Accounting II Chapter 17 Outline

11/25/2016
Accounting II Chapter 17 Outline | Evernote Web
Accounting II Chapter 17 Outline
Activity­Based Costing and Analysis
CONCEPTUAL
Distinguish between the Plant­wide Overhead Rate Method, and the Activity­
Based­Costing Method
Reminder: Goal of Managerial Accounting
Activities like product pricing, product mix decisions, and cost control depend on accurate
product cost information.
Distorted cost info can lead to poor decisions
So ensuring this information is accurate and updated is key to yielding profit
Since prices are set by Supply and Demand, managers must assess whether the market is worth
entering by looking at product costs — which gives insight into efficiency
Since overhead is not directly related to products, it must be allocated somehow and overhead
costs as a percentage of total costs have been steadily increasing which makes it more relevant to
control costs as best as possible
3 Overhead Allocation Methods
Single Plant­wide Overhead Rate Method
Departmental Overhead Rate Method
More accurate cost allocations than Single Rate
Acitvtiy­Based Costing Method
Focuses on a captivities and the costs of executing.
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Explain Cost Flows for Activity Based Costing
Key Term — Activity­Based Costing (ABC): Attempts to more accurately assign overhead costs
to the users of overhead by focusing on Activities
Activity: Task, operation, procedure that causes costs to be incurred
Fortunately, all activities of an organization can be linked to an activity or use of resources
Activity Cost Pool: Collection of costs that are related to the same or similar activity Activity Overhead Pool Rate: Costs that are incurred by the same activity that reduces the
number of cost assignments required
2 Stage Process
1. Identify Costs of Activities (Cost Objects)
1. Match those activities with the costs they drive
2. Group Homogenous Activities (Caused by the same factor) into an Activity Cost Pool
3. Compute an Activity Rate for each Cost Pool
4. Use rate to Allocate OH costs to product (Cost objects of second stage)
Describe the Four Types of Activities that Cause Overhead Costs
Unit Level Activities
Performed on each product unit
Ex: electricity to power machinery to produce each unit of product
Craftsmanship pool
Change with the number of units produced
Batch Level Activities
Activities performed each time a batch is handled/processed regardless of how big/small it is
Ex: Setup Pool
Product Level Activities
Specific to prodcuts — independent of units produced or batches handled
Ex: design­modification
Facility Level Activities
Activities that relate to overall production and cannot be traced to specific products
Pertain to plant’s general manufacturing process
Ex: Plant services
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ANALYTICAL Identify and Assess Advantages and Disadvantages of the Plant­
wide Overhead and Departmental Overhead Rate Methods
Advantages
Based on readily available information, like direct labor hours
Easy to interpret
Consistent with GAAP and can be used for external reporting needs
Disadvantage
OH costs are often too complex to be explained by one single factor
Technological advances lower direct labor costs
Plant­wide Overhead Method
Critical Assumptions
OH costs change with allocation base
All products use OH costs the same proportions
Advantage For
Which makes this useful for companies with labor intensive operations
Disadvantage For
Companies with many different products, or products that use OH differently
Can distort costs when costs aren’t related to the allocation base (like depreciation)
Departmental OH Rate Method
More refined than the Plant­wide Method
Critical Assumptions
Different products are similar in volume, complexity, and batch size
OH Costs are directly proportional to the department allocation base
Disadvantage
When products differ in batch size and complexity, they consume different amounts of OH
Allocation based on measures closely related to production can lead to failure to properly
and accurately assign OH costs based on measures closely related to production, some costs
can be improperly reflected (Depreciation, Utility)
Identify and Assess Advantages and Disadvantages of Activity­Based
Costing
Advantages
More Accurate Overhead Cost Allocation
Most firms use Plant­wide OH or Departmental, because its more straightforward for
external reporting
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Overhead costs to a product are allocated based on the resources a product consumes
rather than the units produced
More Cost pools
Costs in each pool are most similar
Allocation is based on the actual activities that cause overhead costs
More Effective Overhead Cost Control
Sometimes allocation bases aren’t reflective of actual cost drivers
This can lead to mis­pricing, and a poor grasp of costs because these drivers can be
misleading
ABC can be used to ID activities that can benefit from process
ABC helps managers control overhead directly by focusing on processes
ABC directly influences the ability to make pricing decisions Focus on Relevant Factors
ABC costing can be used to manage any cost deemed as relevant
be it Marketing, design, other “period” costs
Better Management of Activities
Managers must use resources efficiently — this ultimately comes down to cost control
Actvity Based Management
Costs of Quality
The focus on activities allows for monitoring the CoQ — the costs resulting form
manufacturing defective products or providing services that do no meet customer expectations
Prevention and Appraisal costs are incurred before a good/service is provided
They reduce the chance the customer is provided a defective good/service
Prevention focuses on quality training and improvement programs to ensure quality is
built into the product or service
Appraisal costs include inspections to ensure materials and supplies meet standards
Internal Failure Costs are incurred before a good or service is provided to a customer
Costs: Reworking products, reinspecting re­worked products, scrap
External Failure Costs incurred after a customer has been provided a defective
product/serve
Costs: Warranty repairs, costs of recalling products
Focus on activities and quality costs can lead to higher quality and lower costs
Disadvantages of Activity­Based Costing
Costs to Implement and maintain ABC
Designing and implementing ABC requires
management commitment and financial resources
Thorough analysis of cost activities
Collecting and analyzing cost data and maintaining ABC are expensive
Uncertainty with Decisions Remains
Decision making require human input and analysis which subjects it to error
PROCEDURAL
Allocate overhead costs to products using the Plant­Wide Overhead Rate
Method
Cost Flows under Plant­wide Overhead Rate Method
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The Target of the Cost Assignment/Cost Object — unit of product
Direct labor hours, direct labor cost dollars, machine hours, etc.
When overhead costs are closely related to these measures, its logical to use it
Applying the Plant­wide Overhead Rate Method
Overhead is combined into one giant cost pool
Cost pool is divided by the allocation base
Rate is applied to cost objects by multiplying it by the Cost Object per Unit
Example
Allocate Overhead Costs to Products Using the Departmental Overhead
Rate Method
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Departmental OH Rate Method typically results in more accurate overhead allocations than
the Plant­wide OH Rate Method
Cost Flows Under Departmental Overhead Rate Method
Many firms have departments that produce different products and as a result consume
overhead resources in different ways
If the consumption of overhead is different, then the standard blanket method of the Plant­wide
system wouldn’t accurately reflect costs
Which is why the Departmental Overhead Rate Method uses a different overhead rate
for each production department.
This must be done through 2 Stages
1st with the Departments themselves
Separate OH Rates are determined for each department
Each department has its own OH rate and allocation base
2nd with the Cost Objects
Example
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Allocate Overhead Costs to Produce using Activity­Based Costing
Ex:
Identify total costs
Identify cost pools
Identify cost drivers
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Assigning OH to Products
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