JLR Enterprises provides consulting services throughout California and uses a job-order costing system to accumulate the cost of client projects. Traceable costs are charged directly to individual clients; in contrast, other costs incurred by JLR, but not identifiable with specific clients, are charged to jobs by using a predetermined overhead application rate. Clients are billed for directly chargeable costs, overhead, and a markup. JLR's director of cost management, Brent Dean, anticipates the following costs for the upcoming year:

Problem 3-47

Job-Order Costing in a Consulting

Firm

(LO 3-1, 3-2, 3-4, 3-8)

1. Traceable costs:

$2,500,000

Cost

Percentage of Cost Directly

Traceable to Clients

Professional staff salaries ................................ $2,500,000 ..................................... 80%

Administrative support staff ............................. 300,000 ..................................... 60%

Travel ................................................................ 250,000 ..................................... 90%

Photocopying ................................................... 50,000 ..................................... 90%

Other operating costs ...................................... 100,000 ..................................... 50%

Total .............................................................. $3,200,000 .....................................

The firm's partners desire to make a $640,000 profit for the firm and plan to add a percentage

markup on total cost to achieve that figure.

On March 10, JLR completed work on a project for Martin Manufacturing. The following costs

were incurred: professional staff salaries, $41,000; administrative support staff, $2,600; travel, $4,500;

photocopying, $500; and other operating costs, $1,400.

Required: use excel to show results

1. Determine JLR's total traceable costs for the upcoming year and the firm's total anticipated

overhead.

2. Calculate the predetermined overhead rate. The rate is based on total costs traceable to client jobs.

3. What percentage of cost will JLR add to each job to achieve its profit target?

4. Determine the total cost of the Martin Manufacturing project. How much would Martin be billed

for services performed?

5. Notice that only 50 percent of JLR's other operating cost is directly traceable to specific client

projects. Cite several costs that would be included in this category and difficult to trace to clients.

6. Notice that 80 percent of the professional staff cost is directly traceable to specific client projects.

Cite several reasons that would explain why this figure isn't 100 percent.