Question

Oak Hill Township operates a motor pool with 20 vehicles. The motor pool furnishes gasoline, oil, and other supplies for the cars and hires one mechanic who does routine maintenance and minor repairs. Major repairs are done at a nearby commercial garage. A supervisor manages the operations.

Each year, the supervisor prepares a master budget for the motor pool. Depreciation on the automobiles is recorded in the budget to determine the costs per mile.

The following schedule presents the master budget for the year and for the month of July.

OAK HILL TOWNSHIP
Motor Pool
Budget Report for July
	Annual Master				One-Month										Over- or
	Budget				Master Budget						July Actual				(Under-) Budget
Gasoline	$	81,000				$	6,750				$	8,558				$	1,808
Oil, minor repairs, parts, and supplies		7,200					600					766					166
Outside repairs		4,800					400					50					(350	)
Insurance		13,200					1,100					1,155					55
Salaries and benefits		55,200					4,600					4,600					0
Depreciation		55,200					4,600					4,830					230
Total cost	$	216,600				$	18,050				$	19,959				$	1,909
Total miles		900,000					75,000					95,000
Cost per mile	$	0.2407				$	0.2407				$	0.2101
Number of automobiles		20					20					21

The annual budget was based on the following assumptions:

1. Automobiles in the pool: 20.
2. Miles per year per automobile: 45,000.
3. Miles per gallon per automobile: 20.
4. Gas per gallon: $1.80.
5. Oil, minor repairs, parts, and supplies per mile: $0.008.
6. Outside repairs per automobile per year: $240.

  

The supervisor is unhappy with the monthly report, claiming that it unfairly presents his performance for July. His previous employer used flexible budgeting to compare actual costs to budgeted amounts.

Required:

a. What is the gasoline monthly flexible budget and the resulting amount over- or underbudget? (Use miles as the activity base.) (Do not round intermediate calculations. If the amounts are equal to budget, select "No change".)

b. What is the monthly flexible budget for the oil, minor repairs, parts, and supplies and the amount over- or underbudget? (Use miles as the activity base.) (Do not round intermediate calculations. If the amounts are equal to budget, select "No change".)

c. What is the monthly flexible budget for salaries and benefits and the resulting amount over- or underbudget? (Do not round intermediate calculations. If the amounts are equal to budget, select "No change".)

d. What is the major reason for the cost per mile to decrease from $0.2407 budgeted to $0.2101 actual?

	Decreased unit fixed costs.
	Decreased variable costs.

Answer 1