COST ACCOUNTING

Most business are forced to evaluate opportunities for capital investments to allocate scarce funds. While there are many ways to evaluate the wisdom of a capital investment, one such way is to do so from a cost accounting perspective. In this assignment you play the role of cost accountant evaluating a planned investment.

Scenario

Healthcare America is weighing the purchase of a new $3M MRI facility to serve its expanding presence in the area of orthopedic medicine. The expectation is that the machine will be nearly fully utilized in next five years. The government recently exempted taxes on profits from new investments to encourage capital investments. The equipment is expected to have 10 years of useful life with no salvage value. The company employs straight-line depreciation. Net cash inflows of $800,000 are expected each year for five years. The company uses a rate of 9% in evaluating its capital investment projects.

Instructions

Create a professional PowerPoint presentation (with detailed speaker's notes) that fully supports your recommendation of whether or not this capital expenditure is justified from a cost accounting perspective.

Include the following in the presentation:

1. Explain your overall approach to evaluating the capital purchase.
   • What criteria are most important?
   • What questions do you need answered?
2. Justify your choice of three capital investment measures that you believe best support a responsible recommendation.
3. Perform the calculations for each of your chosen measures. (Note: If you need more data for your chosen methods, make sure to state your assumptions or reasonably chosen data values.)
4. Recommend your choice on whether or not to make this investment with support from your calculations and the other considerations stated in your overall approach.
5. Describe the two most significant risks associated with your recommendation from a cost accounting perspective.

Additional Requirements

Presentation Guidelines: Length: 8-10 slides that would accompany an approximately 10-15-minute oral presentation. Though you are not actually recording or giving the presentation for this assignment, the slides and speaker notes must contain enough information so that you could present it if needed.

• Prepare detailed speaker's notes describing items on each slide so that the viewer can accurately interpret the deeper meanings and intentions that would have been conveyed orally.
• Visuals: Include graphical elements that are easy to read and interpret. Use colors, fonts, formatting, and other design principles that make the information clear and generally add to the aesthetic and professionalism of the presentation.

The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is:

• Evaluate capital investments from a cost accounting perspective.