Sample on
Management Accounting
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TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 3 TASK 1............................................................................................................................................ 3 1.1 Different types of cost classification......................................................................................3 1.2 Using job costing calculation of unit cost and total job cost for job 444...............................4 1.3 Calculating cost of Exquisite using absorption costing......................................................... 5 1.4 Analyzing the cost of Exquisite focusing on technique used by Jeffrey & Son's Ltd........... 7 TASK 2............................................................................................................................................ 7 2.1 Preparation and analysis of cost report and commenting on variance...................................7 2.2 Identification of areas of improvements using performance indicators.................................9 2.3 Ways to reduce costs, enhance value and quality................................................................ 10 TASK 3.......................................................................................................................................... 10 3.1 Purpose and nature of budgeting process.............................................................................10 3.2 Selection of appropriate budgeting methods for firm and its needs.................................... 10 3.3 Preparation of different types of budget.............................................................................. 10 3.4 Preparation of cash budget...................................................................................................11 TASK 4.......................................................................................................................................... 12 4.1 Calculation of variances, identification of causes and recommending corrective actions.. 12 4.2 Preparation operating statement reconciling budgeted and actual results........................... 13 4.3 Reporting findings to management according to responsibility centers identified..............13 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................14 REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................. 15
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INTRODUCTION Management accounting is regarded as an important business element that assists in providing accounting information to the managers in the firm (Management accounting, 2014). This is in order to offer them basis to develop informed business decision which would allow them to be equipped in their management and keep a track on the functions (Burgstahler and Eames, 2006). The reports relating with management accounting involve detailed accounts of the company's available cash, generation of revenue and current organizations accounts payable and receivables. In the present report, management accounting has been discussed in context of case study related with Jeffrey and Son's Ltd. The firm is manufacturing concern that produces popular and brand product known as Exquisite. The present report entails to make analysis of cost information in the firm. Further it involves methods to reduce costs and enhance value within business. In addition to this it also includes preparation, forecasting and budgets for business. At last it includes monitoring of performance against budget within firm. 1.1 Different types of cost classification Cost is referred to as expenditures incurred by the organization in accomplishment of its activities. The cost of business is divided in the elements stated as under: Basis of
Type of cost
Meaning
classification Elements
Labor, Material and Material is regarded as an essential element that overhead
involves expenses to purchase raw material for
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production of goods. In contrast to this labor are the one who carries out production of goods (Exley and Smith, 2011). Further amount paid to them for their services is referred as labor cost. Beside labor and material cost, all the other expenses are considered as overhead. For example, insurance, salary, factory rent etc. Functions
Production,
The expenses related with production which assists in
administration,
converting raw material into finished stock are referred
research
and as cost of production. On the contrary entire office
development, selling expenses that are needed to control business operations as
well
as are termed as administration cost. Such involves
distribution.
stationery and office rent. Selling and distribution cost covers the expenses involved in promoting and selling the products such as cost of marketing.
Nature
Direct as well as Direct cost is the expenses that can be charged to the indirect cost
product and services. This involves cost of material and labor. In contrast to this all the other expenses that cannot be charged from the product cost are indirect cost which includes supervision, insurance, rent and rates (Lucey, 2002).
Behavior
Variable, Fixed and The expenses that are not influenced with the increase semi variable
or decrease in the volume of production are considered
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fixed cost. This includes salary of foreman and rent of building. But semi variable cost is one that changes after certain level of production. For instance, telephone bill, electricity charges etc. On the contrary variable cost is one that directly changes with the alteration in the production volume. This includes increase in cost of material as a result of rise in volume of production.
1.2 Using job costing calculation of unit cost and total job cost for job 444 Job costing is referred to as an essential approach that can be used by firm in order to calculate the cost in varied situation. Under this every job possess different nature and it has been scheduled in accordance with specifications offered by customers (Prior, 2004). This technique is controlled by maintaining direct indirect cost account in relation to the job. Calculation of unit cost and total cost for job 444 as per case of Jeffrey and Son's Ltd is as under: Name of Item
Per unit cost
Amount
Direct material
£200
£40000
Direct Labor
£270
£54000
Variable
£180
£36000
Fixed
£120
£24000
Cost per unit
£770
Production overhead:
Total cost of 200 units
£154000
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Working note: Particular
Qty per unit
Rate
Calculation
Cost
Direct material
50 kg.
4£ per kg
50kg*4£*200
40000£
Direct labor
30 hours
9£ per hour
30hours*9£*200
54000£
Variable production overhead
30 hours
6£ per hour
30 hours*6£*200
36000£
Fixed production overhead
(80000£)/(20000 hours)*(30*200)
24000£
Cost per unit
(154000£)/(200 Units)
770£
1.3 Calculating cost of Exquisite using absorption costing Absorption costing is a technique that assists in making cost calculation of a product by taking into consideration direct costs as well as indirect expenses. It is the technique in which all the manufacturing costs are absorbed by the units produced (Adah and Mamman, 2013). Cost of finished unit within inventory would involve direct material, direct labor as well as both variable and fixed manufacturing overhead. (a) Allocation and apportion of overheads to three production departments Basis of Machine Machine Maintenan allocation shop X shop Y Assembly Stores ce Indirect wages £99,500.0 £10,000.0 and supervision Allocated £100,000.00 0 £92,500.00 0 £60,000.00 Indirect £100,000. materials Allocated £100,000.00 00 £40,000.00 £4,000.00 £9,000.00 Light and £15,000.0 heating Area occupied £10,000.00 £5,000.00 £15,000.00 0 £5,000.00 Rent Area Occupied £20,000.00 £10,000.0 £30,000.00 £30,000.0 £10,000.00 Toll Free No. +44 203 8681 670 Mail Us: help@assignmentdesk.co.uk Assignment desk provides assignment help from professional UK writers.
0 Insurance and machinery Depreciation of machinery Insurance of building Salaries of works management Total cost of overhead
Machinery book value Machinery book value Area occupied Number of employees
£7,947.02 £4,966.89 £49,668.8 £79,470.20 7
0 £993.38
£496.69
£596.03
£9,933.77 £4,966.89
£5,960.26
£5,000.00 £2,500.00 £7,500.00 £7,500.00 £2,500.00 £16,000.0 £24,000.00 0 £24,000.00 £8,000.00 £8,000.00 £287,636. £219,927.0 £79,964.0 £101,056.0 £346,417.02 00 0 0 0
(b) Reapportion of support departments cost to production departments Particular Basis Machine X Machine Y
Assembly
Primary Distribution
As Stated Earlier
£346417.02
£287636
£219927
Stores Department
Direct material (4:3:1)
£39982
£29987
£9995
Maintenance Department
Maintenance machine hours (12:8:5)
£48506.88
£32337.92
£20211.2
£434905.9
£349960.92
£250133.2
Total cost
(C) Deducing overhead absorption rates (OAR) for every production departments using machine hour basis Particular
OAR = Total cost/Actual machine hours Machine X Machine Y
Assembly
Total cost
£434905.9
£349960.92
£250133.2
60000
10000
Actual machine hours 80000
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OAR
£5.44
£5.83
(D) Calculation of overhead charge to the product Items Calculation
£25.01
Per unit cost
Material
£8
Labor
2 hours*£7.50
£15
Machine X
0.8 hours*£5.44
£4.35
Machine Y
0.6 hours*£5.83
£3.5
Assembly
0.1 hours*£25.01
£2.5
Production Dep’t. Overheads
Total cost
£33.35
1.4 Analyzing the cost of exquisite focusing on technique used by Jeffrey & Son's Ltd In accordance with the case scenario provided director of finance in Jeffrey's Son is not delighted with the present allocation basis for calculating overhead absorption rates. It has been stated that absorption of overhead needs to be based upon direct labor hours. Calculation of overhead absorption rates using labor hours as a basis Overhead Absorption rate = Total cost/direct labor hours Particular
Machine X
Machine Y
Assembly
Total cost
£434905.9
£349960.92
£250133.2
Labor hours
200000
150000
200000
OAR
£2.17
£2.33
£1.25
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Calculation of cost Items
Calculation
Material
Per unit cost £8
Labor
2 hours*£7.50
£15
Machine X
2*2.17£
£4.34
Machine Y
1.5*2.33£
£3.5
Assembly
1*1.25£
£1.25
Total cost
£32.09
Therefore it can be determined that labor hour basis is quite good allocation basis. This is due to reason that under this basis, there is decrease in cost per unit to £32.09. With this firm can reduce the cost of product. 2.1 Preparation and analysis of cost report and commenting on variance In accordance with the provided scenario, forecasting was done by the manager in relation with business expenditures for production of 200 units. The expenses include material, labor, fixed and variable overheads (Kipp and et. al., 2012). Therefore the preparation of cost report is done by determining the actual cost in order to produce 1900 units and the variances. Actual cost calculation Name of Item
Calculation
Actual cost
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Material
12£*1900 units
22800£
Labor
10£*1900 units
19000£
Fixed overhead
Unchanged
15000£
Electricity (Variable)
3000£/800 units*1900 units
7125£
Electricity (Fixed)
8000£ - (3.75*2000 units)
500£
Total electricity cost
7125£ + 500£
7625£
Maintenance
5000£-(1000£/500*100)
4800£
Calculation of difference total cost of electricity due to changing the number of units Units
Total cost
Highest
2000
8000£
Lowest
1200
5000£
Difference
800
3000£
Cost report Elements
Budgeted cost
Actual cost
Variance
2000 units
1900 units
Material
24000£
22800£
1200£
Labor
18000£
19000£
(1000£)
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Fixed Overhead
15000£
15000£
0
Electricity
8000£
7625£
375£
Maintenance
5000£
4800£
200£
Total
70000£
69225£
775£
From the calculation of variances above it is clear that material, electricity as well as maintenance variances positively affect profitability. In contrast to these negative variances is demonstrated by cost of labor which affects the profitability to a greater extent. The major reason for the existence of above variances is related with reduction in the volume of production as such it has reduced from 2000 units to 1900 units. Change in material cost is as a reason of decline in the total production made by firm. However the price of material remains constant in the budget. Negative labor variance is £1000 which is resulted from higher labor rate of £10. Semi variable cost includes electricity cost which remains constant at a limit of £500 and gets changes with the change in the volume of production. A variance of £375 has been determined as result of decrease in the volume up to 1900 units. It has been presented by the scenario that maintenance is regarded as stepped cost which has increased by £1000 for production of 500 extra units. There is decrease in the actual cost which is up to £4800 as such there is reduction in production by 1000 units. Thus there is greater need for Jeffrey & Son to develop essential policies that can assist in mitigating the calculated variances. In addition to this increase in labor cost inclined total cost. It is important for the management to increase motivation among labor so as to enhance their efficiency as well as productivity to a greater extent.
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2.2 Identification of areas of improvements using performance indicators Through application of wide range of performance indicators several areas of improvement have been determined by Jeffrey and Son. These are enumerated below: Satisfaction among customers: It is regarded as an essential indicator with which management is able to resolve the issues related with performance of several products and services. Under this procedure improvement can be made by management in the quality of product with respect to customer reviews (Pilleboue and et. al., 2015). By taking into account feedback and complaints Jeffrey & Son's management can develop suitable strategies for the purpose of making advancement in the process of production with which customer satisfaction can be improved. Accounting statement: Through detail evaluation of several accounting statements like income statements, balance sheet and cash flow etc. Jeffrey & Son's management can make assessment of change in financial position. If firm determines reduction in sales along with the profitability in the expenditure of business then it is important for management to bring changes in the operational strategies so as to enhance performance of the organization. Such statements present effectiveness in offering description regarding the changes that has occurred in the financial values in a particular financial year. 2.3 Ways to reduce costs, enhance value and quality There is existence of different techniques that can assist Jeffrey & Son in accomplishing its target with respect to reduction in cost, enhancement of value and quality. These are enumerated below:
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Total quality management: It is an effective tool that assists in bringing qualitative improvements in the various operational activities of firm. Thus total quality approach is related with improvement in entire process of production through evaluation and resolution of several variances in the process of manufacturing (Jorgensen, Patrick and Soderstrom, 2012). With this Jeffrey & Son can bring improvement in its efficiency to a greater extent. Kaizen: Likewise, TQM approach, the technique of Kaizen pays huge attention towards continuous betterment in the entire functioning of the organization. The tool has proved to be beneficial in terms of motivating the personnel towards attainment of operational activities in an effective way. It assists management in minimizing wastage of resources by taking into account the factors such as high time of waiting, ineffective human resource allocation and increment in faulty units of production. Further it also involves inappropriate management of inventory as well as inadequacy in the quantity of production. 3.1 Purpose and nature of budgeting process Budget is the monetary plan that is prepared by the company for each and every department, organization and projects that estimate the presumptive income generate and expenses made by the company during a specific time period. Here are some of the following purpose of preparing the budgets by Jeffrey & Son’s management is as follows:1. Budgets are prepared by the company is order to estimate the future income, profitability and expenditure that can be incurred by the company after the completion of the specific time period. Toll Free No. +44 203 8681 670 Mail Us: help@assignmentdesk.co.uk Assignment desk provides assignment help from professional UK writers.
2. These are also prepared by the managers in order to compare the actual output with that of budgeted output. 3. Another purpose of preparing this budget is to create a framework for the managers in order to prepare various strategies (Kaplan and Atkinson, 2015). Strategies are prepared by the organization in order to achieve the desired target and to beat its competitors. Nature of budgeting process that is adopted by the Jeffrey & Son's management in order to prepare various types of budgets is as follows:1. Company should use the last budget prepared by them in order to estimate the upcoming financial environment. 2. After that company should determine the estimated amount of fund that can be rendered by them from the sales of the product or other activities. 3. After that company should specify the approx amount of expenditure that can be faced by them in terms of raw material, advertisements, production overheads and labour (Parker and Kyj, 2006). 4. Then after that Jeffrey & Son's management should subtract the estimated income from that of estimated expenses in order to analyse the budget is showing the condition of deficit or surplus (Mohapatra, 2015). 5. After considering and reviewing all the above steps the final budget is need to be submitted (Budgeting and budgetary control, 2016). Therefore, at last when budgeting period is completed after the specific time period than in that case actual budget need to be compared with the estimate budget in order to analyse the actual result. Toll Free No. +44 203 8681 670 Mail Us: help@assignmentdesk.co.uk Assignment desk provides assignment help from professional UK writers.
3.2 Selection of appropriate budgeting methods for firm and its needs Incremental budgeting method is used by Jeffery & Son's in order to prepare various budgets that prove beneficial for the organization. At the time of preparation of incremental budget manger of Jeffery & Son's undertake the previous budgets made by them in order to prepare the new budget for the upcoming time period. This budget prepared by the Jeffery & Son's has very little importance in the ever-changing business environment. Therefore, in order to set up more realistic budget Jeffery & Son's should move on towards the preparation of Zero based budgeting. Zero based budgeting is the method of budgeting the all the expenses that warrant for each new period of time. Zero based budgeting starts from a zero base. In other words it could say that zero based budgeting is the method of budgeting, budget holder and manager of an organization considering the zero as the base for the calculation of income and expenditure. This method is used by the manager to make all necessary attempts in order to identify the various alternatives for the income and expenditure. In addition to this manager also make real assessment of the income and expenditure which they can obtain over a specific period of time. In order to form appropriate budget Zero based budgets undertake all the realistic aspects and views (Fisher and Krumwiede, 2015). Therefore, at last it could be concluded that zero based budget helps the Jeffery & Son' to achieve the various desired targets and results by reducing the variance. 3.3 Preparation of different types of budget Production budget Particulars
July
August
September
Units to be sold
105000
90000
105000
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Desired ending inventory
13500
15750
16500
Total need
118500
105750
121500
Less: beginning inventory
-11000
-13500
15750
Units to be produced
107500
92250
105750
Calculation of ending inventory July
August
September
90000 * 15%
105000 * 15%
110000 * 15%
= 13500
= 15750
= 16500
Material purchase budget Particulars
July(£)
August(£)
September(£)
Units to be produced
107500
92250
105750
Material consumption
215000
184500
211500
Add: Material in ending inventory
46125
52875
54825
Total material needed
261125
237375
266325
Less: material in beginning inventory
52000
46125
52875
material to be purchased
209125
191250
212875
3.4 Preparation of cash budget The cash budget is presented to evaluate availability of cash balance with the business unit. The organization is able to anticipate inflow and outflow of cash through preparation of budget (Chan and Chan, 2004). The cash budget for present case is presented underneath. Toll Free No. +44 203 8681 670 Mail Us: help@assignmentdesk.co.uk Assignment desk provides assignment help from professional UK writers.
Particulars
July(£)
August(£)
September(£)
Opening balance of cash
16000
44031
-22007
Cash sales
900000
731250
864000
Total receivable
916000
775281
841993
Payment to creditors
365969
334688
372531
Direct wages
322500
276750
317250
Variable overhead
108500
98350
100350
Fixed overhead
75000
87500
87500
Total payable
871969
797288
877631
Closing balance of cash
44031
-22007
-35638
Expenses
As per the budget presented above, it is seen that the business unit is able to earn positive cash flow in the month of July. However, in month of August and September the organization is earning negative cash flow. This indicates that the business unit is unable to generate sufficient cash flow through its operations. The organization strives hard to control its operating and nonoperating expenditure. It is seen that the expenditure is decreasing on continuous basis. Nevertheless, the cash balance is decreasing due to reduction in overall revenue of the organization. It is through reduction in sales that the organization is unable to generate sufficient amount of cash flow. Henceforth, the business unit should focus on increasing sales so as to improve liquidity position.
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4.1 Calculation of variances, identification of causes and recommending corrective actions Variance consists of the differences which occur between the actual and standard performance of an organization. Budget is the most effective tool which helps Jeffery & Sons in assessing the deviations which occurred in the perform of the firm (Gibassier and Schaltegger, 2015). It enables organization to undertake effectual or corrective measures within the suitable time frame. Particular Sales Material Labor Fixed overhead Total cost Profit
Budgeted 16000 3840 3200 4800 11840 4160
Actual 13820 3420 2690 4900 11010 2810
Variance 2180 420 510 -100 830 1350
Formula
Calculation
Variance
Material price variance
(SP-AP)*AQ
(2.4-2.4)*1425
Zero variance
Material usage variance
(SQ-AQ)*SP
[(3500*0.4)(1425)]*2.40
Labor rate variance
(SR-AR)*SH
(8-7.8)*350 units
70(f)
Labor efficiency variance
(SH-AH)*SR
(350-345)*8
40(f)
Overhead variance
Budgeted fixed overhead – fixed
(4800 – 4900)
100 (A)
Working Note:
Material variance 60(A)
Labour variance
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overhead variance Sales volume variance Sales price variance
(AQ*SP)-Actual sales
(4160 – 3040)
1120 (A)
(14000 – 13820)
180 (A)
Causes behind the variances: On the basis of the above mentioned table actual sales are lower than the budgeted sales. It is not the positive sign for an organization because sales aspects are highly associated with the profitability of an organization. Besides this, positive material variance of £420 recorded by Jeffery & Sons. It occurred due to the decline in the production units from 4000 to 3500. It is the main cause behind the occurrence of positive material variance. In addition to this, labor rate per hour get declined from £8 to £7.8. Due to this aspect actual cost incurred by Jeffery & Sons is lower than the budgeted amount. Along with it, company has incurred higher fixed overhead expenses in comparison to the budgeted figures. It reflects that company fails to make effectual financial plan in relation to their overheads. Recommendations for further improvement: It is advised to Jeffery & Sons that they needs to undertake promotional strategies and campaign which helps them in maximize the sales and profitability aspect. Furthermore, organization needs to produce more units which help them in getting the economies of scale and thereby improving gross margin of an organization. Jeffery & Sons needs to encourage their employees to perform their activities with the high level of efficiency. Through this, company is able to produce more output within the short span of life. Toll Free No. +44 203 8681 670 Mail Us: help@assignmentdesk.co.uk Assignment desk provides assignment help from professional UK writers.
Along with it, company also needs to frame competent strategies and policies to make control over expenditures. Through this, company is able to attain success in the dynamic business arena. 4.2 Preparation operating statement reconciling budgeted and actual results Operating statement of Jeffery & Sons on the basis of actual and budgeted results is as follows: Particular Sales Material labor Fixed Overhead Total Operating profit
Per unit Budgeted(4000 Units) 4 16000 0.96 3840 0.8 3200 2.96
4800 11840
1.04
4160
Per unit 3.94 0.97 0.77
Actual(3500) Variance 13820 -2180 3420 420 2690 510
3.14
4900 11010
-100 830
0.8
2810
1350
On the basis of the above mentioned operating statement it has been identifying that selling price of the per unit of product is decreased from 4 to 3.94. It is the main cause due to this; actual amount of sales is lower than the budgeted amount. In addition to this, prices of the material are get inclined from .96 to .97. Nevertheless, number of units which organization needs to produce is getting declined. Due to this aspect, positive variance is occurred in the material variance. In addition to this, prices of the labor are declined from .8 to .77 which may cause behind the positive variance of an organization. In addition to this, fixed overhead is also increased. Due to this aspect, negative variance is occurred in the overhead expenses of an organization. Thus organization requires framing cost effective policies and strategies which helps in desired level of outcome or success. Toll Free No. +44 203 8681 670 Mail Us: help@assignmentdesk.co.uk Assignment desk provides assignment help from professional UK writers.
CONCLUSION It can be concluded from the study that it is important to develop sound managerial decision. This is because such majorly contributes towards growth of organization in an effective manner. Present reports demonstrate that there is existence of number of management tools and techniques that assists in attaining success through business. With this technique firm can effectively reduce the costs, monitor the spending of firm and can eliminate the variances in an effective manner. Thus this acts as an aid for the firm in attaining its set targets in an appropriate way. Further it is effective in reducing the negative financial consequences in order to run successful business operations. Through cash budget firm can make determination of the different cost involved in performing the activities. This has greater advantage for firm in terms that it can keep a track on its expenses in an appropriate manner.
REFERENCES ●
Fisher, J.G. and Krumwiede, K., 2015. Product Costing Systems: Finding the Right Approach. Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance.
●
Kaplan, R.S. and Atkinson, A.A., 2015. Advanced management accounting. PHI Learning.
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Kipp, A. and et. al., 2012. Layered green performance indicators. Future Generation Computer Systems.
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Lucey, T., 2002. Costing. Continuum.
●
Prior, P. B., 2004. Managing Financial Resources and Decisions. BPP Professional Education.
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