Static Budget versus Flexible Budget

The production supervisor of the Machining Department for Hagerstown Company agreed to the following monthly static budget for the upcoming year:

Hagerstown Company Machining Department Monthly Production Budget
Wages	$310,000
Utilities	15,000
Depreciation	26,000
Total	$351,000

The actual amount spent and the actual units produced in the first three months in the Machining Department were as follows:

	Amount Spent		Units Produced
May	$331,000		79,000
June	316,000		72,000
July	302,000		65,000

The Machining Department supervisor has been very pleased with this performance because actual expenditures for MayJuly have been significantly less than the monthly static budget of 351,000. However, the plant manager believes that the budget should not remain fixed for every month but should flex or adjust to the volume of work that is produced in the Machining Department. Additional budget information for the Machining Department is as follows:

Wages per hour	$18.00
Utility cost per direct labor hour	$0.90
Direct labor hours per unit	0.20
Planned monthly unit production	86,000

a. Prepare a flexible budget for the actual units produced for May, June, and July in the Machining Department. Assume depreciation is a fixed cost. If required, use per unit amounts carried out to two decimal places.

Hagerstown Company
Machining Department Budget
For the Three Months Ending July 31
	May	June	July
Units of production	79,000	72,000	65,000
	$	$	$
Total	$	$	$
Supporting calculations:
Units of production	79,000	72,000	65,000
Hours per unit	x	x	x
Total hours of production
Wages per hour	x $	x $	x $
Total wages	$	$	$
Total hours of production
Utility costs per hour	x $	x $	x $
Total utilities	$	$	$

b. Compare the flexible budget with the actual expenditures for the first three months.

	May	June	July
Total flexible budget	$	$	$
Actual cost
Excess of actual cost over budget	$	$	$

What does this comparison suggest?

The Machining Department has performed better than originally thought.
The department is spending more than would be expected.