Question
Zenon Computer competes at the retail level on the basis of customer service. It has invested significant resources in its customer service department. Recently, the
Zenon Computer competes at the retail level on the basis of customer service. It has invested significant resources in its customer service department. Recently, the company has installed a traditional activity-based costing (ABC) system to provide better cost information for pricing, decision making, and customer profitability analysis. Most of the costs of running the customer service department are considered committed (i.e., short-term fixed) costs (principally, personnel and equipment costs). The budgeted cost for the upcoming period is $928,000. Activity analysis, recently conducted when the ABC system was implemented, revealed the following information:
Activities | Percentage of Employee Time | Estimated (Budgeted) Cost Driver Quantity | |
---|---|---|---|
Handling customer orders | 75% | 9,280 | customer orders |
Processing customer complaints | 10 | 464 | customer complaints |
Conducting customer credit checks | 15 | 580 | credit checks |
Required:
1. Based on the preceding information, calculate the activity cost driver (ABC) rates for each of the three activities performed by the customer service department. Assume that during the period, actual cost driver activity levels are exactly as planned. Under this situation, what is the total cost allocated to each of the three activities?
2. Suppose that during the upcoming period, activities (i.e., cost-driver quantities) are exactly as budgeted. Suppose, too, that the practical capacity level for each of these activities is 11,600 customer orders, 580 customer complaints, and 580 credit checks. Using cost-driver rates based on the practical capacity level for each activity: (a) What is the cost assigned to each of the three activities? (b) What is the unused capacity for each activity? (c) What is the cost of unused capacity for each activity?
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