Task
The purpose of this assignment is to continue to develop skills in costing systems. The assignment emphasises the role of control in managing the production of goods and services efficiently in the workplace. Each question builds on the knowledge gained through the first assignment to develop the concepts of management accounting control through costing. Each question uses realistic data and the professional practices similar to that found in these workplaces.
QUESTION 1 Job costing
Create a spreadsheet solution to the following problem. Follow the template provided.
Play the Job cost podcasts and work through the example problem in those podcasts.
QUESTION 2 Process costing
Prepare a spreadsheet to solve the following process costing problem.
Review the four process costing videos provided in Interact Resources. Note that in the situation below there are two production departments
.
QUESTION 3 Joint costing
Create a spreadsheet to solve the following joint cost problem.
Joint cost allocation: additional processing beyond split-off point
ABC Company produces three joint products: A, B and C. The material is added at the beginning of the process. At the end of Process 1, the split-off point, the three intermediate products enter three separate further processes. Product A enters Process 2, Product B enters Process 3 and Product C enters Process 4. None of the products can be sold unless the subsequent processing is carried out.
The following information relates to the month of June:
(i) Direct material issued to Process 1, $26 000.
(ii) Conversion costs incurred:
Labour Overhead
Process 1 $10 000 $14 000
Process 2 3 000 2 000
Process 3 1 000 1 000
Process 4 600 400
(iii) There was no work in process at the beginning or end of the month, and no finished goods inventories at the beginning of the month.
(iv) Details of production and sales:
All delivery costs are met by customers.
Required:
(a) A statement showing the allocation of joint costs to products A, B and C using (i) a physical measures method, and (ii) the relative sales value method.
(b) Suppose that C's price falls to $7 per tonne. It costs $5 per tonne to dump material at the tip. Should Product C be dumped at the split-off point or processed further?
Question 4 Variance analysis
A. Solve using a spreadsheet. See the requirements embedded in the spreadsheet. Include the IF function to determine Favourable and Unfavourable variances.
B. Prepare a Business Report as if for senior management:
1. Critically evaluate the purpose of variance analysis,
2. Explain why the materials price variance should be calculated on purchase,
3. Identify other areas in an organisation where variance analysis would be useful and
4. Evaluate the practical relevance of detailed overhead variance analysis.
For item 4. see the reading by Murray Wells.
Suggested word limit about 300- 400 words. Ensure that your answer is in business report format. Read the following online references regarding business report writing.
http://bit.ly/FoBAcademic-Writing-Skills
and
http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/report/4b.html
QUESTION 5 Cash budget
1. Spreadsheet the cash budget
2. How much is received from March sales?
3. How much was the sales in March? February?
4. What is meant by what if questions in the context of the budgetary process? What is the purpose of asking this type of question? How are financial models used to answer them? For Scarpa, change the spreadsheet forecasts to show a negative cash balance for April. Comment. Paste the original normal view and the changed view together with one formula view
Rationale
The learning outcomes assessed in this assignment include: the application of cognitive skills in the design and operation of costing systems; the critical evaluation of the design and operation of performance management systems; explanation of the role of management accounting in organisational contexts; the application of analytical and synthetical skills in report writing, utilisation of quantitative techniques and computer software including using the Internet as a professional source; creation and implementation of computerised decision models; and critique of how managers make decisions.
This assignment is designed to assess your application of knowledge, understanding and skills in certain topic areas of the subject, including job costing, process costing, variance analysis, joint costing and budgeting. In order to receive a high mark your assignment will be complete (with no significant omissions), will have answered the questions from your own thinking, and, in the case of practical and spreadsheet questions, will show well-structured and correct solutions.
For spreadsheet problems, good answers will comply with the spreadsheet requirements including the separation of data entry and report/solution areas, pasted normal and formula view with row and column headings and the use of the IF function where appropriate.
Review the examples in the Spreadsheet Advice PDFprovided online in Interact2 Resources.
Marking criteria
Marking Criteria Rubric Assignment 2
Criteria High Distinction Distinction Credit Pass
Criteria for expected learning outcomes to be achieved include critical evaluation of cost and control systems, understanding and applying cost concepts in management accounting, creating computer models to solve costing and decision situations such as job costing, process costing, joint costing variance analysis, authentic scenarios for cash budgeting and business report writing. Be the result of your original work, complete without any omissions and correct.
Evaluate all the issues raised in questions.
Provide examples where appropriate
Accurate answers complying with all spreadsheet requirements relevant to each scenario. Be the result of your original work, be mostly complete without any omissions, and be mostly correct
Evaluate most of the issues raised in questions
Provide some examples where appropriate
Comply with the majority of spreadsheet requirements relevant to each scenario. Be the result of your original work, be mostly complete with few omissions, and be partially correct.
Evaluation of some of the issues raised in questions.
Provide examples where appropriate.
Comply with some of the spreadsheet requirements relevant to each scenario. Be the result of your original work, be mostly complete with some omissions, and be partially correct.
Discuss some of the issues raised in questions
Provides some examples where appropriate
Comply with some spreadsheet requirements relevant to each scenario.
The discussion answers and business reports meet academic standards of syntax, vocabulary, spelling and punctuation and reflects an awareness of audience needs. Accurate use of syntax, spelling and punctuation; correctly refers to a variety of sources to support arguments, including the prescribed texts and a range of additional readings; reference list of the range of resources used, correctly formatted using APA style. Accurate use of syntax, spelling and punctuation; succinct and effective use of vocabulary; correctly refers to a range of sources to support arguments, including the prescribed text and a variety of further readings;
reference lists a range of relevant resources used, correctly formatted using APA style. Accurate use of syntax, vocabulary,
spelling and punctuation; correctly refers to more than the minimum requirement of sources to support arguments, including
prescribed texts and recommended readings;
reference list formatted in APA style, with few or no errors. Mostly accurate syntax, spelling and punctuation; correctly refers to minimum number of sources to support arguments, including prescribed texts; reference list used, formatted in APA style, with few errors.
Your assignments will be marked as a whole with recognition being given to application of knowledge, quality thinking and application of skills. For some questions, students have a chance to demonstrate some creativity, or provide their own examples or give evidence of wider reading or structure a computer spreadsheet model in an innovative manner. We also need to avoid the snowballing effects of cumulative errors - that is, an error early in a practical question which carries through. Thus a marking system is used with deductions for errors and omissions. Full marks are possible for well structured, complete, quality answers.
Any assignments with significant evidence of plagiarism may be referred to the university's academic misconduct processes and will receive a grade of zero.
The marking criteria for your assignments will be based on the content of the subject as identified by the learning objectives of the various topics. Good spreadsheet answers will comply with the assignment requirements.
An example of marking criteria for an essay/business report follows. Some of the same criteria apply to larger discussion style questions and case studies and business reports.
Example criteria used in marking essays/discussion questions/case studies/business reports
While there is no particular format required for these answers, the following criteria are likely to be used. Note that business reports are normally more structured than essays.
Criteria
• Relevance of the answer - are the important issues raised in the question identified? Did the student answer the questions?
• Critical capacity. Has reference material been carefully analysed or critically accepted?
• Structure of the answer. Is the answer well-structured and the argument logically developed?
• Writing style. Is the style concise and lucid or confused, making it difficult for the reader to get the point?
• Scope of reading. Does the answer indicate a satisfactory coverage of literature relevant to the questions?
Answers should:
• be well planned with arguments flowing logically;
• use correct sentence structure, punctuation and spelling;
• present original ideas where appropriate;
• and present a justified conclusion and acknowledge all sources.
Note:
Normal distribution curves for grades are not utilised in this subject. Penalties will apply for late submission at 10% of the total mark available per day; it is important that submitted assignments are complete; omitted answers will result in mark deductions; refer to the University regulations contained in the CSU online handbook for matters pertaining to special consideration, misadventure and extenuating circumstances, academic misconduct, code of conduct for users of electronic facilities, assessment regulation, grading scale, progression and academic performance, grade point average, examination regulations and other matters pertaining to assessment. The regulations can be found at the University's web site: http://www.csu.edu.au
Students can discuss their work with each other prior to submission using the forum. However, please do not post complete versions of answers to the forum. Do not leave assignments until the last minute.
Presentation
Important! Check the presentation requirements for assignment 1.
Requirements
Important! Please check the requirements for assignment 1
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