Performance Measurement and Control Systems

Question: Discuss about the Performance Measurement and Control Systems. Answer: Introduction In the modern world, the companies that operate in the economy try to increase their profit by undertaking various strategies. The management of accounting is an important function of an organization as maintenance of accounts is useful for the recording of the transaction and understanding the profit that is gained by the organizations. The process of accounting consists of two methods namely Traditional Accounting, which is even known as the Conventional Method and Activity Based Accounting. In the process of conventional method all the expenses gets assigned equally irrespective of the department contribution in that particular department. On the other hand incase of ABC costing all the expenses get allocated in the ratio in which a particular department has contributed. The paper tries to analyze the accounting and the production process of Bakverk Company who manufactures a variety of pastries. Initially the company had only three lines of products and it is seen that the company produced huge volume of each product by making use of hard work by the labor and the easy and simple machines. It is seen that the company primarily sells their original line of products and it is seen that the current scenario, the company even manufactures low variety of pastries and it is seen that the production of these pastries become costly as it requires to the use of additional machineries and handling of materials. The company has undergone a huge change in the business strategies and it is seen that the performance of the organization has increased as stress has been given on the quality and the delivery of the performance. However, the profit of the company has been decreasing at a fast rate and therefore, it is seen that the management are under the consideration of transforming their conventional method and adopting ABC costing method so that profit of the organization can increase. Therefore, in this paper the use and advantages of ABC Costing will be analyzed and then the analysis of the income and expenses of the firm will be discussed. ABC Costing Method and its advantages The ABC Costing method is used because of its rational process to apply within the industry. The use of ABC Costing is significant as the traditional method assigns the costs equally regardless of the contribution of each department whereas ABC method does not do the same. ABC method is more precise because this process does not allocate the overheads equally but assigns the cost to the department who contributes to the product line. Therefore, it is seen that this process helps in proper allocation of the costs and thereby reduces the challenges of the firm. It is seen that Balverk Company makes use of simple machineries for the production of three product lines of pastries. The use of ABC method will help the management to understand the departments that contribute to the manufacturing of the product and therefore, the operational cost of the organization can be managed properly. ABC method will even minimize the struggle of the firm and it will be seen that organizational changes and the profit of the firm wil go hand in hand. Steps required for using ABC Method The process of ABC utilizes the base of cost allocation to assign the overheads. The various steps undertaken for the usage of ABC is discussed below: Initially the product is selected on which the overhead cost requires to be assigned. The next step involves the recognition of the direct costs that requires to be assigned on the product that has been chosen earlier. It is seen that this is one of the complex steps that is to be implemented while making use of ABC method as it is necessary to recognize the direct costs that are associated with the production of a commodity. In this step, the selection of the actions are chosen over which the overhead costs are assigned evenly. This is step is even a difficult one as the firm requires to construct the cost pools based on the direct cost that are related to the services and the products. In this step, the computation of the rate per unit of the cost allocation base is exploited to assign the indirect costs that are related to the product. In this step, it is essential to compute the rate per unit. It is seen that in this step it is essential to segment the cost allocation base with the recognized drivers of cost. The use of this step is helpful for the calculation of the per unit rate that will be used to understand the percentage of cost that is allocated to every step of the manufacturing process. The last step involves the formulation of the report. The results that are gained from the process of ABC is converted into several reports and statements as wished by the management. For instance, if the management wants to have knowledge about the cost of a machine with respect to a specific product or the total cost that is suffered in a specific commodity so that various types of reports can be constructed. Analysis of the data The case study of Balverk Company reveals that there are 6 schedules that are related to the performance of the data and every schedule will be discussed separately. Activity Centers Wages Building Costs Depreciation Consumables Energy Other Total New Product Development 96,000.0000 14,200.0000 - 959.4595 1,000.0000 112,159.4595 Sales Dispatch 336,000.0000 35,500.0000 - 959.4595 3,500.0000 375,959.4595 Inspecting 48,000.0000 35,500.0000 - - 500.0000 84,000.0000 Mixing 816,000.0000 71,000.0000 284,000.0000 10,554.0541 42,600.0000 8,500.0000 1,232,654.0541 Filling 816,000.0000 71,000.0000 355,000.0000 6,716.2162 63,900.0000 8,500.0000 1,321,116.2162 Baking packing 672,000.0000 71,000.0000 71,000.0000 10,554.0541 42,600.0000 7,000.0000 874,154.0541 Administration 336,000.0000 35,500.0000 - 3,837.8378 - 3,500.0000 378,837.8378 Corporate management 288,000.0000 21,300.0000 - 1,918.9189 - 3,000.0000 314,218.9189 3,408,000.0000 355,000.0000 710,000.0000 35,500.0000 149,100.0000 35,500.0000 The analysis of schedule 1 reveals that there are 8 activity centers and everyone of them has costs related to them. The use of ABC method allocates the cost individually in all the activity centers with respect to the building cost, wages, depreciation, consumables, energy and other. The total value that is seen with respect to the new product development accounts to $112, 159.4595. The next activity center is the sales dispatch and the total amount of cost allocated to it is $375,959.4595. The inspecting center of the firm is an important department and the value comes to $ 84,000. The mixing and the filling of the raw materials for the production of pastries associate to $, 232,654.0541 and $1,321,116.2162. The baking and packing of the pastries involve an amount accounting to $874,154.0541 and $378,837.8373 respectively. The administration and the corporate management has a total amount of $ 314,218.9189 and $ 0 respectively. Activity % of Labour time Amount of labour % of floor space Amt of floor space Setup mixer 10% 81,600.0000 5% 3,550.0000 Load Mixer 10% 81,600.0000 5% 3,550.0000 Operate Mixer 40% 326,400.0000 70% 49,700.0000 Unload Mixer 20% 163,200.0000 5% 3,550.0000 Clean Mixer 10% 81,600.0000 5% 3,550.0000 Mover to filling room 10% 81,600.0000 10% 7,100.0000 100% 816,000.0000 100% 71,000.0000 The space and the labor associated with the function of mixing involves set-up mixer that occupies 5% of the space and 10% of labor. The load mixes involves 10% of labor time and 5% of the floor space. The operate mixer 40% of the labor time and 70% of the floor space revealing that this process is a crucial process and involves extensive labor time and machinery. The unload mixer takes 20% of the labor time and 5% of the floor space. The clean mixer takes 10% of the labor time and 5% of the floor space. The filling room mover takes 10% of the labor time and 10% of the floor space. Therefore it can be said that the activities that are crucial takes more labor time and floor space of the firm. Total of Mixing room 8,400.0000 Set up mixer 10% 840.0000 Load Mixer 10% 840.0000 Operate mixer 40% 3,360.0000 Unload mixer 20% 1,680.0000 Clean mixer 10% 840.0000 Filling room 10% 840.0000 This schedule reveals the total number of labor used in each activity of mixing and the total number of labors associated with this activity is 8400. It is seen that 10% of the labor is used by the set up mixer, the load mixer uses 10% while the operate mixer utilizes 40% of the labor. 20% of the labor is taken by the unload mixer and 10% each is taken by the clean mixer and the filling room. Activities consumed Annual quantity of activity driver Drivers Cost assigned to Custard tart Corporate management 63,065.0000 Directly to products 63,065.0000 Process receivables 400.0000 Invoices 16,442.7778 Process payables 100.0000 Purchase orders 4,603.7778 Production planning 60.0000 Production schedule 12,505.7746 Reports to health department 6.0000 Reports 709.8592 Process sales order 360.0000 Sales orer 29,494.1408 Disptach sales order 300.0000 Dispatches 23,880.6667 New product development - Directly to new product Inspect filling ingredients 60.0000 batches 2,729.5775 Disposal of substandard filling 60.0000 batches 709.8592 Move to mixing room 60.0000 batches 709.8592 Set up mixer 60.0000 batches 70.9859 Load mixer 60.0000 batches 70.9859 Operate mixer 28,500.0000 Litres 674.3662 Unload mixer 60.0000 batches 141.9718 Clean mixer 60.0000 batches 70.9859 Mover to filling room 60.0000 batches 0.0085 Set up pastry cases 60.0000 batches 3,783.8028 Weigh ingredients 60.0000 batches 7,267.6056 Load hopper 60.0000 batches 14,535.2113 Fill pastry cases 28,500.0000 Litres 176,713.2465 Clean hopper 60.0000 batches 7,567.6056 Move to baking 28,500.0000 Litres 9,699.0317 Stack cases on baking trays 113,600.0000 Prodcucts 37,500.0000 setup ovens 1,140.0000 trays 7,170.1585 Move to ovens 1,140.0000 trays 3,763.2042 bake products 1,140.0000 trays 50,091.1585 Unload oven 1,140.0000 trays 3,763.2042 Inspect finished products - trays Disposal of substandard product - trays Move to truck 1,140.0000 finished trays 4,337.0714 Direct materials 6.0000 Current market selling price 14.0000 batch size 2,000.0000 Annual Volume 114,000.0000 This schedule reveals that the use of ABC method has been influential for the proper allocation of the quantity that has been consumed by the driver and the activities with respect to Custard Tart. It is seen that the annual volume amounts to 14000. The proper distribution of the cost and the quantity on each activity is helpful for the management to understand the activities with ease so that the performance of the organization gets improved. Activities consumed Annual quantity of activity driver Drivers Cost assigned Corporate management 7,745.0000 Directly to products 7,745.0000 Process receivables 100.0000 Invoices 4,110.6944 Process payables 100.0000 Purchase orders 4,603.7778 Production planning 40.0000 Production schedule 8,337.1831 Reports to health department 4.0000 Reports 473.2394 Process sales order 110.0000 Sales orer 9,012.0986 Disptach sales order 100.0000 Dispatches 7,960.2222 New product development 37,013.0000 Directly to new product 37,013.0000 Inspect filling ingredients 40.0000 batches 1,819.7183 Disposal of substandard filling 40.0000 batches 473.2394 Move to mixing room 40.0000 batches 473.2394 Set up mixer 40.0000 batches 47.3239 Load mixer 40.0000 batches 47.3239 Operate mixer 7,000.0000 Litres 33,126.7606 Unload mixer 40.0000 batches 94.6479 Clean mixer 40.0000 batches 47.3239 Mover to filling room 40.0000 batches 112.6761 Set up pastry cases 40.0000 batches 2,522.5352 Weigh ingredients 40.0000 batches 4,845.0704 Load hopper 40.0000 batches 9,690.1408 Fill pastry cases 7,000.0000 Litres 43,403.2535 Clean hopper 40.0000 batches 5,045.0704 Move to baking 7,000.0000 Litres 2,382.2183 Stack cases on baking trays 14,200.0000 Prodcucts 4,687.5000 setup ovens 290.0000 trays 1,823.9877 Move to ovens 290.0000 trays 957.3063 bake products 290.0000 trays 12,742.4877 Unload oven 290.0000 trays 957.3063 Inspect finished products 290.0000 trays 462.0599 Disposal of substandard product 290.0000 trays 214.4366 Move to truck 290.0000 finished trays 1,103.2901 Direct materials 8.0000 Current market selling price 18.0000 batch size 400.0000 Annual Volume 14,000.0000 This schedule reveals the distribution of quantity and the cost assigned to various drivers regarding the production of apple tart and it is seen that the company concentrates on the custard tart more than the apple pies. Therefore, it is seen that there might a need for the firm to balance their production process so that the operations of the firm improve thereby increasing the profit of the firm. Conclusion The analysis of the paper and the data that have been gathered for Bakvert Company reveals that it is necessary to make use of ABC method so that the management gains knowledge about the percentage of contribution by each department and the cost associated to it so that they can stabilize their operation and improve their profit and market share. Bibliography Dong, J., Liu, C. and Lin, Z., 2014. Charging infrastructure planning for promoting battery electric vehicles: An activity-based approach using multiday travel data.Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies,38, pp.44-55. Frazier, W.E., 2014. Metal additive manufacturing: a review.Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance,23(6), pp.1917-1928. 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