Make Or Buy Decision

Transcript

C H A P T E R Incremental Analysis 9 THE ■ ■ ■ ■ NAVIGATOR ✔ Scan Study Objectives Read Feature Story Read Preview Read text and answer Before You Go On p. 401 p. 405 Work Using the Decision Toolkit Review Summary of Study Objectives Work Demonstration Problem Answer Self-Study Questions Complete Assignments ■ ■ ♦ S T U D Y O B J E C T I V E S ■ ■ After studying this chapter, you should be able to: 1 in management’s ◆ Identify the stepsprocess. decision-making 2 ◆ Describe the concept of incremental analysis. ■ ◆ 3 F E AT U R E S T O R Y Identify the relevant costs in accepting an order at a special price. 4 ◆ Identify the relevant costs in a make-orbuy decision. 5 for whether ◆ Give the decision rulefurther. to sell or process materials 6 be considered ◆ Identify the factors to equipment. in retaining or replacing 7 relevant ◆ Explain the eliminatefactors in deciding whether to an unprofitable MAKE IT OR BUY IT? When is a manufacturer not a manufacturer? When it outsources. An extension of the classic “make or buy” decision, outsourcing involves hiring other companies to make all or part of a product or to perform services. Who is outsourcing? Nike, General Motors, Sara Lee, and Hewlett-Packard, to name a few. Even a recent trade journal article for small cabinet makers outlined the pros and cons of building cabinet doors and drawers internally, or outsourcing them to other shops. Gibson Greetings, Inc., one of the country’s largest sellers of greeting cards, has experienced both the pros and cons of outsourcing. In April one year it announced it would outsource the manufacturing of all of its cards and gift wrap. Gibson’s stock price shot up quickly because investors believed the strategy could save the company $10 million a year, primarily by reducing manufacturing costs. But later in the same year Gibson got a taste of the negative side of outsourcing: When one of its suppliers was unable to meet its production schedule, about $20 million of segment. 8 the term “sales mix” and ◆ Explain in determining break-evenits effects sales. 9 mix when ◆ Determine saleslimited a company has ✔ THE N AV I G AT O R resources. 388 Christmas cards went to stores a month later than scheduled. Outsourcing is often a point of dispute in labor negotiations. Although many of the jobs lost to outsourcing go overseas, that is not always the case. In fact, a recent trend is to hire out work to vendors located close to the company. This reduces shipping costs and can improve coordination of efforts. One company that has benefited from local outsourcing is Solectron Corporation in Silicon Valley. It makes things like cell phones, printers, and computers for high-tech companies in the region. To the surprise of many, it has kept 5,600 people employed in California, rather than watching those jobs go overseas. What is its secret? It produces high-quality products efficiently. Solectron has to be efficient because it operates on a very thin profit margin—that is, it makes a tiny amount of money on each part—but it makes millions and millions of parts. It has proved the logic of outsourcing as a management decision, both for the companies for whom it makes parts and for its THE N AV I G AT O R owners and employees. ✔ P R E V I E W O F C H A P T E R 9 A n important purpose of management accounting is to provide managers with relevant information for decision making. Companies of all sorts must make product decisions. Philip Morris decided to cut prices to raise market share. Oral-B Laboratories opted to produce a new, higher priced ($5) toothbrush. General Motors discontinued making the Buick Riviera and announced the closure of its Oldsmobile Division. Quaker Oats decided to sell a line of beverages, at a price more than one billion dollars less than it paid for that product line only a few years before. Ski manufacturers like Dynastar had to decide whether to use their limited resources to make snowboards instead of downhill skis. This chapter explains management’s decision-making process and a decisionmaking approach called incremental analysis. The use of incremental analysis is demonstrated in a variety of situations. The content and organization of this chapter are as follows. INCREMENTAL ANALYSIS Management’s Decision-Making Process • Incremental analysis approach • How incremental analysis works Types of Incremental Analysis • Accept an order at a special price • Make or buy • Sell or process further • Retain or replace equipment • Eliminate an unprofitable segment Sales Mix • Break-even sales • Limited resources Other Considerations • Qualitative factors • Incremental analysis and ABC ✔ THE N AV I G AT O R MANAGEMENT’S DECISION-MAKING PROCESS STUDY OBJECTIVE 1 Identify the steps in management’s decision-making process. Making decisions is an important management function. Management’s decisionmaking process does not always follow a set pattern, because decisions vary significantly in their scope, urgency, and importance. It is possible, though, to identify some steps that are frequently involved in the process. These steps are shown in Illustration 9-1. Accounting’s contribution to the decision-making process occurs primarily in Steps 2 and 4. In Step 2, for each possible course of action, relevant revenue and cost data are provided. These show the expected overall effect on net income. In Step 4, internal reports are prepared that review the actual impact of the decision. 390 ♦ Management’s Decision-Making Process 391 Illustration 9-1 Management’s decisionmaking process Choice B Choice A Choice C Choice A Choice B Choice C 1. Identify the problem and assign responsibility 2. Determine and evaluate possible courses of action 3. Make a decision 4. Review results of the decision In making business decisions, management ordinarily considers both financial and nonfinancial information. Financial information is related to revenues and costs and their effect on the company’s overall profitability. Nonfinancial information relates to such factors as the effect of the decision on employee turnover, the environment, or the overall image of the company in the community. Although nonfinancial information can be as important as the financial information, we will focus primarily on financial information that is relevant to the decision. INCREMENTAL ANALYSIS APPROACH Decisions involve a choice among alternative courses of action. Suppose that you were deciding whether to purchase or lease a computer for use in doing your accounting homework. The financial data relate to the cost of leasing versus the cost of purchasing. For example, leasing would involve periodic lease payments; purchasing would require “up-front” payment of the purchase price. In other words, the financial data relevant to the decision are the data that would vary in the future among the possible alternatives. The process used to identify the financial data that change under alternative courses of action is called incremental analysis. In some cases, you will find that when you use incremental analysis, both costs and revenues will vary. In other cases, only costs or revenues will vary. Just as your decision to buy or lease a PC will affect your future, similar decisions, on a larger scale, will affect a company’s future. Incremental analysis identifies the probable effects of those decisions on future earnings. Such analysis inevitably involves estimates and uncertainty. Gathering data for incremental analyses may involve market analysts, engineers, and accountants. In quantifying the data, the accountant is expected to produce the most reliable information available at the time the decision must be made. STUDY OBJECTIVE Describe the concept of incremental analysis. Alternative Terminology Incremental analysis is also called differential analysis because the analysis focuses on differences. HOW INCREMENTAL ANALYSIS WORKS The basic approach in incremental analysis is illustrated in the following example. Alternative A Revenues Costs Net income $125,000 100,000 $ 25,000 Alternative B $110,000 80,000 $ 30,000 Net Income Increase (Decrease) $(15,000) 20,000 $ 5,000 Illustration 9-2 Basic approach in incremental analysis ♦ 2 392 CHAPTER 9 Incremental Analysis In this example, alternative B is being compared with alternative A. The net income column shows the differences between the alternatives. In this case, incremental revenue will be $15,000 less under alternative B than under alternative A. But a $20,000 incremental cost saving will be realized.1 Thus, alternative B will produce $5,000 more net income than alternative A. In the following pages you will encounter three important cost concepts used in incremental analysis, as defined and discussed in Illustration 9-3. Illustration 9-3 Key cost concepts in incremental analysis #1 ALT #2 ALT • Relevant cost In incremental analysis, the only factors to be considered are those costs and revenues that differ across alternatives. Those factors are called relevant costs. Costs and revenues that do not differ across alternatives can be ignored when trying to choose between alternatives. • Opportunity cost Often in choosing one course of action, the company must give up the opportunity to benefit from some other course of action. For example, if a machine is used to make one type of product, the benefit of making another type of product with that machine is lost. This lost benefit is referred to as opportunity cost. , ock Kn ck o Kn Too bad y nit rtu po Op • Sunk cost Costs that have already been incurred and will not be changed or avoided by any future decision are referred to as sunk costs. For example, if you have already purchased a machine, and now a new, more efficient machine is available, the book value of the original machine is a sunk cost. It should have no bearing on your decision whether to buy the new machine. Sunk costs are not relevant costs. Incremental analysis sometimes involves changes that at first glance might seem contrary to your intuition. For example, sometimes variable costs do not change under the alternative courses of action. Also, sometimes fixed costs do change. For example, direct labor, normally a variable cost, is not an incremental cost in deciding between two new factory machines if each asset requires the same amount of direct labor. In contrast, rent expense, normally a fixed cost, is an incremental cost in a decision whether to continue occupancy of a building or to purchase or lease a new building. Although income taxes are sometimes important in incremental analysis, they are ignored in the chapter for simplicity’s sake. 1 Types of Incremental Analysis 393 TYPES OF INCREMENTAL ANALYSIS A number of different types of decisions involve incremental analysis. The more common types of decisions are whether to: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Accept an order at a special price. Make or buy component parts or finished products. Sell products or process them further. Retain or replace equipment. Eliminate an unprofitable business segment. We will consider each of these types of incremental analysis in the following pages. ACCEPT AN ORDER AT A SPECIAL PRICE Sometimes a company may have an opportunity to obtain additional business if it is willing to make a major price concession to a specific customer. To illustrate, assume that Sunbelt Company produces 100,000 automatic blenders per month, which is 80 percent of plant capacity. Variable manufacturing costs are $8 per unit. Fixed manufacturing costs are $400,000, or $4 per unit. The blenders are normally sold directly to retailers at $20 each. Sunbelt has an offer from Mexico Co. (a foreign wholesaler) to purchase an additional 2,000 blenders at $11 per unit. Acceptance of the offer would not affect normal sales of the product, and the additional units can be manufactured without increasing plant capacity. What should management do? If management makes its decision on the basis of the total cost per unit of $12 ($8 $4), the order would be rejected, because costs ($12) would exceed revenues ($11) by $1 per unit. However, since the units can be produced within existing plant capacity, the special order will not increase fixed costs. Let’s identify the relevant data for the decision. First, the variable manufacturing costs will increase $16,000, ($8 2,000). Second, the expected revenue will increase $22,000, ($11 2,000). Thus, as shown in Illustration 9-4, Sunbelt will increase its net income by $6,000 by accepting this special order. STUDY OBJECTIVE Identify the relevant costs in accepting an order at a special price. Helpful Hint This is a good example of different costs for different purposes. In the long run all costs are relevant, but for this decision only costs that change are relevant. Reject Order Revenues Costs Net income $–0– –0– $–0– Accept Order $22,000 16,000 $ 6,000 Net Income Increase (Decrease) $22,000 (16,000) $ 6,000 Illustration 9-4 Incremental analysis— accepting an order at a special price Two points should be emphasized: First, it is assumed that sales of the product in other markets would not be affected by this special order. If other sales were affected, then Sunbelt would have to consider the lost sales in making the decision. Second, if Sunbelt is operating at full capacity, it is likely that the special order would be rejected. Under such circumstances, the company would have to expand plant capacity. In that case, the special order would have to absorb these additional fixed manufacturing costs, as well as the variable manufacturing costs. ♦ 3 394 CHAPTER 9 Incremental Analysis MAKE OR BUY STUDY OBJECTIVE 4 Identify the relevant costs in a make-or-buy decision. When a manufacturer assembles component parts in producing a finished product, management must decide whether to make or buy the components. The decision to buy parts or services is often referred to as outsourcing. For example, as discussed in the Feature Story, a company such as General Motors Corporation may either make or buy the batteries, tires, and radios used in its cars. Similarly, Hewlett-Packard Corporation may make or buy the electronic circuitry, cases, and printer heads for its printers. The decision to make or buy components should be made on the basis of incremental analysis. To illustrate the analysis, assume that Baron Company incurs the following annual costs in producing 25,000 ignition switches for motor scooters. Illustration 9-5 Annual product cost data ♦ Direct materials Direct labor Variable manufacturing overhead Fixed manufacturing overhead Total manufacturing costs Total cost per unit ($225,000 25,000) $ 50,000 75,000 40,000 60,000 $225,000 $9.00 Or, instead of making its own switches, Baron Company might purchase the ignition switches from Ignition, Inc. at a price of $8 per unit. The question again is, “What should management do?” At first glance, it appears that management should purchase the ignition switches for $8, rather than make them at a cost of $9. However, a review of operations indicates that if the ignition switches are purchased from Ignition, Inc., all of Baron’s variable costs but only $10,000 of its fixed manufacturing costs will be eliminated. Thus, $50,000 of the fixed manufacturing costs will remain if the ignition switches are purchased. The relevant costs for incremental analysis, therefore, are as follows. Illustration 9-6 Incremental analysis—make or buy Direct materials Direct labor Variable manufacturing costs Fixed manufacturing costs Purchase price (25,000 $8) Total annual cost Make $ 50,000 75,000 40,000 60,000 –0– $225,000 Buy $ –0– –0– –0– 50,000 200,000 $250,000 Net Income Increase (Decrease) $ 50,000 75,000 40,000 10,000 (200,000) $ (25,000) Helpful Hint In the make-orbuy decision it is important for management to take into account the social impact of the choice. For instance, buying may be the most economically feasible solution, but such action could result in the closure of a manufacturing plant that employs many good workers. This analysis indicates that Baron Company will incur $25,000 of additional cost by buying the ignition switches. Therefore, Baron should continue to make the ignition switches, even though the total manufacturing cost is $1 higher than the purchase price. The reason is that if the company purchases the ignition switches, it will still have fixed costs of $50,000 to absorb. Opportunity Cost The foregoing make-or-buy analysis is complete only if it is assumed that the productive capacity used to make the ignition switches cannot be converted to another purpose. If there is an opportunity to use this productive capacity in Types of Incremental Analysis 395 some other manner, then this opportunity cost must be considered. As indicated earlier, opportunity cost is the potential benefit that may be obtained by following an alternative course of action. To illustrate, assume that through buying the switches, Baron Company can use the released productive capacity to generate additional income of $28,000 from producing a different product. This lost income is an additional cost of continuing to make the switches in the make-or-buy decision. This opportunity cost therefore is added to the “Make” column, for comparison. As shown, it is now advantageous to buy the ignition switches. Illustration 9-7 Incremental analysis—make or buy, with opportunity cost Make Total annual cost Opportunity cost Total cost *From Illustration 9-6. Buy $250,000* –0– $250,000 Net Income Increase (Decrease) $(25,000) 28,000 $ 3,000 $225,000* 28,000 $253,000 The qualitative factors in this decision include the possible loss of jobs for employees who produce the ignition switches. In addition, management must assess how long the supplier will be able to satisfy the company’s quality control standards at the quoted price per unit. B U S I N E S S I N S I G H T Management Perspective In the bicycle industry, nearly all bikes of quality are made with Shimano parts. This dominance by a single supplier has made bikes a sort of commodity. That is, if all bikes are made from the same parts, then what does it matter what brand of bike you buy? As a consequence, the majority of profits go to Shimano, with bike manufacturers that use Shimano parts having to accept an increasingly small profit margin. To break this trend, and increase its profit margins, Cannondale Corporation has decided to take the approach that “we manufacture the whole bicycle, not just take a frame and put somebody’s parts on it.” Similar steps are being taken by Trek Bicycle Corporation and Specialized Bicycle Components Inc. These companies recognize that they are taking a risk. In order to compete with Shimano, they will have to dramatically step up their research and development efforts and significantly increase their efficiency in the manufacture of parts. This will be difficult given Shimano’s huge volume advantage. Source: Ross Kerber, “Bike Maker Faces a Tactical Shift,” Wall Street Journal, October 12, 1998, p. B1. SELL OR PROCESS FURTHER Many manufacturers have the option of selling products at a given point in the production cycle or continuing to process with the expectation of selling them at a later point at a higher price. For example, a bicycle manufacturer such as Schwinn could sell its 10-speed bicycles to retailers either unassembled or assembled. A furniture manufacturer such as Ethan Allen could sell its dining room sets to furniture stores either unfinished or finished. The sell-or-process-further STUDY OBJECTIVE Give the decision rule for whether to sell or process materials further. ♦ 5 396 CHAPTER 9 Incremental Analysis decision should be made on the basis of incremental analysis. The basic decision rule is: Process further as long as the incremental revenue from such processing exceeds the incremental processing costs. Single-Product Case Assume, for example, that Woodmasters Inc. makes tables. The cost to manufacture an unfinished table is $35, computed as follows. Illustration 9-8 Per unit cost of unfinished table Direct material Direct labor Variable manufacturing overhead Fixed manufacturing overhead Manufacturing cost per unit $ 15 10 6 4 $35 The selling price per unfinished unit is $50. Woodmasters currently has unused productive capacity that is expected to continue indefinitely. What are the relevant costs? Management concludes that some of this capacity may be used to finish the tables and sell them at $60 per unit. For a finished table, direct materials will increase $2 and direct labor costs will increase $4. Variable manufacturing overhead costs will increase by $2.40 (60% of direct labor). No increase is anticipated in fixed manufacturing overhead. The incremental analysis on a per unit basis is as follows. Illustration 9-9 Incremental analysis—sell or process further Sales per unit Cost per unit Direct materials Direct labor Variable manufacturing overhead Fixed manufacturing overhead Total Net income per unit Sell $50.00 15.00 10.00 6.00 4.00 35.00 $15.00 Process Further $60.00 17.00 14.00 8.40 4.00 43.40 $16.60 Net Income Increase (Decrease) $10.00 (2.00) (4.00) (2.40) –0– (8.40) $ 1.60 Helpful Hint Current net income is known. Net income from processing further is an estimate. In making its decision, management could add a “risk” factor for the estimate. It would be advantageous for Woodmaster to process the tables further. The incremental revenue of $10.00 from the additional processing is $1.60 higher than the incremental processing costs of $8.40. Multiple-Product Case Sell-or-process-further decisions are particularly applicable to production processes that produce multiple products simultaneously. In many industries, a number of end-products are produced from a single raw material and a common production process. These multiple end-products are commonly referred to as joint products. For example, in the meat-packing industry, a single sheep produces meat, internal organs, hides, wool, bones, and fat. In the petroleum industry, crude oil is refined to produce gasoline, lubricating oil, kerosene, paraffin, and ethylene. Types of Incremental Analysis 397 Illustration 9-10 presents a joint product situation for Marais Creamery involving a decision to sell or process further cream and skim milk. Cream and skim milk are products that result from the processing of raw milk. Illustration 9-10 Joint production process— Creamery Cream Raw Milk Common Process Skim Milk Split-off Point Joint Costs Joint Products Further Processing Cottage Cheese Sell Further Processing Condensed Milk Sell Marais incurs many costs prior to the manufacture of the cream and skim milk. All costs incurred prior to the point at which the two products are separately identifiable (the split-off point) are called joint costs. For purposes of determining the cost of each product, joint product costs must be allocated to the individual products. This is frequently done based on the relative sales value of the joint products. While this allocation is important for determination of product cost, it is irrelevant for any sell-or-process-further decisions. The reason is that these joint product costs are sunk costs. That is, they have already been incurred, and they cannot be changed or avoided by any subsequent decision. The daily cost and revenue data for Marais Creamery are shown in Illustration 9-11. Costs (per day) Joint cost allocated to cream Joint cost allocated to skim milk Processing cream into cottage cheese Processing skim milk into condensed milk $ 9,000 5,000 10,000 8,000 Illustration 9-11 Cost and revenue data per day Expected Revenues from Products (per day) Cream Skim milk Cottage cheese Condensed milk $19,000 11,000 27,000 26,000 From this information we can determine whether the company should simply sell the cream and skim milk, or process them further into cottage cheese and condensed milk. Illustration 9-12 provides the analysis necessary to determine whether to sell the cream or process it further into cottage cheese. 398 CHAPTER 9 Incremental Analysis Process Further $27,000 Net Income Increase (Decrease) $ 8,000 Illustration 9-12 Analysis of whether to sell cream or process cottage cheese Sell Sales per day Cost per day Processing cream into cottage cheese $19,000 –0– $19,000 10,000 $17,000 (10,000) ($2,000) From this analysis we can see that Marais should not process the cream further because it will sustain an incremental loss of $2,000. Illustration 9-13, however, shows that Marais Company should process the skim milk into condensed milk, as it will increase net income by $7,000. Illustration 9-13 Analysis of whether to sell skim milk or process condensed milk Sell Sales per day Cost per day Processing skim milk into condensed milk $11,000 Process Further $26,000 Net Income Increase (Decrease) $15,000 –0– $11,000 8,000 $18,000 (8,000) $7,000 Note that the amount of joint costs allocated to each product ($9,000 to the cream and $5,000 to the skim milk) is irrelevant in deciding whether to sell or process further. Why? The joint costs remain the same whether or not further processing is performed. RETAIN OR REPLACE EQUIPMENT STUDY OBJECTIVE 6 Identify the factors to be considered in retaining or replacing equipment. Management often has to decide whether to continue using an asset or replace it. To illustrate, assume that Jeffcoat Company has a factory machine with a book value of $40,000 and a remaining useful life of 4 years. It is considering replacing this machine with a new machine. A new machine is available that costs $120,000. It is expected to have zero salvage value at the end of its 4-year useful life. If the new machine is acquired, variable manufacturing costs are expected to decrease from $160,000 to $125,000 annually, and the old unit will be scrapped. The incremental analysis for the 4-year period is as follows. Illustration 9-14 Incremental analysis—retain or replace equipment Variable manufacturing costs New machine cost Total a ♦ Retain Equipment $640,000a $640,000 $160,000) $125,000) Replace Equipment $500,000b 120,000 $620,000 Net Income Increase (Decrease) $140,000 (120,000) $ 20,000 b (4 years (4 years Types of Incremental Analysis 399 In this case, it would be to the company’s advantage to replace the equipment. The lower variable manufacturing costs due to replacement more than offset the cost of the new equipment. One other point should be mentioned regarding Jeffcoat’s decision: The book value of the old machine does not affect the decision. Book value is a sunk cost, which is a cost that cannot be changed by any present or future decision. Sunk costs are not relevant in incremental analysis. In this example, if the asset is retained, book value will be depreciated over its remaining useful life. Or, if the new unit is acquired, book value will be recognized as a loss of the current period. Thus, the effect of book value on current and future earnings is the same regardless of the replacement decision. Any tradein allowance or cash disposal value of the existing asset, however, is relevant to the decision, because this value will not be realized if the asset is continued in use. ELIMINATE AN UNPROFITABLE SEGMENT Management sometimes must decide whether to eliminate an unprofitable business segment. Again, the key is to focus on the relevant costs—the data that change under the alternative courses of action. To illustrate, assume that Martina Company manufactures tennis racquets in three models: Pro, Master, and Champ. Pro and Master are profitable lines. Champ (highlighted in color in the table below) operates at a loss. Condensed income statement data are as follows. STUDY OBJECTIVE Explain the relevant factors in deciding whether to eliminate an unprofitable segment. Pro Sales Variable expenses Contribution margin Fixed expenses Net income $800,000 520,000 280,000 80,000 $200,000 Master $300,000 210,000 90,000 50,000 $ 40,000 Champ $100,000 90,000 10,000 30,000 $ (20,000) Total $1,200,000 820,000 380,000 160,000 $ 220,000 Illustration 9-15 Segment income data Helpful Hint A decision to discontinue a segment based solely on the bottom line—net loss—is inappropriate. It might be expected that total net income will increase by $20,000, to $240,000, if the unprofitable Champ line of racquets is eliminated. However, net income may actually decrease if the Champ line is discontinued. The reason is that the fixed expenses allocated to the Champ racquets will have to be absorbed by the other products. To illustrate, assume that the $30,000 of fixed costs applicable to the unprofitable segment are allocated 2 3 to the Pro model and 1 3 to the Master model if the Champ model is eliminated. Fixed expenses will increase to $100,000 ($80,000 $20,000) in the Pro line and to $60,000 ($50,000 $10,000) in the Master line. The revised income statement is: Pro Sales Variable expenses Contribution margin Fixed expenses Net income $800,000 520,000 280,000 100,000 $180,000 Master $300,000 210,000 90,000 60,000 $ 30,000 Total $1,100,000 730,000 370,000 160,000 $ 210,000 Illustration 9-16 Income data after eliminating unprofitable product line ♦ 7 400 CHAPTER 9 Incremental Analysis Total net income has decreased $10,000 ($220,000 $210,000). This result is also obtained in the following incremental analysis of the Champ racquets. Illustration 9-17 Incremental analysis—eliminating an unprofitable segment Continue Sales Variable expenses Contribution margin Fixed expenses Net income $100,000 90,000 10,000 30,000 $ (20,000) Eliminate $ –0– –0– –0– 30,000 $(30,000) Net Income Increase (Decrease) $(100,000) 90,000 (10,000) –0– $ (10,000) The loss in net income is attributable to the Champ line’s contribution margin ($10,000) that will not be realized if the segment is discontinued. In deciding on the future status of an unprofitable segment, management should consider the effect of elimination on related product lines. It may be possible for continuing product lines to obtain some or all of the sales lost by the discontinued product line. In some businesses, services or products may be linked—for example, free checking accounts at a bank, or coffee at a donut shop. In addition, management should consider the effect of eliminating the product line on employees who may have to be discharged or retrained. B U S I N E S S I N S I G H T Management Perspective In 1994 Quaker Oats paid $1.7 billion for one of America’s hottest new beverage companies. While some observers thought that Quaker Oats had overpaid, Quaker’s management believed it was an exciting purchase because it would make a great strategic partner for Quaker Oats’ famous sport drink—Gatorade. But for a variety of reasons, the acquisition didn’t work out. One of the reasons was that at about the same time, several other major beverage manufacturers decided to begin producing and selling competing fruit and tea drinks. Worse yet, the processing methods used by these other manufacturers appeared to allow them to produce their drinks much more inexpensively. Only a few years after purchasing the beverage company, Quaker Oats sold it and took a $1.4 billion loss. Management stated that by selling this division, the company could reduce its debt burden and focus its remaining assets on its cereal brands and Gatorade. DECISION TOOLKIT Decision Checkpoints Info Needed for Decision Tool to Use for Decision How to Evaluate Results Which alternative should the company choose? All relevant costs and opportunity costs Compare relevant cost of each alternative. Choose the alternative that maximizes net income. Sales Mix 401 BEFORE YOU GO ON . . . ◆ Review It 1. Give three examples of how incremental analysis might be used. 2. What is the decision rule in deciding to sell or process products further? 3. How may the elimination of an unprofitable segment decrease the overall net income of a company? ◆ Do It Cobb Company incurs a cost of $28 per unit, of which $18 is variable, to make a product that normally sells for $42. A foreign wholesaler offers to buy 5,000 units at $25 each. Cobb will incur shipping costs of $1 per unit. Compute the increase or decrease in net income Cobb will realize by accepting the special order, assuming Cobb has excess operating capacity. Action Plan • Identify all revenues that will change as a result of accepting the order. • Identify all costs that will change as a result of accepting the order, and net this amount against the change in revenues. Solution Net Income Increase (Decrease) $125,000 (95,000) $ 30,000 Reject Revenues Costs Net income *(5,000 $18) Accept $125,000 95,000* $ 30,000 $–0– –0– $–0– (5,000 $1) Given the result of the analysis, Cobb Company should accept the special order. Related exercise material: BE9-2, BE9-3, and E9-1. ✔ THE N AV I G AT O R SALES MIX Most companies sell more than one product. Sales mix is the relative combination in which a company’s products are sold. For example, if 2 units of Product A are sold for 1 unit of Product B, the sales mix of the products is 2:1. Sales mix affects management’s decision making process in a number of ways. In this section we discuss how sales mix affects break-even analysis and how restrictions on a company’s resources can affect the decision on optimal sales mix. STUDY OBJECTIVE Explain the term “sales mix” and its effects in determining break-even sales. BREAK-EVEN SALES Break-even sales can be computed for a mix of two or more products by determining the weighted average unit contribution margin of all the products. To illustrate, we will assume that Vargo Video sells both VCRs and television sets (TVs) at the following per unit data. ♦ 8 402 CHAPTER 9 Incremental Analysis Unit Data Selling price Variable costs Contribution margin Sales mix VCRs $500 300 $200 3 TVs $800 400 $400 1 Illustration 9-18 Per unit data—sales mix The total contribution margin for the sales mix of 3 VCRs to 1 TV is $1,000, which is computed as follows. [($200 3) ($400 1)] $1,000 The weighted average unit contribution margin is calculated as total contribution margin divided by the number of units in the sales mix. For Vargo Video, the weighted average unit contribution margin is $250, computed as follows. $1,000 4 units $250 We then use the weighted average unit contribution margin to compute the break-even point in unit sales as follows. Illustration 9-19 Break-even formula— sales mix Break-even Point in Units = Fixed Costs ÷ Weighted Average Unit Contribution Margin Helpful Hint What are breakeven sales in units if the sales mix is reversed? Answer: Total contribution margin $1,400 ($200 $1,200). Weighted average unit contrib. margin $350 ($1,400 4). Break-even units 571 (rounded). The computation of break-even sales in units for Vargo Video, assuming $200,000 of fixed costs, is as follows. $200,000 $250 800 units Note that with the sales mix of 3 to 1, three-fourths of the units sold will be VCRs and one-fourth will be TVs. Therefore, in order to break even, Vargo Video must sell 600 VCRs (3 4 800) and 200 TVs (1 4 800). This can be verified by the following. Illustration 9-20 Break-even proof—sales mix Product VCRs TVs Unit Sales 600 200 800 Unit CM $200 400 Total CM $ 120,000 80,000 $200,000 Helpful Hint Continue the preceding Helpful Hint: How many VCRs and TVs must be sold? Answer: VCRs 143 (571 1⁄4) TVs 428 (571 3⁄4) Management should continually review the company’s sales mix. At any level of units sold, net income will be greater if more high contribution margin units are sold than low contribution margin units. For Vargo Video, the television sets produce the higher contribution margin. Consequently, if 300 TVs and 500 VCRs are sold, net income would be higher than in the current sales mix, even though total units sold has not changed. An analysis of these relationships shows that a shift from low-margin sales to high-margin sales may increase net income, even though there is a decline in Sales Mix 403 total units sold. Likewise, a shift from high- to low-margin sales may result in a decrease in net income, even though there is an increase in total units sold. DECISION TOOLKIT Decision Checkpoints Info Needed for Decision Tool to Use for Decision How to Evaluate Results How many units of product A and product B do we need to sell to break even? Fixed costs, weighted average contribution margin, sales mix Break-even point in units Fixed costs Weighted average contribution margin To determine number of units of Product A and B, allocate total units based on sales mix. LIMITED RESOURCES In our break-even analysis we assumed a certain sales mix. But as the conclusion to that discussion noted, management must constantly evaluate its sales mix to determine whether it is optimal. One factor that affects the sales mix decision is the relative resources that each product uses. Everyone’s resources are limited. For a company, the limited resource may be floor space in a retail department store, or raw materials, direct labor hours, or machine capacity in a manufacturing company. When a company has limited resources, management must decide which products to make and sell in order to maximize net income. To illustrate, assume that Collins Company manufactures deluxe and standard pen and pencil sets. The limiting resource is machine capacity, which is 3,600 hours per month. Relevant data consist of the following. STUDY OBJECTIVE Determine sales mix when a company has limited resources. Deluxe Sets Contribution margin per unit Machine hours required per unit $8 0.4 Standard Sets $6 0.2 Illustration 9-21 Contribution margin and machine hours The deluxe sets may appear to be more profitable since they have a higher contribution margin ($8) than the standard sets ($6). However, note that the standard sets take fewer machine hours to produce than the deluxe sets. Therefore, it is necessary to find the contribution margin per unit of limited resource, in this case, contribution margin per machine hour. This is obtained by dividing the contribution margin per unit of each product by the number of units of the limited resource required for each product, as shown in Illustration 9-22. Helpful Hint CM alone is not enough to make this decision. The key factor is CM per limited resource. Deluxe Sets Contribution margin per unit (a) Machine hours required (b) Contribution margin per unit of limited resource [(a) (b)] $8 0.4 $20 Standard Sets $6 0.2 $30 Illustration 9-22 Contribution margin per unit of limited resource The computation shows that the standard sets have a higher contribution margin per unit of limited resource. This would suggest that, given sufficient demand for standard sets, the company should shift the sales mix to standard sets or increase machine capacity. ♦ 9 404 CHAPTER 9 Incremental Analysis If Collins Company is able to increase machine capacity from 3,600 hours to 4,200 hours, the additional 600 hours could be used to produce either the standard or deluxe pen and pencil sets. The total contribution margin under each alternative is found by multiplying the machine hours by the contribution margin per unit of limited resource, as shown below. Illustration 9-23 Incremental analysis—computation of total contribution margin Produce Deluxe Sets Machine hours (a) Contribution margin per unit of limited resource (b) Contribution margin [(a) (b)] 600 $20 $12,000 Produce Standard Sets 600 $30 $18,000 From this analysis, we can see that to maximize net income, all of the increased capacity should be used to make and sell the standard sets. B U S I N E S S I N S I G H T Management Perspective When fragrance sales recently went flat, retailers turned up the heat on fragrance manufacturers. The amount of floor space devoted to fragrances was reduced, leaving fragrance manufacturers fighting each other for a smaller space. The retailer doesn’t just choose the fragrance with the highest contribution margin. Instead, it chooses the fragrance with the highest contribution margin per square foot. In this game, a product with a lower contribution margin, but a higher turnover, could well be the winner. DECISION TOOLKIT Decision Checkpoints Info Needed for Decision Tool to Use for Decision How to Evaluate Results How many units of product A and B should we produce in light of a limited resource? Contribution margin per unit, limited resource required per unit Contribution margin per unit of limited resource Contribution margin per unit Limited resource per unit Any additional capacity of limited resource should be applied toward the product with higher contribution margin per unit of limited resource. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS IN DECISION MAKING QUALITATIVE FACTORS In this chapter we have focused primarily on the quantitative factors that affect a decision—those attributes that can be easily expressed in terms of numbers or dollars. However, many of the decisions involving incremental analysis have important qualitative features; though not easily measured, they should not be ignored. Other Considerations in Decision Making 405 Consider, for example, the potential effects of the make-or-buy decision or of the decision to eliminate a line of business on existing employees and the community in which the plant is located. The cost savings that may be obtained from outsourcing or from eliminating a plant should be weighed against these qualitative attributes. One such would be the cost of lost morale that might result. Al “Chainsaw” Dunlap was a so-called “turnaround” artist who went into many companies, identified inefficiencies (using incremental analysis techniques), and tried to correct these problems to improve corporate profitability. Along the way he laid off thousands of employees at numerous companies. At his most recent position as head of Sunbeam, it was Al Dunlap who eventually lost his job because his Draconian approach failed to improve Sunbeam’s profitability. It was widely reported that Sunbeam’s employees openly rejoiced for days after his departure. Clearly, qualitative factors can matter. RELATIONSHIP OF INCREMENTAL ANALYSIS AND ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING Many companies have shifted to activity-based costing to allocate overhead costs to products. The primary reason for using activity-based costing is that it results in a more accurate allocation of overhead. That is, activity-based costing better associates the actual increase in overhead costs that results from the manufacture of each product. The concepts presented in this chapter are completely consistent with the use of activity-based costing. In fact, activity-based costing will result in better identification of relevant costs and, therefore, better incremental analysis. B U S I N E S S I N S I G H T Management Perspective The existence of excess plant capacity is frequently the incentive for management to add new products. Adding one new product may not add much incremental cost. But continuing to add products will at some point create new constraints, perhaps requiring additional investments in people, equipment, and facilities. The effects of product and product line proliferation are generally understood. But the effect on incremental overhead costs of changes in servicing customers is less understood. For example, if a company newly offers its customers the option of product delivery by case or by pallet, the new service may appear to be simple and low in cost. But, if the manufacturing process must be realigned to package in two different forms; if two sets of inventory records must be maintained; and if warehousing, handling, and shipping require two different arrangements or sets of equipment, the additional costs of this new option could be as high as a whole new product. If the customer service option were adopted for all products, the product line could effectively be doubled—but so might many overhead costs. Source: Elizabeth Haas Edersheim and Joan Wilson, “Complexity at Consumer Goods Companies: Naming and Taming the Beast,” Journal of Cost Management. BEFORE YOU GO ON . . . ◆ Review It 1. State the formula for computing break-even sales in units when a company sells more than one product. 406 CHAPTER 9 Incremental Analysis 2. Explain how a company that shifts its sales mix might actually increase its net income even though the total number of units it sells declines. 3. What is the critical factor in allocating limited resources to various product lines? ✔ THE N AV I G AT O R USING THE DECISION TOOLKIT Suppose Hewlett-Packard Company must decide whether to make or buy some of its components from Solectron Corp. The cost of producing 50,000 electrical connectors for its printers is $110,000, broken down as follows. Direct materials Direct labor $60,000 30,000 Variable overhead Fixed overhead $12,000 8,000 Instead of making the electrical connectors at an average cost per unit of $2.20 ($110,000 50,000), the company has an opportunity to buy the connectors at $2.15 per unit. If the connectors are purchased, all variable costs and one-half of the fixed costs will be eliminated. Instructions (a) Prepare an incremental analysis showing whether the company should make or buy the electrical connectors. (b) Will your answer be different if the released productive capacity resulting from the purchase of the connectors will generate additional income of $25,000? Solution (a) Direct materials Direct labor Variable manufacturing costs Fixed manufacturing costs Purchase price Total cost Make $ 60,000 30,000 12,000 8,000 –0– $110,000 Buy $ –0– –0– –0– 4,000 107,500 $111,500 Net Income Increase (Decrease) $ 60,000 30,000 12,000 4,000 (107,500) $ (1,500) This analysis indicates that Hewlett-Packard will incur $1,500 of additional costs if it buys the electrical connectors. H-P therefore would choose to make the connectors. (b) Total cost Opportunity cost Total cost Make $110,000 25,000 $135,000 Buy $111,500 –0– $111,500 Net Income Increase (Decrease) $ (1,500) 25,000 $23,500 Yes, the answer is different. The analysis shows that if additional capacity is released, net income will be increased by $23,500 if the electrical connectors are purchased. In this case, H-P would choose to purchase the connectors. ✔ THE N AV I G AT O R Glossary 407 SUMMARY OF STUDY OBJECTIVES ♦ 1 Identify the steps in management’s decisionmaking process. Management’s decision-making process consists of (a) identifying the problem and assigning responsibility for the decision, (b) determining and evaluating possible courses of action, (c) making the decision, and (d) reviewing the results of the decision. 2 Describe the concept of incremental analysis. Incremental analysis is the process that is used to identify financial data that change under alternative courses of action. These data are relevant to the decision because they will vary in the future among the possible alternatives. 3 Identify the relevant costs in accepting an order at a special price. The relevant information in accepting an order at a special price is the difference between the variable manufacturing costs to produce the special order and expected revenues. 4 Identify the relevant costs in a make-or-buy decision. In a make-or-buy decision, the relevant costs are (a) the variable manufacturing costs that will be saved, (b) the purchase price, and (c) opportunity costs. 5 Give the decision rule for whether to sell or process materials further. The decision rule for whether to sell or process materials further is: Process further as long as the incremental revenue from processing exceeds the incremental processing costs. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 6 Identify the factors to be considered in retaining or replacing equipment. The factors to be considered in determining whether equipment should be retained or replaced are the effects on variable costs and the cost of the new equipment. Also, any disposal value of the existing asset must be considered. 7 Explain the relevant factors in deciding whether to eliminate an unprofitable segment. In deciding whether to eliminate an unprofitable segment, it is necessary to determine the contribution margin, if any, produced by the segment and the disposition of the segment’s fixed expenses. 8 Explain the term “sales mix” and its effects in determining break-even sales. Sales mix is the relative combination in which a company’s products are sold. Break-even sales are determined by using the weighted average unit contribution margin of all the products. 9 Determine sales mix when a company has limited resources. When a company has limited resources, it is necessary to find the contribution margin per unit of limited resource. This amount is then multiplied by the units THE N AV I G AT O R of limited resource to determine which product maximizes net income. ♦ ✔ DECISION TOOLKIT — A SUMMARY Decision Checkpoints Info Needed for Decision Tool to Use for Decision How to Evaluate Results Which alternative should the company choose? How many units of product A and product B do we need to sell to break even? How many units of product A and B should we produce in light of a limited resource? All relevant costs and opportunity costs Fixed costs, weighted average contribution margin, sales mix Contribution margin per unit, limited resource required per unit Compare the relevant cost of each alternative. Break-even point in units Contribution margin per unit of limited resource Fixed costs Weighted average contribution margin Contribution margin per unit Limited resource per unit Choose the alternative that maximizes net income. To determine number of units of Product A and B, allocate total units based on sales mix. Any additional capacity of limited resource should be applied toward the product with higher contribution margin per unit of limited resource. GLOSSARY Incremental analysis The process of identifying the financial data that change under alternative courses of action. (p. 391) Joint costs For joint products, all costs incurred prior to the point at which the two products are separately identifiable. (p. 397) Joint products Multiple end-products produced from a single raw material and a common process. (p. 396) Opportunity cost The potential benefit that may be obtained from following an alternative course of action. (p. 392) 408 CHAPTER 9 Incremental Analysis Sunk cost A cost that cannot be changed by any present or future decision. (p 392) Relevant costs Those costs and revenues that differ across alternatives. (p. 392) Sales mix The relative combination in which a company’s products are sold. (p. 401) DEMONSTRATION PROBLEM Carolina Corporation manufactures and sells three different types of high-quality sealed ball bearings. The bearings vary in terms of their quality specifications—primarily in terms of their smoothness and roundness. They are referred to as Fine, ExtraFine, and Super-Fine bearings. Machine time is limited. More machine time is required to manufacture the Extra-Fine and Super-Fine bearings. Additional information is provided below. Product Fine Selling price Variable costs and expenses Contribution margin Machine hours required Units sold Sales mix Total fixed costs: $234,000 $6.00 4.00 $2.00 0.02 100,000 10 Extra-Fine $10.00 6.50 $ 3.50 0.04 40,000 4 Super-Fine $16.00 11.00 $ 5.00 0.08 10,000 1 Instructions Answer each of the following questions. 1. 2. 3. 4. What is the weighted average unit contribution margin? What is the break-even point using the current sales mix? Ignoring the machine time constraint, what strategy would appear optimal? What is the contribution margin per unit of limited resource for each type of bearing? 5. If additional machine time could be obtained, how should the additional capacity be used? Action Plan Solution to Demonstration Problem 1. The weighted average unit contribution margin is determined by dividing the total contribution margin for this sales mix by the number of units: Total contribution margin (10 $2) (4 $3.50) (1 $5) $39 • • To compute the break-even point for a given sales mix, divide total fixed costs by the weighted average unit contribution margin. To determine how best to use a limited resource, calculate the contribution margin per unit of limited resource for each product type. Weighted average unit contribution margin is computed as: Total contribution margin Number of units $39 4 $2.60 per unit 10 1 2. The break-even point given this sales mix is computed as: Fixed costs Weighted average unit contribution margin $234,000 $2.60 90,000 units 3. The Super-Fine bearings have the highest contribution margin per unit. Thus, ignoring any manufacturing constraints, it would appear that the company should shift toward production of more Super-Fine units. Self-Study Questions 409 4. The contribution margin per unit of limited resource is calculated as: Fine Contribution margin per unit Limited resource consumed per unit $2 .02 $100 Extra-Fine $3.5 .04 $87.50 Super-Fine $5 .08 $62.50 5. The Fine bearings have the highest contribution margin per limited resource, even though they have the lowest contribution margin per unit. Given the resource constraint, any additional capacity should be used to make Fine bearings. ✔ THE N AV I G AT O R SELF-STUDY QUESTIONS (SO 1) (SO 2) (SO 3) (SO 4) (SO 5) (SO 6) Answers are at the end of the chapter. 1. Three of the steps in management’s decision making process are (1) review results of decision, (2) determine and evaluate possible courses of action, and (3) make the decision. The steps are prepared in the following order: (a) (1), (2), (3). (b) (3), (2), (1). (c) (2), (1), (3). (d) (2), (3), (1). 2. Incremental analysis is the process of identifying the financial data that: (a) do not change under alternative courses of action. (b) change under alternative courses of action. (c) are mixed under alternative courses of action. (d) No correct answer is given. 3. It costs a company $14 of variable costs and $6 of fixed costs to produce product A that sells for $30. A foreign buyer offers to purchase 3,000 units at $18 each. If the special offer is accepted and produced with unused capacity, net income will: (a) decrease $6,000. (b) increase $6,000. (c) increase $12,000. (d) increase $9,000. 4. In a make-or-buy decision, relevant costs are: (a) manufacturing costs that will be saved. (b) the purchase price of the units. (c) opportunity costs. (d) all of the above. 5. The decision rule in a sell-or-process-further decision is: process further as long as the incremental revenue from processing exceeds: (a) incremental processing costs. (b) variable processing costs. (c) fixed processing costs. (d) No correct answer is given. 6. In a decision to retain or replace equipment, the book value of the old equipment is a (an): (a) opportunity cost. (b) sunk cost. (c) incremental cost. (d) marginal cost. 7. If an unprofitable segment is eliminated: (a) net income will always increase. (b) variable expenses of the eliminated segment will have to be absorbed by other segments. (c) fixed expenses allocated to the eliminated segment will have to be absorbed by other segments. (d) net income will always decrease. 8. Keynes Company sells both radios and cassette players at the following per unit data: Cassette Players $70 50 $20 1 (SO 7) (SO 8) Unit Data Selling price Variable costs Contribution margin Sales mix Radios $40 35 $5 2 What is the number of radios and cassette players that Keynes must sell in order to break even if fixed costs are $45,000? Cassette Players 500 750 1,000 1,500 (SO 9) Radios (a) (b) (c) (d) 1,000 1,500 2,000 3,000 9. If the contribution margin per unit is $15 and it takes 3.0 machine hours to produce the unit, the contribution margin per unit of limited resource is: (a) $25. (b) $5. (c) $4. THE N AV I G AT O R (d) No correct answer is given. ✔ 410 CHAPTER 9 Incremental Analysis QUESTIONS 1. What steps are frequently involved in management’s decision-making process? 2. Your roommate, Bill Blair, contends that accounting contributes to most of the steps in management’s decision-making process. Is your roommate correct? Explain. 3. “Incremental analysis involves the accumulation of information concerning a single course of action.” Do you agree? Why? 4. Judy Segura asks your help concerning the relevance of variable and fixed costs in incremental analysis. Help Judy with her problem. 5. What data are relevant in deciding whether to accept an order at a special price? 6. Kai Wei Company has an opportunity to buy parts at $7 each that currently cost $10 to make. What manufacturing costs are relevant to this make-or-buy decision? 7. Define the term “opportunity cost.” How may this cost be relevant in a make-or-buy decision? 8. What is the decision rule in deciding whether to sell a product or process it further? 9. What are joint products? What accounting issue results from the production process that creates joint products? 10. How are allocated joint costs treated when making a sell-or-process-further decision? 11. Your roommate, Cassie Helbrecht, is confused about sunk costs. Explain to your roommate the meaning of sunk costs and their relevance to a decision to retain or replace equipment. 12. Juanita Perez Inc. has one product line that is unprofitable. What circumstances may cause overall company net income to be lower if the unprofitable product line is eliminated? 13. The sales mix of Cambridge Company’s two products is 5:2. What does 5:2 mean? What effect, if any, does a company’s sales mix have on CVP analysis? 14. Ansara Company sells two products, X and Y. Their unit contribution margins are $52 and $70, respectively, and their sales mix is 2:1. What is the weighted average unit contribution margin? 15. How is the contribution margin per unit of limited resources computed? BRIEF EXERCISES Identify the steps in management’s decision-making process. (SO 1) BE9-1 The steps in management’s decision-making process are listed in random order below. Indicate the order in which the steps should be executed. ____ Make decision ____ Identify the problem and assign ____ responsibility ____ Review results of decision ____ Determine and evaluate possible ____ courses of action Determine incremental changes. (SO 2) BE9-2 Amy Company is considering two alternatives. Alternative A will have sales of $160,000 and costs of $100,000. Alternative B will have sales of $180,000 and costs of $125,000. Compare Alternative A to Alternative B showing incremental revenues, costs, and net income. BE9-3 In Melbourne Company it costs $30 per unit ($20 variable and $10 fixed) to make a product that normally sells for $45. A foreign wholesaler offers to buy 3,000 units at $25 each. Melbourne will incur special shipping costs of $1 per unit. Assuming that Melbourne has excess operating capacity, indicate the net income (loss) Melbourne would realize by accepting the special order. BE9-4 Zurich Manufacturing incurs unit costs of $8.50 ($5.50 variable and $3 fixed) in making a sub-assembly part for its finished product. A supplier offers to make 10,000 of the assembly part at $5 per unit. If the offer is accepted, Zurich will save all variable costs but no fixed costs. Prepare an analysis showing the total cost saving, if any, Zurich will realize by buying the part. BE9-5 Abrogena Inc. makes unfinished bookcases that it sells for $60. Production costs are $35 variable and $10 fixed. Because it has unused capacity, Abrogena is considering finishing the bookcases and selling them for $70. Variable finishing costs are expected to be $5 per unit with no increase in fixed costs. Prepare an analysis on a per unit basis showing whether Abrogena should sell unfinished or finished bookcases. Determine whether to accept a special order. (SO 3) Determine whether to make or buy a part. (SO 4) Determine whether to sell or process further. (SO 5) Exercises BE9-6 Each day, Justin Corporation processes 1 ton of a secret raw material into two resulting products, AB1 and XY1. When it processes 1 ton of the raw material the company incurs joint processing costs of $60,000. It allocates $20,000 of these costs to AB1 and $40,000 of these costs to XY1. The resulting AB1 can be sold for $80,000. Alternatively, it can be processed further to make AB2 at an additional processing cost of $50,000, and sold for $150,000. Each day’s batch of XY1 can be sold for $90,000. Alternatively, it can be processed further to create XY2, at an additional processing cost of $60,000, and sold for $130,000. Discuss what products Justin Corporation should make. BE9-7 Wright Company has a factory machine with a book value of $90,000 and a remaining useful life of 4 years. A new machine is available at a cost of $250,000. This machine will have a 4-year useful life with no salvage value. The new machine will lower annual variable manufacturing costs from $600,000 to $450,000. Prepare an analysis showing whether the old machine should be retained or replaced. BE9-8 Alesch, Inc., manufactures golf clubs in three models. For the year, the Big Bart line has a net loss of $10,000 from sales $200,000, variable expenses $180,000, and fixed expenses $30,000. If the Big Bart line is eliminated, $15,000 of fixed costs will remain. Prepare an analysis showing whether the Big Bart line should be eliminated. BE9-9 Wigdor Company sells three units of AA to one unit of BB; the two products have contribution margins of $100 and $180, respectively. Fixed costs are $300,000. Compute the unit sales at the break-even point. How many units of each product must be sold? BE9-10 In Astorga Company, data concerning two products are: Contribution margin per unit—Product A $10, Product B $12; machine hours required for one unit—Product A 2.5, Product B 4. Compute the contribution margin per unit of limited resource for each product. 411 Determine whether to sell or process further, joint products. (SO 5) Determine whether to retain or replace equipment. (SO 6) Determine whether to eliminate an unprofitable segment. (SO 7) Compute break-even sales units for two products. (SO 8) Show allocation of limited resources. (SO 9) EXERCISES E9-1 Wallway Company manufactures toasters. For the first 8 months of 2002, the company reported the following operating results while operating at 75% of plant capacity: Sales (437,500 units) Cost of goods sold Gross profit Operating expenses Net income $4,375,000 2,500,000 1,875,000 875,000 $1,000,000 Make incremental analysis for special order. (SO 3) Cost of goods sold was 70% variable and 30% fixed; operating expenses were also 70% variable and 30% fixed. In September, Wallway Company receives a special order for 15,000 toasters at $6.00 each from Colina Company of Mexico City. Acceptance of the order would result in $3,000 of shipping costs but no increase in fixed operating expenses. Instructions (a) Prepare an incremental analysis for the special order. (b) Should Wallway Company accept the special order? Why or why not? E9-2 Baer Inc. has been manufacturing its own shades for its table lamps. The company is currently operating at 100% of capacity, and variable manufacturing overhead is charged to production at the rate of 50% of direct labor cost. The direct materials and direct labor cost per unit to make the lamp shades are $5.00 and $7.00, respectively. Normal production is 30,000 table lamps per year. A supplier offers to make the lamp shades at a price of $16 per unit. If Baer Inc. accepts the supplier’s offer, all variable manufacturing costs will be eliminated, but the $45,000 of fixed manufacturing overhead currently being charged to the lamp shades will have to be absorbed by other products. Make incremental analysis for make-or-buy decision. (SO 4) 412 CHAPTER 9 Incremental Analysis Instructions (a) Prepare the incremental analysis for the decision to make or buy the lamp shades. (b) Should Baer Inc. buy the lamp shades? (c) Would your answer be different in (b) if the productive capacity released by not making the lamp shades could be used to produce income of $35,000? Make incremental analysis for further processing of materials. (SO 5) E9-3 Andrea Valencia recently opened her own basketweaving studio. She sells finished baskets in addition to the raw materials needed by customers to weave baskets of their own. Andrea has put together a variety of raw material kits, each including materials at various stages of completion. Unfortunately, owing to space limitations, Andrea is unable to carry all varieties of kits originally assembled and must choose between two basic packages. The basic introductory kit includes undyed, uncut reeds (with dye included) for weaving one basket. This basic package costs Andrea $12 and sells for $25. The second kit, called Stage 2, includes cut reeds that have already been dyed. With this kit the customer need only soak the reeds and weave the basket. Andrea is able to produce the second kit by using the basic materials included in the first kit and adding one hour of her own time, which she values at $18 per hour. Because she is more efficient at cutting and dying reeds than her average customer, Andrea is able to make two kits of the dyed reeds, in one hour, from one kit of undyed reeds. The kit of dyed and cut reeds sells for $30. Instructions Determine whether Andrea’s basketweaving shop should carry the basic introductory kit with undyed and uncut reeds or the Stage 2 kit with reeds already dyed and cut. Prepare an incremental analysis to support your answer. Determine whether to sell or process further, joint products. (SO 5) E9-4 Florescent Minerals processes materials extracted from mines. The most common raw material that it processes results in three joint products: Sarco, Barco, and Larco. Each of these products can be sold as is, or it can be processed further and sold for a higher price. The company incurs joint costs of $180,000 to process one batch of the raw material that produces the three joint products. The following cost and selling price information is available for one batch of each product. Selling Price at Split-off Point Sarco Barco Larco $200,000 300,000 400,000 Allocated Joint Costs $40,000 60,000 80,000 Cost to Process Further $ 70,000 120,000 250,000 Selling Price of Processed Product $300,000 400,000 800,000 Instructions Determine whether each of the three joint products should be sold as is, or processed further. Make incremental analysis for retaining or replacing equipment. (SO 6) E9-5 Barrila Enterprises uses a word processing computer to handle its sales invoices. Lately, business has been so good that it takes an extra 3 hours per night, plus every third Saturday, to keep up with the volume of sales invoices. Management is considering updating its computer with a faster model that would eliminate all of the overtime processing. Current Machine Original purchase cost Accumulated depreciation Estimated operating costs Useful life $15,000 $ 6,000 $20,000 5 years New Machine $25,000 — $15,000 5 years If sold now, the current machine would have a salvage value of $5,000. If operated for the remainder of its useful life, the current machine would have zero salvage value. The new machine is expected to have zero salvage value after five years. Instructions Should the current machine be replaced? (Ignore the time value of money.) Exercises E9-6 Michelle Tracy, a recent graduate of Rolling’s accounting program, evaluated the operating performance of Poway Company’s six divisions. Michelle made the following presentation to Poway’s Board of Directors and suggested the Erie Division be eliminated. “If the Erie Division is eliminated,” she said, “our total profits would increase by $15,500.” The Other Five Divisions Sales Cost of goods sold Gross profit Operating expenses Net income $1,664,200 978,520 685,680 527,940 $ 157,740 Erie Division $ 99,000 76,500 22,500 38,000 $(15,500) Total $1,763,200 1,055,020 708,180 565,940 $ 142,240 413 Make incremental analysis concerning elimination of division. (SO 7) In the Erie Division, cost of goods sold is $60,000 variable and $16,500 fixed, and operating expenses are $15,000 variable and $23,000 fixed. None of the Erie Division’s fixed costs will be eliminated if the division is discontinued. Instructions Is Michelle right about eliminating the Erie Division? Prepare a schedule to support your answer. E9-7 The following information is selected from the records of Burnside Company, which produces and sells two products. Product A Selling price per unit Units sold Variable manufacturing cost per unit $ 11.00 80,000 $ 4.00 Product B $ 18.00 40,000 $ 8.00 Compute sales mix, weighted average unit contribution margin, and break-even point. (SO 8) Fixed manufacturing overhead costs are $248,000, and fixed selling and administrative expenses are $94,000. Instructions (a) Compute the sales mix for Burnside Company. (b) Calculate the weighted average unit contribution margin. (c) Compute the break-even point in units, assuming the sales mix computed in part (a). E9-8 The Kitchen Appliance Center sells three models of Super Clean dishwashers. Selling price and variable cost data for the models are as follows. Economy Unit selling price Unit variable costs Expected sales volume (units) $500 $400 500 Standard $650 $500 300 Deluxe $800 $600 200 Compute and prove the break-even point in units with sales mix. (SO 8) Instructions (a) Compute the break-even point in units, assuming total fixed costs are $229,500. (b) Prove the correctness of your answer. E9-9 Spencer Company manufactures and sells three products. Relevant per unit data concerning each product are given below. Product A Selling price Variable costs and expenses Machine hours to produce $8 $3 2 B $ 12 $8.50 1 C $14 $12 2 Compute contribution margin and determine the product to be manufactured. (SO 9) Instructions (a) Compute the contribution margin per unit of the limited resource (machine hour) for each product. 414 CHAPTER 9 Incremental Analysis (b) Assuming 1,500 additional machine hours are available, which product should be manufactured? (c) Prepare an analysis showing the total contribution margin if the additional hours are (1) divided equally among the products, and (2) allocated entirely to the product identified in (b) above. PROBLEMS: SET A Make incremental analysis for special order and identify nonfinancial factors in the decision. (SO 3) P9-1A Schaeffer Company is currently producing 18,000 units per month, which is 75% of its production capacity. Variable manufacturing costs are currently $12.10 per unit, and fixed manufacturing costs are $63,000 per month. Schaeffer pays a 9% sales commission to its sales people, has $30,000 in fixed administrative expenses per month, and is averaging $396,000 in sales per month. A special order received from a foreign company would enable Schaeffer Company to operate at 100% capacity. The foreign company offered to pay 75% of Schaeffer’s current selling price per unit. If the order is accepted, Schaeffer will have to spend an extra $2.00 per unit to package the product for overseas shipping. Also, Schaeffer Company would need to lease a new stamping machine to imprint the foreign company’s logo on the product, at a monthly cost of $3,600. The special order would require a sales commission of $3,000. Instructions (a) Compute the number of units involved in the special order and the foreign company’s offered price per unit. (b) What is the manufacturing cost of producing one unit of Schaeffer’s product for regular customers? (c) Prepare an incremental analysis of the special order. Should management accept the order? (d) What is the lowest price that Schaeffer could accept for the special order to earn net income of $1.20 per unit? (e) What nonfinancial factors should management consider in making its decision? Make incremental analysis related to make or buy, consider opportunity cost, and identify nonfinancial factors. (SO 4) P9-2A The management of Conger Manufacturing Company has asked for your assistance in deciding whether to continue manufacturing a part or to buy it from an outside supplier. The part, called Tropica, is a component of Conger’s finished product. An analysis of the accounting records and the production data revealed the following information for the year ending December 31, 2002. 1. The Machinery Department produced 35,000 units of Tropica. 2. Each Tropica unit requires 10 minutes to produce. Three people in the Machinery Department work full time (2,000 hours per year) producing Tropica. Each person is paid $12.00 per hour. 3. The cost of materials per Tropica unit is $2.00. 4. Manufacturing costs directly applicable to the production of Tropica are: indirect labor, $7,500; utilities, $1,500; depreciation, $1,800; property taxes and insurance, $1,000. All of the costs will be eliminated if Tropica is purchased. 5. The lowest price for a Tropica from an outside supplier is $4 per unit. Freight charges will be $0.40 per unit, and a part-time receiving clerk at $8,500 per year will be required. 6. If Tropica is purchased, the excess space will be used to store Conger’s finished product. Currently, Conger rents storage space at approximately $0.80 per unit stored per year. Approximately 4,500 units per year are stored in the rented space. Instructions (a) Prepare an incremental analysis for the make or buy decision. Should Conger make or buy the part? Why? Problems: Set A (b) Prepare an incremental analysis, assuming the released facilities can be used to produce $10,000 of net income in addition to the savings on the rental of storage space. What decision should now be made? (c) What nonfinancial factors should be considered in the decision? P9-3A Sano Manufacturing Company has four operating divisions. During the first quarter of 2002, the company reported total income from operations of $61,000 and the following results for the divisions. Division Denver Sales Cost of goods sold Selling and administrative expenses Income (loss) from operations $530,000 450,000 100,000 $ (20,000) Helena $730,000 480,000 207,000 $ 43,000 Portland $920,000 576,000 246,000 $ 98,000 Seattle $450,000 390,000 120,000 $ (60,000) 415 Compute contribution margin and prepare incremental analysis concerning elimination of divisions. (SO 7) Analysis reveals the following percentages of variable costs in each division. Denver Cost of goods sold Selling and administrative expenses 90% 60 Helena 80% 60 Portland 90% 70 Seattle 95% 80 Discontinuance of any division would save 60% of the fixed costs and expenses for that division. Top management is deeply concerned about the unprofitable divisions (Denver and Seattle). The consensus is that one or both of the divisions should be eliminated. Instructions (a) Compute the contribution margin for the two unprofitable divisions. (b) Prepare an incremental analysis concerning the possible elimination of (1) the Denver Division and (2) the Seattle Division. What course of action do you recommend for each division? (c) Prepare a columnar condensed income statement using the CVP format for Sano Manufacturing Company, assuming (1) the Seattle Division is eliminated, and (2) the unavoidable fixed costs and expenses of the Seattle Division are allocated 30% to Helena, 50% to Portland, and 20% to Denver. (d) Compare the total income from operations with the Denver Division ($61,000) to total income from operations without this division. P9-4A Costa Electronics manufactures two models of cameras, Superfast and Ultrafast. Unit data for each model are as follows. Superfast Selling price Variable costs and expenses Direct materials Direct labor Manufacturing overhead Selling Administrative Total variable $400 80 60 54 40 46 $280 Ultrafast $500 91 101 67 56 60 $375 Compute contribution margin, break-even point, and sales to meet target net income. (SO 8) Monthly fixed costs are: manufacturing overhead $55,000; selling expenses $40,000; and administrative expenses $25,000. Instructions (a) Compute the contribution margin for each model. (b) Compute the break-even point in dollars for each model using the contribution margin, assuming fixed costs are divided equally between the products. (c) Compute the sales necessary to make net income of $30,000 on Superfast and $40,000 on Ultrafast. Each model incurs 50% of the fixed costs. 416 CHAPTER 9 Incremental Analysis PROBLEMS: SET B Make incremental analysis for special order and identify nonfinancial factors in the decision. (SO 3) P9-1B Top Sports Inc. manufactures basketballs for the National Basketball Association (NBA). For the first 6 months of 2002, the company reported the following operating results while operating at 90% of plant capacity. Amount Sales Cost of goods sold Selling and administrative expenses Net income $4,500,000 3,600,000 450,000 $ 450,000 Per Unit $50.00 40.00 5.00 $ 5.00 Fixed costs for the period were: cost of goods sold $1,080,000, and selling and administrative expenses $225,000. In July, normally a slack manufacturing month, Top Sports receives a special order for 10,000 basketballs at $34 each from the Italian Basketball Association (IBA). Acceptance of the order would increase variable selling and administrative expenses $0.50 per unit because of shipping costs but would not increase fixed costs and expenses. Instructions (a) Prepare an incremental analysis for the special order. (b) Should Top Sports Inc. accept the special order? (c) What is the minimum selling price on the special order to produce net income of $4 per ball? (d) What nonfinancial factors should management consider in making its decision? Make incremental analysis related to make or buy; consider opportunity cost and identify nonfinancial factors. (SO 4) P9-2B The management of Caesar Manufacturing Company is trying to decide whether to continue manufacturing a part or to buy it from an outside supplier. The part, called WISCO, is a component of the company’s finished product. The following information was collected from the accounting records and production data for the year ending December 31, 2002. 1. 7,000 units of WISCO were produced in the Machining Department. 2. Variable manufacturing costs applicable to the production of each WISCO unit were: direct materials $4.50, direct labor $4.30, indirect labor $0.50, utilities $0.40. 3. Fixed manufacturing costs applicable to the production of WISCO were: Cost Item Depreciation Property taxes Insurance Direct $1,600 500 900 $3,000 Allocated $ 900 200 600 $1,700 All variable manufacturing and direct fixed costs will be eliminated if WISCO is purchased. Allocated costs will have to be absorbed by other production departments. 4. The lowest quotation for 7,000 WISCO units from a supplier is $70,000. 5. If WISCO units are purchased, freight and inspection costs would be $0.30 per unit, and receiving costs totaling $750 per year would be incurred by the Machining Department. Instructions (a) Prepare an incremental analysis for WISCO. Your analysis should have columns for (1) Make WISCO, (2) Buy WISCO, and (3) Net Income Increase/Decrease. (b) Based on your analysis, what decision should management make? (c) Would the decision be different if Caesar Company has the opportunity to produce $4,000 of net income with the facilities currently being used to manufacture WISCO? Show computations. Problems: Set B (d) decision? P9-3B Simpson Manufacturing Company has four operating divisions. During the first quarter of 2002, the company reported aggregate income from operations of $120,000 and the following divisional results. Division I Sales Cost of goods sold Selling and administrative expenses Income (loss) from operations $490,000 300,000 60,000 $130,000 II $410,000 250,000 80,000 $ 80,000 III $200,000 195,000 65,000 $ (60,000) IV $300,000 280,000 50,000 $ (30,000) What nonfinancial factors should management consider in making its 417 Compute contribution margin and prepare incremental analysis concerning elimination of divisions. (SO 7) Analysis reveals the following percentages of variable costs in each division. I Cost of goods sold Selling and administrative expenses 70% 40 II 80% 50 III 90% 70 IV 75% 60 Discontinuance of any division would save 50% of the fixed costs and expenses for that division. Top management is very concerned about the unprofitable divisions (III and IV). Consensus is that one or both of the divisions should be discontinued. Instructions (a) Compute the contribution margin for Divisions III and IV. (b) Prepare an incremental analysis concerning the possible discontinuance of (1) Division III and (2) Division IV. What course of action do you recommend for each division? (c) Prepare a columnar condensed income statement for Simpson Manufacturing, assuming Division III is eliminated. Use the CVP format. Division III’s unavoidable fixed costs are allocated equally to the continuing divisions. (d) Reconcile the total income from operations ($120,000) with the total income from operations without Division IV. P9-4B Juan Castorena Company manufactures two models of televisions, Superclear and Ultraclear. Unit data for each model are as follows. Superclear Selling price Variable costs and expenses Direct materials Direct labor Manufacturing overhead Selling Administrative Total variable $420 90 50 60 32 20 $252 Ultraclear $630 125 90 100 70 56 $441 Compute contribution margin, break-even point, and sales to meet target net income. (SO 8) Monthly fixed costs are: manufacturing overhead $80,000; selling expenses $54,000; and administrative expenses $34,000. Instructions (a) Compute the contribution margin for each model. (b) Compute the break-even point in dollars for each model using the contribution margin, assuming fixed costs are divided equally between the products. (c) Compute the sales necessary to make net income of $36,000 on Superclear and $48,000 on Ultraclear. Each model incurs 50% of all fixed costs. 418 CHAPTER 9 Incremental Analysis ♦ B R O A D E N I N G Y O U R P E R S P E C T I V E GROUP DECISION CASE BYP9-1 Saldajeno Company is considering the purchase of a new machine. The invoice price of the machine is $125,000, freight charges are estimated to be $4,000, and installation costs are expected to be $6,000. Salvage value of the new equipment is expected to be zero after a useful life of 4 years. Existing equipment could be retained and used for an additional 4 years if the new machine is not purchased. At that time, the salvage value of the equipment would be zero. If the new machine is purchased now, the existing machine would have to be scrapped. Saldajeno’s accountant, Shaida Fang, has accumulated the following data regarding annual sales and expenses with and without the new machine. 1. Without the new machine, Saldajeno can sell 12,000 units of product annually at a per unit selling price of $100. If the new unit is purchased, the number of units produced and sold would increase by 20%, and the selling price would remain the same. 2. The new machine is faster than the old machine, and it is more efficient in its usage of materials. With the old machine the gross profit rate will be 25% of sales, whereas the rate will be 30% of sales with the new machine. 3. Annual selling expenses are $180,000 with the current equipment. Because the new equipment would produce a greater number of units to be sold, annual selling expenses are expected to increase by 10% if it is purchased. 4. Annual administrative expenses are expected to be $100,000 with the old machine, and $113,000 with the new machine. 5. The current book value of the existing machine is $36,000. Saldajeno uses straightline depreciation. Instructions With the class divided into groups, prepare an incremental analysis for the 4 years showing whether Saldajeno should keep the existing machine or buy the new machine. (Ignore income tax effects.) MANAGERIAL ANALYSIS BYP9-2 Electronix Plus manufactures private-label small electronic products, such as alarm clocks, calculators, kitchen timers, stopwatches, and automatic pencil sharpeners. Some of the products are sold as sets, and others are sold individually. Products are studied as to their sales potential, and then cost estimates are made. The Engineering Department develops production plans, and then production begins. The company has generally had very successful product introduction. Only two products introduced by the company have been discontinued. One of the products currently sold is a multi-alarm alarm clock. The clock has four alarms that can be programmed to sound at various times and for varying lengths of time. The company has experienced a great deal of difficulty in making the circuit boards for the clocks. The production process has never operated smoothly. The product is unprofitable at the present time, primarily because of warranty repairs and product recalls. Two models of the clocks were recalled, for example, because they sometimes caused an electric shock when the alarms were being shut off. The Engineering Department is attempting to revise the manufacturing process, but the revision will take another 6 months at least. The clocks were very popular when they were introduced, and since they are privatelabel, the company has not suffered much from the recalls. Presently, the company has a very large order for several items from Kmart Stores. The order includes 5,000 of the multi-alarm clocks. When the company suggested that Kmart purchase the clocks from another manufacturer, Kmart threatened to rescind the entire order unless the clocks were included. Real-World Focus The company has therefore investigated the possibility of having another company make the clocks for them. The clocks were bid for the Kmart order based on an estimated $6.65 cost to manufacture: Circuit board, 1 each @ $2.00 Plastic case, 1 each @ $0.75 Alarms, 4 @ $0.10 each Labor, 15 minutes @ $12/hour Overhead, $2.00 per labor hour $2.00 0.75 0.40 3.00 0.50 419 Electronix Plus could purchase clocks to fill the Kmart order for $11 from Silver Star, a Korean manufacturer with a very good quality record. Silver Star has offered to reduce the price to $7.50 after Electronix Plus has been a customer for 6 months, placing an order of at least 1,000 units per month. If Electronix Plus becomes a “preferred customer” by purchasing 15,000 units per year, the price would be reduced still further to $4.50. Alpha Products, a local manufacturer, has also offered to make clocks for Electronix Plus. They have offered to sell 5,000 clocks for $4 each. However, Alpha Products has been in business for only 6 months. They have experienced significant turnover in their labor force, and the local press has reported that the owners may face tax evasion charges soon. The owner of Alpha Products is an electronic engineer, however, and the quality of the clocks is likely to be good. If Electronix Plus decides to purchase the clocks from either Silver Star or Alpha, all the costs to manufacture could be avoided, except a total of $5,000 in overhead costs for machine depreciation. The machinery is fairly new, and has no alternate use. Instructions (a) What is the difference in profit under each of the alternatives if the clocks are to be sold for $14.50 each to Kmart? (b) What are the most important nonfinancial factors that Electronix Plus should consider when making this decision? (c) What do you think Electronix Plus should do in regard to the Kmart order? What should it do in regard to continuing to manufacture the multi-alarm alarm clocks? Be prepared to defend your answer. REAL-WORLD FOCUS BYP9-3 Founded in 1983, the Beverly Hills Fan Company is located in Woodland Hills, California. With 23 employees and sales of less than $10 million, the company is relatively small. Management feels that there is potential for growth in the upscale market for ceiling fans and lighting. They are particularly optimistic about growth in Mexican and Canadian markets. Presented below is information from the president’s letter in the company’s annual report. BEVERLY HILLS FAN COMPANY President’s Letter An aggressive product development program was initiated during the past year resulting in new ceiling fan models planned for introduction in 1993. Award winning industrial designer Ron Rezek created several new fan models for the Beverly Hills Fan and L.A. Fan lines, including a new Showroom Collection, designed specifically for the architectural and designer markets. Each of these models has received critical acclaim, and order commitments for 1993 have been outstanding. Additionally, our Custom Color and special order fans continued to enjoy increasing popularity and sales gains as more and more customers desire fans that match their specific interior decors. Currently, Beverly Hills Fan Company offers a product line of over 100 models of contemporary, traditional, and transitional ceiling fans. 420 CHAPTER 9 Incremental Analysis Instructions (a) What points did the company management need to consider before deciding to offer the special-order fans to customers? (b) How would incremental analysis be employed to assist in this decision? COMMUNICATION ACTIVITY BYP9-4 Harvey Mudd is a production manager at a metal fabricating plant. Last night he read an article about a new piece of equipment that would dramatically reduce his division’s costs. Harvey was very excited about the prospect, and the first thing he did this morning was to bring the article to his supervisor, Nathan Peas, the plant manager. The following conversation occurred: Harvey: Nathan, I thought you would like to see this article on the new PDD1130; they’ve made some fantastic changes that could save us millions of dollars. Nathan: I appreciate your interest Harvey, but I actually have been aware of the new machine for two months. The problem is that we just bought a new machine last year. We spent $2 million on that machine, and it was supposed to last us 12 years. If we replace it now we would have to write its book value off of the books for a huge loss. If I go to top management now and say that I want a new machine, they will fire me. I think we should use our existing machine for a couple of years, and then when it becomes obvious that we have to have a new machine, I will make the proposal. Instructions Harvey just completed a course in managerial accounting, and he believes that Nathan is making a big mistake. Write a memo from Harvey to Nathan explaining Nathan’s decision-making error. RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT BYP9-5 The April 1998 issue of Management Accounting includes an article by Julie Hertenstein and Marjorie Platt entitled “Why Product Development Teams Need Management Accountants.” Instructions Read the article and answer the following questions. (a) What percentage of a product’s cost are determined at the design stage? (b) Why do the authors say that management accountants can provide a broader perspective on costs than purchasing managers? (c) What are some of the roles and responsibilities that management accountants can have on a design team? (d) What are some nonfinancial measures used to evaluate industrial design performance? ETHICS CASE BYP9-6 Harold Dean became Chief Executive Officer of Wriston Manufacturing two years ago. At the time, the company was reporting lagging profits, and Harold was brought in to “stir things up.” The company has three divisions, electronics, fiber optics, and plumbing supplies. Harold has no interest in plumbing supplies, and one of the first things he did was to put pressure on his accountants to reallocate some of the company’s fixed costs away from the other two divisions to the plumbing division. This had the effect of causing the plumbing division to report losses during the last two years; in the past it had always reported low, but acceptable, net income. Harold felt that this reallocation would shine a favorable light on him in front of the board of directors because it meant that the electronics and fiber optics divisions would look like they were improving. Given Ethics Case that these are “businesses of the future,” he believed that the stock market would react favorably to these increases, while not penalizing the poor results of the plumbing division. Without this shift in the allocation of fixed costs, the profits of the electronics and fiber optics divisions would not have improved. But now the board of directors has suggested that the plumbing division be closed because it is reporting losses. This would mean that nearly 500 employees, many of whom have worked for Wriston their whole lives, would lose their jobs. Instructions (a) If a division is reporting losses, does that necessarily mean that it should be closed? (b) Was the reallocation of fixed costs across divisions unethical? (c) What should Harold do? 421 Answers to Self-Study Questions 1. d 2. b 3. c 4. d 5. a 6. b 7. c 8. d 9. b ✓ ■ Remember to go back to the Navigator box on the chapter-opening page and check off your completed work.