Assign verhead costs using traditional costing and ABC compare results (LO 1, 4), AN P4-48 Merando Corporation produces two grades of wine from grapes that it buys from California growers. It produces and sells roughly 600,000 gallon jugs per year of a low- cost, high-volume product called Valley Fresh. Merando also produces and sells roughly 200,000 gallons per year of a low-volume, high-cost product called Merando Valley Merando Valley is sold in 1-liter bottles. Based on recent data, the Valley Fresh product has not been as profitable as Merando Valley Management is considering dropping the inexpensive Valley Fresh line so it can focus more attention on the Merando Valley product. The Merando Valley product already demands considerably more attention than the Valley Fresh line. Frankie Merando, president and founder of Merando, is skeptical about this idea. He points out that for many decades the company produced only the Valley Fresh line, and that it was always quite profitable. It wasn't until the company started producing the more complicated Merando Valley wine that the profitability of Valley Fresh declined. Prior to the introduction of Merando Valley, the company had simple equipment, simple growing and production procedures, and virtually no need for quality control. Because Merando Valley is bottled in 1-liter bottles, it requires considerably more time and effort, both to bottle and to label and box, than does Valley Fresh. The company must bottle and handle 4 times as many bottles of Merando Valley to sell the same quantity as Valley Fresh, since there are approximately 4 liters in a gallon. Valley Fresh requires 1 month of aging Merando Valley requires 1 year. Valley Fresh requires cleaning and inspection of equip ment every 2.500 gallons; Merando Valley requires such maintenance every 250 gallons. Frankie has asked the accounting department to prepare an analysis of the cost per gallon using the traditional costing approach and using activity-based costing. The follow- ing information was collected. Valley Fresh Merando Valley Direct materials per gallon Direct labor cost per gallon $1.35 $3.60 $0.75 $1.50 Direct labor hours per gallon 0.05 0.10 Total c tal direct labor hours 30,000 20,000 Expected Use of Expected Use Estimated Cost Activity Cost Pool Cost Driver Overhead Drivers Valley Fresh Grape processing Cart of grapes $146,000 8,000 6,000 Aging Total months 420,000 3,000,000 600,000 of Cost Drivers per Product Merando Valley 2,000 2,400,000 Bottling and Number of corking bottles 210,000 1,400,000 600,000 500,000 Labeling and Number of boxing bottles 140,000 1,400,000 600,000 800,000 Maintain and Number of inspect equipment inspections 234,000 1,040 240 800 $1,150,000 (a) Costigallon-V.F. $3.25 Instructions Answer each of the following questions. (Round all calculations to three decimal places.) (a) Under traditional product costing using direct labor hours, compute the total manu- facturing cost per gallon of both products. Waterways Continuing Problem 189 (b) Under ABC, prepare a schedule showing the computation of the activity-based over head rates (per cost driver). (c) Prepare a schedule assigning each activity's overhead cost pool to each product, based Costigan-V. 50.663 on the use of cost drivers. Include a computation of overhead cost per gallon. (d) Compute the total manufacturing cost per gallon for both products under ABC. (e) Write a memo to Frankie Merando discussing the implications of your analy sis for the company's plans. In this memo, provide a brief description of ABC as well as an explanation of how the traditional approach can result in distortions.