ERP cost-benefit analysis (Learning Objective 5) As CEO of Riverside Marine, Rachel Moore knows it is important to control costs and to respond quickly to changes in the highly competitive boat-building industry. When Gerbig Consulting proposes that Riverside Marine invest in an ERP system, she forms a team to evaluate the proposal: the plant engineer, the plant foreman, the systems specialist, the human resources director, the marketing director, and the management accountant . A month later, management accountant Miles Cobalt reports that the team and Gerbig estimate that if Riverside Marine implements the ERP system, it will incur the following costs: a. $390,000 in software costs b. $85,000 to customize the ERP software and load Riverside Marine’s data into the new ERP system c. $112,000 for employee training The team estimates that the ERP system should provide several benefits: a. More efficient order processing should lead to savings of $185,000. b. Streamlining the manufacturing process so that it maps into the ERP system will create savings of $255,000. c. Integrating purchasing, production, marketing, and distribution into a single system will allow Riverside Marine to reduce inventories, saving $215,000. d. Higher customer satisfaction should increase sales, which, in turn, should increase profits by $150,000. Requirements 1. If the ERP installation succeeds, what is the dollar amount of the benefits? 2. Should Riverside Marine install the ERP system? Why or why not? Show your calculations. 3. Why did Moore create a team to evaluate Gerbig’s proposal? Consider each piece of cost-benefit information that management accountant Cobalt reported. Which person on the team is most likely to have contributed each item? ( Hint: Which team member is likely to have the most information about each cost or benefit?)

In today's fast-paced business environment, decision making is a critical task for managers. Making the right decisions is vital to the success of a company, and it requires access to relevant information. Cari Pump (CP) Company manufactures water pumps. An important part of the pump is its electronic component (EC). Cari Pump collects data with the following cost information about the costs of making ECs in 2019 and the expected costs in 2020: Current Costs (2019) Expected Costs (2020) Fixed manufacturing cost Fixed manufacturing overhead costs that can be avoided if ECs are not made 360,000 360,000 Fixed manufacturing overhead costs of plant depreciation, insurance, and administration that cannot be avoided even if ECs are not made 850,000 850,000 Variable manufacturing costs Direct material cost per EC…

Vince Malloy and Katy Smith, both systems personnel at Shamrock Steelworks, are designing a new expenditure cycle system. Vince has worked for Shamrock for 12 years and has been involved in many systems development projects. Katy recently began working for Shamrock. She has 4 years of experience in systems development with another comparably sized organization. Yesterday, Vince and Katy met to determine their plan for approaching the conceptual system design. Following is an excerpt of some dialogue that occurred in that meeting.Katy: I really think that the new system can be designed more efficiently if we use an object-oriented design approach. Further, future enhancements and maintenance will be easier if we use an object approach.Vince: The method you are suggesting is a creation of modules. I do not have a problem with that concept in general. I just prefer using a top-down approach to design the system. We have been using that system for the past 12 years, and it has worked out…

ABC bank offers a Business Grant to encourage a fresh graduate to become an entrepreneur. However, to apply this Business Grant, you need to explain in general the overview of your business. Therefore, using the Business Model Canvas approach, develop your strategy to run ANY BUSINESS IDEA by illustrating Business Model Canvas based on NINE (9) areas, including customer segment, value proposition, marketing channels, customer relationships, key partners, key activities, key resources, cost structure, and revenue stream.

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.

Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.Paul Duncan, financial manager of EduSoft Inc., is facing a dilemma. The firm was founded 5 years ago to provide educational software for the rapidly expanding primary and secondary school markets. Although EduSoft has done well, the firm's founder believes an industry shakeout is imminent. To survive, EduSoft must grab market share now, and this will require a large infusion of new capital.Because he expects earnings to continue rising sharply and looks for the stock price to follow suit, Mr. Duncan does not think it would be wise to issue new common stock at this time. On the other hand, interest rates are currently high by historical standards, and the firm's B rating means that interest payments on a new debt issue would be prohibitive.…

Tim Johnson is a news reporter and feature writer for The Wall Street Review, an important daily newspaper for financial managers. Tim’s assignment is to develop two feature articles: one on life-cycle costing and one on business analytics, including interviews with chief financial officers and operating managers. Tim has a generous travel budget for research into company history, operations, and market analysis for the firms he selects for the article. Tim has asked you to recommend industries and firms that would be good candidates for the article. What would you advise? Explain your recommendations.

Allright Test Design Company creates, produces, and sells Internet-based CPA and CMA review courses for individual use. Davis Webber, head of human resources, is convinced that question development employees must have strong analytical and problem-solving skills. He asked Andrea Benson, controller for Allright Test Design, to help develop problems for use in screening applicants before they are interviewed. One of the problems Andrea developed is based on the following data for a mythical company (Mythic, Inc.) for the previous year: Conversion cost was $139,000 and was four times the prime cost. Direct materials used in production equaled $5,200. Cost of goods manufactured was $153,200. Ending work in process is 50 percent of the cost of beginning work in process. There are no beginning or ending inventories for direct materials. Cost of goods sold was 110 percent of cost of goods manufactured. Beginning finished goods inventory was $22,190. Required: Question Content Area 1.…

A professional division at a business school provides several development programs that have been tailored to the specific training needs of both the public and private sectors. The program director is planning to offer a one-full-day course in risk management to be sold at $2,250 plus orientation fee (5%) per participant. The division incurs a cost of $45,000 for promotion, classroom space, staff and instructor’s salary, as well as a cost of $240 per participant for refreshments, lunch, course material, a gift package, and a framed certificate of completion. How many participants need to register in the course for it to be worthwhile to offer it? Round to two decimal places. Group of answer choices 21.20 26.86 36.72

Accounting Areen has just been employed as a Trainee Management Accountant by Sarween & Sons, a newly established manufacturing company in Duhok. Areen is one of the seven members of a committee recently set up by the managing director of Sarween & Sons to advise the company on the benefits of changing its product costing method from Absorption costing to Activity Based Costing. As part of this project, Areen has come to you - the Finance Manager to ask for help with understanding the differences between activity-based costing and strategic activity-based management. Required: Explain how you would be of help to Areen?

Solution Summary: The author explains that the cost-benefit analysis of the ERP system will determine whether to accept the proposal or not.

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