Chapter Five: Cost Allocation

Cost Allocation is an inescapable problem in nearly every organization and in nearly

every aspect of accounting.
Purposes of Cost Allocation
1. To provide information for economic decisions.
2. To motivate managers and other employees.
3. To justify costs or compute reimbursement.
4. To measure income and assets for reporting to external parties.
I. Allocating Costs from One Department to Another.
There are several issues to consider when allocating costs:
 Should different methods of allocation be used for fixed costs and for variable
costs,
 Should budgeted rates or actual rates be used, and
 Should budgeted quantities or actual quantities be used?
Single-Rate and Dual-Rate Methods
The single-rate allocation method pools all costs in one cost pool and allocates theses
costs to cost objects using the same rate per unit of the single allocation base. There is no
distinction between costs in a cost pool in terms of cost behavior, such as fixed costs
versus variable costs.
The dual-rate cost allocation method classifies costs in each cost pool into to sub cost
pools, a variable cost pool and a fixed cost pool. Each of these pools uses a different cost
allocation base.
Example:
Sand Hill Co. has a Central Computer Department; the department has two users,
Microcomputer Division and Peripheral Equipment Division. The following data apply to
the coming budget year.
Fixed costs of operating the computer facility in the
6000-18000hr relevant range Br3, 000,000/year
Total capacity available 18,000hrs
Budgeted long-run usage
Microcomputer Division 8,000hrs
Peripheral Equipment Division 4,000hrs
Total 12,000hrs
Budgeted variable cost per hour $200/hour used
Assume during the year the Microcomputer uses 9,000 hrs and Peripheral Equipment
uses 3,000 actual hours.
1. Single Rate Allocation Method
Total cost pool =3,000,000+200*12,000 5,400,000
Budgeted usage 12,000hrs
Budgeted totals rate per hour= 5,400,000 = Br.450/hr
12,000hrs
Allocation rate for Microcomputer Division Br. 450/hr
Allocation rate for Peripheral Division Br. 450/hr

Microcomputer=9000*450= Br. 4,050,000.

Peripheral Equipment= 3000*450= Br.1, 350,000.

Cost & Management Accounting I/Lecture note on Cost Allocation 1

2. Dual-rate Allocation Method
Allocation of Fixed Costs to:
Microcomputer Division = 8000/1200hrs * 3,000,000 = Br. 2,000,000/year.
Peripheral Equipment Division = 4000/12000hrs * 3,000,000 = Br. 1,000,000/year.
Microcomputer: 2,000,000 + (200*9000) = Br. 3,800,000.
Peripheral Equipment: 1,000,000 + (200*3000) = Br. 1,600,000.

II. Allocating Support Departments

Operating and Support Departments
Operating Department (Production Department) adds value to a product or service that
is observable by a customer.
Support Departments (Service Department) provide the service that assists other
internal departments.
Support Department creates a special cost allocation problem when they provide
reciprocal support to each other as well as support to operating departments.
Methods:
1. Direct Allocation Method
2. Step-Down Allocation Method
3. Reciprocal Allocation Method
Example: ABC Engineering has two Support Departments and Two operating
Departments. Costs are accumulated in each department for planning and control
purposes.
Support Departments Operating Departments
Plant Maintenance Machining
Information Systems Assembly
The two support departments provide reciprocal support to each other as well as to the
two operating departments. Costs are accumulated in each department for planning and
control purpose.
Support Departments Operating Departments
Plant Main. Infor. Systems. Machining Assembly Total
Budgeted MOH cost
Before any inter-dept
Cost allocations $600,000 $116,000 $400,000 $200,000 1,316,000
Support work finished
By plant maintenance
Budgeted labor hrs - 1,600 2,400 4,000 8,000
Percentage - 20% 30% 50% 100%
By Infor. System.
Budgeted com. Hrs 200 - 1600 200 2000
Percentage 10% - 80% 10% 100%

Required: Allocate costs using the three methods.

Cost & Management Accounting I/Lecture note on Cost Allocation 2

1. Direct Allocation Method
This method is the most widely used method of allocating support department
costs. This method allocates each support department costs directly to the
operating departments.

Plant Maintenance Machining

Information Systems Assembly

Support Departments Operating Departments

Plant Main. Infor. Syst. Machining Assembly Total
Budgeted MOH cost
Before any inter-dept
Cost allocations $600,000 $116,000 $400,000 $200,000 1,316,000
Allocation by Plant Mai. (600,000) 225,000 375,000
(2400/6400, 4000/6400)
Allocation by Inf. Syste. 0 (116,000) 103,111 12,889
(1600/1800, 200/1800)
Total Budgeted MOH of 0 $728,111 $587,889 $1,316,000
Operating department
Advantage of this method:
 Simplicity
 No need to predict the usage of support department service by other
support departments.
Disadvantage
 Failure to recognize reciprocal services provided among support
departments.
2. Step-Down Allocation Method (Sequential Allocation Method)
 Allows the partial recognition of the service rendered by support departments to
other support departments.
 This method requires the support departments to b ranked (sequenced) in order
that the step-down allocation is to proceed. Different sequences will result in
different allocation of support department costs to operating departments.
 Popular step-down begins with the support department that renders the highest
percentage of its total services to other support departments and so on, ending
with the support department that renders the lowest percentage of its total
services to other support departments.

Plant Maintenance Machining

Information Systems Assembly

Cost & Management Accounting I/Lecture note on Cost Allocation 3

 Support Departments Operating Departments
Plant Main. Infor. Syst. Machining Assembly Total
Budgeted MOH cost
Before any inter-dept
Cost allocations $600,000 $116,000 $400,000 $200,000 1,316,000
Allocation by Plant Mai. (600,000) 120,000 180,000 300,000
(1600/8000, 2400/8000, 4000/8000) 236,000
Allocation by Inf. Syste. 0 (236,000) 209,778 26,222
(1600/1800, 200/1800)
Total Budgeted MOH of 0 $789,778 $526,222 $1,316,000
Operating departments

Note: The step-down method does not recognize the total services that support
department provide to each other.
3. Reciprocal Allocation Method
 Allocates cost by explicitly including the mutual services provided among all
support departments.
 Conceptually the direct method and the step-down allocation method are less
accurate than the reciprocal method when the support departments provide
service to another reciprocally.
 The reciprocal method enables us to incorporate interdepartmental relationships
fully not the support department cost allocations.
 Implementing the reciprocal allocation method requires three steps:

1. Express Support Department Costs and support department reciprocal

relationships in the from of Linear Equation.
Let PM be the completed reciprocated costs1 of Plant Maimtance and IS be
the complete reciprocated costs to Information Systems.
PM = $600,000 + 0.1 IS
IS = $116,000 + 0.2 PM
2. Solve the cost of linear equation to obtain the complete reciprocated costs
of each support departments.
PM = 600,000 + 0.1 (116,000 + 0.2PM)
PM = 600,000 + 11,600 + 0.02PM
0.98PM = 616,000
PM = $624,082
IS = 116,000 + 0.2(624,082)
IS = $ 240,816

1
Complete reciprocated cost mean the support departments own cost plus any interdepartmental cost
allocations.

Cost & Management Accounting I/Lecture note on Cost Allocation 4

 3. Allocate the complete reciprocated costs of each department to all other
departments (both support department and operating departments).

Plant Maintenance Machining

Information Systems Assembly

Support Departments Operating Departments

Plant Main. Infor. Syst. Machining Assembly Total
Budgeted MOH cost
Before any inter-dept
Cost allocations $600,000 $116,000 $400,000 $200,000 1,316,000
Allocation by Plant Mai. (624,082) 124,816 187,225 312,041
(1600/8000, 2400/8000, 4000/8000)

Allocation by Inf. Syste. 24,082 (240,816) 192,652 24,082

(200/2000 1600/2000, 200/2000)

Total Budgeted MOH of 0 0 $779,877 $536,123 $1,316,000

Operating departments
III. Allocating Common Costs
A common cost is a cost of operating a facility, activity, or like cost object that is shared
by two or more users.
Consider Ayele, a senior student in Addis Ababa University who has been invited to an
interview with an employer in Mekele. The round trip Addis-Mekele airfare costs
Br.1, 200. A week prior to leaving Ayele is also invited to an interview with an employer
in Dessie. The Addis-Dessiee round trip airfare costs Br. 800. Ayele decided to combine
the two recurring trips into an Addis-Mekele-Dessie trip that will cost $1,500 in airfare.
The Br1, 500 is a common cost that benefits both prospective employers.
Two methods of allocating this common cost are:
1. Stand-Alone Cost-Allocation Method
This method uses information pertaining to each user of a cost object as a separate
entity to determine the cost-allocation weights.
For the common cost $1,500, information about the separate (stand alone) round-
trip airfares ($1200, and $800) is used to determine the allocation weights.

Mekele employer: $1,200 * 1,500 = 0.60*1,500= $900

$1,200 + $ 800

Dessie employer: $800 * 1,500 = 0.4 * 1,500 = $600

$800 + $1,200

Advantage: Fairness occurs because each employer bears a proportionate share of total
costs in relation to their individual stand-alone costs.

Cost & Management Accounting I/Lecture note on Cost Allocation 5

2. Incremental Cost Allocation Method
 This method ranks the individual users of a cost object and then uses this
ranking to allocate costs among those users.
 The first ranked user of the cost object is termed the primary user. The second
ranked user is termed the incremental party and is allocated the additional
cost that arises from there being two users instead of only the primary user.
Assume in the example the Mekele fight is viewed as the primary party. Ayele’s
rational is that he had already committed to go to Mekele before accepting the
invitations to interview in Dessie. The cost allocation would be:

Party Cost Allocated Costs remaining to be

Allocated to other parties

Mekele (primary) $1,200 $300 ($1,500 - $1,200)

Chicago (incremental) 300 0

Had the Dessie employer been chosen as the primary party, the cost allocations
would have been Dessie $800 and Mekele $700(1500-800).
Under the incremental method, the primary party typically receives the highest
allocation of the common costs. Most users in common cost situations propose
themselves as the incremental party

Cost & Management Accounting I/Lecture note on Cost Allocation 6

Exercise 1:
Computer Horizon budgets the following amounts for it’s to central corporate support
departments (legal and personnel) in supporting each other and the two manufacturing
divisions- the Laptop Division (LTD) and the Work Station Division (WSD):
Budgeted Capacity
To be supplied by Legal Personnel LTD WSD Total
Legal (hours) - 250 1,500 750 2,500
Percentages - 10% 60% 30% 100%
Personnel (hours) 2,500 - 22,500 25,000 50,000
Percentages 5% - 45% 50% 100%

Details on actual usage are as follows:

Actual usage by
To be supplied by Legal Personnel LTD WSD Total
Legal (hours) - 400 400 1,200 2,000
Percentages - 20% 20% 60% 100%
Personnel (hours) 2,000 - 26,600 11,400 40,000
Percentages 5% - 66.5% 28.5% 100%
Total costs were:
Legal Personnel
Fixed $360,000 $475,000
Variable $200,000 $600,000

Fixed costs are allocated on the basis of budgeted capacity. Variable costs are allocated
on the basis of actual usage.
Required: What amount of support department costs for legal and personnel will be
allocated LTD and WSD using:
a. The Direct Method
b. The Step-Down Method (allocating the Legal Department First).
c. The Reciprocal Method

Cost & Management Accounting I/Lecture note on Cost Allocation 7

Exercise 2:

Phoenix consulting provides outsourcing services and advice to both government and
corporate clients. For costing purposes Phoenix classifies its departments into two
support departments (Administrative/Human Resources and Information Systems) and
two operating departments (Government Consulting and Corporate Consulting). For the
first quarter of 2000, Phoenix incurs the following costs in its four departments:

Administrative/Human Resource (A/H) $600,000

Information Systems (IS) $2,400,000
Government Clients (GOVT) $8,756,000
Corporate Clients (CORP) $12,452,000
The actual level of support relations among the four departments for the first quarter of
2000 was:
Used by
Supplied by A/H IS GOVT CORP
A/HR - 25% 40% 35%
IS 10% - 30% 60%
The Administrative/Human Resources support percentages are based on headcount. The
Information Systems support percentages are based on actual computer times used.

Required:
Allocate the two support department’s costs to the two operating departments using the
following methods:
1. Direct Method
2. Step-down method (allocate A/H first)
3. Step-down method (allocate IS first)
4. Reciprocal Method.

Cost & Management Accounting I/Lecture note on Cost Allocation 8