
Answers
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6 Throughput
(a) Marginal costing approach
Profit will be maximised by producing output to maximise the contribution
per machine hour (contribution per unit of limiting factor).
Product X Product Y
Contribution per unit $6 $7
Machine hours per unit 1.5 hours 2 hours
Contribution per machine hour $4 $3.50
Priority for manufacture 1st 2nd
Profit will be maximised by making and selling 8,000 units of Product X in
each period (maximum sales demand). This will require 12,000 machine
hours. The remaining 20,000 machine hours should be used to make and sell
10,000 units of Product Y.
$
Contribution from Product X: 8,000 × $6
48,000
Contribution from Product Y: 10,000 × $7
70,000
Total contribution 118,000
Fixed costs 90,000
Profit 28,000
(b) Throughput accounting is based on the view that value is not added to a
product until the product is eventually sold. There is no value in inventory.
When there is a limiting factor restricting production, all costs except for the
cost of bought-in materials (raw materials, purchased components) are fixed
costs in the short-term, including direct labour costs and associated ‘variable’
overheads.
The aim should be to maximise throughput in a period, where throughput is
defined as sales minus the cost of bought-in materials.
The main difference between throughput accounting and marginal costing is
in the treatment of direct labour and variable overhead costs as a ‘fixed cost’ in
the short-term. In throughput accounting, fixed costs are referred to as ‘factory
cost’.