Maxlon Company manufactures custom-made furniture for its local market and produces a line of home furnishings sold in retail stores across the country. The company uses traditional volume-based methods of assigning direct materials and direct labor to its product lines. Overhead has always been assigned using a plantwide overhead rate based on direct labor hours. In the past few years, management has seen its line of retail products continue to sell at high volumes, but competition has forced it to lower prices on these items. The prices are declining to a level close to its cost of production. Meanwhile, its custom-made furniture is in high demand, and customers have commented on its favorable (lower) prices compared to its competitors. Management is considering dropping its line of retail products and devoting all of its resources to custom-made furniture. Required 1. What reasons could explain why competitors are forcing the company to lower prices on its high-volume retail products? 2. Why do you believe the company charges less for custom-order products than its competitors? 3. Does a company’s costing method have any effect on its pricing decisions? Explain. 4. Aside from the differences in volume of output, what production differences do you believe exist between making custom-order furniture and mass-market furnishings? 5. What information might the company obtain from using ABC that it might not obtain using volume-based costing methods?

Quincy Farms is a producer of items made from farm products that are distributed to supermarkets. For many years, Quincys products have had strong regional sales on the basis of brand recognition. However, other companies have been marketing similar products in the area, and price competition has become increasingly important. Doug Gilbert, the companys controller, is planning to implement a standard costing system for Quincy and has gathered considerable information from his coworkers on production and direct materials requirements for Quincys products. Doug believes that the use of standard costing will allow Quincy to improve cost control and make better operating decisions. Quincys most popular product is strawberry jam. The jam is produced in 10-gallon batches, and each batch requires six quarts of good strawberries. The fresh strawberries are sorted by hand before entering the production process. Because of imperfections in the strawberries and spoilage, one quart of strawberries is discarded for every four quarts of acceptable berries. Three minutes is the standard direct labor time required for sorting strawberries in order to obtain one quart of strawberries. The acceptable strawberries are then processed with the other ingredients: processing requires 12 minutes of direct labor time per batch. After processing, the jam is packaged in quart containers. Doug has gathered the following information from Joe Adams, Quincys cost accountant, relative to processing the strawberry jam. a. Quincy purchases strawberries at a cost of 0.80 per quart. All other ingredients cost a total of 0.45 per gallon. b. Direct labor is paid at the rate of 9.00 per hour. c. The total cost of direct material and direct labor required to package the jam is 0.38 per quart. Joe has a friend who owns a strawberry farm that has been losing money in recent years. Because of good crops, there has been an oversupply of strawberries, and prices have dropped to 0.50 per quart. Joe has arranged for Quincy to purchase strawberries from his friends farm in hopes that the 0.80 per quart will put his friends farm in the black. Required: 1. Discuss which coworkers Doug probably consulted to set standards. What factors should Doug consider in establishing the standards for direct materials and direct labor? 2. Develop the standard cost sheet for the prime costs of a 10-gallon batch of strawberry jam. 3. Citing the specific standards of the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice described in Chapter 1, explain why Joes behavior regarding the cost information provided to Doug is unethical. (CMA adapted)

Decorative Doors Ltd produces two types of doors: interior and exterior. The company’s costing system has two direct-cost categories (materials and labour) and one indirect-cost pool. The costing system allocates indirect costs on the basis of machine-hours. Recently, the owners of Decorative Doors have been concerned about a decline in the market share for their interior doors, usually their biggest seller. Information related to Decorative Doors production for the most recent year is as follows: Particulars Interior Exterior Units sold 3200 1800 Selling price $125 $200 Direct material cost per unit $30 $45 Direct production labour cost per hour5 $16 $16 Direct production labour-hours per unit 1.50 2.25 Production runs 40 85 Material moves 72 168 Machine set-ups 45 155 Machine-hours 5500 4500 Number of inspections 250 150 The owners have heard of other companies in the industry that are now…

Asbury Coffee Enterprises (ACE) manufactures two models of coffee grinders. Personal and Commercial. The Personal grinders have a smaller capacity and are less durable than the Commercial grinders. ACE only recently began producing the Commercial model. Since the introduction of the new product, profits have been steadily declining, although sales have been increasing. The management at ACE believes that the problem might be in how the accounting system allocates costs to products. The current system at ACE allocates manufacturing overhead to products based on direct labor costs. For the most recent year, which is representative, manufacturing overhead totaled $1,929,000 based on production of 30,000 Personal grinders and 10,000 Commercial grinders. Direct costs were as follows: Direct materials Direct labor Cost Driver Number of production runs Quality tests performed Shipping orders processed Total overhead Management has determined that overhead costs are caused by three cost…

Asbury Coffee Enterprises (ACE) manufactures two models of coffee grinders: Personal and Commercial. The Personal grinders have a smaller capacity and are less durable than the Commercial grinders. ACE only recently began producing the Commercial model. Since the introduction of the new product, profits have been steadily declining, although sales have been increasing. The management at ACE believes that the problem might be in how the accounting system allocates costs to products. The current system at ACE allocates manufacturing overhead to products based on direct labor costs. For the most recent year, which is representative, manufacturing overhead totaled $2,037,000 based on production of 30,000 Personal grinders and 10,000 Commercial grinders. Direct costs were as follows: Personal Commercial Total Direct materials $ 1,445,000 $ 620,000 $ 2,065,000 Direct labor 1,030,000 667,500 1,697,500 Management has determined that overhead costs are caused by three cost…

Asbury Coffee Enterprises (ACE) manufactures two models of coffee grinders: Personal and Commercial. The Personal grinders have a smaller capacity and are less durable than the Commercial grinders. ACE only recently began producing the Commercial model. Since the introduction of the new product, profits have been steadily declining, although sales have been increasing. The management at ACE believes that the problem might be in how the accounting system allocates costs to products. The current system at ACE allocates manufacturing overhead to products based on direct labor costs. For the most recent year, which is representative, manufacturing overhead totaled $2,023,500 based on production of 30,000 Personal grinders and 10,000 Commercial grinders. Direct costs were as follows: Personal Commercial Total Direct materials $ 1,444,200 $ 609,750 $ 2,053,950 Direct labor 1,029,000 657,250 1,686,250 Management has determined that overhead costs are caused by three cost…

Maple Woods Inc. manufactures lounge chairs available in both a luxury and a standard model. The company has made the standard model for years; the luxury model was introduced several years ago to capture a new segment of the market. Since the introduction of the luxury model, the company's profits have steadily declined, and management has become concerned about the accuracy of its costing system. Sales of the luxury model have been increasing rapidly. Overhead is applied to products on the basis of direct labour hours. At the beginning of the current year, management estimated that $6,512,836 in overhead costs would be incurred and the company would produce and sell 6,300 units of the luxury model and 44,680 units of the standard model. The luxury model requires 3.0 hours of direct labour time per unit, and the standard model requires 2.0 hours. Materials and labour costs follow: Direct materials cost per unit. Direct labour cost per hour Predetermined overhead rate Unit product cost…

Southward Company has implemented a JIT flexible manufacturing system. John Richins, controller of the company, has decided to reduce the accounting requirements given the expectation of lower inventories. For one thing, he has decided to treat direct labor cost as a part of overhead and to discontinue the detailed direct labor accounting of the past. The company has created two manufacturing cells, each capable of producing a family of products: the radiator cell and the water pump cell. The output of both cells is sold to a sister division and to customers who use the radiators and water pumps for repair activity. Product-level overhead costs outside the cells are assigned to each cell using appropriate drivers. Facility-level costs are allocated to each cell on the basis of square footage. The budgeted direct labor and overhead costs are as follows: Radiator Cell Water Pump Cell Direct labor costs $168,400 $108,410 Direct overhead 656,760 395,550 Product…

Asbury Coffee Enterprises (ACE) manufactures two models of coffee grinders: Personal and Commercial. The Personal grinders have a smaller capacity and are less durable than the Commercial grinders. ACE only recently began producing the Commercial model. Since the introduction of the new product, profits have been steadily declining, although sales have been increasing. The management at ACE believes that the problem might be in how the accounting system allocates costs to products. The current system at ACE allocates manufacturing overhead to products based on direct labor costs. For the most recent year, which is representative, manufacturing overhead totaled $1,902,000 based on production of 30,000 Personal grinders and 10,000 Commercial grinders. Direct costs were as follows: Direct materials Direct labor Personal $ 1,437,000 1,020,000 Commercial $ 517,500 565,000 Total $ 1,954,500 1,585,000 Management has determined that overhead costs are caused by three cost drivers. These…

Solomon Chairs, Incorporated makes two types of chairs. Model Diamond is a high-end product designed for professional offices. Model Gold is an economical product designed for family use. Jane Silva, the president, is worried about cut-throat price competition in the chairs market. Her company suffered a loss last quarter, an unprecedented event in its history. The company's accountant prepared the following cost data for Ms. Silva: Direct Cost per Unit Direct materials Direct labor Category Unit level Batch level Product level Facility level Total Show Transcribed Text Model Diamond (D) $ 20.20 per unit $17.60/hour x 2.00 hours production time Type of Product Estimated Cost $ 255,000 975,000 546,000 644,000 $ 2,420,000 a. Model Diamond a. Model Gold b. Model Diamond b. Model Gold Cost Driver The market price for office chairs comparable to Model Diamond is $119 and to Model Gold is $73. Number of units. Number of setups Number of TV commercials. Number of machine hours. Cost per Unit…

Baird Chairs, Incorporated makes two types of chairs. Model Diamond is a high-end product designed for professional offices. Model Gold is an economical product designed for family use. Jane Silva, the president, is worried about cut-throat price competition in the chairs market. Her company suffered a loss last quarter, an unprecedented event in its history. The company's accountant prepared the following cost data for Ms. Silva: Direct Cost per Unit Direct materials Direct labor Category Unit level Batch level Product level Facility level Total Model Diamond (D) $19.50 per unit $ 19.10/hour x 2.00 hours production time Type of Product Estimated Cost $ 247,500 825,000 704,000 572,000 $ 2,348,500 a. Model Diamond a. Model Gold b. Model Diamond b. Model Gold Cost Driver Number of units. Number of setups Number of TV commercials Number of machine hours The market price for office chairs comparable to Model Diamond is $118 and to Model Gold is $75. Cost per Unit Model Gold (G) $9.90 per…

Chocolate Bars, Inc. (CBI), manufactures creamy deluxe chocolate candy bars. The firm has developed three distinct products: Almond Dream, Krispy Krackle, and Creamy Crunch. CBI is profitable, but management is quite concerned about the profitability of each product and the product costing methods currently employed. In particular, management questions whether the overhead allocation base of direct labor-hours accurately reflects the costs incurred during the production process of each product. In reviewing cost reports with the marketing manager, Steve Hoffman, who is the cost accountant, notices that Creamy Crunch appears exceptionally profitable and that Almond Dream appears to be produced at a loss. This surprises both him and the manager, and after much discussion, they are convinced that the cost accounting system is at fault and that Almond Dream is performing very well at the current market price. Steve decides to hire Jean Sharpe, a management consultant, to study the…

Solution Summary: The author explains that activity-based costing is an accounting method that assigns costs to each of the activities in an organization.

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