Concept explainers
Reciprocal cost allocation (continuation of 15-21). Consider E-books again. The controller of E-books reads a widely used textbook that states that “the reciprocal method is conceptually the most defensible” He seeks your assistance.
- 1. Describe the key features of the reciprocal method.
- 2. Allocate the support departments’ costs (human resources and information systems) to the two operating departments using the reciprocal method. Use (a) linear equations and (b) repeated iterations.
- 3. In the case presented in this exercise, which method (direct, step-down, or reciprocal) would you recommend? Why?
15-21 Direct and step-down allocation. E-books, an online book retailer, has two operating departments—corporate sales and consumer sales—and two support departments—human resources and information systems. Each sales department conducts merchandising and marketing operations independently. E-books uses number of employees to allocate human resources costs and processing time to allocate information systems costs. The following data are available for September 2017:
- 1. Allocate the support departments’ costs to the operating departments using the direct method.
Required
- 2. Rank the support departments based on the percentage of their services provided to other support departments. Use this ranking to allocate the support departments’ costs to the operating departments based on the step-down method.
- 3. How could you have ranked the support departments differently?
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Horngren's Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis (16th Edition)
- Allocate the two support departments’ costs to the two operating departments using the reciprocal method. Use (a) linear equations and (b) repeated iterations.arrow_forwardData Performance, a computer software consulting company, has three major functional areas: computer programming, information systems consulting, and software training. Carol Bingham, a pricing analyst, has been asked to develop total costs for the functional areas. These costs will be used as a guide in pricing a new contract. In computing these costs, Carol is considering three different methods of the departmental allocation approach to allocate overhead costs: the direct method, the step method, and the reciprocal method. She assembled the following data from the two service departments, information systems and facilities: Service Departments Production Departments Information Systems Facilities Computer Programming Information Systems Consulting Software Training Total Budgeted overhead (base) $ 368,000 $ 184,000 $ 736,000 $ 874,000 $ 575,000 $ 2,737,000 Information Systems (computer hours) 600 1,200 300 900 3,000 Facilities (square feet) 240 960 600 600…arrow_forwardUsing the step method to allocate the service center costs, what is the total cost of programming and classes?arrow_forward
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- Q3. ADLG Company has two support departments, SS1 and SS2, and two operating departments, OD1 and OD2. The company has decided to use the direct method and allocate variable SS1 dept. costs based on the number of transactions and fixed SS1 dept. costs based on the number of employees. SS2 dept. variable costs will be allocated based on the number of service requests and fixed costs will be allocated based on the number of computers. The following values have been extracted for the allocation | Total Department variable costs Total department fixed costs Number of transactions Number of employees Number of service requests Number of computers Support Departments SS1 16,000 19,500 50 18 37 20 SS2 19,000 34,000 You are required to allocate variable and fixed costs. 55 24 22 25 Operating Departments OD1 105,000 120,000 250 47 26 31 OD2 68,000 55,000 140 38 32 37arrow_forwardWhat are the differences between single and dual rate allocation? Explain with suitable examples. b) Provide a numerical example for single rate allocation and dual rate allocation and explain the process of allocating support department costs to the operating department, assuming that: The company has two support departments “S1 & S2” and two operating departments “O1 & O2.” The company use the direct method to allocate support department costs. Note: You are required to provide numerical examples assuming the values of your own and they should not be copied from any sources.arrow_forwardQ2. PPLC Company has two support departments, SD1 and SD2, and two operating departments, ODI and OD2. The company decided to use the direct method and allocate variable SD1 dept. costs based on the number of transactions and fixed SD1 dept. costs based on the number of employees. SD2 dept. variable costs will be allocated based on the number of service requests, and fixed costs will be allocated based on the number of computers. The following information is provided: (4 Marks) (Chapter 8, Week 10) Support Departments Operating Departments SD1 SD2 ODI OD2 Total Department variable costs 18,000 19,000 51,000 35,000 Total department fixed costs 20,000 24,000 56,000 30,000 Number of transactions 30 40 200 100 Number of employees 14 18 35 30 Number of service requests 28 18 35 25 Number of computers 15 20 24 28 You are required to allocate variable and fixed costs using direct method.arrow_forward
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