Professional Documents
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Financial Management
Questions
1. The cost control system is an integral part of the cost
management system. The cost control system provides
information for planning purposes and, subsequently, for
evaluation of actual performance.
2. Without first establishing performance targets and benchmarks,
control systems cannot function. The purpose of establishing
control systems is to guide the organization toward its
established objectives. Accordingly, the control cycle must
begin with the establishment of plans that define where the
organization is headed and what its managers want to
accomplish.
3. Cost control for any specific event is exerted before, during,
and after the event. Cost control is exerted before the event
to determine the expected cost and to provide a plan to
achieve the expected cost. During an event, control is
exerted to maintain the cost being incurred at the planned
level. After an event, actual performance is compared to
planned performance and explanations of differences are
developed. By understanding why differences exist, managers
can take actions to minimize future differences between the
actual and planned amounts.
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4. Factors potentially causing a cost to change include:
(1) changes in activity level;
(2) change in inflation/deflation;
(3) technology changes;
(4) changes in supply and demand;
(5) quantity of competition;
(6) seasonality and other timing phenomena; and
(7) quantity purchased.
Factors 1 and 57 are most subject to cost containment.
The difference in controllability is the extent to which the
factor can be influenced by actions of managers. The factors
that are external to the firm are less subject to control than
(e.g., inflation) internal factors (e.g., activity levels).
5. General pricelevel changes are reflected economywide.
Prices for all goods and services rise at comparable rates.
Specific pricelevel changes affect only certain industries,
parts or commodities. General and specific pricelevel
changes are similar in that their effects are similarprices
or goods and services rise or fall. They differ in that
general pricelevel changes are caused by macroeconomic
factors such as the supply of money and the rate of inflation.
Specific pricelevel changes are caused by specific events
such as the Gulf War, weather, or interruption of the
distribution channel.
6. By cooperating with members of the supply chain, an
organization creates an opportunity for interorganizational
cost management. In sharing information, suppliers can inform
customers about alternatives that would lower the suppliers’
costs and result in reduced prices to the customers.
Additionally, opportunities for outsourcing activities may be
identified for circumstances in which a supplier firm can
provide a service, commodity, or part at a lower cost than the
customer firm.
7. This statement is not true. Singlesource contracts have
the potential to provide two advantages. The first is volume
based purchasing. Highvolume purchasing should command a
lower price. Secondly, singlesource purchasing offers
greater opportunities for sharing information between supplier
and customer firms to identify ways to jointly reduce costs
and increase profits. However, only if these two
opportunities are actively pursued will cost benefits be
realized. Further, for commodity goods, singlesource
purchasing may offer no advantages because the purchase price
is determined strictly by the market.
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8. Cost avoidance means not spending money for unneeded goods or
services; cost reduction refers to using fewer goods or
services to lower expenditures. The former often means finding
alternatives to avoid using the goods or services whereas the
latter usually means using fewer of the same goods or
services.
9. Temporaries are used to avoid paying extra fulltime personnel
for work that is only needed to meet peak loads. Temporary
workers can be “fired” after the need for their contribution
abates. Use of temporaries also avoids paying all of the
fringe benefit costs associated with fulltime employees and
can provide the special expertise that is not available from
fulltime employees.
However, use of temporaries creates new problems. For
example, temporaries have no loyalty to the company because
they know they have only temporary positions. Further,
temporary employees may demand much higher pay than permanent
workers to compensate for the absence of fringe benefits and
the security of a permanent position. Use of temporary
workers may also cause problems of job or task continuity
because of worker turnover.
10. Total fixed costs can be dichotomized into two groups,
committed and discretionary. The committed fixed costs are
ones that are less susceptible to cost control efforts, at
least during the short run. These costs consist of costs
associated with basic plant assets and organizational
infrastructure. Discretionary fixed costs are more
susceptible to shortrun cost control efforts. Discretionary
fixed costs are incurred as a result of managerial judgment.
Examples of such costs are research and development and
advertising.
Costs considered as committed by one firm may be
considered discretionary by other firms. For example, a firm
that competes on the basis of products containing the latest
functionality and technology would consider research and
development to be committed. A firm that competes on the
basis of price might consider research and development to be
discretionary.
11. No all discretionary costs are not fixed; some can be
variable. For example, a firm may decide to spend one cent of
each sales dollar on advertising. This is an example of a
discretionary variable cost.
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12. Heavy investment in automated technology affects a firm’s cost
structure. The main effect is an increase in committed fixed
costs. A negative consequence is that, as the proportion of
committed fixed costs to total costs rises, fewer and fewer
costs are avoidable as sales fall. The result can be
substantial operating losses in economic downturns. Such
losses can threaten the ability of the firm to remain solvent
and survive. Even so, as an industry becomes more and more
competitive, firms will make increased investment in automated
technology to control operating costs and quality. The
challenge for such an industry then becomes finding ways to
maintain sales volume during economic slumps.
13. Issues to be considered when setting discretionary cost
appropriations are:
∙ What discretionary activities should be funded to help
management effectively and efficiently achieve its
objectives?
∙ Can management satisfactorily determine if the activities
are the cause of alleged benefits?
∙ Are prospects for profits adequate to support the planned
discretionary activities?
14. Committed fixed costs are incurred based on longterm
considerations and are simply not controllable in the short
term. Discretionary fixed costs can be increased or decreased
to manage income and cash flow. The budgeted amounts for
discretionary fixed costs are therefore much more likely to be
determined by shortrun objectives. Even so, some
discretionary fixed costs (e.g., maintenance, research and
development) are incurred for longterm benefit and will be
less correlated with shortterm objectives such as profit and
cash flow.
15. Many types of discretionary costs do not have outputs for
which there is a precisely explainable and predictable
technical relationship with inputs. When an output measure is
devised, it is normally available only in nonmonetary,
surrogate terms.
For some discretionary costs such as research and
development, output may result, if at all, only after making
inputs for a period of indefinite duration. Thus, even when
outputs occur, it is difficult to relate them to a particular
period's input.
16. A surrogate measure of output is an indirect or substitute
measure. The results of discretionary cost activities are
often not susceptible to direct financial measurement so
nonmonetary surrogate measures are used.
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17. Efficiency is a measure of the degree to which the actual
yield ratio (actual output ÷ actual input) conforms to the
desired yield ratio (planned output ÷ planned input).
Effectiveness is a measure of the degree to which a goal or
objective is achieved.
Measuring the efficiency of a discretionary cost requires
both a measure of input and a measure of output. Efficiency
further requires a predictable causeandeffect relationship
between input and output. Input costs are readily measured.
However, as explained in the answer to Question 15, outputs
are not normally readily available. When they are readily
available or when surrogates can be identified, there is still
often a lack of confidence about the strength of the cause
andeffect relationship between input and output for most
discretionary costs.
To measure effectiveness of a discretionary activity, an
output measure, either monetary or nonmonetary, must be
available or devised. Sometimes a surrogate measure for output
of an activity can be agreed on. Effectiveness of a
discretionary cost can then be measured by comparing actual
output to planned output (i.e., actual output ÷ planned
output).
18. Management performance is evaluated by how efficiently and
effectively the company's goals are achieved. Efficiency
measures the relationship between inputs and outputs.
Effectiveness compares outputs to objectives. Objectives are
shortrun targets set to achieve longrun goals. Thus, there
is a linkage starting with inputs and ending with goal
achievement to measure the efficiency and effectiveness with
which managers have performed.
19. Engineered costs, unlike most discretionary costs, bear a
constant and observable relationship to changes in an
activity. However, some discretionary costs can, under the
appropriate conditions, be treated as if they were engineered
costs for the purpose of control. If output measures can be
identified, then yield ratios (output input) can be devised
to evaluate control of discretionary costs.
20. Quality control inspection cost is sometimes susceptible to
treatment as an engineered cost. Other examples of activities
that could be engineered include maintenance tasks, machine
setups, and employee training activities.
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21. Variance analysis can be used to evaluate cost control of
engineered costs in a manner similar to that used in standard
costing. For a given engineered cost, the difference between
the flexible budget amount and actual cost is determined.
This amount is the total variance. This total amount can be
divided into a price and efficiency variance. The price
variance captures the amount of the total variance due to
paying more or less than the budgeted amount per unit of
input. The efficiency variance is the amount of the total
variance that is due to using a total input quantity that is
above or below the budgeted input quantity.
22. Budgettoactual comparisons are necessary to control the
level of spending on discretionary fixed costs. Only by such
comparisons will total expenditures on such costs be
controlled. However, budgettoactual comparisons should not
be the only control measure. Additional analysis should
determine whether the budgeted activities were at the expected
level.
23. A planning budget is fixed at a given level of output volume.
Often, the actual output level will not conform to this
planned level of output. Accordingly, costs and revenues will
differ from the budgeted level because of volume differences.
In evaluating the performance of managers who have no
control over volume, it is desirable to have a budget that is
based on the actual volume level. Accordingly, a flexible
budget is used to evaluate the success of such managers and it
is compiled at the actual level of activity.
24. Activitybased budgeting is an improvement over traditional
budgeting in that costs are organized by activities that are
necessary for the organization to achieve its objectives.
This approach makes more transparent to managers what
consequences would result if particular costs were cut. It
also serves to highlight the cost of activities that aren’t
necessary to achieving organizational objectives.
25. Firms hold cash balances to liquidate planned transactions as
they occur, to cover cash consequences of unexpected events,
and for speculative purposes.
Some firms must carry relatively larger cash balances
than other firms because either the cash required to maintain
the liquidity of the operating cycle is less predictable, or
the ability to obtain cash from financing sources is more
constrained.
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26. Program budgeting is typically used in governmental agencies
or for special initiatives in private firms. The process of
program budgeting begins with a specification of the
objectives to be achieved from the initiative or “program.”
Then, alternatives to achieving the objectives are identified.
Finally, costs are budgeted for the activities that are
selected to generate the desired objectives. The process of a
zerobase budget begins with no assumptions based on prior
years’ data. Each activity and dollar must be justified based
on their contribution to organizational goals. A traditional
budget has as its starting point a sales projection and cost
data from prior periods. Past relationships between costs and
activities are used as the basis to extrapolate and budget the
level of future costs.
27. Program budgeting requires the use of detailed surrogate
measures which necessitates answering several questions:
What results should be measured?
What results are significant enough to develop output
measures?
Can cause be established between programs and results?
and,
Does the program affect the target population?
Determining answers to these questions can be very
difficult. Because many “programs” involve expenditures on
discretionary activities, it is difficult to map inputs into
outputs. Although the costs of the inputs can be reasonably
determined, the value of the outputs may be difficult to
establish and the extent to which objectives have been
achieved can be difficult to measure.
28. Among the problems associated with zerobase budgeting are
Its cost. Zerobase budgeting is much more expensive than
traditional budgeting because of the added time involved.
The requirement that all activities necessary to the
achievement of an objective be specified. This requirement
implies that the benefits of discretionary activities can
be measured. For some activities, measurement of outputs
can be very difficult.
That it requires a total commitment from all personnel. An
organization must have the right culture to obtain this
commitment.
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Exercises
29. a. 6
b. 2
c. 5
d. 1
e. 9
f. 8
g. 3
h. 7
i. 4
30. a. Cost reductionbecause quantity of work fluctuates, part
time employees provide services for peak caseload times
without fulltime cost.
b. Annual salary fulltime clerical staff ($28,500 × 1.20) =
$34,200; if 1,600 hours or less, parttime salary = $20X;
if over 1,600 hours, parttime salary = $20X + $2,000
For 1,600 or fewer hours, point of indifference:
$20X = $34,200
X = $34,200 ÷ 20
X = 1,710 hours
For more than 1,600 hours:
$20X + $2,000 = $34,200
$20X = $32,200
X = 1,610 hours
Thus, the point of indifference occurs at 1,610 hours,
the level that triggers the payment of the bonus.
31. a. Cost understanding
b. Cost reduction
c. Cost avoidance for the cost of callforwarding; the
increase in costs for staff shows a recognition of client
need and services to be provided
d. Cost avoidance
e. Cost reduction
f. Cost avoidance of what would have been an increase in
costs with the installation of the new telephones; also
shows cost understanding since she knew why the cost
would increase
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Financial Management
32. a. Classification Cost
C Annual audit fees
C Annual
report preparation and printing
C Building flood insurance
D Charitable contributions
D Corporate advertising
D Employee continuing education
C Office equipment depreciation
C Interest on bonds payable
D Internal audit salaries
D Marketing research
D Preventive maintenance
C Property taxes
D Quality control inspection
D Research and development salaries
D Research and development supplies
(the amount is discretionary only if
R&D is to be conducted internally)
D Secretarial pool salaries
b. Building flood insurance, charitable contributions,
corporate advertising, executive training, employee
continuing education, internal audit salaries, marketing
research, preventive maintenance, quality control
inspection, research and development salaries, research
and development supplies, secretarial pool salaries.
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c. Cost Surrogate Output Measure Objections
Charitable Improvement in social Very difficult to
contrib. welfare measure
Advertising Increase in sales Uncertainty about
cause & effect
Employee Increase in productivity, Difficult to
education quality capture all costs
and benefits
Internal # of internal controls No single measure
audit improved will capture all
benefits of
internal auditing
Market # of new products identified Doesn’t capture
research the value of the
product ideas
Prev. maint. Reduction in number of Age of machines
breakdowns plays a bigger
role in # of
breakdowns than
maintenance does
Q. control Reduction in # of de Other factors
fective items returned such as careless
by customers handling by those
moving products
may cause defects
R & D Expenditures per dollar of Doesn’t capture
supplies R&D salary benefits of
expenditure
Secr. pool Number of documents Does not neces
prepared sarily measure
quality of work
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Financial Management
33. a. C Committed costs are often associated with capital
investment.
b. D Amounts can be set by managerial judgment.
c. C Committed costs often can not be reduced in the short
run by managers.
d. D Hence, the term “discretionary”
e. C These are examples of costs that are associated with
capital investment.
f. D Because the cause/effect association is often not well
understood for discretionary costs.
g. D Only discretionary costs can be reduced in the short
run without impairing a firm’s longterm viability.
h. C Committed costs are associated with capacity and
capital investment.
i. D Because the yield on discretionary costs is not
precisely known.
j. D Discretionary activities tend to be service activities
rather than costs associated with the basic.
infrastructure
34. a. Extent to which ABC has been implemented in the firm;
dollars of cost savings generated by ABC prescriptions
b. Number of patient hours of treatment on the machine
c. Change in employee retention rate, absenteeism rate
d. Improvement in employee satisfaction, measures capturing
improvement in flow of people
e. Customers generated from Yellow Page advertising
f. Labor time savings, reduction in collection cycle,
35. a. Dollar volume of wagers
b. Direct labor cost per drink served
c. Average number of nights per customer served
d. Percentage of guests served from outofstate
e. Total number of convention customers served
f. Develop a customer evaluation form to measure quality
based on a fivepoint scale; use average rating for
measure
g. Percent of revenue from slot machines relative to total
revenues generated
36. a. Goal 300 new students
Actual achievement 330 new students
Goal exceeded by 30 new students; consequently, the
department was very effective in meeting its goal.
b. Yield goal: ($400,000 ÷ 300) = 1 student for each $1,333
expended.
Actual efficiency ($468,600 ÷ 330) = 1 student for each
$1,420 expended. Accordingly, the department was very
operationally inefficient in pursuing its objectives.
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37. Total variance = $2,280 ($1,680 + $288) = $312 U
Rate variance = $2,280 [(120 × $16) + (15 × $24)]
= $0
Efficiency variance = $2,280 $1968 = $312 U
38. a. Rate variance = $20,928 (1,030 × $18) = $2,388 U
Efficiency variance =$18,540((12,560 12) × $18)= $300 F
Total variance = $2,388 U + $300 F = $2,088 U
b. 170 hours × 12 inspections per hour = 2,040 inspections
per worker
Cost for fulltime workers = $5,000 × 4 = $20,000
Parttime work ((1,030 (170 × 4)) × $18= 6,300
Total cost of this arrangement $26,300
Total expected cost of existing arrangement:
1,030 × $18 18,540
Disadvantage of fulltime arrangement $ 7,760
39. Actual Actual Vol. at Std. Price Budget
1,800 × $45 1,800 × $40 1,875 × $40
$81,000 $72,000 $75,000
| | | |
| $9,000 F | | $3,000 U |
Price Variance Volume Variance
| $6,000 F |
Total Revenue Variance
Even though the volume of sales was 75 cords below expectation
(creating an unfavorable $3,000 volume variance), the average
price of the 1,800 cords actually sold was $5 above the
standard or expected price. This created a $9,000 favorable
price variance. The combination of the $3,000 unfavorable
volume variance and the $9,000 favorable price variance
results in a $6,000 favorable total variance, and not a $4,200
total variance as stated by the company president.
42. a. Inflation index = 4.44 ÷ 3.93 = 1.13
Inflation 2000 2000
Cost Category 1995 Cost Index Expected Actual
Wage and fringes $160,000 1.13 $180,800 $125,000
Supplies 50,000 1.13 56,500 85,000
Depreciation 36,000 1.13 40,680 58,000
Utilities 4,800 1.13 5,424 6,600
Totals $283,404 $274,600
b. The pattern of change in costs reflects both effects of
inflation and effects of changes made by management. The
large decline in wage and fringe benefits cost is due
mostly to the decline in headcount. The number of
employees was reduced from eight to five. Although the
individual effects of inflation and technology changes
cannot be disentangled using the information given, the
increase in expenditures for supplies, depreciation and
utilities has dramatically exceeded the rate of
inflation. It is likely that the major differences
between figures in the 2000 expected column and the 2000
actual column are due to the increased use of technology.
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43. Variable cost analysis:
Variance = actual cost flexible budget
= $450,000 ($400 × 1,050) = $30,000 U
Fixed cost analysis:
Actual Budgeted fixed cost Applied
1,000 × $200 1,050 $200
$220,000 $200,000 $210,000
| | | |
| $20,000 U | | $10,000 F |
Spending Variance Volume Variance
| |
| Total Fixed Cost Variance = $10,000 U |
This method of evaluation would encourage the personnel
workers to hire lower quality workers. Lowquality workers
would generate more turnover than highquality workers, thus
the volume of business rises; and hiring lowquality workers
requires the Personnel office to incur lower search costs than
would be incurred to hire only highquality workers.
44. No solution provided.
45. a. In his humorous communication, Mr. Stanley Bing’s
strategy is to raise the level of awareness and cost
consciousness of employees regarding cost understanding
and cost avoidance in the travel and entertainment
category. His remarks display his keen insight and
experience concerning how some employees may take
liberties with company funds.
b. Mr. Bing was subtly advising employees that the prudence
and reasonableness of their use of company funds in the
travel and entertainment category was about to be
monitored and scrutinized much more carefully than in the
past. The use (or abuse) of these funds had apparently
become more significant recently and greater attention to
their management and control had become necessary. The
clever, lighthearted approach reflects Mr. Bing’s desire
to enlist cooperation without offending.
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Financial Management
46. a. The proposed maintenance work order system would provide
written documentation for all man hours and materials
used in the maintenance department. This system would
improve cost control by giving operating management (user
departments) the opportunity to review specific
maintenance charges for time and materials on each
maintenance job charged to their department. The
individual job cost records will provide the basis for
feedback to the maintenance department on the quality and
efficiency of work performed.
By providing an estimate for each job prior to
starting the job, the user department will have an
opportunity to cancel unneeded work or work that appears
to be too expensive. The maintenance department will be
able to compare the estimates with estimates on similar
jobs and with the actual costs once the job is completed
in order to evaluate personnel performance. In addition,
the estimating should improve scheduling of priority jobs
and improve cost control as the estimating procedure is
refined.
The maintenance work order system will provide a
basis for improved allocation of costs to user
departments. If the work order system is effective and a
buyer/seller relationship is developed between the user
department and the maintenance department, the user
department will insist on an efficient preventive
maintenance program in order to minimize breakdown
maintenance, spoilage, and lost production time.
b. The documentation provided by the work order system
should provide maintenance department management with
statistics to support its request for additional people.
If the maintenance department can develop a meaningful
cost/benefit relationship showing a payback on additional
personnel through reduced overtime, less downtime waiting
for repairs, improved preventive maintenance, etc.,
rational management would authorize the addition of the
required manpower.
(CMA adapted)
47. An approach should be used that allows for planned reductions
in costs without adversely affecting the quality of products
or services delivered to customers. By delineating all
activities and associated costs necessary to deliver high
quality products and services to the clients of the Medical
Products Division, managers can identify opportunities for
cost reductions. The objective would be to eliminate
activities that are not instrumental to serving customers and
find more efficient ways to execute required functions.
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Financial Management
48. The firm may have too much cash invested in working capital.
The two accounts consuming the most cash are accounts
receivable and work in process inventory. Accounts receivable
can be reduced by finding ways to speed up collections. For
example, arrangements can be made to electronically collect
accounts from customers. Terms of sale can be tightened and
stricter policies for granting credit can be imposed. For
work in process inventory, ways can be found to reduce the
inventory level. For instance, by speeding up production
processes, less time will be consumed from the start to
completion of production. Methods such as justintime
inventory management would be useful.
Also, the company’s payables are very small relative to
current assets. Current payables can be used as free
financing for current assets. To illustrate, the company
could negotiate for credit terms from its suppliers. This
credit would be a source of financing for inventory and
accounts receivable and would free up cash the company
currently has invested in these accounts.
Problems
49. a. CU
b. CU
c. CA
d. CU
e. CU
f. CA or CR
g. CA
h. CR
i. CU
j. CA
k. CC
l. CA
50. (From employer perspective)
Advantages Disadvantages
a. Less expensive Possibly lower quality
Flexibility Not avail. as much out of class
b. Lower cost Less loyalty to the firm
c. Greater availability Possibly less competence
of personnel Less continuity
Less expensive
d. Less expensive Possibly poor quality writing
Flexibility Less control over writers
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Financial Management
e. Availability Possibly lower quality work
Possibly less reliable
Possibly less responsive
Greater possibility of theft
f. Less expensive Less training
Availability Possibly less loyalty
Possibly poorer customer relat.
g. Less expensive Possibly less reliable
Possibly less control
Possibly lower quality of work
h. Less expensive Possibly lower quality of work
Possibly less reliable
Possibly less control
i. More alert employees Possibly lower quality of work
Less expensive Possibly less competent workers
Lower pension & benefits Lack of company loyalty
costs
j. Provides more flexible Inconsistent work
capacity Reduced ability to control
Lower cost quality
Availability of more
workers
k. Availability Potential theft
Better quality of life Potential damage to relations
for Mom & Pop with customers
Less expensive
51. a. 7,800 × .98 = 7,644 flawless gaskets per kwh.
b. Achieved efficiency per kWh = (1,390,000 – 17,900) 175
= 7,840.6 gaskets per kwh
which exceeds the standard
by 196.6 flawless gaskets
per kWh.
c. Achieved effectiveness = 17,900 ÷ 1,390,000 = 1.29%
flaws, versus the expected 2.0% rate of flaws. Thus, the
machine is more effective in producing flawless output
than claimed.
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Financial Management
d. kWh at standard efficiency:
[(1,390,000 – 17,900) ÷ 7,644] = 179.5 kWh.
Std. kWh 179.50
Act kWh 175.00
kWh saved 4.50
Cost per kWh × $3.20
Cost savings $14.40
e. An automobile manufacturer would want zero defects in the
gaskets it purchases and would expect the vendor to have
sufficient quality control measures to virtually ensure
this.
The EDP manager stayed within his $500,000 total
appropriation even though he overspent on the fixed
portion of it. Top management would not view this as a
problem unless the appropriation had been granted
separately for the variable and fixed components rather
than on a total basis.
b. Actual output = 1950 = 0.975
Planned output 2000
The department was reasonably effective if the above
ratio is a viable surrogate for effectiveness. However,
it is somewhat problematic in this case in that
management has been looking askance at the rapid
expansion of EDP department services. Also, this
calculation does not measure the quality of the output.
c. Actual output vs. Planned output
Actual input Planned input
Variable expenses efficiency:
1950 hours= 1 hour per $45 vs. 2000 hours= 1 hour per $50
$87,750 $100,000
(actual efficiency exceeds expectations)
Fixed expenses efficiency:
1950 hours= 1 hr. per $206 vs. 2000 hours= 1 hr. per $200
$402,000 $400,000
(actual efficiency is slightly less)
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d. (1)
Actual Actual Hrs. × Std Rate Hrs.Earned × Std. Rate
1,950 × $50 1,950 × $50
$87,750 $97,500 $97,500
| | | |
| $9,750 F
| | $0
|
Spending Variance Efficiency Variance (note)
| |
| $9,750 F
|
Total Variable EDP Cost Variance
Note: Since input hours of service are all assumed to be
good hours of output in this case, there is no efficiency
variance. If a separate measure of output can be devised,
an efficiency variance can be calculated.
(2)
Actual Budget Hrs. Earned × Std. Rate
1,950 × $200
$402,000 $400,000 $390,000
| | | |
| $2,000 U
| | $10,000 U
|
Spending Variance Volume Variance
| |
| $12,000 U
|
Total Fixed EDP Cost Variance
e. To do this, normal or anticipated hours of utilization
must be specified. In the case at hand, a first
approximation can be found by dividing the current year
budgeted fixed costs by the number of anticipated
(budgeted) hours ($400,000 ÷ 2,000 = $200 per hour) and
the budgeted variable costs by the budgeted service hours
($100,000 ÷ 2,000 = $50 per hour). Combining the fixed
and variable rate ($200 plus $50), a total of $250 per
hour of computer time is indicated.
It seems reasonable to believe that charging almost
$250 per hour for computer time where there was no charge
previously would cause a reduction in demand. A reduction
in demand would cause the fixed portion of EDP department
costs to be averaged over fewer hours, resulting in an
even higher charge per hour. For instance, if demand
could be expected to drop by 20 percent to 1,600 hours,
then the fixed rate per hour would rise to $250 ($400,000
÷ 1,600) and the total charging rate would rise to $300
per hour.
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Financial Management
53. a. This finding represents both efficiency and
effectiveness. It is primarily for cost avoidance. Use
of simple, inexpensive antibiotics is found to be better
treatment (more effective) and less expensive (more
efficient). It is cost avoidance because it calls for
using a lowercost alternative.
b. This finding represents efficiency. It is primarily cost
avoidance. Watchful waiting does the job better than
using expensive MRIs and is a lower cost substitute.
c. This finding represents effectiveness. Medical
professionals find reduced likelihood of dying from heart
attacks by prescribing aspirin and/or beta blockers.
d. This finding represents effectiveness. Medical
professionals find that inhaled steroid medications can
prevent disability and complications among asthmatic
patients.
e. This finding represents efficiency. It is primarily cost
avoidance. Patients trained to avoid asthma triggers,
measure their own lung function, follow a consistent
treatment plan, and make adjustments in their own
medications is a much lower cost substitute than extended
hospital stays and emergency room visits.
54. a. A flexible budget allows management to directly compare
the actual cost of operations with budgeted costs for the
activity achieved. It assists management in evaluating
the effects of varying levels of activity on costs,
profits, and cash position, thus aiding in the choice of
the level of operation for planning purposes.
The flexible budgets presented are based on three
different activity measures, none of which coincides with
the actual level of performance for November. The budget
must be restated to a level of activity that matches the
actual results. The fixed and variable components of the
mixed costs must be segregated and a budgeted cost
calculated for the level of activity attained.
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Financial Management
b. Sales salaries are the only cost that varies perfectly
with number of salespersons ($90,000 ÷ 100 = $900). The
following vary with sales orders:
Sales commissions $300 per sales order
Sales travel 100 per sales order ($50,000 assumed
fixed)
Sales off. expense 30 per sales order ($400,000 assumed
fixed)
Shipping expense 100 per sales order ($500,000 assumed
fixed)
Total Var. cost $530 per sales order
c. Johnson Lighting, Inc.
Selling Expense Report November
Note: to estimate the actual variable cost portion of the
mixed costs, we assume the fixed portion of the mixed
cost was equal to the budgeted amount.
Actual variable cost per sales order: Commissions ÷
number of orders = $460,000 ÷ 1,600 = $287.50
Variable travel ÷ number of orders = ($185,000 $50,000)
÷ 1,600 = $84.38 (rounded)
Variable office expense ÷ number of orders = ($500,000
$400,000) ÷ 1,600 = $62.50
Variable shipping expense ÷ number of orders = ($640,000
$500,000) ÷ 1,600 = $87.50
e. To comment on effectiveness would require knowledge of a
target sales figure. If such a target had been less than
or equal to $14,900,000, the salespersons could have been
considered effective. Otherwise, a degree of
effectiveness of less than 100% must be assigned.
The manager of sales expenses may be considered to
be slightly more than 100% efficient as evidenced by the
$3,000 favorable variance presented in part c.
(CMA adapted)
55. a. Budgetary slack is a planned difference between budgeted
revenue and expected revenue and/or budgeted expenditures
and expected expenditures. Budgetary slack describes the
tendency of managers to underestimate revenues and
overestimate expenditures during the budgetary process in
order to build in allowances for unexpected declines in
revenue and/or unforeseen expenses. Budgetary slack
occurs because of conflicts between a manager's personal
interests and the interests of the organization. These
conflicts include pressure from management to achieve
budgets and the desire on the manager's part to look good
in the eyes of upper management.
b. (1) From the point of view of the business
unit manager, budgetary slack provides
Flexibility under unexpected circumstances.
The opportunity to show consistent performance
despite variations in departmental resources and
workloads.
A blending of personal and organizational goals.
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Financial Management
(2) From the perspective of corporate
management, the use of budgetary slack increases the
probability that budgets will be achieved. This
increased probability facilitates the overall
corporate budgeting process. Corporate management
may also allow budgetary slack as a form of reward
to managers for previous good performance.
From the point of view of corporate
management, the use of budgetary slack increases the
likelihood of inefficient allocation of scarce
corporate resources, decreases the effectiveness of
the corporate planning process, and decreases the
ability to identify potential weaknesses or trouble
spots in the budgetary process and, thus, limits
corrective actions.
c. (1) Zerobase budgeting is a planning and
budgeting technique that evaluates all proposed
operating and administrative expenditures as though
they were being initiated for the first time. Each
manager must evaluate each expenditure, investigate
alternative means of conducting each activity,
evaluate alternative budget amounts for various
levels of service, justify each expenditure, and
finally, rank expenditures in order of importance.
(2) Winston Labs could benefit from zerobase
budgeting as each of the business unit managers
would be required to specifically identify and
justify all proposed expenditures for the upcoming
year. This increased evaluation of expenditures
would make it difficult to include budgetary slack
in the budget for the upcoming year.
(3) The biggest disadvantage of zerobase budgeting is
the significant amount of time and cost involved in
its implementation. Additionally, the concept of
zerobase budgeting may be difficult for management
to learn and accept. Winston Labs must be sure that
the benefits of zerobase budgeting outweigh the
associated costs.
(CMA adapted)
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Financial Management
56. The memo should provide the following information:
Although the activitybased budget provides excellent
information about the costs of the various activities
necessary to fulfill a particular organizational function,
these budgets do not identify the resources (e.g., salaries,
occupancy costs) that are consumed by each activity. A
resource, or traditional budget, will provide this
information. To prepare a resource budget, it is necessary to
understand the relationship between activities and resources.
To estimate the cost of specific resources, it is
necessary to identify the resources associated with each
activity. Next, the quantity of each resource consumed by
each activity is estimated. Finally, using the cost driver of
each resource, the cost of resources associated with each
activity can be estimated. The end product is a resource
budget similar to traditional financial budgets.
57. Firms accumulate cash for three reasons: to liquidate planned
transactions, to provide for liquidation of unplanned
transactions and for speculation. Internet companies may have
greater needs than traditional companies in all three areas.
Because many Internet companies have operating cycles
that consume, rather than produce, cash, these companies
must have cash available to cover cycle shortfalls. Second,
Internet companies operate in a less predictable environment
and must maintain cash balances sufficient to cover
contingencies. Also, the Internet environment is very fluid,
and Internet companies must maintain enough cash to exploit
unexpected opportunities (e.g., the opportunity to purchase a
weak competitor). Finally, the Internet companies may have
difficulty acquiring cash from either public or private
sources on reasonable terms if the firms are forced to go to
capital markets under distress circumstances.
Chapter 15 169
Financial Management
Cases
58. a. Some considerations for the bookstore include:
Exercise prudent cost management over discretionary
costs. One of the more significant discretionary costs
is advertising.
Maximize use of technology. Although book handling is
inherently a laborintensive exercise, transaction
processing related to sales, purchases, and repurchases
can be highly automated to save labor costs.
Institute programs to reduce employee turnover.
Because many employees may be students, employee
turnover can be very high. Employee turnover increases
specific costs such as employee training, quality
failure costs, and unemployment taxes.
Arrange floor space to minimize book handling costs and
to facilitate the flow of students.
Work closely with professors to ascertain which books
will be used in the upcoming semester and which will
not be used again.
Develop associations with book wholesalers to market
books that are no longer adopted by the local
university.
Encourage professors to adopt the same book for
multiple sections of the same class to realize
economies of scale in purchasing and shipping.
Provide incentives to students to purchase books early
so that the workload can be spread across more time
and be handled by fewer employees.
Use temporary rather than permanent employees to handle
busy season work.
Find innovative ways to manage freight costs. Examine
alternative modes of transportation. By ordering
earlier, slower and less expensive freight delivery
modes can be used.
Rent temporary warehouse space to handle the bulge in
inventory that accompanies the start and end of school
terms.
170 Chapter 15
Financial Management
b. Some considerations for book publishers include:
Maximize the life cycle length of each publication so
that fixed costs can be spread across more units.
Manage the product mix so that unprofitable
publications are eliminated.
Manage the number of publications that are overseen by
each editor.
Adopt laborsaving technology to improve quality and
reduce labor costs in the publishing operation.
Make professors aware that there are costs to providing
teaching supplements and that such costs must
eventually be passed on to students.
Conduct market research to determine what students and
professors desire in terms of textbook features,
content, and supplements. This will minimize
expenditures on unprofitable and lowvolume products.
Minimize the number of drafts of each book that must be
printed prior to printing the final version.
Focus quality control on each textbook while it is in
draft form to eliminate changes that are very costly to
make in later stages of production.
Consider the use of parttime editors and other
employees.
Consider outsourcing those aspects of operations that
can be accomplished more efficiently and effectively by
outside vendors.
Manage the purchasing of paper and other inputs to
minimize handling costs and maximize purchase
discounts.
Concentrate on developing JIT production capability to
minimize production of books that are currently not in
demand. This will reduce storage needs and costs
associated with carrying inventory.
Adopt the latest technologies in cost management (e.g.,
activitybased costing).
Chapter 15 171
Financial Management
c. Students can
Share textbooks with a friend or acquaintance who is
taking the same class. This approach can effectively
cut the cost of purchasing books in half.
Avoid purchasing supplements and other materials that
are not required by the instructor.
Purchase their required textbooks from students rather
than the bookstore. This eliminates the bookstore
markup.
Purchase the paperback editions rather than hardback
textbooks.
Sell textbooks to the bookstore or other wholesalers at
the end of the semester.
Use electronic versions of the textbook rather than
paper versions to eliminate publication costs.
Exert pressure on professors to eliminate the use of
unnecessary supplements.
d. College textbooks are different today for three major
reasons. First, the subject matter of many disciplines
has changed dramatically in the past 20 years. Second,
the technology available to publishers has advanced and
allows more sophisticated products to be developed.
Third, the market has become extraordinarily competitive
and has forced textbook publishers to offer more
comprehensive products to attract and maintain market
share.
59. To: Mary Ross
From: Barry Stein
Subject: Explanation of November 2003 Variances
a. The revenue mix variance resulted from a higher
proportion of participants being eligible for discounts.
The budgeted revenue was based on 30 percent of the
participants taking the discount; but, during November,
45 percent of those attending the courses received
discounts. As a result, the weighted average fee dropped
from $145.50 to $143.25.
b. The most significant implication of the revenue mix
variance is that the proportion of discount fees has
increased by 50 percent. If the increase represents a
trend, the implications for future profits could be
serious as revenues per participant day will decline
while costs are likely to remain steady or increase.
172 Chapter 15
Financial Management
c. The revenue timing difference was caused by early
registrations for the December program to be held in
Cincinnati. The early registrations resulted from the
combined promotional mailing for both the Chicago and
Cincinnati programs. These early registrations have been
prematurely recognized as revenue during November.
d. The revenue recognition in November of early
registrations for the December courses is inappropriate,
and, consequently, revenues during the month of December
may be lower than expected.
e. The primary cause of the unfavorable total expense
variance were additional food charges, course materials,
and instructor fees. Although these quantity variances
are unfavorable, the increased costs of $10,400 are more
than offset by the additional revenues of $40,740 with
which these items are associated.
f. The favorable food price variance was determined by
multiplying the difference between the budgeted and
actual price per participant day times the actual
participant days. The actual price per participant day
was determined by dividing the actual food charges by the
total participant days ($32,000 ÷ 1,280).
g. While the combined promotional piece had a $5,000
unfavorable impact on November expenses, there will be no
need for further promotion of the Cincinnati program.
Therefore, the $20,000 budgeted for this purpose in
December will not be expended, lowering planned expenses
for the month.
The promotion timing difference represents an
incorrect matching of costs and revenue. The costs
allocated to the Cincinnati program should be reflected
on the December statement of operations to be matched
against the December program.
h. The course development variance is unfavorable to the
November budget, but its overall impact on the company
cannot be determined until such time as the level of
acceptance of the new course is experienced.
(CMA adapted)
Chapter 15 173
Financial Management
Reality Check
60. a. The figure relates directly to activitybased management.
At the heart of activitybased management is the notion
of controlling activities and understanding the relation
between activities and cost generation. Only through
controlling and eliminating nonvalueadded activities
are companies able to achieve improved cost performance.
b. According to the figure, quality is the foundation of
cost efficiency and therefore, an important determinant
of profitability. The figure suggests that high quality
is a precursor to high profitability in an organization.
c. The figure suggests that a lowcost/lowquality strategy
would be ineffective in achieving profitable operations.
The implication is that lowquality operations would
always be cost inefficient and accordingly would never
reach levels of high profitability.
61. a. The use of parttimers is obviously an effective cost
control technique. The firm is able to avoid incurring
the fringe benefit and other indirect costs associated
with full time employees. Further, using parttimers
allows the firm to expand and contract capacity to avoid
the generation of idle resources that are normally found
in a seasonal business.
b. If there are qualitative differences between those
workers who are willing to work part time and those who
are only willing to work full time, these qualitative
differences may be impounded in the work they perform.
However, the quality of the work performed by
paraprofessionals should be controllable through careful
supervision and careful selection of tasks.
c. It is unlikely that parttimers and paraprofessionals,
used in lieu of full time professionals, can enhance the
effectiveness of public accounting firms. It is much
more likely the case that they are hired on the grounds
of efficiency. The paraprofessionals and parttimers are
a less expensive input than fulltime professionals to
the various service activities conducted in public
accounting firms.
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Financial Management
62. a. Effective cost management is not simply reducing costs to
the lowest attainable level. Costs must be managed in
the manner that most effectively implements the strategy
of the firm. By merely cutting costs, firms can
adversely affect important competitive dimensions such as
product quality. Only if the Chineseproduced crawfish
is equal to the Louisiana product in terms of quality and
all other dimensions except price is purchasing the
Chinese crawfish equivalent to purchasing the Louisiana
crawfish.
In this case, the Chinese crawfish are probably not
equivalent to Louisiana crawfish. The local consumers
expect to be served Louisiana crawfish. This expectation
exists independent of quality considerations.
Consequently, informed consumers will avoid purchasing
Chinese crawfish and may be willing to pay more to obtain
“genuine” Louisiana crawfish. Local consumers have a
preference for Louisiana crawfish because they prefer to
support the crawfish industry in Louisiana rather than in
China, and consumers prefer Louisiana crawfish because of
the imagery and tradition of that specific dining
experience.
b. Some circumstances include the following:
Laying off workers in conjunction with the
implementation of new production technology.
Moving production operations to ThirdWorld countries
to avoid high labor costs of the home country.
Cutting costs “across the board.”
Outsourcing activities to reduce costs but in so doing
sacrificing a potential important core competency.
Reducing expenditures on discretionary fixed costs to
manage reported income despite potential negative
consequences.