BIG Manufacturing Products Has Been Using FIFO Process Costing for Tracking

question 59

Essay

BIG Manufacturing Products has been using FIFO process costing for tracking the costs of its manufacturing activities. However, in recent months, the system has become somewhat bogged down with details. It seems that, when the company purchased Brown Electronics last year, its product lines increased six-fold. This has caused both the accountants and the suppliers of the information, the line managers, great difficulty in keeping the costs of each product line separate. Likewise, the estimation of the completion of ending work-in-process inventories and the associated costs has become very cumbersome. The chief financial officer of the company is looking for ways to improve the reporting system of product costs.
Required:
What can you recommend to improve the situation?

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Definitions:

Profit

The financial gain realized when the revenue generated from business activities exceeds the expenses, costs, and taxes needed to sustain the business.

Short-Run

A period in which at least one factor of production is considered fixed, affecting the ability of businesses to change production levels.

Marginal Cost Curve

A graphical representation showing how the cost of producing one more unit of a good varies with the level of production.

Average Variable Cost

The total variable cost divided by the quantity of output produced, representing the cost of producing one more unit.