The Unit Of Product Is The Cost Object When The Plantwide Overhead Rate Method Is Used

For example, it is not feasible to determine how much of the costs associated with the care and feeding of a hog is required to produce the bacon. This is because the bacon cannot be obtained without the rest of the hog. Even so, the joint cost allocations need to be performed to accomplish some of the purposes discussed above such as inventory valuation and income determination for external reporting. The methods that are available for allocating joint costs are discussed retained earnings below along with the advantages and disadvantages of each method. The answers to these questions are found by examining the proportions of the resources consumed by each product in each department. Since X1 consumed 9/10 of the machine time in the Cutting department, (i.e., 3,960÷4,400) it seems logical that X1 should receive 90 percent of the overhead costs. The Assembly Department manager is likely to complain that neither of the allocations in Exhibit 6-11 is equitable.

However, if there are no identifiable sales values at the split-off point, this method seems to provide the next best the cost object of the plantwide overhead rate method is: alternative. The Cutright Company has a small factory with two service departments and two producing departments.

The aim of this first step is to understand actions performed in the organization that drive costs. In this lesson, we’ll define manufacturing overhead, use the given formula to determine manufacturing overhead per unit and cite examples of the specific costs that are used to determine manufacturing overhead. Cost accounting is considered to be a part of managerial accounting.

The Unit Of Product Is The Cost Object When The Plantwide Overhead Rate Method Is Used

When cost analysts are able to logically trace cost objects to costs, costing accuracy is improved. More accurate product costing, more effective cost control, and better focus on the relevant factors for decision making. The company produces the mechanical systems in their components department. The mechanical systems are combined with the housing assembly in its finishing department. The activities, costs, and drivers associated with these two manufacturing processes and the production support process follow. Accountants created the ABC method to solve the problems of inaccuracy that result from the traditional costing approach. Managers needed more accurate costing methods to determine which profits were actually profitable and which were not.

1) Develop equations for each department fully recognizing all the reciprocal relationships and self services. The equations for the reciprocal method are also developed from equations and above. However, there are some differences in the values that appear in the equations. First, the service department costs are different because all of the self service and reciprocal relationships are considered in determining these amounts. In addition, the proportions in both sets of equations are different for the same reason.

He or she might logically argue that the dual rate method illustrated above assigns the Power Department’s idle capacity costs to the Assembly Department. These idle capacity costs will in turn be allocated to the Assembly Department’s products. Using a single budgeted rate, rather than either a single actual rate or dual rate (Exhibit 6-11) will normalize the service costs allocations, provide more timely costing and aid in evaluating the service departments.

What Is Activity Based Costing Example?

The extra $1,000 allocation to Cutting is caused by the reduction in kilowatt hours used by Assembly which increases the proportion of the power used by Cutting. Therefore, when the single actual rate method is used, $1,000 of the fixed power costs originally associated with the Assembly Department is shifted to the Cutting Department. However, using the dual rate method avoids this cost distortion by allocating the fixed power costs in the manner originally established. From the service cost perspective, the differences are more significant.

• If a company prices its products so low that revenues do not cover its overhead costs, the business will be unprofitable.
• Overheads now constitute the Largent share of cost, often greater than 50% and is typically applied to products as percentage of the smallest cost leading to serious distortion of product cost.
• Show the allocations from each service department to each service and producing department, including self-service and the costs after all allocations have been made.
• Direct costs i.e. direct material and direct labour, have larger proportion in the total costs of production.
• If different products consume indirect resources in different proportions in the various departments, then using departmental overhead rates will provide more accurate product costs than using a plant wide rate.

The point here is that managers must beware of using per unit cost information blindly for decision making, particularly if a significant change in the level of production is anticipated. The departmental overhead rate method is more costly to implement than the traditional overhead rate method. Plantwide overhead rates typically do a better job of matching each department’s overhead costs to the products using the department’s resources than do departmental overhead rates.

Plantwide Allocation

A second method, frequently referred to as the traditional two stage allocation approach, recognizes that there are service areas and producing areas in the plant. Usually, only one overhead rate is developed for each producing department, although the basis for these rates may differ between departments.

Although the allocations are not useful for management decisions, they are less likely to mislead management by implying that the joint products should be treated as separate entities prior to the split-off point. One approach involves allocating the joint costs in proportion to a physical measure such as the number of pounds, gallons, liters, or board feet associated with each joint product at the split-off point.

Next, the cost pool is divided by the chosen allocation base, such as total direct labor hours, to arrive at a single plant wide allocation rate. Finally, this rate is applied to assign costs to all products. The target of the cost assignment or CostObject is the unit of product. When a department produces many different products and some of the products consume different indirect resources in different proportions, a more involved method is needed to provide accurate product costs. For example, if Product X consumes 30 percent of the power, 15 percent of the engineering work and 20 percent of the maintenance activity in Department A, then a single departmental overhead rate would distort product costs. This is because a single activity measure, or allocation basis can only represent one of these percentages.

Examples Of Overhead Rates

The term applied overhead is often used to describe this process. Activity-based costing is a more precise way to allocate costs to cost objects. Plantwide rates are the easiest to apply but can cause cost distortionbecause all overhead resources are treated as though they are equally consumed by all cost objects. Departmental rates were more refined because at least we were breaking costs down by department and applying overhead based on the actual activity a cost object used in each department. The departmental overhead rate method is more refined than the plantwide overhead rate method. It means the total number of direct labor hours is taken as the denominator, and this is divided by the numerator as the total overhead cost of the company.

Accounting Methods For Overhead Calculation

Describe several types of supporting logic for cost allocations methods including the concepts of “cause and effect”, “ability to bear” and “fairness and equity”. 5 A similar, but less severe criticism can be made concerning the allocations based on sales values at the split-off point since this method creates equal profit ratios at the point of separation. The net realizable value method and NRV less an average profit margin method are not needed in this case because the products have identifiable market values at the split-off point. However, the allocations for these methods show the dilemma that system designers face when there are no identifiable values at the point of separation. If we assume that the raw chicken can not be sold, then the net realizable value method appears to be the next best choice. Notice from Exhibit 6-17 that using the physical quantities of chicken as an allocation basis results in an allocation to product D ($66,000) that exceeds the product’s sales value at the split-off point ($40,000). Of course this creates an inventory valuation problem from the financial reporting perspective as indicated above.

There are certain components which affect the gross domestic product of a country. Volume-based methods are harder to use and more costly to implement and maintain. ABC assumes all costs are ________ because over the long run the company can adjust the amount of assets utilized. Overhead costs are in small proportion because support or servicing functions such as planning, purchasing, accounting, finance, administration etc. are less. C.A company that manufactures many different products and whose operations are highly mechanized. B.ABC is another way to refer to a multiple departmental rate situation.

It is important to note that ABC can be used by any type of business. Even service companies can benefit from using ABC, especially in competitive markets. Activities could include things Online Accounting like machine setup, inspecting, packaging, sending statements, and providing technical support. ABC can be used to assign costs to any cost object that is of management interest.

Indirect CostIndirect cost is the cost that cannot be directly attributed to the production. These are the necessary expenditures and can be fixed or variable in nature like the office expenses, administration, sales promotion expense, etc. The various departments which are present in the company are providing a similar type of service. Facility-level activities are performed to sustain facility capacity as a whole and are not caused by any specific product. Batch-level activities are performed only on each batch or group of units. Take a moment to review how the activity rates were calculated for each of the pools.

P1 Allocate overhead costs to products using the plantwide overhead rate method. Use departmental overhead rates from requirement 3 to determine the total manufacturing cost per unit for the aluminum desk lamps. By relying on volume-related measures to determine product costs, traditional costing system do a poor job in reflecting supporting costs for manufacturing and distribution of products or services. More and adjusting entries more factory overheads, such as setup cost, materials handling cost, and product design and research and development costs, are unrelated to the number of units produced. C.The departmental overhead rate is most accurate in assigning overhead costs that are not driven by production volume. Companies usually use traditional costing for external reports, because it is simpler and easier for outsiders to understand.

The self services (the 50 KWH’s used by S1 and the 30 labor hours used by S2) are ignored along with the reciprocal services (the 100 KWH’s used by S2and the 20 labor hours used by S1) in developing the proportions. Thus, the denominator for developing the proportions for S1 is 800, not 950 and the denominator for developing the proportions for S2 is 250, not 300. The three methods for stage 1 allocations are illustrated in the example provided below.