Houghton Company produces machine tools and currently uses a plantwide overhead rate, based on machine hours. Alfred Cimino, the plant manager, has heard that departmental overhead rates can offer significantly better cost assignments than can a plantwide rate. Houghton has the following data for its two departments for the coming year:

Required:
1. Compute a predetermined overhead rate for the plant as a whole based on machine hours.
2. Compute predetermined overhead rates for each department using machine hours.
3. Suppose that a machine tool (Product 12X75) used 20 machine hours from department A and 50 machine hours from department B. A second machine tool (Product 32Y15) used 50 machine hours from department A and 20 machine hours from department B. Compute the overhead cost assigned to each product using the plantwide rate computed in Requirement 1. Repeat the computation using the departmental rates found in Requirement 2. Which of the two approaches gives the fairer assignment?Why?

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Department A Department B Overhead costs (expected) Normal activity (machine hours) S60,000 10,000 $15,000 5,000