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Case: Camelback Communications - 123448025
Case: Camelback Communications - 123448025
Management Accounting
2008
Contents
Synopsis:...............................................................................................................3
Answers.................................................................................................................4
Charges for 40% mark on and Product to be dropped......................................4
Recalculation of allocation rates if additional products are to be dropped......5
What is going on?..............................................................................................6
Differentiation between variable and fixed costs and maximization of
contribution.......................................................................................................7
Modified Cost system I......................................................................................7
Modified Cost System II.....................................................................................8
Camelback communications
Synopsis:
Glenn Peterzon, a management consultant’s observations about the company’s cost system:
He calculated the direct labour allocation rate that the existing single burden rate
cost system would generate assuming the production to be maximum possible &
taking direct labour hour cost to be $5.
After computing the standard cost, selling price was calculated on the basis of
40% mark-on.
Industry selling prices were different as they were established using the actual
production costs & a 40% mark-on.
On comparing the industry prices to the firm’s costs profitability was determined.
The products with a mark-on of less than 25% were discontinued.
Because of this the resulting product mix differed from the starting mix which led
to recalculation of allocation rate per hour to determine if it had been affected.
Answers
Charges for 40% mark on and Product to be dropped
New
Alocation
Rate:
Variable
Overhead 27500
Fixed
Overhead 45000
Total 72500
Labour
Hours 7000
Allocation
Rate/Hour 10.36
Product B C D
Material 5 10 5
Labour 5 15 10
Allocated
Cost 10.36 31.07 20.71
Standard
Cost 20.36 56.07 35.71
40% Mark
On 8.14 22.43 14.29
Selling
Price 28.50 78.50 50.00
Standard
Cost 27.5 42.5 35
Mark On 11 17 14
Standard
Selling
Price 38.5 59.5 49
New
Alocation
Rate:
Variable
Overhead 30000
Fixed
Overhead 45000
Total 75000
Labour
Hours 5000
Allocation
Rate/Hour 15.00
Product B D
Material 5 5
Labour 5 10
Allocated
Cost 15.00 30.00
Standard
Cost 25.00 45.00
40% Mark
On 10.00 18.00
Selling
Price 35.00 63.00
Standard
Cost 27.5 35
40% Mark
On 11 14
Standard
Selling
Price 38.5 49
Camelback Communications is calculating the allocation rate by adding together all the fixed
and the variable cost for all the products together and then dividing them by the total labour
hours. Now this method of calculating the allocation rate is incorrect because
Hence we can see the variation between the industry selling prices and that given by the
costing system in place.
Because of wrong allocation of costs, we find that certain products are gaining because the
costs that should be truly attributed to them are being given to other products and vice versa.
Therefore the products whose costs are getting increased due to the wrong allocation are
showing less than desirable profits although there mark up is the same.
Eg.
The actual cost that should be attributed to A is $70, but due to the faulty cost system a cost
of $85 is getting attributed to it. Now the Selling price calculated based on the industry
standard remains the same and hence although the mark up is 40%, we seem to get a lower
mark up of 15% which leads to an equally profitable product being discontinued.
Differentiation between variable and fixed costs and maximization of
contribution
If fixed costs are allocated using the current costing system and variable costs are correctly attributed
then,
Variable Labour
Product Hours Per Total Labour
Overhead Unit No. Of Units Hours
A 6 1000 6000
B 1 2000 1000
C 3 1000 3000
D 2 1000 2000
Total 12000
New
Alocation
Rate:
Fixed
Overhead 45000
Labour
Hours 12000
Allocation
Rate/Hour 3.75
Product A B C D
Material 15 5 10 5
Labour 30 5 15 10
Variable
overhead 15 7.5 5 7.5
Allocated
Cost 22.5 3.75 11.25 7.50
Standard
Cost 82.5 21.25 41.25 30
40% Mark
On 33 8.5 16.5 12
Selling
Price 115.5 29.75 57.75 42
Standard
Cost 70 27.5 42.5 35
Mark On 28 11 17 14
Standard
Selling
Price 98 38.5 59.5 49
From the above, we can see that there is very little change in the balancing of the costs of the
product and even in this case product A would get discontinued. Also, it is clearly evident from this
that the wrong allocation of variable cost has a much greater hand in the deviation of the costs from
their true value as compared to fixed costs.