Case scenario:
Aaron Braun, the plant manager of SOS Co.’s Chicago plant, is responsible for all the plant’s costs other than his own salary. The plant has two operating departments and one service department. The refrigerator and dishwasher operating departments manufacture different products and have their own managers. The office department, which Braun also managers, provides services equally to the two operating departments. A monthly budget is prepared for each operating department and the office department. The company’s responsibility accounting system must assemble information to present budgeted and actual costs in performance reports for each operating department manager and the plant manager. Each performance report includes only those costs that a particular operating department manager can control: raw materials, wages, supplies used, and equipment depreciation. The plant manager is responsible for the department managers’ salaries, utilities, building rent, office salaries other than his own, and other office costs plus all costs controlled by the two operating department managers. The April departmental budgets and actual costs for the two operating departments follow.
The office department’s budget and its actual costs for April follow.
BudgetActual
Plant manager salary $80,000 $85,000
Other office salaries 40,000 35,200
Other office costs 21,000 29,800
Totals $141,000 $150,000
Required
Question 1. Prepare responsibility accounting performance reports like those in Exhibit 21.28 that list costs controlled by the following.
a. Manager of the refrigerator department.
b. Manager of the dishwasher department.
c. Manager of the Chicago plant.
In each report, include the budgeted and actual costs for the month and show the amount by which each actual cost is over or under the budgeted amount.
Analysis Component:
Question 2: Did the plant manager or the operating department managers better manage costs? Explain.