The management of Nova Industries Inc. manufactures gasoline and diesel engines through two production departments, Fabrication and Assembly. Management needs accurate product cost information in order to guide product strategy. Presently, the company uses a single plantwide factory overhead rate for allocating factory overhead to the two products. However, management is considering the multiple production department factory overhead rate method. The following factory overhead was budgeted for Nova:

Fabrication Department factory overhead	$612,000
Assembly Department factory overhead	252,000
	Total	$864,000

Direct labor hours were estimated as follows:

Fabrication Department	3,600	hours
Assembly Department	3,600
	Total	7,200	hours

In addition, the direct labor hours (dlh) used to produce a unit of each product in each department were determined from engineering records, as follows:

Production Departments	Gasoline Engine	Diesel Engine
Fabrication Department	1.20	dlh	2.80	dlh
Assembly Department	2.80		1.20
Direct labor hours per unit	4.00	dlh	4.00	dlh

Complete the two charts below:

a. Determine the per-unit factory overhead allocated to the gasoline and diesel engines under the single plantwide factory overhead rate method, using direct labor hours as the activity base.

Gasoline engine	-------------------per unit
Diesel engine	-------------------per unit

b. Determine the per-unit factory overhead allocated to the gasoline and diesel engines under the multiple production department factory overhead rate method, using direct labor hours as the activity base for each department.

Gasoline engine	-------------------per unit
Diesel engine	-------------------per unit

Complete the paragraph below by selecting the top or bottom statement that matches.

c. Recommend to management a product costing approach, based on your analyses in (a) and (b).

Management should select the

multiple department or

single plantwide

factory overhead rate method of allocating overhead costs. The

multiple department or

single plantwide

factory overhead rate method indicates that both products have the same factory overhead per unit. Each product uses the direct labor hours

equally or

differently

. Thus, the

multiple department or

single plantwide

rate method avoids the cost distortions by accounting for the overhead

plantwide or

in each production department separately

.