Single-rate, dual-rate, and practical capacity allocation, beauty Department Store has a new promotional program that offers a free gift-wrapping service for its customers. Beauty’s customer-service department has practical capacity to wrap 7,500 gifts at a budgeted fixed cost of $6,750 each month. The budgeted variable cost to gift wrap an item is $0.50. Although the service is free to customers, a gift- wrapping service cost allocation is made to the department where the item was purchased. The customer- service department reported the following for the most recent month:

1. Using the single-rate method, allocate gift-wrapping costs to different departments in these three ways.

 a. Calculate the budgeted rate based on the budgeted number of gifts to be wrapped and allocation costs based on the budgeted use (of gift-wrapping services).

 b. Calculate the budgeted rate based on the budgeted number of gifts to be wrapped and allocate costs based on actual usage.

 c. Calculate the budgeted rate based on the practical gift-wrapping capacity available and allocate costs based on actual usage.

2. Using the dual-rate method, compute the amount allocated to each department when (a) the fixed-cost rate is calculated using budgeted costs and the practical gift-wrapping capacity, (b) fixed costs a allocated based on budgeted usage of gift-wrapping services, and (c) variable costs are allocate: using the budgeted variable-cost rate and actual usage.

3. Comment on your results in requirements 1 and 2. Discuss the advantages of the dual-rate method. 

Actual Number of Gifts Budgeted Number of Gifts to be Wrapped 2,475 825 1,800 450 1,200 Practical Capacity Available for Gift-Wrapping 2,625 938 1,969 656 1,312 Department Women's Face Wash Men's Face Wash Wrapped 2,100 750 1,575 525 Fragrances Body Wash Hair Products Total 1,050 6,000 6,750 7,500