Newtown Sunglasses sell for about \(154 per pair. Suppose that the company incurs the following average costs per pair:

Direct materials \)39

Direct labor 15

Variable manufacturing overhead 6

Variable selling expenses 3

Fixed manufacturing overhead 20*

Total cost \(83

* \)2,050,000 Total fixed manufacturing overhead / 102,500 Pairs of sunglasses

Newtown has enough idle capacity to accept a one-time-only special order from Water Shades for 17,000 pairs of sunglasses at \(80 per pair. Newtown will not incur any variable selling expenses for the order.

Requirements

1. How would accepting the order affect Newtown’s operating income? In addition to the special order’s effect on profits, what other (longer-term qualitative) factors should Newtown’s managers consider in deciding whether to accept the order?

2. Newtown’s marketing manager, Peter Kyler, argues against accepting the special order because the offer price of \)80 is less than Newtown’s $83 cost to make the sunglasses. Kyler asks you, as one of Newtown’s staff accountants, to explain whether his analysis is correct. What would you say?

Short Answer

Expert verified

Answer

The expected increase in the operating income of the company would be$340,000.

Step by step solution

01

Step-by-Step SolutionStep 1: Meaning of Special Orders

Special orders refer to the orders received by the business entities fromspecial customers (other than regular ones). Such orders are received forspecial prices, often less than the regular prices.

02

Computation of operating income

Particulars

Amounts ($)

Expected increase in revenues (17000*80)

1,360,000

Less: Expected increase in variable manufacturing costs (17000*60) (Working notes)

(1,020,000)

Expected increase in operating income

$340,000

Working notes:

Computation of total variable cost:

Particulars

Amounts ($)

Direct materials

39

Direct labor

15

Variable manufacturing overhead

6

Total relevant variable cost

$60

Consideration of factors while accepting special orders:

A manager must consider the following factors:

  • A manager must review the price demanded by a customer placing a special order with the company.
  • It must be reviewed whether such a customer would deal with the company repeatedly or not.
  • In addition, the manager must consider what impact the special order prices may have on the competitors.
03

Comment on the analysis

As per the given information and data, the analysis is inappropriate because $83 represents the mixed cost that the company incurs to produce a product.

In addition, while making decisions on acceptance and rejection of the special orders, only a variable part of the manufacturing cost is considered because other costs remain the same and are not considered relevant for making decisions.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Suppose the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, has approached Collector-Cardz with a special order. The Hall of Fame wishes to purchase 56,000 baseball card packs for a special promotional campaign and offers \(0.38 per pack, a total of \)21,280. Collector-Cardz’s total production cost is \(0.58 per pack, as follows:

Variable costs:

Direct materials \)0.11

Direct labor 0.09

Variable overhead 0.08

Fixed overhead 0.30

Total cost \(0.58

Collector-Cardz has enough excess capacity to handle the special order.

Requirements

1. Prepare a differential analysis to determine whether Collector-Cardz should accept the special sales order.

2. Now assume that the Hall of Fame wants special hologram baseball cards. Collector-Cardz will spend \)5,700 to develop this hologram, which will be useless after the special order is completed. Should Collector-Cardz accept the special order under these circumstances, assuming no change in the special pricing of $0.38 per pack?

McCollum Company manufactures two products. Both products have the same sales price, and the volume of sales is equivalent. However, due to the difference in production processes, Product A has higher variable costs and Product B has higher fixed costs. Management is considering dropping Product B because that product line has an operating loss.

MCCOLLUM COMPANY

Income Statement

Month Ended June 30, 2018

Total Product A Product B

Net Sales Revenue \(150,000 \)75,000 \(75,000

Variable Costs 90,000 55,000 35,000

Contribution Margin 60,000 20,000 40,000

Fixed Costs 50,000 5,000 45,000

Operating Income/(Loss) \)10,000 \(15,000 \)(5,000)

  1. If fixed costs cannot be avoided, should McCollum drop Product B? Why or why not?
  2. If 50% of Product B’s fixed costs are avoidable, should McCollum drop Product B? Why or why not?

Refer to details about Skiable Acres from Short Exercise S25-2. Assume that Skiable Acres’s reputation has diminished and other resorts in the vicinity are charging only \(85 per lift ticket. Skiable Acres has become a price-taker and will not be able to charge more than its competitors. At the market price, Skiable Acres managers believe they will still serve 725,000 skiers and snowboarders each season.

Requirements

1. If Skiable Acres cannot reduce its costs, what profit will it earn? State your answer in dollars and as a percent of assets. Will investors be happy with the profit level?

2. Assume Skiable Acres has found ways to cut its fixed costs to \)30,000,000. What is its new target variable cost per skier/snowboarder?

What questions should managers answer when considering special pricing orders?

Snow Ride manufactures snowboards. Its cost of making 1,900 bindings is as follows:

Direct materials \(17,590

Direct labor 3,200

Variable overhead 2,080

Fixed overhead 6,300

Total manufacturing costs for 1,900 bindings \)29,170

Suppose Livingston will sell bindings to Snow Ride for \(13 each. Snow Ride would pay \)3 per unit to transport the bindings to its manufacturing plant, where it would add its own logo at a cost of \(0.50 per binding.

Requirements

1. Snow Ride’s accountants predict that purchasing the bindings from Livingston will enable the company to avoid \)2,100 of fixed overhead. Prepare an analysis to show whether Snow Ride should make or buy the bindings.

2. The facilities freed by purchasing bindings from Livingston can be used to manufacture another product that will contribute $3,100 to profit. Total fixed costs will be the same as if Snow Ride had produced the bindings. Show which alternative makes the best use of Snow Ride’s facilities: (a) make bindings, (b) buy bindings and leave facilities idle, or (c) buy bindings and make another product.

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