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?
Trending nowThis is a popular solution!
Learn your wayIncludes step-by-step video
Chapter 17 Solutions
EBK HORNGREN'S COST ACCOUNTING
Additional Business Textbook Solutions
Managerial Accounting (4th Edition)
Principles of Accounting Volume 1
Principles of Accounting Volume 2
Horngren's Accounting (12th Edition)
Financial Accounting (11th Edition)
Horngren's Financial & Managerial Accounting, The Financial Chapters (6th Edition)
- Bob Randall, cost accounting manager for Hemple Products, was asked to determine the costs of the activities performed within the company’s Manufacturing Engineering Department. The department has the following activities: creating bills of materials (BOMs), studying manufacturing capabilities, improving manufacturing process, training, employees, and designing tools. The resources costs (from the general ledger) and the times to perform one unit of each activity are provided below: Resource Cost Activities Unit Time Driver Salaries $500,000 Creating BOMs 0.5 hr. No. of BOMs Equipment 100,000 Designing Tools 5.4 hr. No. of tools designs Supplies 30,000 Improving processes 1.0 hr. Process improvement hrs Total $630,000 Training employees 2.0 hr. No. of training sessions Studying capabilities 1.0 hr. Study hrs. Total machine and labor hours (at practical capacity):…arrow_forward17-47 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_forwardSaratoga Company manufactures jobs to customer specifications. The company is conducting a time-driven activity-based costing study in its Purchasing Department to better understand how Purchasing Department labor costs are consumed by individual jobs. To aid the study, the company provided the following data regarding its Purchasing Department and three of its many jobs: Number of employees Average salary per employee Weeks of employment per year Hours worked per week Practical capacity percentage Minutes per unit of the activity Number of requisitions processed Number of bid evaluations Number of inspections 11 $ 27,000 52 40 85% Requisition Processing 15 Job X 6 4 7 Bid Evaluation 45 Job Y 3 3 3 Job Z 2 5 7 Inspection 30 Now assume that Saratoga Company would like to answer the following "what if" question using its time-driven activity-based costing system: Assuming our estimated activity demands for all jobs in the next period will be as shown below, how will this affect our job…arrow_forward
- Bob Randall, cost accounting manager for Hemple Products, was asked to determine the costs of the activities performed within the company's Manufacturing Engineering Department. The department has the following activities: creating bills of materials (BOMs), studying manufacturing capabilities, improving manufacturing processes, training employees, and designing tools. The resource costs (from the general ledger) and the times to perform one unit of each activity are provided below. Resource Costs Activities Unit Time Driver Salaries $425,000 Creating BOMs 0.6 hr. No. of BOMs Equipment 92,000 Designing tools 3.7 hrs. No. of tool designs Supplies 43,000 Improving processes 1.1 hrs. Process improvement hrs. Total $560,000 Training employees 2.1 hrs. No. of training sessions Studying capabilities 2.1 hrs. Study hours Total machine and labor hours (at practical capacity): Machine…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_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 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Machine-Hours 40,300 38,300 31,100 43,400 51,600 46,500 43,400 63,100 37,300 54,700 53,700 37,300 60,900 59,900…arrow_forward
- Saratoga Company manufactures jobs to customer specifications. The company is conducting a time-driven activity-based costing study in its Purchasing Department to better understand how Purchasing Department labor costs are consumed by individual jobs. To aid the study, the company provided the following data regarding its Purchasing Department and three of its many jobs: Number of employees 11 Average salary per employee $ 27,000 Weeks of employment per year 52 Hours worked per week 40 Practical capacity percentage 85% Requisition Processing Bid Evaluation Inspection Minutes per unit of the activity 15 45 30 Job X Job Y Job Z Number of requisitions processed 6 3 2 Number of bid evaluations 4 3 5 Number of inspections 7 3 7 Now assume that Saratoga Company would like to answer the following “what if” question using its time-driven activity-based costing system: Assuming our estimated activity demands for all jobs in the next period will…arrow_forwardCOVID Co. uses a 5,000 square foot factory space that it rents for $2,500 a month for all its manufacturing activities. Production manager has decided to switch to an activity-based costing system, and has identified its activities as follows: Preparation and Setup, Machining, Finishing, and Quality Control. 600 square feet of the factory are used for machining, while 2,000 square feet (each) are used for Preparation and Setup and Quality Control. Finishing uses 400 square feet. When assigning indirect costs to each activity, how much factory rent should be assigned to the Preparation and Setup cost pool? Select one: O a. $2,000 O b. None of the given ANSWER O c. $300 d. $200 e. $1,000arrow_forwardCOVID Co. uses a 5,000 square foot factory space that it rents for $2,500 a month for all its manufacturing activities. Production manager has decided to switch to an activity-based costing system, and has identified its activities as follows: Preparation and Setup, Machining, Finishing, and Quality Control. 600 square feet of the factory are used for machining, while 2,000 square feet (each) are used for Preparation and Setup and Quality Control. Finishing uses 400 square feet. When assigning indirect costs to each activity, how much factory rent should be assigned to the Machining cost pool? Select one: a. $2,000 Ob. $200 Oc. $300 d. $1,000 O e. None of the given ANSWER Next page Questions video Jump to... Table- web and Windows Warrow_forward
- XYZ Co. uses a 5,000 square foot factory space that it rents for $3,500 a month for all its manufacturing activities. The company has decided to switch to an activity-based costing system, and has identified its activities as follows: Preparation and Setup, Machining, Finishing, and Quality Control. 500 square feet of the factory are used for machining, while 2,000 square feet (each) are used for Preparation and Setup and Quality Control. Finishing uses 500 square feet. When assigning indirect costs to each activity, how much factory rent should be assigned to the Quality Control cost pool? O a. None of the given answer is correct. b. $1,400 O c. $300 O d. $1,200 O e. $350arrow_forwardRick Pines and Joe Lopez are the plant managers for High Mountain Lumber’s particle board division. High Mountain Lumber has adopted a just-in-time management philosophy. Each plant combines wood chips with chemical adhesives to produce particle board to order, and all product is sold as soon as it is completed. Laura Green is High Mountain Lumber’s regional controller. All of High Mountain Lumber’s plants and divisions send Green their production and cost information. While reviewing the numbers of the two particle board plants, she is surprised to find that both plants estimate their ending Work-in-Process Inventories at 75% complete, which is higher than usual. Green calls Lopez, whom she has known for some time. He admits that to ensure their division would meet its profit goal and that both he and Pines would make their bonus (which is based on division profit), they agreed to inflate the percentage completion. Lopez explains, “Determining the percent complete always requires…arrow_forwardXYZ Co. uses a 5,000 square foot factory space that it rents for $3,000 a month for all its manufacturing activities. The company has decided to switch to an activity-based costing system, and has identified its activities as follows: Preparation and Setup, Machining, Finishing, and Quality Control. 500 square feet of the factory are used for machining, while 2,000 square feet (each) are used for Preparation and Setup and Quality Control. Finishing uses 500 square feet. When assigning indirect costs to each activity, how much factory rent should be assigned to the ?Machining cost pool $300 a O $1,200 .b O None of the given answer is correct c O $350 d O $1,400 .e Oarrow_forward
- Cornerstones of Cost Management (Cornerstones Ser...AccountingISBN:9781305970663Author:Don R. Hansen, Maryanne M. MowenPublisher:Cengage LearningManagerial AccountingAccountingISBN:9781337912020Author:Carl Warren, Ph.d. Cma William B. TaylerPublisher:South-Western College PubManagerial Accounting: The Cornerstone of Busines...AccountingISBN:9781337115773Author:Maryanne M. Mowen, Don R. Hansen, Dan L. HeitgerPublisher:Cengage Learning
- Principles of Cost AccountingAccountingISBN:9781305087408Author:Edward J. Vanderbeck, Maria R. MitchellPublisher:Cengage Learning