Question

Instructions:

Genuine Spice Inc. began operations on January 1 of the current year. The company produces 8-ounce bottles of hand and body lotion called Eternal Beauty. The lotion is sold wholesale in 12-bottle cases for $100 per case. There is a selling commission of $20 per case. The January direct materials, direct labor, and factory overhead costs are as follows:

DIRECT MATERIALS
	Cost Behavior	Units per Case	Cost per Unit	Cost per Case
Cream base	Variable	100 ozs.	$0.02	$2.00
Natural oils	Variable	30 ozs.	0.30	9.00
Bottle (8-oz.)	Variable	12 bottles	0.50	6.00
				$17.00

DIRECT LABOR
Department	Cost Behavior	Time per Case	Labor Rate per Hour	Cost per Case
Mixing	Variable	20 min.	$18.00	$6.00
Filling	Variable	5	14.40	1.20
		25 min.		$7.20

FACTORY OVERHEAD
	Cost Behavior	Total Cost
Utilities	Mixed	$600
Facility lease	Fixed	14,000
Equipment depreciation	Fixed	4,300
Supplies	Fixed	660
		$19,560

Part C—August Variance Analysis

During September of the current year, the controller was asked to perform variance analyses for August. The January operating data provided the standard prices, rates, times, and quantities per case. There were 1,500 actual cases produced during August, which was 250 more cases than planned at the beginning of the month. Actual data for August were as follows:

	Actual Direct Materials
	Price per Unit	Quantity per Case
Cream base	$0.016 per oz.	102 ozs.
Natural oils	$0.32 per oz.	31 ozs.
Bottle (8-oz.)	$0.42 per bottle	12.5 bottles

	Actual Direct	Actual Direct Labor
	Labor Rate	Time per Case
Mixing	$18.20	19.50 min.
Filling	14.00	5.60 min.

Actual variable overhead	$305.00
Normal volume	1,600 cases

The prices of the materials were different than standard due to fluctuations in market prices. The standard quantity of materials used per case was an ideal standard. The Mixing Department used a higher grade labor classification during the month, thus causing the actual labor rate to exceed standard. The Filling Department used a lower grade labor classification during the month, thus causing the actual labor rate to be less than standard.

	Required-Part C:
13.	Determine and interpret the factory overhead volume variance. Round rate to four decimal places and round your final answer to two decimal places.*
14.	Why are the standard direct labor and direct materials costs in the calculations for parts (10) and (11) based on the actual 1,500-case production volume rather than the planned 1,375 cases of production used in the budgets for parts (6) and (7)?
	*For those boxes in which you must enter subtractive or negative numbers use a minus sign. Enter a favorable variance as a negative number using a minus sign and an unfavorable variance as a positive number.

13. Determine and interpret the factory overhead volume variance. For those boxes in which you must enter subtractive or negative numbers use a minus sign. Enter a favorable variance as a negative number using a minus sign and an unfavorable variance as a positive number. Round rate to four decimal places and round your final answer to two decimal places.

Factory Overhead Volume Variance
Normal volume (cases)
Actual volume (cases)
Difference
Factory overhead volume variance

The volume variance indicates the cost of _____________ .

14. Why are the standard direct labor and direct materials costs in the calculations for parts (10) and (11) based on the actual 1,500-case production volume rather than the planned 1,375 cases of production used in the budgets for parts (6) and (7)?

The production volume of __________ cases was planned at the beginning of August. The variances compare the actual cost and the standard cost of __________ for the month. Thus, the standard cost must be based on the ___________ units of actual production.

Answer 1

13.       Factory Overhead Volume Variance:

Normal volume (cases)………………………………………………………	1,600
Actual volume (cases)…………………………………………………………	1,500
Difference………………………………………………………………………	100
× Fixed factory overhead rate*………………………………………………	$ 12.1625
	$1,216.25 U

* Fixed factory overhead rate: $19,460** ÷ 1,600 cases = $12.1625 per case

** Total fixed factory overhead shown in part (8)

The unfavorable volume variance indicates the cost of underused capacity of 100 cases per month.

Alternative Computation of Overhead Variances

14.       The production volume of 1,375 cases determined in part (5) was planned at the beginning of August. The variances compare the actual cost and the standard cost of actual production for the month. Thus, the standard cost must be based on the 1,500 units of actual production. This amount is compared with an actual cost also based on 1,500 units. The variable costs of the budget must flex to the actual production volume so that variances are compared across the same production volume.