Question
Mercer Asbestos Removal Company removes potentially toxic asbestos insulation and related products from buildings.There has been a long-standing simmering dispute between the company's appraiser and
Mercer Asbestos Removal Company removes potentially toxic asbestos insulation and related products from buildings. There has been a long-standing simmering dispute between the company's appraiser and the work supervisors. On-site supervisors say the estimators do not adequately distinguish between routine work, such as removing asbestos insulation around heating pipes in older homes, and non-routine work, such as removing asbestos-contaminated ceiling plaster in buildings industrial. On-site supervisors believe that non-routine work is much more expensive than routine work and must pay higher charges from customers. The appraiser summarizes his position this way: “My job is to measure the area to be cleaned of asbestos. As instructed by senior management, I simply multiply the square footage by $2.80 to determine the offer price. Since our average cost is only $2.30 per square foot, that leaves enough margin to cover the additional costs of non-routine work that shows up. Plus, it's hard to know what's routine or non-routine until you really start tearing things apart." |
To shed light on this controversy, the company initiated an activity-based costing study of all its costs. The data of the activity-based costing system are as follows: |
Activity Cost Pool | activity measure | total activity | |
asbestos removal | Thousands of square feet | 800 | thousand square feet |
Job Estimation and Setup | number of jobs | 400 | jobs |
Working non-routine jobs | Number of non-routine jobs | 100 | non-routine jobs |
Others (costs of idle capacity and costs of maintenance of the organization) | None | ||
Note: The 100 non-routine jobs are included in the total of 400 jobs. Both non-routine jobs and routine jobs require estimation and setup. |
costs of the year | ||
Wages and salaries | ps | 332,000 |
removal fees | 740.000 | |
equipment depreciation | 90.000 | |
On-site supplies | 54.000 | |
Office expenses | 240.000 | |
Licenses and insurance | 440.000 | |
Total cost | ps | 1,896,000 |
Distribution of resource consumption between activities |
asbestos removal | Job Estimation and Setup | Work non-routine jobs | Other | Total | ||||||
Wages and salaries | 50 | % | 10 | % | 30 | % | 10 | % | 100 | % |
removal fees | 70 | % | 0 | % | 30 | % | 0 | % | 100 | % |
equipment depreciation | 40 | % | 5 | % | 20 | % | 35 | % | 100 | % |
On-site supplies | 60 | % | 25 | % | 15 | % | 0 | % | 100 | % |
Office expenses | 10 | % | 40 | % | 15 | % | 35 | % | 100 | % |
Licenses and insurance | 25 | % | 0 | % | 60 | % | 15 | % | 100 | % |
Required: |
1. | Perform first-stage cost allocation to activity cost pools. |
2. | Calculate the activity rates for the activity cost pools. |
3. | Using the activity rates you have calculated, determine the total cost and the average cost per thousand square feet for each of the following jobs under the activity-based costing system. (Round "Average Cost" to 2 decimal places.) |
Step by Step Solution
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There are 3 Steps involved in it
Step: 1
1 Perform firststage cost allocation to activity cost pools To allocate costs to the activity cost pools we need to use the distribution of resource c...Get Instant Access to Expert-Tailored Solutions
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Step: 2
Step: 3
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