New Fashions Inc. manufactures shirts for retail chains. Andy Jorgenson, the controller, is becoming increasingly disenchanted with
Question:
New Fashions Inc. manufactures shirts for retail chains. Andy Jorgenson, the controller, is becoming increasingly disenchanted with New Fashions€™ standard costing system. The budgeted and actual amounts for direct materials and direct manufacturing labour for June 2012 were as follows:
There were no beginning or ending inventories of materials. Standard costs are based on a study of the operations conducted by an independent consultant six months earlier. Jorgenson observes that, since that study, he has rarely seen an unfavourable variance of any magnitude. He notes that even at their current output levels, the workers seem to have a lot of time for sitting around and gossiping. Jorgenson is concerned that the production manager, Charlie Fenton, is aware of this but does not want to tighten up the standards because the lax standards make his performance look good.
REQUIRED
1. Compute the price and efficiency variances of New Fashions for direct materials and direct manufacturing labour in June 2013.
2. Describe the types of actions the employees at New Fashions may have taken to reduce the accuracy of the standards set by the independent consultant. Why would employees take those actions? Is this behaviour ethical?
3. If Jorgenson does nothing about the standard costs, will his behaviour violate any of the ethical conduct characteristics described in Chapter 1?
4. What actions should Jorgenson take?
5. Jorgenson can obtain benchmarking information about the estimated costs of New Fashions€™ major competitors from Benchmarking Clearing House (BCH). Discuss the pros and cons of using the BCH information to compute the variances in requirement 1.
Step by Step Answer:
Cost Accounting A Managerial Emphasis
ISBN: 978-0133392883
6th Canadian edition
Authors: Horngren, Srikant Datar, George Foster, Madhav Rajan, Christ