Chapter 3
Systems Design: Job-Order Costing
Solutions to Questions
3-1 By definition, manufacturing overhead consists of costs that cannot be practically traced to jobs. Therefore, if these costs are to be assigned to jobs, they must be allocated rather than traced.
3-2 Job-order costing is used in situations where many different products or services are produced each period. Process costing is used in situations where a single, homogeneous product, such as cement, bricks, or gasoline, is produced for long periods.
3-3 The job cost sheet is used to record all costs that are assigned to a particular job. These costs include direct materials costs traced to the job, direct labor costs traced to the job, and manufacturing overhead costs applied to the job. When a job is completed, the job cost sheet is used to compute the unit product cost.
3-4 A predetermined overhead rate is used to apply overhead cost to jobs. It is computed before a period begins by dividing the period’s estimated total manufacturing overhead by the period’s estimated total amount of the allocation base. Thereafter, overhead cost is applied to jobs by multiplying the predetermined overhead rate by the actual amount of the allocation base that is recorded for each job.
3-5 A sales order is issued after an agreement has been reached with a customer on quantities, prices, and shipment dates for goods. The sales order forms the basis for the production order. The production order specifies what is to be produced and forms the basis for the job cost sheet. The job cost sheet, in turn, is used to summarize the various production costs incurred to complete the job. These costs are entered on the job cost sheet from materials requisition forms, direct labor time tickets, and by applying overhead.
3-6 Some production costs such as a factory manager’s salary cannot be traced to a particular product or