Question

Activity-Based Costing and Product Cost Distortion

Handbrain Inc. is considering a change to activity-based product costing. The company produces two products, cell phones and tablet PCs, in a single production department. The production department is estimated to require 4,000 direct labor hours. The total indirect labor is budgeted to be $462,400.

Time records from indirect labor employees revealed that they spent 40% of their time setting up production runs and 60% of their time supporting actual production.

The following information about cell phones and tablet PCs was determined from the corporate records:

Number of
SetupsDirect Labor
HoursUnits

Cell phones500 2,000 68,000

Tablet PCs1,100 2,000 68,000

Total1,600 4,000 136,000

If required, round your answers to the nearest cent.

a. Determine the indirect labor cost per unit allocated to cell phones and tablet PCs under a single plantwide factory overhead rate system using the direct labor hours as the allocation base.

Cell phones$ per unit

Tablet PCs$ per unit

b. Determine the budgeted activity costs and activity rates for the indirect labor under activity-based costing. Assume two activities—one for setup and the other for production support.

Budgeted Activity CostActivity Rate

Setup$$per setup

Production support$$per direct labor hour

c. Determine the activity cost per unit for indirect labor allocated to each product under activity-based costing.

Cell phones$ per unit

Tablet PCs$ per unit

d. Why are the per-unit allocated costs in (a) different from the per-unit activity cost assigned to the products in (c)?

The per-unit indirect labor costs in (a) are distorted because setup activity  is consumed by the products in a different ratio from the direct labor. The activity-based  costing method results in the product with the larger  number of setups receiving a larger portion of the setup activity cost. The single-rate system  allocates overhead only on the basis of direct labor hours. Since the direct labor hours are  equal for each product, the allocated indirect labor will also be  equal.

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a. Calculate:

Total Indirect Labor Costs ÷ Total Direct Labor Hours = Overhead Rate

Overhead Rate x Direct Labor Hours per Product = Indirect Labor Cost per Product; Indirect Labor Cost per Product ÷ Units = Indirect Labor Cost per Unit

b. Percentage of Time on Activity x Total Indirect Labor = Budgeted Activity Cost per Activity; Divide the Budgeted activity cost by activity base to obtain the activity rate.

c. Calculate for each product:

Activity-Base Usage for each Activity x Activity Rate from (b) = Activity Cost; Add both activity costs per product to obtain the total costs; Divide the total cost per product by the number of units to obtain activity cost per unit.

Answer 1

Part a:

Step 1: Single plant wide factory overhead rate

Single plant wide factory overhead rate = Total Indirect Costs / Total Direct labor hours

Single plant wide factory overhead rate = $462,400 / 4,000 direct labor hours = $115.60

Step 2: Overhead cost allocation

Cell Phones = 2,000 direct labor hours * $115.60 = $231,200

Tablet PC = 2,000 direct labor hours * $115.60 = $231,200

Step 3: Indirect Labor cost per unit

Cell Phones = $231,200 / 68,000 Units = $3.40 per unit

Tablet PC = $231,200 / 68,000 Units = $3.40 per unit

Part b:

Step 1: Budgeted Activity Cost per Activity

Setup = $462,400 * 40% = $184,960

Production Support = $462,400 * 60% = $277,440

Step 2: Activity Rate

Activity	Cost	/	Activity base	=	Activity Rate
Setup	$184,960	/	1,600	=	$115.60
Production Support	$277,440	/	4,000	=	$69.36

Part c:

Step 1: Overhead cost allocation

Cell Phones:

Setup= 500 setup * $115.60 = $57,800

Production Support = 2,000 direct labor hours * $69.36 = $138,720

Total Overhead cost = $57,800 + $138,720 = $196,520

Tablet PC:

Setup= 1,100 setup * $115.60 = $127,160

Production Support = 2,000 direct labor hours * $69.36 = $138,720

Total Overhead cost = $127,160 + $138,720 = $265,880

Step 3: Indirect Labor cost per unit

Cell Phones = $196,520 / 68,000 Units = $2.89 per unit

Tablet PC = $265,880 / 68,000 Units = $3.91 per unit

All the best...