Controllability, responsibility, and balanced scorecard Tracie Buckley manages the production division of Yates Corporation. Ms. Buckley’s responsibility report for the month of August follows.

The budget had called for 7,500 pounds of raw materials at $4 per pound, and 7,500 pounds were used during August; however, the purchasing department paid $5 per pound for the materials. The wage rate used to establish the budget was $15 per hour. On August 1, however, it increased to $18 as the result of an inflation index provision in the union contract. Furthermore, the purchasing department did not provide the materials needed in accordance with the production schedule, which forced Ms.
Buckley to use 100 hours of overtime at a $27 rate. The projected 1,000 hours of labor in the budget would have been sufficient had it not been for the 100 hours of overtime. In other words, 1,100 hours of labor were used in August.
Required

a. When confronted with the unfavorable variances in her responsibility report, Ms. Buckley argued that the report was unfair because it held her accountable for materials and labor variances that she did not control. Is she correct? Comment specifically on the materials and labor variances.

b. Prepare a responsibility report that reflects the cost items that Ms. Buckley controlled during August.

c. Will the changes in the revised responsibility report require corresponding changes in the financial statements? Explain.

d. Explain how a balanced scorecard may be used to improve the performance evaluation.