4.3: Departmental rates to estimate factory overhead
A different predetermined rate may be used to estimate factory overhead in each department. Within a department, the rate is the same for all products. The following amounts are given.
|
Total budgeted factory overhead costs for the Cutting Department for the year |
$310,000 |
|
Total budgeted direct labor hours for the Cutting Department |
2,000 |
|
Total budgeted factory overhead costs for the Assembly Department for the year |
$236,000 |
|
Total budgeted direct labor hours for the Assembly Department |
1,000 |
The department factory overhead rate is $155 per direct labor hour in the Cutting Department and $236 per direct labor hour in the Assembly Department, determined as follows.
|
Cutting |
Assembly |
|
|
Budgeted departmental factory overhead |
$310,000 |
$236,000 |
|
Departmental budgeted activity base |
2,000 = $155 |
1,000 = $236 |
Direct labor hours used and factory overhead estimated for this job are as follows:
|
Job 1: |
Cutting Department |
135 direct labor hours x $155 = |
$20,925 |
|
Job 1: |
Assembly Department |
75 direct labor hours x $236 = |
17,700 |
|
Job 1: |
Total |
\(\ \overline{$38,625}\) |
|
|
Job 2: |
Cutting Department |
65 direct labor hours x $155 = |
$10,075 |
|
Job 2: |
Assembly Department |
25 direct labor hours x $236 = |
5,900 |
|
Job 2: |
Total |
\(\ \overline{$15,975}\) |
|
|
Total |
$54,600 |
The journal entry to apply factory overhead of $54,600 to this job is as follows:
|
Account |
Debit |
Credit |
|
|
Work in Process |
54,600 |
▲ Work in Process is an asset (inventory) |
|
|
Factory Overhead |
54,600 |
▼ Factory Overhead is an expense account that is decreasing |
|
In the example so far, the use of departmental rates vs. a single factory rate yields different results in terms of how much factory overhead is applied to each of the two jobs. Although the total factory overhead applied, $54,600, is the same under both methods, the amount allocated to each job differs, as follows:
|
Single Factory |
Departmental |
|
|
Job 1: |
$38,220 |
$38,625 |
|
Job 2: |
16,380 |
15,975 |
Using departmental rates is more job-specific and therefore results in a more precise allocation of factory overhead to the jobs than the single rate. However, it takes a bit more effort to calculate vs. using the single factory rate that is applied to all jobs uniformly.