Single supporting department Multi supporting departments
Allocating Common Costs Cost Allocations and Contracting Revenue Allocation and Bundled Products
Fixed costs 4000(Budgeted) hours $250 per hour = $ 1000000 variable costs 3000(actual) hours $200 per hour = $ 600000
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Allocation Bases
Under either method, allocation of support costs can
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Methods to Allocate Support Department Costs，conts.
Dual-Rate Method – segregates costs within each cost pool into two segments: a variable-cost pool and a fixed-cost pool. P424(542)
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Example for Dual-Rate Method
Budgeted fixed-costs rate P424(542)
$ 3000000 (Budgeted) ÷12000 (Budgeted or actual) hours= $250 per hour used
The costs Allocated for Microcomputer division
be based on one of the three following scenarios:
Budgeted overhead rate and budgeted hours
Budgeted overhead rate and actual hours
Actual overhead rate and actual hours
CHAPTER 15
Allocation of Support Department Costs, Common Costs, and Revenues
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CONTENT
Allocating Costs of a Supporting Department to Operating Departments
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Methods to Allocate Support Department Costs
Single-Rate Method – allocates costs in each cost pool
(service department) to cost objects (production departments) using the same rate per unit of a single allocation base p424（542）
18750-hour relevant range $200 per hour used Actual usage in 2009 in hours Microcomputer division 9000hours Peripheral equipment division 3000hours
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Example for Single-Rate Method
Budgeted usage 12000hours P424(542) Budgeted total cost pool
$3000000+12000hours $200 per hour= $ 5400000 Budgeted total rate per hour $ 5400000÷12000hours= $450 per hour used Allocation rate for Microcoputer division and Peripheral equipment division $450 per hour used Allocation cost for Microcoputer division 9000hours $450 per hour used= $ 4050000 Allocation cost for Peripheral equipment division 3000hours $450 per hour used= $ 1350000
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Allocation Bases, conts.
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Allocation Bases ，conts.
Choosing between actual and budgeted
rates
When allocations are based on budgeted usage
Fixed costs 8000(Budgeted) hours $250 per hour = $ 2000000
variable costs 9000(actual) hours $200 per hour = $ 1800000
The costs Allocated for Peripheral equipment division
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Example P424（542）
Practical capacity 18750hours Fixed costs of operating the computer facility $3000000 Budgeted long-run usage in hours Microcomputer division 8000hours Peripheral equipment division 4000hours Budgeted variable cost per hour in 6000-hour to
user divisions know in advance their allocated costs.
This can be of benefit in short-term and long-term planning. A disadvantage of using budgeted costs is that there is an incentive for managers to underestimate their planned usage thus being assigned a lower percentage of allocated costs. This can be overcome in part by assessing a higher charge for exceeding budgeted usage.
Each pool uses a different cost-allocation base
Dual-rate method treats fixed and variable costs
more realistically, but is more complex to implement
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Example for Allocation Bases
Single-Rate Method P425(543)
Budgeted figeted) ÷18750 (capacity) hours= $160 per hour used Budgeted variable-costs rate $200 per hour used Allocation cost for Microcomputer division 9000hours $360 per hour used= $ 3240000 Allocation cost for Peripheral equipment division 3000hours $360 per hour used= $ 1080000 Fixed costs of unused computer capacity 6750hours $160 per hour used= $ 1080000

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Allocation Bases ，conts.
Allocating costs based on actual usage give a
more accurate allocation based on actual costs and usage.

Actual allocations have several disadvantages: a lack of timely information, reduced incentives for support to manage costs, and increased accounting costs.
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Allocating Costs of a Supporting Department to Operating Departments
Supporting Department –which is also called a
service department , provides the services that assist other internal departments in the company p423（541） Operating Department – which is also called a production department, directly adds value to a product or service