Activity-Based Department Rate Product Costing and Product
Cost Distortions
Big Sound Inc. manufactures two products: receivers and
loudspeakers. The factory overhead incurred is as follows:
Indirect labor $400,400
Subassembly Department 198,800
Final Assembly Department 114,800
Total $714,000
The activity base associated with the two production
departments is direct labor hours. The indirect labor can be
assigned to two different activities as follows:
Activity Budgeted Activity Cost Activity Base
Setup $138,600 Number of setups
Quality control 261,800 Number of inspections
Total $400,400
The activity-base usage quantities and units produced for the
two products follow:
Number of Setups Number of Inspections Direct Labor
Hours—Subassembly Direct Labor Hours—Final Assembly Units
Produced
Receivers 80 450 875 525 7,000
Loudspeakers 320 1,750 525 875 7,000
Total 400 2,200 1,400 1,400 14,000
Required:
1. Determine the factory overhead rates under the multiple
production department rate method. Assume that indirect labor is
associated with the production departments, so that the total
factory overhead is $420,000 and $294,000 for the Subassembly and
Final Assembly departments, respectively.
Department Production Department Rate
Subassembly Department $fill in the blank 1 per direct labor
hour
Final Assembly Department $fill in the blank 2 per direct
labor hour
2. Determine the total and per-unit factory overhead costs
allocated to each product, using the multiple production department
overhead rates in (1). Round per unit amounts to the nearest whole
cent.
Product Total Factory Overhead Factory Overhead Per Unit
Receivers $fill in the blank 3 $fill in the blank 4
Loudspeakers $fill in the blank 5 $fill in the blank 6
3. Determine the activity rates, assuming that the indirect
labor is associated with activities rather than with the production
departments. Round per unit amounts to the nearest whole
cent.
Activity Activity Rate
Setup $fill in the blank 7 per setup
Quality Control $fill in the blank 8 per inspection
Subassembly Department $fill in the blank 9 per direct labor
hour
Final Assembly Department $fill in the blank 10 per direct
labor hour
4. Determine the total and per-unit cost assigned to each
product under activity-based costing. Round the per unit amounts to
the nearest whole cent.
Product Total Activity Cost Activity Cost Per Unit
Receivers $fill in the blank 11 $fill in the blank 12
Loudspeakers: $fill in the blank 13 $fill in the blank
14
5. Comment on the difference in the per-unit overhead
allocated to each product under the multiple production department
factory overhead rate and activity-based costing methods.
The activity-based overhead allocation reveals that
loudspeakers are
costly on a per-unit basis than are the receivers. The
multiple production department rate method determines that the
per-unit factory overhead is
for the two products. The multiple production department
factory overhead rate method
distort the unit costs because all factory overhead is assumed
to be
to direct labor hours. Loudspeakers have
setups and inspection activities than do receivers. Thus,
loudspeakers have
activity costs per unit than do receivers.