This is really an odd situation, said Jim Carter, general manager of Highland Publishing Company....

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Accounting

This is really an odd situation, said Jim Carter, general manager of Highland Publishing Company. We get most of the jobs we bid on that require a lot of press time in the Printing Department, yet profits on those jobs are never as high as they ought to be. On the other hand, we lose most of the jobs we bid on that require a lot of time in the Binding Department. I would be inclined to think that the problem is with our overhead rates, but were already computing separate overhead rates for each department. So what else could be wrong?

Highland Publishing Company is a large organization that offers a variety of printing and binding work. The Printing and Binding departments are supported by three service departments. The costs of these service departments are allocated to other departments in the order listed below (For each service department, use the allocation base that provides the best measure of service provided, as discussed in the chapter.)

Department

Total Labor-Hours

Square Feet of Space Occupied

Number of Employees

Machine- Hours

Direct Labor- Hours

Personnel

16,800

12,800

30

Custodial Services

8,100

3,300

49

Maintenance

14,300

10,300

62

Printing

30,100

40,600

109

165,000

20,000

Binding

104,000

20,400

307

41,000

73,000

173,300

87,400

557

206,000

93,000

Budgeted overhead costs in each department for the current year are shown below:

Personnel

$

310,000

Custodial Services

65,000

Maintenance

93,300

Printing

415,000

Binding

168,000

Total budgeted cost

$

1,051,300

Because of its simplicity, the company has always used the direct method to allocate service department costs to the two operating departments.

Required:

1.

Using the step-down method, allocate the service department costs to the consuming departments. Then compute predetermined overhead rates for the current year using machine-hours as the allocation base in the Printing Department and direct labor-hours as the allocation base in the Binding Department. (Please enter allocations from a department as negative and allocations to a department as positive. The line should add across to zero. Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answers to the nearest dollar amount.)

Personnel

Custodial Services

Maintenance

Printing

Binding

Total cost before allocations

$310,000

$65,000

$93,300

$415,000

$168,000

Allocation:

Personnel

Custodial services

Maintenance

Total overhead cost after allocations

Divide by machine-hours

Divide by direct labor-hours

Predetermined overhead rate

2.

Repeat (1) above, this time using the direct method. Again compute predetermined overhead rates in the the Printing and Binding departments. (Please enter allocations from a department as negative and allocations to a department as positive. The line should add across to zero. Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answers to the nearest dollar amount.)

Personnel

Custodial Services

Maintenance

Printing

Binding

Total cost before allocations

$310,000

$65,000

$93,300

$415,000

$168,000

Allocation:

Personnel

Custodial services

Maintenance

Total overhead cost after allocations

Divide by machine-hours

Divide by direct labor-hours

Predetermined overhead rate

3.

Assume that during the current year the company bids on a job that requires machine and labor time as follows:

Machine-Hours

Direct Labor-Hours

Printing Department

2,100

1,300

Binding Department

500

13,500

Total hours

2,600

14,800

a.

Determine the amount of overhead that would be assigned to the job if the company uses the overhead rates developed in (1) step-down method and (2) direct method. (Round your intermediate calculation to 2 decimal places and round your answers to the nearest dollar amount.)

Total Overhead Cost

Step-down method

Direct method

Answer & Explanation Solved by verified expert
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