Process costing Connor Chemical Company’s plant processes batches of organic chemical products through three stages after starting with raw materials: (1) mixing and blending, (2) reaction chamber, and (3) pulverizing and packing. Connor Chemical’s estimates for the total conversion costs for each of the three processing stages are shown in the following table. These costs include production labor assigned to each stage, support labor performing tasks (such as handling the output of the previous stage and setting up for the new stage), and laboratory testing. Additional materials for packing are needed in the pulverizing and packing stage:
|
MIXING AND BLENDING |
REACTION CHAMBERS |
PULVERIZING AND PACKING |
Production labor |
$253,000 |
$1,144,000 |
$396,000 |
Engineering support |
22,000 |
50,600 |
24,200 |
Materials handling |
19,800 |
19,800 |
29,700 |
Equipment maintenance |
11,000 |
35,200 |
8,800 |
Laboratory expenses |
22,000 |
22,000 |
4,400 |
Depreciation |
44,000 |
176,000 |
52,800 |
Power |
35,200 |
85,800 |
26,400 |
General and administrative |
17,600 |
17,600 |
17,600 |
Total conversion costs |
$424,600 |
$1,551,000 |
$559,900 |
Total number of process hours |
8,760 |
35,040 |
8,760 |
Required
(a) Determine the estimated conversion cost driver rate per process hour for each stage. (Round to three digits after the decimal point.)
(b) Consider two of Connor Chemical’s representative products, C206 and C208. Both products are derivatives of ethyl oleate and at the start of the process require the same basic raw materials. Using the information below, determine the total cost of a batch of C206 and a batch of C208:
|
C206 |
C208 |
|
Materials: |
|
|
|
Raw materials, beginning of process |
$1,488.00 |
$1,488.00 |
|
Packing materials |
$175.20 |
$280.80 |
|
Conversion hours: |
|
|
|
Mixing and blending |
6 hours |
6 hours |
|
Reaction chamber |
24 hours |
24 hours |
|
Pulverizing and packing |
4 hours |
8 hours |