Darnell Manufacturing Company

Mr. Darnell had promoted Jimmy Mack to vice president of finance. Jimmy had practically been running the firm for several years during which time sales and profit had been declining. On November 15, Mr. Darnell announced that his son, Robert Darnell, would take over as owner and president on January 1. Robert was a graduate of an MBA program and for several years had been working for a large consulting firm as a marketing specialist. In their private discussions, Mr. Darnell told his son that the problems in the family firm were marketing rather than financial, so the situation was ready made for Robert. Mr. Darnell, it seems, had been completely taken in by Jimmy Mack.

When Robert arrived on December 1, and began to read various internal reports, he realized Darnell Manufacturing did not have a cash budget, and there didn't seem to be much in the way of financial planning. Robert asked Jimmy about this. Jimmy's response was that Darnell Manufacturing ran on the basis of several well-developed decision rules, and budgets weren't necessary because if the firm ever ran out of funds, Mr. Darnell simply deposited $10,000 or $20,000 in the bank. Robert's response was clear: "My father is a millionaire, but I am not!" Jimmy indicated he didn't know much about budgeting, but he would get an assistant to work up some "stuff."

Robert decided to call his old friend Bailey Edison. Edison was in charge of several large budgeting projects for a consulting firm, and Robert knew Bailey to be a recognized expert on budgeting for small companies. Fortunately for Robert, Edison wasn't busy that week and was able to fly down the next day.

Edison spent two days going over the accounting records, interoffice memos, and everything else he could find. On Friday morning, Robert found the following note on his desk:

Dear Robert:

Had to leave last night for Pittsburgh. During the two days I spent in the office, I discovered: You have no budget or control system in place. Jimmy Mach's decision rules are all wrong. Mack doesn't know the first thing about finance, budgeting or manufacturing. Will be back on Monday morning to talk to you. By the way, if you can find Alice Mead, I would like to speak to her.

Your friend,

Bailey Edison

Robert was perplexed by the note but decided he had better find out who this Alice Mead was. Jimmy told Robert that Alice was a file clerk who had been fired a couple of years ago because she refused to follow company policy. Robert asked Jimmy if he could find Alice. Jimmy said he heard she was working for some firm in town and would find out where.

Eventually, Robert found Alice working as a bookkeeper for Mark Wolsey. During a phone conversation Alice explained about her being fired by Mr. Darnell. She went on to explain that after she got fired she went to see Mr. Wolsey, who was one of Darnell's customers. Apparently, Wolsey realized that Alice was right and that Jimmy Mack and Mr. Darnell were wrong. Alice went on to say that Mr. Wolsey felt bad that she had been fired. Wolsey had intended to retire but decided to hire Ms. Mead as a bookkeeper. Alice had been working for Wolsey ever since.

Shortly after Robert finished talking with Alice, Edison entered the office. With his usual efficiency, he made the following points: We had better get a budgeting system immediately and try to see where we are. Jimmy has to go. We must decide on how to get a budgeting system put together quickly because Darnell's might be broken.

Edison concluded by asking: "Did you find Alice Mead? She is the only person around here in the last three years who did anything right, and she got fired."

Robert indicated that Ms. Mead was going to stop by after work and talk to them. Edison then suggested that Robert fire Jimmy Mack and try to rehire Alice as the bookkeeper-analyst. That afternoon Jimmy was fired, given two months pay, and asked to leave the office by 3 o'clock. The same evening Alice agreed to work for Robert on the condition that she would not have to deal with either the older Mr. Darnell or Jimmy Mack. Robert explained that Jimmy was already gone, and his father left for Florida several days previously.

Alice agreed to be at work the following Monday morning. She indicated that Mr. Wolsey was all but out of business and no longer needed her services.

After Jimmy Mack had left the office, Bailey Edison went through all the available records and files, as a result, was able to establish the information presented in Exhibit A as a basis to begin the budgeting process.

Exhibit A

Variable Direct Costs:

Direct materials cost per unit $0.75

Direct labor costs per unit 1.25

Total $2.00

Variable Overhead:

Indirect Labor cost per unit $0.2

Electricity cost per unit 0.1

Other overhead cost per unit produce 0.5

Total $0.8

Fixed Costs:

Indirect labor per week $100

Indirect material per week 300

Electricity per week 75

Factory insurance per week 125

Other overhead per week 110

Total $710

Office expenses are very close to $781 per week. Of this amount, the breakdown seems to be:

Salaries(including fringe benefits and payroll tax) $400

Rent of office 200

Depreciation of office equipment 81

Utilities 100

Total $781

Direct labor is paid on a piece-rate(or piecework) basis. Workers are paid $1.25 per unit produced. Average rate of accounts receivable collections is as follows:

During the month in which sale is made 30%

1st month after sale 40%

2nd month after sale 20%

3rd month after sale 10%

Total 100%

Several other notations by Bailey Edison Robert expected to draw $1,400 per month for personal use. Consulting fees will be billed at about $225 per week or $900 per month. A reasonable estimation of the value of factory and equipment is $70,000. Depreciation should be monthly on the basis of an average useful life of 5 years. This equipment will have a salvage value of $2,500. Darnell produces a single product, Darn Good, and the production process is fairly simple. Raw materials consist of a single item, which is usually entered into the process in the morning. Various machining operations take place during the day. At the end of each day, all the finished units are moved into the storeroom. Because started units are finished by the end of the day, there is never a work-in-process inventory overnight. Ignore taxes. The inventory of raw materials at the beginning of the coming year will be 800 units, and there will be 750 units of finished product.

General guidelines set by Bailey Edison These guidelines should be followed through the year, at which time they are to be reviewed and revised. The estimates of variable costs of production are almost certainly correct. Fixed costs of production are almost certainly at $710 per week, except that there is no estimation or allowance for depreciation. Take fixed cost of production to equal $710 plus depreciation. Fixed amounts for overhead and fixed office expenses are listed at the per week amounts. To convert weekly fixed costs to monthly costs, multiply the weekly amount by 4 . Establish cost accounting records on the basis of full cost, assuming that normal output is 500 units per week, or 2,250 units per month. Thus, budgeted full cost is $4.72. Note: this means that we assume that the dollar value of ending inventory for finished goods should be number of units valued at $4.72 per unit. Selling commission should be 10% on all sales, and the price on regular sales should be set at $7.00 for at least the first quarter of the year. All depreciation should be on straight-line basis.

See Exhibit B for an estimation of the Balance Sheet as it will appear on January 1, when Robert Darnell takes complete control of the business.

Exhibit B

Darnell Manufacturing Company

Balance Sheet

For the Year Ended, December 31,

(Beginning Balance, January 1)

Assets:

Cash $10,000

Receivables 14,700

Raw material inv 600

Finished Goods inv:

($4.72 per unit) 3540

Office equip 13,122

Factory equip 70,000

Land 5,000

Total Assets $116,962

Liabilities and Owner's Equity:

Accounts payable $1275

Notes payable 30,000

Total liabilities 31,275

Capital: Robert Darnell 85,687

Total liabilities and owners equity $116,962

2. Production Budget The second step in budgeting was to develop a production budget and a raw materials schedule for the first quarter of the coming year. Since there was no established policy on production scheduling, inventory planning, or raw materials inventory, it was necessary to establish one. Edison, Robert, and Alice agreed that a policy based on experience would have to wait until some data were collected over the next 6 to 8 months. In an effort to "get things going," they settled on a two-part operational statement of policy: Production in any month should be scheduled so that an ending inventory of Darn Good will equal one-half of the next month's expected sales. Purchase of raw material should be made so that on average there is enough raw material on hand to produce 700 Darn Goods. Thus, no end-of-month inventory should have fewer than 700 units of raw material. Prepare production schedule, schedule of raw material use, and a schedule of raw material purchases for January, February and March. Finally, prepare schedule of expected cash disbursements for raw materials. Raw materials are always purchased on a 30-day-due basis. Consequently, payments are always made in the month following the purchase of materials. It is expected that 1,700 units of materials will be purchase during the December prior to the coming year.