Cross Country Transport Company organizes its three divisions, the Southeast, East, and South regions, as profit centers. The chief executive officer (CEO) evaluates divisional performance, using income from operations as a percent of revenues. The following quarterly income and expense accounts were provided from the trial balance as of December 31, 2008:
|
Revenues—SE Region |
$1,740,000 |
|
Revenues—E Region |
2,820,000 |
|
Revenues—S Region |
2,340,000 |
|
Operating Expenses—SE Region |
1,134,400 |
|
Operating Expenses—E Region |
2,097,300 |
|
Operating Expenses—S Region |
1,721,700 |
|
Corporate Expenses—Dispatching |
500,000 |
|
Corporate Expenses—Equipment |
525,000 |
|
Corporate Expenses—Treasurer’s |
375,000 |
|
General Corporate Officers’ Salaries |
710,000 |
The company operates three service departments: the Dispatching Department, the Equipment Management Department, and the Treasurer’s Department. The Dispatching Department manages the scheduling and releasing of completed trains. The Equipment Management Department manages the railroad cars inventories. It makes sure the right freight cars are at the right place at the right time. The Treasurer’s Department conducts a variety of services for the company as a whole. The following additional information has been gathered:
|
|
Southeast |
East |
South |
|
Number of scheduled trains |
400 |
680 |
520 |
|
Number of railroad cars in inventory |
4,800 |
6,400 |
5,600 |
Instructions
1. Prepare quarterly income statements showing income from operations for the three regions. Use three column headings: Southeast, East, and South.
2. Identify the most successful region according to the profit margin. Round to two decimal places.
3. Provide a recommendation to the CEO for a better method for evaluating the performance of the regions. In your recommendation, identify the major weakness of the present method.