Chapter 07 – Activity-Based Costing: A Tool to Aid Decision Making
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67. Suppose that the company decides that the present activity-based costing system is too
complex and that all costs (except for the costs of purchased decorations) should be allocated
on the basis of the number of guests. In that event, what would you expect to happen to the
costs of cakes?
Bevard Nuptial Bakery makes very elaborate wedding cakes to order. The company has an
activity-based costing system with three activity cost pools. The activity rate for the Size–
Related activity cost pool is $0.96 per guest. (The greater the number of guests, the larger the
cake.) The activity rate for the Complexity-Related cost pool is $28.92 per tier. (Cakes with
more tiers are more complex.) Finally, the activity rate for the Order-Related activity cost
pool is $78.19 per order. (Each wedding involves one order for a cake.) The activity rates
include the costs of raw ingredients such as flour, sugar, eggs, and shortening. The activity
rates do not include the costs of purchased decorations such as miniature statues and wedding
bells, which are accounted for separately.
Data concerning two recent orders appear below: