In: Accounting
Activity-Based Costing and Product Cost Distortion
Digital Storage Concept 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 $571,200.
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 Setups |
Direct Labor Hours |
Units | ||||||||
Cell phones | 500 | 2,000 | 68,000 | |||||||
Tablet PCs | 1,100 | 2,000 | 68,000 | |||||||
Total | 1,600 | 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 Cost | Activity 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.
Digital Storage Concept
Total indirect labor cost = $571,200
Total direct labor hours = 4,000
Plantwide factory overhead rate per direct labor hour = $571,200/4,000 = $142.80
Direct labor hours |
Direct labor hour rate |
Total indirect labor cost |
number of units |
Cost per unit |
|
cell phones |
2,000 |
$142.80 |
$285,600 |
68,000 |
$4.20 |
tablet PCs |
2,000 |
$142.80 |
$285,600 |
68,000 |
$4.20 |
Budgeted activity cost |
usage |
activity rate |
||
setup |
$228,480 |
1,600 setups |
142.8 per setup |
|
production support |
$342,720 |
4,000 direct labor hours |
$85.68 per hour |
Note: setup cost is 40% of indirect labor cost = 40% of 571,200 = $228,480
Production support cost is 60% = 60% of 571,200 = $342,720
cell phones |
$3.57 per unit |
Tablet Pca |
$4.83 per unit |
Working –
cell phone |
activity rate |
activity usage |
total activity cost |
|
setup |
$142.80 per setup |
500 setups |
$71,400 |
|
production support |
$85.68 |
2,000 |
$171,360 |
|
Total indirect cost |
$242,760 |
|||
number of units |
68,000 |
|||
cost per unit |
$3.57 |
Tablet PCs |
activity rate |
activity usage |
total activity cost |
|
setup |
$142.80 per setup |
1,100 |
$157,080 |
|
production support |
$85.68 |
2,000 |
$171,360 |
|
Total indirect cost |
$328,440 |
|||
number of units |
68,000 |
|||
cost per unit |
$4.83 |