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Cost Allocation

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COST ALLOCATION

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Direct Method
• Allocates s pport costs onl to Operating Departments support only • No Interaction between Support Departments prior to allocation

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Direct Method

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Step-Down Method p
• Allocates support costs to other support departments and to operating departments that partially recognizes the mutual services provided among all support departments • One-Way Interaction between Support Departments prior to allocation

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Step-Down Method

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Reciprocal Method
• Allocates support department costs to operating departments by fully recognizing the mutual services provided among all support departments • Full Two Way Interaction between Support Departments prior to allocation

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Reciprocall M th d R i Method

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Choosing Between Methods
• Reciprocal is the most precise • Direct and Step-Down are simple to compute and understand • Direct Method is widely used

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COST ALLOCATION PROBLEM (Direct, Step-Down, & Reciprocal Methods)

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COST ALLOCATION PROBLEM (Direct, Step-Down, & Reciprocal Methods) A summary of the fixed and variable support-department costs f ll f th fi d d i bl td t t t follows:

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DIRECT METHOD DATA

Cost allocation computations:

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STEPDOWN METHOD DATA

Cost allocation computations:

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RECIPROCAL METHOD DATA

Cost allocation computations:

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Footnotes:

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Dual-Rate Method, Budgeted vs. Actual Costs, & Practical Capacity vs. Actual Quantities
Chocolat I Ch l t Inc. is a producer of premium chocolate based in Palo Alto. The i d f i h l t b d i P l Alt Th company has a separate division for each of its two products: dark chocolate and milk chocolate. Chocolat purchases ingredients from Wisconsin for its Dark Chocolate division and from Louisiana for its Milk Chocolate division. Both locations are the same distance from Chocolat's Palo Alto plant. Chocolat Inc. operates a fleet of trucks as a cost center that charges the divisions for variable costs (d i di i i f i bl t (drivers and f l) and fixed costs (vehicle d fuel) d fi d t ( hi l depreciation, insurance, and registration fees) of operating the fleet. Each division is evaluated on the basis of its operating income. Last year, the trucking fleet had a practical capacity of 50 round-trips between the Palo Alto g p p y p plant and the two suppliers. It recorded the following information:

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Dual-Rate Method, Budgeted vs. Actual Costs, & Practical Capacity vs. Actual Quantities
Chocolat, Inc. decides to examine the effect of using the dual-rate method for allocating truck , g g costs to each round-trip. At the start of the year, the budgeted costs were: Variable cost per round-trip $ 1 500 1,500 Fixed costs $40,000 The actual results at year-end for the 45 round-trips made were: Variable costs $60,750 Fixed costs $36,000 Total $96,750

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1. Using the dual-rate method, what are the costs allocated to the Dark Chocolate Division and the Milk Chocolate Division when (a) variable costs are allocated using the budgeted rate per round-trip and actual round-trips used by each division and when (b) fixed costs are allocated based on the budgeted rate per round-trip and round-trips budgeted for each division?

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2. From the viewpoint of the Dark Chocolate Division, what are the effects of using the dual-rate th d th th the i l d l t method rather than th single-rate methods? t th d ? The dual rate changes how the fixed indirect cost component is treated. By using budgeted trips made the Dark Chocolate Division is unaffected by changes from its own budgeted made, usage or that of other divisions. g p ( q When budgeted rates and actual trips are used for allocation (see requirement 1.b. of problem 15-17), the Dark Chocolate Division is assigned the same $24,000 for fixed costs as under the dual-rate method because it made the same number of trips as budgeted. However, However note that the Milk Chocolate Division is allocated $16,000 in fixed trucking costs $16 000 under the dual-rate system, compared to $800 u 15 actual trips = $12,000 when actual trips are used for allocation. As such, the Dark Chocolate Division is not made to appear disproportionately more expensive than the Milk Chocolate Division simply because the latter did not make the number of trips it budgeted at the start of the year.

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Reciprocal Cost Allocation p
E - books, an online book retailer, has two operating departments-Corporate Sales and Consumer Sales-and two support departments - Human Resources and Information S stems Each sales department cond cts merchandising and Systems. conducts marketing operations independently. E - books uses number of employees to allocate Human Resources costs and processing time to allocate Information Systems costs The following data are available for the year: costs.

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Reciprocal Cost Allocation p
Consider E-books again. The controller of E-books reads a widely used textbook that states that “the reciprocal method is conceptually the most defensible.” He seeks your assistance.

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1. Describe the key features of the reciprocal method.
• The reciprocal allocation method explicitly includes the mutual services provided among all support departments. • Interdepartmental relationships are fully incorporated into the support department cost allocations. allocations

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2. Allocate the support departments’ costs (Human Resources and Information Systems) t th t operating d S t ) to the two ti departments using th reciprocal method. t t i the i l th d

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Reciprocal method using repeated iterations

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3. In the case presented in this exercise, which method (direct, step-down, or reciprocal) would you recommend? Wh ? i l) ld d? Why?

• The reciprocal method is more accurate than the direct and step-down methods when there are reciprocal relationships among support departments. • The reciprocal method is the preferred method, although the numbers for the year do not appear materially different across the alternatives.

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...the differences in the four allocation methods discussed in the case. From your standpoint, which of the four methods is conceptually the most reasonable? Why? Direct allocation: each support department costs are allocated directly to the service departments that use the services. The direct allocation method is relatively simple to apply. None of the costs of providing support services is allocated to other support departments. Only the direct costs of the support departments are allocated to the patient services departments because no indirect costs have been created by intrasupport department allocations. This method is the least costly of the four. Step down: this method is a compromise between the more simple direct allocation method and the complex reciprocal method. This method recognizes that intrasupport departments effects that the direct method ignores but it doesn’t recognize the full range of interdependencies. It is a sequential, stair step pattern of allocation. Step down allocation talks place in a specific sequence. After each allocation is made in this method, a support department is removed from the process. Double apportionment: a slightly more complicated version of the step down method. This method first recognizes support provided by service departments to all other service departments as well as to the patient service departments. That first step is called the first allocation/apportionment. Some costs still remain in the support...

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...Advantages Makes cost allocation more fair Recognizes it’s true quality Could give a break because they are using the Same equipment and staff Dialysis Center is already using the same equipment and personnel Is there a better way? In order to offset the large facility costs; the Dialysis center should be able to claim revenues on direct utilization of pharmaceutical supplies; increasing their bottom line and potentially allowing them to remain financially stable through the facility transition. Is it “fair” for the Dialysis Center to suffer in profitability, and hence for the department head to possibly lose his bonus, just because the Outpatient Clinic needs additional space? Incentives Performance improvements Performance measures Disadvantages Costs more per square foot for the dialysis center For the Dialysis Center to bear the true costs, they forfeit the chance of generating true net profit. There will be more incentive to focus on outpatient services than Dialysis patients Other departments will find it less appealing to relocate if they know their profitability or contributions to the Hospital will decline severely when incurring true facility costs. How is pharmacy revenue handled? Pharmacy supplies used for dialysis cost the pharmacy $400,000 They profit $400,000 on drugs used Dialysis center books $800,000 in annual revenue They are charged $800,000 for the drugs they use Do you support the new allocation scheme? We agree...

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