Exam 6: Differential Analysis: The Key to Decision Making

Part E43 is used in one of Ran Corporation's products. The company's Accounting Department reports the following costs of producing the 12,000 units of the part that are needed every year. An outside supplier has offered to make the part and sell it to the company for $14.70 each. If this offer is accepted, the supervisor's salary and all of the variable costs, including direct labor, can be avoided. The special equipment used to make the part was purchased many years ago and has no salvage value or other use. The allocated general overhead represents fixed costs of the entire company. If the outside supplier's offer were accepted, only $5,000 of these allocated general overhead costs would be avoided. Required: a. Prepare a report that shows the effect on the company's total net operating income of buying part E43 from the supplier rather than continuing to make it inside the company. b. Which alternative should the company choose?

How much profit (loss) does the company make by processing the intermediate product beet juice into refined sugar rather than selling it as is?

Lampshire Inc. is considering using stocks of an old raw material in a special project. The special project would require all 160 kilograms of the raw material that are in stock and that originally cost the company $1,136 in total. If the company were to buy new supplies of this raw material on the open market, it would cost $7.25 per kilogram. However, the company has no other use for this raw material and would sell it at the discounted price of $6.50 per kilogram if it were not used in the special project. The sale of the raw material would involve delivery to the purchaser at a total cost of $75 for all 160 kilograms. What is the relevant cost of the 160 kilograms of the raw material when deciding whether to proceed with the special project?

How many minutes of milling machine time would be required to satisfy demand for all four products?

If Austin chooses to produce 4,000 afghans each month, the change in the monthly net operating income as compared to selling 4,000 spindles of yarn is:

Lusk Company produces and sells 15,000 units of Product A each month. The selling price of Product A is $20 per unit, and variable expenses are $14 per unit. A study has been made concerning whether Product A should be discontinued. The study shows that $70,000 of the $100,000 in fixed expenses charged to Product A would continue even if the product was discontinued. These data indicate that if Product A is discontinued, the company's overall net operating income would:

Foulds Company makes 10,000 units per year of a part it uses in the products it manufactures. The unit product cost of this part is computed as follows: An outside supplier has offered to sell the company all of these parts it needs for $42.30 a unit. If the company accepts this offer, the facilities now being used to make the part could be used to make more units of a product that is in high demand. The additional contribution margin on this other product would be $39,000 per year. If the part were purchased from the outside supplier, all of the direct labor cost of the part would be avoided. However, $6.40 of the fixed manufacturing overhead cost being applied to the part would continue even if the part were purchased from the outside supplier. This fixed manufacturing overhead cost would be applied to the company's remaining products. Required: a. How much of the unit product cost of $47.90 is relevant in the decision of whether to make or buy the part? b. What is the net total dollar advantage (disadvantage) of purchasing the part rather than making it? c. What is the maximum amount the company should be willing to pay an outside supplier per unit for the part if the supplier commits to supplying all 10,000 units required each year?

An avoidable cost is a cost that can be eliminated (in whole or in part) as a result of choosing one alternative over another.

If Meacham decides to purchase the subcomponent from the outside supplier, how much higher or lower will net operating income be than if Meacham continued to make the subcomponent?

Suppose the selling price of the upgraded computers has not been set. At what selling price per unit would the company be as well off upgrading the computers as if it just sold the computers in their present condition?

What is the net monetary advantage (disadvantage) of processing Product X beyond the split-off point?

Pitkin Company produces a part used in the manufacture of one of its products. The unit product cost of the part is $33, computed as follows: An outside supplier has offered to provide the annual requirement of 10,000 of the parts for only $27 each. The company estimates that 30% of the fixed manufacturing overhead costs above will continue if the parts are purchased from the outside supplier. Assume that direct labor is an avoidable cost in this decision. Based on these data, the per unit dollar advantage or disadvantage of purchasing the parts from the outside supplier would be:

Generally, a product line should be dropped when the fixed costs that can be avoided by dropping the product line are less than the contribution margin that will be lost.

When a company has a production constraint, the product with the highest contribution margin per unit of the constrained resource should be given highest priority.

Suppose the company is already operating at capacity when the special order is received from the overseas customer. What would be the opportunity cost of each unit delivered to the overseas customer?

The management of Heider Corporation is considering dropping product J14V. Data from the company's accounting system appear below: In the company's accounting system all fixed expenses of the company are fully allocated to products. Further investigation has revealed that $211,000 of the fixed manufacturing expenses and $172,000 of the fixed selling and administrative expenses are avoidable if product J14V is discontinued. What would be the effect on the company's overall net operating income if product J14V were dropped?

What is the lowest price Austin should be willing to accept for one afghan as long as it can sell spindles of yarn to the outside market for $12 each?

Holvey Company makes three products in a single facility. Data concerning these products follow: The mixing machines are potentially the constraint in the production facility. A total of 6,300 minutes are available per month on these machines. Direct labor is a variable cost in this company. Required: a. How many minutes of mixing machine time would be required to satisfy demand for all three products? b. How much of each product should be produced to maximize net operating income? (Round off to the nearest whole unit.) c. Up to how much should the company be willing to pay for one additional hour of mixing machine time if the company has made the best use of the existing mixing machine capacity? (Round off to the nearest whole cent.)

Jumonville Company produces a single product. The cost of producing and selling a single unit of this product at the company's normal activity level of 70,000 units per month is as follows: The normal selling price of the product is $56.70 per unit. An order has been received from an overseas customer for 2,000 units to be delivered this month at a special discounted price. This order would have no effect on the company's normal sales and would not change the total amount of the company's fixed costs. The variable selling and administrative expense would be $0.70 less per unit on this order than on normal sales. Direct labor is a variable cost in this company. Required: a. Suppose there is ample idle capacity to produce the units required by the overseas customer and the special discounted price on the special order is $51.20 per unit. By how much would this special order increase (decrease) the company's net operating income for the month? b. Suppose the company is already operating at capacity when the special order is received from the overseas customer. What would be the opportunity cost of each unit delivered to the overseas customer? c. Suppose there is not enough idle capacity to produce all of the units for the overseas customer and accepting the special order would require cutting back on production of 700 units for regular customers. What would be the minimum acceptable price per unit for the special order?

Managers should not authorize working overtime at a work station that contains a bottleneck.