Concept explainers
Morelli Electric Motor Corporation manufactures electric motors for commercial use. The company produces three models, designated as standard, deluxe, and heavy-duty. The company uses a
For the past 10 years, the company’s pricing formula has been to set each product’s target price at 110 percent of its full product cost. Recently, however, the standard-model motor has come under increasing price pressure from offshore competitors. The result was that the price on the standard model has been lowered to $110.
The company president recently asked the controller, “Why can’t we compete with these other companies? They’re selling motors just like our standard model for 106 dollars. That’s only a buck more than our production cost. Are we really that inefficient? What gives?”
The controller responded by saying, “I think this is due to an outmoded product-costing system. As you may remember, I raised a red flag about our system when I came on board last year. But the decision was to keep our current system in place. In my judgment, our product-costing system is distorting our product costs. Let me run a few numbers to demonstrate what I mean.”
Getting the president’s go-ahead, the controller compiled the basic data needed to implement an activity-based costing system. These data are displayed in the following table. The percentages are the proportion of each cost driver consumed by each product line.
Required:
- 1. Compute the target prices for the three models, based on the traditional, volume-based product costing system.
- 2. Compute new product costs for the three products, based on the new data collected by the controller. Round to the nearest cent.
- 3. Calculate a new target price for the three products, based on the activity-based costing system. Compare the new target price with the current actual selling price for the standard-model electric motor.
- 4. Write a memo to the company president explaining what has been happening as a result of the firm’s traditional, volume-based product-costing system.
- 5. What strategic options does Morelli Electric Motor Corporation have? What do you recommend, and why?
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Managerial Accounting: Creating Value in a Dynamic Business Environment
- Otero Fibers, Inc., specializes in the manufacture of synthetic fibers that the company uses in many products such as blankets, coats, and uniforms for police and firefighters. Otero has been in business since 1985 and has been profitable every year since 1993. The company uses a standard cost system and applies overhead on the basis of direct labor hours. Otero has recently received a request to bid on the manufacture of 800,000 blankets scheduled for delivery to several military bases. The bid must be stated at full cost per unit plus a return on full cost of no more than 10 percent after income taxes. Full cost has been defined as including all variable costs of manufacturing the product, a reasonable amount of fixed overhead, and reasonable incremental administrative costs associated with the manufacture and sale of the product. The contractor has indicated that bids in excess of 30 per blanket are not likely to be considered. In order to prepare the bid for the 800,000 blankets, Andrea Lightner, cost accountant, has gathered the following information about the costs associated with the production of the blankets. Direct machine costs consist of items such as special lubricants, replacement of needles used in stitching, and maintenance costs. These costs are not included in the normal overhead rates. Otero recently developed a new blanket fiber at a cost of 750,000. In an effort to recover this cost, Otero has instituted a policy of adding a 0.50 fee to the cost of each blanket using the new fiber. To date, the company has recovered 125,000. Lightner knows that this fee does not fit within the definition of full cost, as it is not a cost of manufacturing the product. Required: 1. Calculate the minimum price per blanket that Otero Fibers could bid without reducing the companys operating income. 2. Using the full-cost criteria and the maximum allowable return specified, calculate Otero Fibers bid price per blanket. 3. Without prejudice to your answer to Requirement 2, assume that the price per blanket that Otero Fibers calculated using the cost-plus criteria specified is greater than the maximum bid of 30 per blanket allowed. Discuss the factors that Otero Fibers should consider before deciding whether or not to submit a bid at the maximum acceptable price of 30 per blanket. (CMA adapted)arrow_forwardJellison Company had the following operating data for its first two years of operations: Jellison produced 90,000 units in the first year and sold 80,000. In the second year, it produced 80,000 units and sold 90,000 units. The selling price per unit each year was 12. Jellison uses an actual costing system for product costing. Required: 1. Prepare income statements for both years using absorption costing. Has firm performance, as measured by income, improved or declined from Year 1 to Year 2? 2. Prepare income statements for both years using variable costing. Has firm performance, as measured by income, improved or declined from Year 1 to Year 2? 3. Which method do you think most accurately measures firm performance? Why?arrow_forwardBobcat uses a traditional cost system and estimates next years overhead will be $800.000, as driven by the estimated 25,000 direct labor hours. It manufactures three products and estimates the following costs: If the labor rate is $30 per hour, what is the per-unit cost of each product?arrow_forward
- Colonels uses a traditional cost system and estimates next years overhead will be $480,000, with the estimated cost driver of 240,000 direct labor hours. It manufactures three products and estimates these costs: If the labor rate is $25 per hour, what is the per-unit cost of each product?arrow_forwardRoper Furniture manufactures office furniture and tracks cost data across their process. The following are some of the costs that they incur. Classify these costs as fixed or variable costs, and as product costs or period costs. Wood used to produce desks ($125,00 per desk) Production labor used to produce desks ($15 per hour) Production supervisor salary ($45,000 per year) Depreciation on factory equipment ($60,000 per year) Selling and administrative expenses ($45,000 per year) Rent on corporate office ($44,000 per year) Nails, glue, and other materials required to produce desks (varies per desk) Utilities expenses for production facility Sales staff commission (5% of gross sales)arrow_forwardSmokeCity, Inc., manufactures barbeque smokers. Based on past experience, SmokeCity has found that its total annual overhead costs can be represented by the following formula: Overhead cost = 543,000 + 1.34X, where X equals number of smokers. Last year, SmokeCity produced 20,000 smokers. Actual overhead costs for the year were as expected. Required: 1. What is the driver for the overhead activity? 2. What is the total overhead cost incurred by SmokeCity last year? 3. What is the total fixed overhead cost incurred by SmokeCity last year? 4. What is the total variable overhead cost incurred by SmokeCity last year? 5. What is the overhead cost per unit produced? 6. What is the fixed overhead cost per unit? 7. What is the variable overhead cost per unit? 8. Recalculate Requirements 5, 6, and 7 for the following levels of production: (a) 19,500 units and (b) 21,600 units. (Round your answers to the nearest cent.) Explain this outcome.arrow_forward
- Brees, Inc., a manufacturer of golf carts, has just received an offer from a supplier to provide 2,600 units of a component used in its main product. The component is a track assembly that is currently produced internally. The supplier has offered to sell the track assembly for 66 per unit. Brees is currently using a traditional, unit-based costing system that assigns overhead to jobs on the basis of direct labor hours. The estimated traditional full cost of producing the track assembly is as follows: Prior to making a decision, the companys CEO commissioned a special study to see whether there would be any decrease in the fixed overhead costs. The results of the study revealed the following: 3 setups1,160 each (The setups would be avoided, and total spending could be reduced by 1,160 per setup.) One half-time inspector is needed. The company already uses part-time inspectors hired through a temporary employment agency. The yearly cost of the part-time inspectors for the track assembly operation is 12,300 and could be totally avoided if the part were purchased. Engineering work: 470 hours, 45/hour. (Although the work decreases by 470 hours, the engineer assigned to the track assembly line also spends time on other products, and there would be no reduction in his salary.) 75 fewer material moves at 30 per move. Required: 1. Ignore the special study, and determine whether the track assembly should be produced internally or purchased from the supplier. 2. Now, using the special study data, repeat the analysis. 3. Discuss the qualitative factors that would affect the decision, including strategic implications. 4. After reviewing the special study, the controller made the following remark: This study ignores the additional activity demands that purchasing would cause. For example, although the demand for inspecting the part on the production floor decreases, we may need to inspect the incoming parts in the receiving area. Will we actually save any inspection costs? Is the controller right?arrow_forwardMott Company recently implemented a JIT manufacturing system. After one year of operation, Heidi Burrows, president of the company, wanted to compare product cost under the JIT system with product cost under the old system. Motts two products are weed eaters and lawn edgers. The unit prime costs under the old system are as follows: Under the old manufacturing system, the company operated three service centers and two production departments. Overhead was applied using departmental overhead rates. The direct overhead costs associated with each department for the year preceding the installation of JIT are as follows: Under the old system, the overhead costs of the service departments were allocated directly to the producing departments and then to the products passing through them. (Both products passed through each producing department.) The overhead rate for the Machining Department was based on machine hours, and the overhead rate for assembly was based on direct labor hours. During the last year of operations for the old system, the Machining Department used 80,000 machine hours, and the Assembly Department used 20,000 direct labor hours. Each weed eater required 1.0 machine hour in Machining and 0.25 direct labor hour in Assembly. Each lawn edger required 2.0 machine hours in Machining and 0.5 hour in Assembly. Bases for allocation of the service costs are as follows: Upon implementing JIT, a manufacturing cell for each product was created to replace the departmental structure. Each cell occupied 40,000 square feet. Maintenance and materials handling were both decentralized to the cell level. Essentially, cell workers were trained to operate the machines in each cell, assemble the components, maintain the machines, and move the partially completed units from one point to the next within the cell. During the first year of the JIT system, the company produced and sold 20,000 weed eaters and 30,000 lawn edgers. This output was identical to that for the last year of operations under the old system. The following costs have been assigned to the manufacturing cells: Required: 1. Compute the unit cost for each product under the old manufacturing system. 2. Compute the unit cost for each product under the JIT system. 3. Which of the unit costs is more accurate? Explain. Include in your explanation a discussion of how the computational approaches differ. 4. Calculate the decrease in overhead costs under JIT, and provide some possible reasons that explain the decrease.arrow_forwardCorazon Manufacturing Company has a purchasing department staffed by five purchasing agents. Each agent is paid 28,000 per year and is able to process 4,000 purchase orders. Last year, 17,800 purchase orders were processed by the five agents. Required: 1. Calculate the activity rate per purchase order. 2. Calculate, in terms of purchase orders, the: a. total activity availability b. unused capacity 3. Calculate the dollar cost of: a. total activity availability b. unused capacity 4. Express total activity availability in terms of activity capacity used and unused capacity. 5. What if one of the purchasing agents agreed to work half time for 14,000? How many purchase orders could be processed by four and a half purchasing agents? What would unused capacity be in purchase orders?arrow_forward
- Ingles Corporation is a manufacturer of tables sold to schools, restaurants, hotels, and other institutions. The table tops are manufactured by Ingles, but the table legs are purchased from an outside supplier. The Assembly Department takes a manufactured table top and attaches the four purchased table legs. It takes 16 minutes of labor to assemble a table. The company follows a policy of producing enough tables to ensure that 40 percent of next months sales are in the finished goods inventory. Ingles also purchases sufficient materials to ensure that materials inventory is 60 percent of the following months scheduled production. Ingless sales budget in units for the next quarter is as follows: Ingless ending inventories in units for July 31 are as follows: Required: 1. Calculate the number of tables to be produced during August. 2. Disregarding your response to Requirement 1, assume the required production units for August and September are 2,100 and 1,900, respectively, and the July 31 materials inventory is 4,000 units. Compute the number of table legs to be purchased in August. 3. Assume that Ingles Corporation will produce 2,340 units in September. How many employees will be required for the Assembly Department in September? (Fractional employees are acceptable since employees can be hired on a part-time basis. Assume a 40-hour week and a 4-week month.) (CMA adapted)arrow_forwardCarsen Company produces handcrafted pottery that uses two inputs: materials and labor. During the past quarter, 24,000 units were produced, requiring 96,000 pounds of materials and 48,000 hours of labor. An engineering efficiency study commissioned by the local university revealed that Carsen can produce the same 24,000 units of output using either of the following two combinations of inputs: The cost of materials is 8 per pound; the cost of labor is 12 per hour. Required: 1. Compute the output-input ratio for each input of Combination F1. Does this represent a productivity improvement over the current use of inputs? What is the total dollar value of the improvement? Classify this as a technical or an allocative efficiency improvement. 2. Compute the output-input ratio for each input of Combination F2. Does this represent a productivity improvement over the current use of inputs? Now, compare these ratios to those of Combination F1. What has happened? 3. Compute the cost of producing 24,000 units of output using Combination F1. Compare this cost to the cost using Combination F2. Does moving from Combination F1 to Combination F2 represent a productivity improvement? Explain.arrow_forwardZippy Inc. manufactures a fuel additive, Surge, which has a stable selling price of 44 per drum. The company has been producing and selling 80,000 drums per month. In connection with your examination of Zippys financial statements for the year ended September 30, management has asked you to review some computations made by Zippys cost accountant. Your working papers disclose the following about the companys operations: Standard costs per drum of product manufactured: Materials: Costs and expenses during September: Chemicals: 645,000 gallons purchased at a cost of 1,140,000; 600,000 gallons used. Empty drums: 94,000 purchased at a cost of 94,000; 80,000 drums used. Direct labor: 81,000 hours worked at a cost of 816,480. Factory overhead: 768,000. Required: Calculate the following for September, using the formulas on pages 421422 and 424 (Round unit costs to the nearest whole cent and compute the materials variances for both Surge and for the drums.): 1. Materials quantity variance. 2. Materials purchase price variance. 3. Labor efficiency variance. 4. Labor rate variance.arrow_forward
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