You are a cost accountant for a company that assembles, distributes and sells automobiles. Your competition provides a superior product with a similar product line. There has been a significant shakeup in senior management. The new regime is committed to improving the companys perceived and actual quality. Senior management is especially interested in capturing the costs in (1) preventing low quality; (2) product testing and appraisal; (3) the cost of manufactured products failing before shipment and (4) the cost of a low-quality product being sold to a customer.

Question: How would you design an accounting system to capture the costs improving the quality of your companys product? What types of activities (costs) would you intend to capture in these four categories. What sort of internal control procedures would you put in place to ensure compliance with capturing these costs.