Question

Problem 11-19 Dropping or Retaining a Segment [LO11-2]

Jackson County Senior Services is a nonprofit organization devoted to providing essential services to seniors who live in their own homes within the Jackson County area. Three services are provided for seniors—home nursing, Meals On Wheels, and housekeeping. Data on revenue and expenses for the past year follow:

		Total		Home Nursing		Meals On Wheels		House- keeping
Revenues	$	933,000	$	268,000	$	410,000	$	255,000
Variable expenses		469,000		115,000		197,000		157,000
Contribution margin		464,000		153,000		213,000		98,000
Fixed expenses:
Depreciation		69,700		8,400		40,300		21,000
Liability insurance		43,300		20,500		7,200		15,600
Program administrators’ salaries		115,600		40,700		38,900		36,000
General administrative overhead*		186,600		53,600		82,000		51,000
Total fixed expenses		415,200		123,200		168,400		123,600
Net operating income (loss)	$	48,800	$	29,800	$	44,600	$	(25,600)

*Allocated on the basis of program revenues.

The head administrator of Jackson County Senior Services, Judith Miyama, considers last year’s net operating income of $48,800 to be unsatisfactory; therefore, she is considering the possibility of discontinuing the housekeeping program.

The depreciation in housekeeping is for a small van that is used to carry the housekeepers and their equipment from job to job. If the program were discontinued, the van would be donated to a charitable organization. None of the general administrative overhead would be avoided if the housekeeping program were dropped, but the liability insurance and the salary of the program administrator would be avoided.

Required:

1-a. What is the financial advantage (disadvantage) of discontinuing the Housekeeping program?

1-b. Should the Housekeeping program be discontinued?

2-a. Prepare a properly formatted segmented income statement.

2-b. Would a segmented income statement format be more useful to management in assessing the long-run financial viability of the various services?

Answer 1

Solution 1a:

Impact on net income on dropping housekeeping program
Particulars	Current Total	Total if housekeeping dropped	Difference: Net Operating income increase (decrease)
Revenues	$933,000.00	$678,000.00	-$255,000.00
Variable manufacturing and selling expenses	$469,000.00	$312,000.00	-$157,000.00
Contribution margin	$464,000.00	$366,000.00	-$98,000.00
Fixed expenses:
Depreciation	$69,700.00	$69,700.00	$0.00
Liability insurance	$43,300.00	$27,700.00	-$15,600.00
Program administrator salaries	$115,600.00	$79,600.00	-$36,000.00
General Administrative Overhead	$186,600.00	$186,600.00	$0.00
Total fixed expenses	$415,200.00	$363,600.00	-$51,600.00
Net Operating income (loss)	$48,800.00	$2,400.00	-$46,400.00

Solution 1b:

As there is net financial disadvantage of $46,400 on discontinuing housekeeping program, therefore housekeeping program should not be discontinued.

Solution 2a:

Segmanted Income Statement
Particulars	Total	Home Nursing	Meals on Wheels	Housekeeping
Revenues	$933,000.00	$268,000.00	$410,000.00	$255,000.00
Variable manufacturing and selling expenses	$469,000.00	$115,000.00	$197,000.00	$157,000.00
Contribution margin	$464,000.00	$153,000.00	$213,000.00	$98,000.00
Fixed expenses:
Depreciation	$69,700.00	$8,400.00	$40,300.00	$21,000.00
Liability insurance	$43,300.00	$20,500.00	$7,200.00	$15,600.00
Program administrator salaries	$115,600.00	$40,700.00	$38,900.00	$36,000.00
Total traceable fixed expenses	$228,600.00	$69,600.00	$86,400.00	$72,600.00
Segment income	$235,400.00	$83,400.00	$126,600.00	$25,400.00
Common fixed expenses	$186,600.00
Net Operating income (Loss)	$48,800.00

Solution 2b:

Yes, segmented income statement format be more useful to management in assessing the long-run financial viability of the various services.