A) Flexible Budget for Assembly Department

Cabinaire Inc. is one of the largest manufacturers of office furniture in the United States. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, it assembles filing cabinets in an Assembly Department. Assume the following information for the Assembly Department:

Direct labor per filing cabinet	20 minutes
Supervisor salaries	$117,000 per month
Depreciation	$18,000 per month
Direct labor rate	$18 per hour

Prepare a flexible budget for 15,000, 19,000, and 23,000 filing cabinets for the month of August in the Assembly Department, similar to Exhibit 5. Assuming that inventories are not significant. Enter all amounts as positive numbers.

CABINAIRE INC-ASSEMBLY DEPARTMENT
Flexible Production Budget
For the Month Ending August 31 (assumed data)
Units of production	15,000	19,000	23,000
Variable cost:
Direct labor	$	$	$
Total variable cost	$	$	$
Fixed cost:
Supervisor salaries	$	$	$
Depreciation
Total fixed cost	$	$	$
Total department cost	$	$	$

2) Static Budget versus Flexible Budget

The production supervisor of the Machining Department for Niland Company agreed to the following monthly static budget for the upcoming year:

Niland Company Machining Department Monthly Production Budget
Wages	$901,000
Utilities	62,000
Depreciation	103,000
Total	$1,066,000

The actual amount spent and the actual units produced in the first three months in the Machining Department were as follows:

	Amount Spent		Units Produced
January	$1,006,000		87,000
February	959,000		79,000
March	914,000		71,000

The Machining Department supervisor has been very pleased with this performance because actual expenditures for JanuaryMarch have been less than the monthly static budget of $1,066,000. However, the plant manager believes that the budget should not remain fixed for every month but should flex or adjust to the volume of work that is produced in the Machining Department. Additional budget information for the Machining Department is as follows:

Wages per hour	$19.00
Utility cost per direct labor hour	$1.30
Direct labor hours per unit	0.50
Planned monthly unit production	94,000

a. Prepare a flexible budget for the actual units produced for January, February, and March in the Machining Department. Assume that depreciation is a fixed cost. Enter all amounts as positive numbers. If required, use per unit amounts carried out to two decimal places.

Niland Company-Machining Department
Flexible Production Budget
For the Three Months Ending March 31
	January	February	March
Units of production
Wages	$	$	$
Utilities
Depreciation
Total	$	$	$

b. Compare the flexible budget with the actual expenditures for the first three months.

	January	February	March
Total flexible budget	$	$	$
Actual cost
Excess of actual cost over budget	$	$	$

What does this comparison suggest?

The Machining Department has performed better than originally thought.	yes/no
The department is spending more than would be expected.	yes/no