Production cost variances are not useful in my company. There is substantial learning that takes place, so we are more efficient, the more we produce. A standard cost sheet doesn’t reflect that.” Do you agree?
> Why do effective performance evaluation systems measure different things at different levels in the organization?
> A balanced scorecard is a set of two or more performance measures. Do you agree? Why or why not?
> How do companies evaluate their own performance in getting workers involved and committed?
> Why measure delivery performance?
> There is no reason to investigate favorable variances; only unfavorable variances indicate problems.” Do you agree?
> Why is manufacturing cycle efficiency important to most organizations?
> What performance factors do measures related to customer satisfaction attempt to evaluate?
> What is the difference between an organization’s mission and its strategy?
> What is “management by exception”?
> What are several examples of companies that probably use materials mix and yield variances?
> For what decisions would a manager want to know market share variance?
> Why is there no efficiency variance for revenues?
> What does a manager learn by computing an industry volume variance?
> Variance analysis can be useful in a manufacturing environment where you know the standards, but it wouldn’t be useful in a service environment.” True or false?
> Standards and budgets are the same thing. True or false?
> How could a hospital firm use the mix variances to analyze salary costs regarding emergency room services?
> What is the basic difference between a master budget and a flexible budget? a. A flexible budget considers only variable costs; a master budget considers all costs. b. A master budget is based on a predicted level of activity; a flexible budget is based
> What is the standard cost sheet?
> A flexible budget is a. Appropriate for control of factory overhead but not for control of direct materials and direct labor. b. Appropriate for control of direct materials and direct labor but not for control of factory overhead. c. Not appropriate when
> The flexible budget for costs is computed by multiplying average total cost at the master budget activity level by the activity at some other level.” Is this true or false? Explain.
> How can a budget be used for performance evaluation?
> When would you advise a firm to use prices other than market prices for interdivisional transfers?
> Many firms prefer to use market prices for transfer prices. Why would they have this preference?
> Do transfer prices exist in centralized firms? Why?
> If a division’s residual income falls from one period to the next, does that mean that the division’s performance is declining? Why?
> If a division’s ROI falls from one period to the next, does that mean that the division’s performance is declining? Why?
> How could a hospital firm use the mix variance to analyze its revenues?
> How is return on investment (ROI) computed?
> What makes creating budgets for marketing and administration more difficult than creating, for example, the production cost budget?
> Write out the inventory equation that is used to determine required production in the production budget for a manufacturing firm.
> What is participative budgeting? What are some advantages of participative budgeting? What are some disadvantages?
> What is the purpose of the cash budget if the budgeted income statement will indicate whether the firm expects to be profitable?
> What does the phrase “use it or lose it” mean in the context of budgeting?
> Which has more detail, the budget for the coming period or a long-range forecast? Why?
> What is the dual-rate method of corporate cost allocation?
> The owner-manager of Molena Restaurant describes the balanced scorecard measures used to assess performance by listing the following performance measures: Required a. Link the measures to the perspectives of the balanced scorecard by filling in the follo
> A regional airline discloses that it uses a balanced scorecard with the following performance measures: • Profit • Gate agent assessments • Load factor (percentage of seats filled) •
> Reviewing the variance report for one of the manufacturing plants in your company, you see a large unfavorable fixed cost price variance and large favorable production volume variance. You contact the plant controller, who says that there is no problem:
> What role does the master budget play in the planning and budgeting exercise?
> Refer to the information in Problem 16-78. Variable overhead is applied on the basis of machine hours. The standard cost sheet follows: The actual resource usage for July per unit of output follows: Required Prepare a manufacturing cost variance analysis
> Harlow Parts produces a single product at its Superior Plant. The master budget for July follows: The following operating income statement shows the actual results for July: Required Prepare a profit variance analysis for the Superior Plant for July such
> Pease Contractors is a local home remodeling company. In analyzing financial performance, the accountant compares actual results with a flexible budget. The standard direct labor rates used in the flexible budget are established each year at the time the
> Stearn & Company makes a lubricating oil using two grades of petroleum (Alpha and Beta). Within certain limits, the two grades can substitute for one another, so the actual mix of inputs often differs from the standard mix. Stearn holds no materials
> Robinwood Fixtures manufactures two products, K4 and X7. The company prepares its master budget on the basis of standard costs. The following data are for September: Required a. Prepare a variance analysis for each variable cost for each product. b. Prep
> McKinney Solvents produces a wide variety of products for the manufacturing industry. The standard mix for producing a single batch of 100 gallons of its biggest-selling product is as follows: There is a standard 20 percent loss in liquid volume during p
> Refer to the data for the Earle Soup Company (Problem 17-54). Required Break down the total activity variance into sales mix and quantity parts. Problem 17-54:
> Wisner Fabrication prepares its budgets on the basis of standard costs. Variances are analyzed and reported monthly. There are no materials inventories. The following information relates to the current period: Actual costs and activities for the month fo
> Refer to the data in Problem 16-61. Required Prepare a sales activity variance analysis for Savery Parts for March like the one in Exhibit 16.4. Problem 16-61:
> The results for March for Savery Parts follow: Required Prepare a flexible budget for Savery Parts for March.
> Refer to the data in Problem 16-58. Required Use the information for Nottingham Forest Products in Problem 16-58 to prepare a profit variance analysis like the one in Exhibit 16.5. Problem 16-58:
> The following partial information is contained in the variance analysis received from the Western Plant of Eastlawn Company. All plants at Eastlawn apply overhead on the basis of direct labor-hours. Required a. Prepare a variable overhead analysis like t
> The management at Inverness Manufacturing feels confident about the company’s prospect in the current year (year 2). Sales in the first quarter were one-third ahead of last year, and the sales department predicted that this rate would c
> Monitor Devices shows the following overhead information for the current period. Required What are the variable overhead price and efficiency variances and fixed overhead price variance?
> Nottingham Forest Products reports the following information concerning operations for the most recent month: There are no inventories. Required Prepare a flexible budget for Nottingham Forest Products.
> Information about direct materials cost follows for Jennings Chemicals: Required What was the actual purchase price per gallon?
> Refer to the data in Problem 16-61. Required Prepare a profit variance analysis for Savery Parts for March like the one in Exhibit 16.5. Problem 16-61:
> New Town Foods sells a variety of packaged foods through supermarkets and other outlets using a dedicated sales team. The budget planning group has just received the sales team expense summary for the third quarter, which follows: You have been asked to
> Gable Corporate Services uses EVA to evaluate the performance of division managers. For the Media Division, after-tax divisional income was $3,100,000 in year 3. The company adjusts the after-tax income for advertising expenses. First, it adds the annual
> Normandy Instruments invests heavily in research and development (R&D), although it must currently treat its R&D expenditures as expenses for financial accounting purposes. To encourage investment in R&D, Normandy evaluates its division managers using EV
> A CEO tells you, “Division A always reports large, favorable variances. This saves us a lot of time because we do not have to spend time reviewing their results.” Comment.
> Refer to the data in Problem 16-58. Required Prepare a sales activity variance analysis for Nottingham Forest Products like the one in Exhibit 16.4. Problem 16-58:
> The following information is available for Fairmount Industries from year 1 operations: All depreciation charges are fixed. Old manufacturing equipment with an annual depreciation charge of $22,000 will be fully depreciated by the end of year 1 and will
> Refer to Problem 15-56. Suppose Testing could sell time on the machine to other companies in the area on a per-hour basis. Further, it can sell all the time available for $22 per hour. Required a. What is the optimal transfer price rule Testing should us
> Coyle Manufacturing reports the following information for year 1: All depreciation charges are fixed. Manufacturing depreciation is expected to increase by 10 percent in year 2. Marketing and administrative depreciation are expected to remain the same fo
> Refer to the data in Problem 15-54. At the end of the year, the following data are available on actual operations at the landfill: Required Based on the actual activities and costs, would you change the recommendation you made in Problem 15-54? Why or wh
> Consider the following well-known companies and their key products and services: Required Identify one thing that is a core capability for each. Also identify one capability that companies have that is not core.
> Graves Bank & Trust (GB&T) estimates that its overhead costs for policy administration should be $55 for each new account opened and $0.60 per year for each $1,000 of deposits. The company set a budget of opening 35,000 new accounts during the coming per
> Leidich Corporation manufactures hospital equipment. The Measurement Division (MD) manufactures testing and measurement equipment including a special cardiovascular instrument. MD started the year with $6.25 million in other assets. At the beginning of t
> Leverette Mortgage Lenders (LML) is a financial institution that originates mortgage loans. The company charges a service fee for processing loan applications. This fee is set twice a year based on the cost of processing a loan application. For the first
> Lothrop Consulting Group is a small firm that offers services to two business segments: not-for profits (NFPs) and corporate clients. Lothrop’s business model is to rely to a great extent on nonemployee consultants (called â€
> The production volume variance should be charged to the production manager. Do you agree? Why or why not?
> Wilde Vintners produces and sells wine. The following data concern the three varietals of white wine the company currently offers. Sales data for November are given as follows: Required a. Compute the sales price variance for all three wines. b. Compute
> The following graph is similar to that in Exhibit 17.4. It has been prepared for Longacre Parts. Required a. Industry volume variance. b. Actual industry volume. c. Budgeted market share. d. Budgeted industry volume. e. Actual market share.
> Pasadena Industries has prepared the following graph similar to the one presented in Exhibit 17.4: Required a. The difference between actual and budgeted sales volume. b. Budgeted industry volume. c. Budgeted market share percent. d. Actual market share
> Maple Cargo is an all-cargo airline that operates on four continents. Its headquarters are in New Zealand. It has two divisions, Cargo and Maintenance. Cargo Division flies cargo to and from international locations. Maple Cargo also has a maintenance fac
> Santos Shipping Lines (SSL) operates a fleet of container ships in international trade between Brazil and Ireland. All of the shipping income (that is, that related to SSL’s ships) is deemed to be earned in Brazil. SSL also owns a dock facility in Irelan
> Bortle Manufacturing Group estimates that sales for the coming year will be 576,000 units. Company policy is to maintain a finished goods inventory of one and one-half months’ unit sales. Beginning inventory is 75,000 units. Assume sales occur uniformly
> Ethel Company manufactures and sells desk lamps for hotel and motel rooms. Last year, it sold 120,000 units of its model Y lamp for $45 per unit. The company estimates that this volume represents a 24 percent share of the current market. The market is ex
> Gladys Bank & Trust has $360 million in consumer loans with an average interest rate of 7.25 percent. The bank also has $240 million in home equity loans with an average interest rate of 5 percent. Finally, the company owns $60 million in government secu
> The master budget at Cherrylawn Corporation at the beginning of the year was based on sales of 275,000 units with revenues of $3,300,000. Total variable costs were budgeted at $1,925,000 and fixed costs at $950,000. During the period, actual production a
> Refer to the data in Exercises 16-23 and 16-24. Required Prepare a profit variance analysis like the one in Exhibit 16.5. Exercise 16-23: The master budget at Monroe Manufacturing last period called for sales of 42,000 units at $42 each. The costs were
> The production volume variance indicates whether a company has spent more or less than called for in the budget. True or false?
> Refer to the data in Exercise 16-23. Required Prepare a sales activity variance analysis like the one in Exhibit 16.4. Exercise 16-23: The master budget at Monroe Manufacturing last period called for sales of 42,000 units at $42 each. The costs were est
> Raynor Testing Services (RTS) is a new company that has not yet developed a formal planning and budgeting process. RTS is unsure how to proceed. It understands that the following five steps need to be completed. It is unsure, however, in what order the s
> Fischer Fabrication reported the following information concerning its direct materials: Required Compute the direct materials cost variances. Prepare an analysis for management like the one in Exhibit 17.3.
> In many manufacturing plants, employees on the manufacturing lines are empowered to stop the line (halt production on a particular assembly line) if they see something they believe is “not right.” For example, if they begin to see units that appear outsi
> Canfield Components produces machine parts. The average times for its largest volume product (in hours) follow: Required Calculate the manufacturing cycle efficiency.
> Steger & Company has the following average times (in minutes): Required Calculate the manufacturing cycle efficiency.
> Observe the operations of a fitness center and identify an important nonfinancial performance measure for it.
> Match each of the following specific measurements with its benchmark category:
> Match each of the following specific measurements to its benchmark category:
> Crawford County Park is a historical center and recreation area located in a rural county. It is a not-for-profit organization that relies on ticket sales, memberships, and donations for financial support. Required Crawford Park management discloses that
> My firm has a wage contract with the union. Therefore, we do not need to compute a labor price variance; it will always be zero.” Comment.
> Walden Tire Store is a chain of tire and auto accessory retail stores. Required Walden discloses that it uses a balanced scorecard with seven performance measures. Link the measures to the perspectives of the balanced scorecard by labelling each performa
> Consider the following large organizations. Would you classify them as primarily cost leaders, product differentiators, or focused competitors according to the Porter strategy framework? Why?
> The standard direct labor cost per call for Crescent Call Centers (CCC) is $5.25 (= $21 per labor hour ÷ 4 calls per hour). Actual direct labor costs during the period totaled $82,810. Also during the period, 4,180 labor-hours were worked, and 14,800 cal
> Oakman Accounting Partners is a small tax and accounting services firm. Each billable hour of partner time has a $960 budgeted price and $450 budgeted variable cost. Each billable hour of staff time has a budgeted price of $250 and a budgeted variable co
> Refer to the data in Exercise 17-38. Required Prepare a profit variance analysis for Kentford Associates like the one in Exhibit 16.5 of the previous chapter. Exercise 17-38:
> Refer to the data in Exercise 17-38. Required Prepare a sales activity variance analysis like the one in Exhibit 16.4 of the previous chapter. Exercise 17-38:
> Kentford Associates is a small professional services firm. Last month, Kentford billed more hours than expected, and profits reflected this. Required Prepare a flexible budget for Kentford. Use billable hours as the measure of output (that is, units prod
