Mercer Asbestos Removal Company removes potentially toxic asbestos Insulation and related products from buildings. There has been a long-simmering dispute between the company's estimator and the work supervisors. The on-site supervisors claim that the estimators do not adequately distinguish between routine work, such as removal of asbestos insulation around heating pipes in older homes, and nonroutine work, such as removing asbestos contaminated celling plaster In Industrial bulldings. The on-site supervisors believe that nonroutine work is far more expensive than routine work and should bear higher customer charges. The estimator sums up his position in this way: "My job is to measure the area to be cleared of asbestos. As directed by top management, I simply multiply the square footage by $2.80 to determine the bid price. Since our average cost is only $2.585 per square foot, that leaves enough cushion to take care of the additional costs of nonroutine work that shows up. Besides, it is difficult to know what is routine or not routine until you actually start tearing things apart." To shed light on this controversy, the company Initiated an activity-based costing study of all of its costs. Data from the activity- based costing system follow: Activity Cost Pool Activity Measure Total Activity Removing asbestos Thousands of square feet 850 thousand square feet Estimating and job setup Number of jobs 400 jobs Working on nonroutine jobs Number of nonroutine jobs 100 nonroutine jobs Other (organization-sustaining costs and idle capacity costs) None Note: The 100 nonroutine jobs are included in the total of 400 jobs. Both nonroutine jobs and routine jobe require estimating and setup. Costs for the Year Wages and salaries Disposal fees Equipment depreciation On-site supplies office expenses Licensing and insurance Total cost $ 400,000 791,000 96,000 60,000 300,000 500,000 $2,147,000 Distribution of Resource consumption Across Activities Estimating Working on Distribution of Resource Consumption Across Activities Estimating Working on Removing and Job Nonroutine Asbestos Setup Jobs Wages and salaries 608 108 208 Disposal fees 608 08 403 Equipment depreciation 408 58 25 On-site supplies 608 25 158 Office expenses 10% 358 258 Licensing and insurance 308 08 508 Other 108 08 308 Total 100% 1005 1008 1008 1008 100% 08 308 208 Required: 1. Perform the first stage allocation of costs to the activity cost pools. 2. Compute the activity rates for the activity cost pools. 3. Using the activity rates you have computed, determine the total cost and the average cost per thousands of the following jobs according to the activity-based costing system. a. A routine 1,000-square-foot asbestos removal job. b. A routine 2,000-square-foot asbestos removal job. c. A nonroutine 2,000-square-foot asbestos removal job. Complete this question by entering your answers in the tabs below. Req 1 Req2 Req 3A to 30 Perform the first stage allocation of costs to the activity cost pools. Removing asbestos Estimating and Job Setup Working on Nonroutine Jobs Other Total Wages and salaries Disposal fees Equipment depreciation
