Discussion: Is This What We Should Spend Our Money On?

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The Federal budget is made up of three parts for planning purposes: Mandatory spending, which is enabled by ongoing appropriations, and so does not require new spending authorization; Discretionary spending, which has to be re-authorized each year; and the Interest on the Federal debt. For our purposes, because we are not looking at the legislative process, it is one single large spending pool. Below is overall Federal spending in the USA in 2018

2018 Federal Spending.  (Links to an external site.)View the document or the Interactive Graphic.

So you can see that in 2018 Federal spending added up to $4.1 trillion, or 20% of then US GDP of $20.5 trillion. Obviously this was more than revenues, which at $3.3 trillion left a deficit of (a bit less than) 800 billion dollars, or 3.9% of GDP. We spent 24% of Federal money on Social Security + 14% on Medicare, which = 38% and growing of all US Federal expenditure on retired people. Another 15% of the entire budget in 2018 was spent on the US military. In addition we spent 9.5% on Medicaid, which is medical assistance for poor people. And we spent 15.6% on natural resources and the environment, general science, space & technology, general government, community & regional development, agriculture, administrative costs of Medicare & Social Security, energy & commerce, and housing credit programs. Another 7.9% and growing was spent on servicing the national debt. About four-fifths is spent on retired people, the poor, the military and the Federal debt.

On the Federal level, education spending is allocated to Pell grants, work-study, guarantees of student debt, and Head Start, a program for poor pre-school children. The great majority of spending on education in the US is on the state and local levels, although the Federal government plays a regulatory role.

Similarly, with respect to the environment, the Federal government plays primarily a regulatory role -- in this case, most spending in terms of mitigation is by private industry. The largest exception is the national park system; there are also state and local parks and reserves.

Do you think these are the best priorities for US Federal government spending? Do you propose some other set of priorities? If so, what? Write about three paragraphs. Please use outside academic-level sources to support your position.

link: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/55342 ( 2018 Federal Spending)

Paine Ltd makes and sells a single product. Annual sales in units for 2017 are expected to be 200,000, and standard cost and selling price per unit is:

£

Selling price 35

Variable costs:

Materials 8

Labour 8

Overheads 2

Annual fixed overheads for 2015 are budgeted at:

Manufacturing: 600,000

Non-manufacturing 250,000

Actual production and sales for the first quarter was 45,000 units. The actual revenue and expenditure for the quarter was as follows:

Sales revenue 1,720,000

Expenditure:

Materials 365,500

Labour 375,500

Variable overhead 97,200

Fixed overheads

Manufacturing 135,000

Non-manufacturing 75,000

Paine Ltd divides the annual budget by 4 in order to produce quarterly variance analysis reports.

Required:

a) Prepare the first quarter variance analysis report showing the fixed budget, flexible budget and flexible budget variances.

b) Suggest how this report could be improved in terms of variable costs variance analysis, describing any extra information you would need in order to do so.

The East Division of Kensic Company manufactures a vital component that is used in one of Kensic's major product lines. The East Division has been experiencing some difficulty in coordinating activities between its various departments, which has resulted in some shortages of the component at critical times. To overcome the shortages, the manager of East Division has decided to initiate a monthly budgeting system that is integrated between departments. The first budget is to be for the second quarter of the current year (April, May and June). To assist in developing the budget figures, the divisional controller has accumulated the following information. Sales: Sales through the first three months of the current year were 30,000 units. Actual sales in units for January, February, and March, and planned sales in units over the next five months, are given below: January (actual) 6,000 February (actual) 10,000 March (actual) 14,000 April (planned) 20,000 May (planned) 34,000 June (planned) 51,000 July (planned) 45,000 August (planned) 30,000 In total, the East Division expects to produce and sell 250,000 units during the current year. Direct Material: Two different materials are used in production of the component. Data regarding these materials are given below: Units of Direct Cost Direct Materials per per Inventory at Material Finished Component lb/ft March 31 No. 208 4 pounds $5.00 46,000 pounds No. 311 9 feet 2.00 69,000 feet Material No. 208 is sometimes in short supply. Therefore, the East Division requires that enough of the material be on hand at the end of each month to provide for 50% of the following month's production needs. Material No. 311 is easier to get, so only one-third of the following month's production needs must be on hand at the end of each month. Direct Labor: The East Division has three department through which the components must past before they are completed. Information relating to direct labor in these departments is given below: Direct Labor-Hours Cost per Per Finished Direct Department Component Labor-Hour Shaping .25 $18.00 Assembly .70 16.00 Finishing .10 20.00 Direct labor is adjusted to the workload each month. Manufacturing Overhead: East Division manufactured 32,000 components during the first three months of the current year. The actual variable overhead costs incurred during this three-month period are shown below. Each Division's controller believes that the variable overhead costs incurred during the last nine months of the year will be at the same rate per component as experienced during the first three months. Utilities $ 57,000 Indirect Labor 31,000 Supplies 16,000 Other 8,000 Total variable overhead $112,000 The East Division has planned fixed manufacturing overhead costs for the entire year as follows: Supervision $ 872,000 Property Taxes 143,000 Depreciation 2,910,000 Insurance 631,000 Other 72,000 Total fixed manufacturing Overhead $4,628,000 Finished Goods Inventory: The desired monthly ending inventory of completed components is 20% of the next month's estimated sales. The East Division has 4,000 units in the finished goods inventory on March 31. Selling and Administrative Expenses: Selling and Administrative Expenses are budgeted at $400,000 per month plus 1% of total credit sales for the month.

REQUIRED:

6. Compute a new "selling price per unit" for the East Division that will enable them to accumulate a balance of $100,000 in their cash account by the end of the second quarter. Assume that the cash balance at March 31 was $10,000. (5 pts.) _____

7. Using the selling price per unit computed in #6 prepare a sales budget for the second quarter. Show computations by month and in total for the quarter. (5 pts.) _____

8. Prepare a schedule of expected cash collections for the second quarter using the selling price per unit calculated in question #6. Assume that the East Division collects on its credit sales as follows; 70% in the month of sale, 20% in the month following the credit sale, 10% in the second month following the credit sale. To compute the balance in Accounts Receivable at 3/31 assume that the selling price per unit prior to 3/31 was $75.00. (5 pts.) _____

9. Prepare a cash budget for the second quarter in month and in total for the East Division. (10 pts.)

Exercise 21-2 Preparing flexible budgets LO P1

Tempo Company's fixed budget (based on sales of 14,000 units) for the first quarter of calendar year 2017 reveals the following.

Complete the following flexible budgets for sales volumes of 12,000, 14,000, and 16,000 units. (Round cost per unit to 2 decimal places.)

Tempo Company

Flexible Budgets

For Quarter Ended March 31, 2017

-----FlexIble Budget----- -------Flexible Budget at------

Variable Amount per Unit Total Fixe Cost 12,000 units 14,000 units 16,000 units

1)

2) Variable Costs:

3)

4)

5)

7)

8)

9)

10)

11) Fixed Costs

12)

13)

14)

15)

16)

17)

18)

19)

20)

Vertical Analysis of Income Statement

Revenue and expense data for Innovation Quarter Inc. for two recent years are as follows:

       Current Year        Previous Year
Sales $450,000 $387,000
Cost of goods sold 270,000 212,850
Selling expenses 72,000 69,660
Administrative expenses 76,500 61,920
Income tax expense 13,500 15,480

a. Prepare an income statement in comparative form, stating each item for both years as a percent of sales. If required, round percentages to one decimal place. Enter all amounts as positive numbers.

Innovation Quarter Inc.
Comparative Income Statement
For the Years Ended December 31
Current year Amount Current year Percent Previous year Amount Previous year Percent
Sales $450,000 % $387,000 %
Cost of goods sold 270,000 % 212,850 %
$ % $ %
Selling expenses 72,000 % 69,660 %
Administrative expenses 76,500 % 61,920 %
$ % $ %
% %
Income tax expense 13,500 % 15,480 %
$ % $ %

b. The vertical analysis indicates that the cost of goods sold as a percent of sales   by 5 percentage points, while selling expenses   by 2 percentage points, and administrative expenses   by 1 percentage points. Thus, net income as a percent of sales   by 3 percentage points.

Vertical Analysis of Income Statement

Revenue and expense data for Innovation Quarter Inc. for two recent years are as follows:

a. Prepare an income statement in comparative form, stating each item for both years as a percent of sales. If required, round percentages to one decimal place. Enter all amounts as positive numbers.

b. The vertical analysis indicates that the cost of goods sold as a percent of sales   by 8 percentage points, while selling expenses   by 4 percentage points, and administrative expenses   by 1 percentage points. Thus, net income as a percent of sales   by 3 percentage points.

Vertical Analysis of Income Statement

Revenue and expense data for Innovation Quarter Inc. for two recent years are as follows:

a. Prepare an income statement in comparative form, stating each item for both years as a percent of sales. If required, round percentages to one decimal place. Enter all amounts as positive numbers.

b. The vertical analysis indicates that the cost of goods sold as a percent of sales   by 5 percentage points, while selling expenses   by 2 percentage points, and administrative expenses   by 1 percentage points. Thus, net income as a percent of sales   by 2 percentage points.

Revenue and expense data for Innovation Quarter Inc. for two recent years are as follows:

a. Prepare an income statement in comparative form, stating each item for both years as a percent of sales. If required, round percentages to one decimal place. Enter all amounts as positive numbers.

b. The vertical analysis indicates that the cost of goods sold as a percent of sales by 6 percentage points, while selling expenses by 3 percentage points, and administrative expenses by 2 percentage points. Thus, net income as a percent of sales by 3 percentage points.