ALLOCATION OF SUPPORT- DEPARTMENT COSTS CHAPTER 15 ALLOCATION OF SUPPORT- DEPARTMENT COSTS
Allocating Costs of a Supporting Department to Operating Departments Supporting (Service) Department – provides the services that assist other internal departments in the company Operating (Production) Department – directly adds value to a product or service Service Department (Canteen) (Maintenance) Operating Department (Machining) (Assembly)
Methods to allocate support department costs Single-rate method Dual-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 No distinction is made between fixed and variable costs in this method Segregates costs within each cost pool into two segments: a variable-cost pool and a fixed-cost pool. Each pool uses a different cost-allocation base
Allocation Bases Under either method, allocation of support costs can 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 Choosing between actual and budgeted rates: budgeted is known at the beginning of the period, while actual will not be known with certainty until the end of the period
Methods of Allocating Support Costs to Production Departments Service Department (Canteen) (Maintenance) Operating Department (Machining) (Assembly) Direct Step-Down Reciprocal
Direct Method Allocates support costs only to Operating Departments No Interaction between Support Departments prior to allocation
Direct Method Service Department (Canteen) (Maintenance) Operating Department (Machining) (Assembly) Interactions between service departments are ignored and all costs are allocated directly to operating departments.
Direct Method Example
Direct Method Example
Step-Down Method Allocates support costs to other support departments and to operating departments that partially recognizes the mutual services provided among all support departments One-Way Interaction between Support Departments prior to allocation
Step Method Service Department (Canteen) Operating Department (Machining) Once a service department’s costs are allocated, other service department costs are not allocated back to it. Service Department (Maintenance) Operating Department (Assembly)
Step Method Service Department (Canteen) Operating Department (Machining) Maintenance will have a new total to allocate to operating departments; its own costs plus those costs allocated from the Canteen. Service Department (Maintenance) Operating Department (Assembly)
Step Method Example
Reciprocal Method Allocates support department costs to operating departments by fully recognizing the mutual services provided among all support departments Full Two-Way Interaction between Support Departments prior to allocation
Reciprocal Method Service Department (Canteen) Operating Department (Machining) Interdepartmental services are given full recognition rather than partial recognition as with the step method. Service Department (Maintenance) Operating Department (Assembly) Because of its mathematical complexity, the reciprocal method is rarely used.
Reciprocal Method Example
Choosing Between Methods Reciprocal is the most precise Direct and Step-Down are simple to compute and understand Direct Method is widely used
End of Chapter 15 End of Chapter 15.