Pilgrim Corporation processes frozen turkeys. The company has not been pleased with its profit margin per product because it appears that the high value items have too few costs assigned to them, while the low value items have too many costs assigned to them. The processing results in several products, the primary one of which is frozen small turkeys. Other products include frozen parts such as wings and legs, byproducts such as skin and bones, and unused scrap items.
Required:
What may be the cost assignment problem if a key consideration is the value of the products being sold?
Answer:
First, the company needs to consider whether the byproducts are being treated as products, rather than byproducts. For the most part, byproducts should not be assigned costs. The revenue from the byproducts should be used as either minor sale categories or else as offsets to processing costs.
A second consideration is the method used to assign the costs. It is possible that some physical measure (weight) is being used, in which case the parts items and the byproducts may weigh as much as the primary product. It may be necessary to evaluate the various methods of allocation and select the one which management feels is best for decision making.
