption and use of cost management systems. Government Division consults with state and local governments. Government Division has a client that is interested in implementing an activity-based costing system in its public works department. The division’s head approached the head of Corporate Division about using one of its associates. Corporate Division charges clients $645 per hour for associate services, the same rate other consulting companies charge. The Government Division head complained that it could hire its own associate at an estimated variable cost of $245 per hour, which is what Corporate pays its associates. Suppose that Government Division will charge the client interested in implementing an activity-based costing system by the hour based on cost plus a fixed fee, where the cost is primarily the consultant’s hourly pay. Assume also that Government Division cannot…arrow_forward
- 17-47 Benchmarking, ethics. Amanda McNall is the corporate controller of Scott Quarry. Scott Quarry operates 12 rock-crushing plants in Scott County, Kentucky, that process huge chunks of limestone rock extracted from underground mines. Given the competitive landscape for pricing, Scott’s managers pay close attention to costs. Each plant uses a process-costing system, and at the end of every quarter, each plant manager submits a production report and a production-cost report. The production report includes the plant manager’s estimate of the percentage of completion of the ending work in process as to direct materials and conversion costs, as well as the level of processed limestone inventory. McNall uses these estimates to compute the cost per equivalent unit of work done for each input for the quarter. Plants are ranked from 1 to 12, and the three plants with the lowest cost per equivalent unit for direct materials and conversion costs are each given a bonus and recognized in the…arrow_forwardElizabeth Flanigan and Associates is an engineering and design firm that specializes in developing plans for recycling plants for municipalities. The firm uses a job costing system to accumulate the cost associated with each design project. Flanigan employs three levels of employee: senior engineers, associate engineers, and clerical staff. The salary cost of the senior en- gineers and the associate engineers is assigned to each project as direct labor. The salary cost of the clerical staff is included in overhead, along with the cost of engineering supplies, automobile travel, and equipment depreciation. The cost of airline travel, motels, building permits, and fees from other consultants is charged to each project as direct materials. Overhead is applied to projects using a predetermined overhead rate based on total engineering hours. The rate is $5 per hour. The six different salary levels for the employees of Elizabeth Flanigan and Associates are listed below. The hourly rate is…arrow_forwardGoulburn, Incorporated produces parts for heavy equipment used in mining and construction. The plant that produces one part common to many vehicles is highly automated, so all labor is considered part of factory overhead. The plant manager, who has just been promoted, would like to understand how overhead costs fluctuate in order to improve planning and budgets. After discussions with both financial and operations members of the plant staff, there is general agreement that the best cost driver for overhead is machine-hours. Monthly data were collected from the most recent two years on machine-hours and overhead. More months of data were available, but a process change had taken place about 30 months earlier, so the staff believed any data from before that time would be misleading. The data are shown in the following table: Month Machine-Hours Factory Overhead 1 39,300 $ 527,100 2 37,300 416,500 3 30,100 365,800 4 42,400 498,200 5 50,600 590,700 6 45,500 503,400 7…arrow_forward
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