Problem 11-41 Linkages Between the Flexible Budget and Variances (LO 11-1, 11-2, 11-5)

Valley View Hospital has an outpatient clinic. Jeffrey Harper, the hospitals chief administrator, is very concerned about cost control and has asked that performance reports be prepared that compare budgeted and actual amounts for medical assistants, clinic supplies, and lab tests. Past financial studies have shown that the cost of clinic supplies used is driven by the number of medical assistant labor hours worked, whereas lab tests are highly correlated with the number of patients served.

The following information is available for June:

	Lab tests: Actual lab tests for June cost $321,222 and averaged 3.3 per patient. Each patient is anticipated to have three lab tests, at an average budgeted cost of $66 per test.
	Medical assistants: Valley Views standard wage rate is $17 per hour, and each assistant is expected to spend 30 minutes with a patient. Assistants totaled 830 hours in helping the 1,570 patients seen, at an average pay rate of $17.90 per hour.
	Clinic supplies: The cost of clinic supplies used is budgeted at $13 per labor hour, and the actual cost of supplies used was $9,850.

Required:

1.

Prepare a report that shows budgeted and actual costs for the 1,570 patients served during June. Compute the differences (variances) between these amounts and label them as favorable or unfavorable. (Indicate the effect of each variance by selecting "Favorable" or "Unfavorable". Select "None" and enter "0" for no effect (i.e., zero variance). Do not round intermediate calculations.)

	Budget:	Actual:
	1,570 Patients	1,570 Patients	Variance
Medical assistants
Clinic supplies
Lab tests
Total

2.	On the basis of your answer to requirement (1), does it appear that Valley View Hospital has any significant problems with respect to clinic supplies and lab tests?
	Yes No

3-a.

Determine the spending and efficiency variances for lab tests. (Hint: In applying the overhead variance formulas, think of the number of tests as the activity level, and think of the cost per test as analogous to the variable overhead rate.) (Indicate the effect of each variance by selecting "Favorable" or "Unfavorable". Select "None" and enter "0" for no effect (i.e., zero variance). Do not round intermediate calculations.)

Variable-overhead spending variance
Variable-overhead efficiency variance

3-b.	Does it appear that Valley View Hospital has any significant problems with the cost of its lab tests?
	Yes No

4.	Compare the lab test variance computed in requirement (1), a flexible-budget variance, with the sum of the variances in requirement (3-a). What is the relationship between the flexible budget variance and the total of the individual standard-cost variances?
	The flexible-budget variance is greater than the sum of the total of the individual standard-cost variances. The flexible-budget variance equals the total of the individual standard-cost variances. The flexible-budget variance is less than the total of the individual standard-cost variances.