BASIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING CONCEPTS

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CHAPTER 2

BASIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING CONCEPTS

QUESTIONS FOR WRITING AND DISCUSSION

• Product costing accuracy means assigning

the cost of the resources consumed by a cost object to that cost object.

• A cost object is any item for which costs are

measured and assigned, including such things as products, plants, projects, depart- ments, and activities.

• An activity is a basic unit of work performed

within an organization. Examples include material handling, inspection, purchasing, billing, and maintenance.

• A direct cost is a cost that can be traced to a

cost object. An indirect cost is a cost that cannot be traced to cost objects.

• Traceability is the ability to assign a cost

directly to a cost object in an economically feasible way using a causal relationship.Tracing is the assignment of costs to cost objects using either an observable measure of the cost object’s resource consumption or factors that allegedly capture the causal re- lationship.

• Allocation is the assignment of indirect costs

to cost objects based on convenience or as- sumed linkages.

• Drivers are factors that cause changes in

resource usage, activity usage, costs, and revenues. Resource drivers measure the demands placed on resources by activities and are used to assign the cost of resources

to activities. Example: time used to assign

the cost of supervision to individual activi- ties. Activity drivers measure the demands placed on activities by cost objects and are used to assign the cost of activities to cost

objects. Example: number of inspection

hours used to assign the cost of inspection to individual products.

• Direct tracing is the process of assigning

costs to cost objects based on physically observable causal relationships. Driver trac- ing is assigning costs using drivers, which are causal factors. The driver approach re- lies on identification of factors that allegedly capture the causal relationship. Direct trac- ing relies on physical observation of the causal relationship and, therefore, is more reliable.

• Driver tracing is the use of drivers to trace

costs to cost objects. Often, this means that costs are first traced to activities using re- source drivers and then to cost objects using activity drivers.

• A tangible product is a good that is made by

converting raw materials through the use of labor and capital inputs.

• A service is a task or activity performed for a

customer or an activity performed by a cus- tomer using an organization’s products or facilities.

• Services differ from tangible products on

four important dimensions: intangibility, peri-

shability, inseparability, and heterogeneity.Intangibility means that buyers of services cannot see, feel, taste, or hear a service be- fore it is bought. Perishability means that services cannot be stored. Inseparability means that producers of services and buy- ers of services must be in direct contact (not true for tangible products). Heterogeneity means that there is a greater chance of var- iation in the performance of services than in the production of products.

• Three examples of product cost definitions

are value-chain, operating, and traditional definitions. The value-chain definition in- cludes cost assignments for all value-chain activities. Operating product costs include all costs except for research and development.Traditional product costs include only pro- duction costs. Different costs are needed because they serve different managerial ob- jectives.

• The three cost elements that determine the

cost of making a product are direct mate- rials, direct labor, and overhead.

• The income statement for a service firm

does not need a supporting cost of goods manufactured schedule. Because services cannot be stored, the cost of services pro- Managerial Accounting 8th Edition Hansen Solutions Manual Visit TestBankDeal.com to get complete for all chapters

1144 duced equals the cost of services sold (not necessarily true for a manufacturing firm).

• There are six essential differences. Activity-

based cost management systems use more drivers; are tracing intensive instead of allo- cation intensive; use broad, flexible product cost definitions; focus on managing activities instead of managing costs; emphasize sys- temwide performance over individual unit performance; and use both nonfinancial and financial performance measures. Functional- based cost management systems emphas- ize only financial measures.

• For companies that have increased decision

error costs and decreased measurement costs, a move to an activity-based cost management system is called for. Factors that affect the decision to move to an activi- ty-based cost management system include more powerful and cheaper computing ca- pabilities, increased competition, more fo- cused production by competitors, deregula- tion, and JIT manufacturing.

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EXERCISES

2–1

• Driver tracing – the miles driven is an appropriate driver for the cost of

gas, oil, and wear and tear on tires, etc.

• Direct tracing – the receipt for the lunch will be submitted for reim-

bursement.

• Direct tracing – Mandy will have a receipt for the stamps and photocopy-

ing services purchased.

• Allocation – Jed will probably add up the costs for a week or a month

and divide that total by the number of jobs. If the lawns differ significantly in mowing area, he could divide by the number of hours worked (direct la- bor hours) and get a cost per labor hour.2–2

Possible drivers:

• Number of statements
• Pounds of laundry
• Number of sales orders
• Number of purchase orders
• Number of inspections (also inspection hours)
• Assembly hours
• Hours of care
• Processing hours (number of returns less desirable)
• Number of parts (number of purchase orders)
• Hours of therapy

2–3

• Direct tracing
• Allocation
• Direct tracing
• Direct tracing
• Allocation
• Allocation
• Driver tracing – number of employees
• Direct tracing
• Direct tracing

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• Allocation
• Driving tracing – number of phones
• Direct tracing
• Allocation

2–4

• Marketing
• Servicing
• Designing
• Producing
• Distributing
• Producing
• Marketing
• Designing and developing
• Servicing
• Producing
• Developing
• Designing
• Marketing
• Distributing
• Producing

2–5

• Value-chain. The price needs to cover all product costs, including the costs of

developing, selling, and servicing.

• Traditional. This approach is mandated for external reporting.

• Value-chain. Product mix decisions should consider all costs, and the mix

that is the most profitable in the long run should be selected.

• Operating. The designs should be driven by the effect they have on produc-

tion, marketing, and servicing costs. Thus, the operating product cost defini- tion is the most relevant.

• Traditional. This approach is mandated for external reporting.

• Operating. Research and design costs are not relevant for a price decision

involving an existing product. Production, marketing, and servicing costs are relevant, however.

• Operating. Any special order should cover its costs which potentially include

production, marketing, and servicing costs.

• Value-chain. This is a strategic decision that involves activities and costs

throughout the entire value chain.