ACCT 203 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10-11: Sunk Costs, Opportunity Cost

1. Which of the following costs is not relevant in aspecial-order decision?
A. Direct labor
B. Direct materials
C. Variable overhead
D. Fixed overhead

2. Costs that change across decision alternatives are
A. accounting costs.
B. activity-based costs.
C. incremental costs.
D. capital costs.

4. The potential benefit of one alternative that is lost bychoosing another is known as a(n):
A. Sunk cost
B. Out-of-pocket cost
C. Differential cost
D. Opportunity cost

5. A cost that cannot be avoided or changed because it arisesfrom a past decision, and is irrelevant to future decisions, iscalled a(n):
A. Uncontrollable cost
B. Incremental cost
C. Opportunity cost
D. Sunk cost

6. An additional cost that is incurred only if a particularaction is taken is a(n):
A. Period cost
B. Pocket cost
C. Discount cost
D. Incremental cost

7. The payback period:
a. Is the length of time necessary to recover the entire cost of aninvestment from its resulting annual net cash flow.
b. Is the length of time necessary to recover the entire cost of aninvestment from its resulting annual net income.
c. Takes into consideration the profitability of an investment overits entire life, but ignores the timing of its future cashflows.
d. Takes into consideration both the profitability of an investmentover its entire life and the timing of its future cash flows.

Tactical decision making

Tactical decision making means choosing among alternatives withan immediate or limited end in view. For example, a company mayaccept a special order for less than the normal selling price touse idle capacity. Tactical decisions tend to be short-runin nature; however, it should be emphasized that short-rundecisions often have long-run consequences. A general tacticaldecision-making model is outlined here.

Identifying and comparing relevant costs and revenues is theheart of the tactical decision model. Relevant costs (revenues) arefuture costs (revenues) that differ across alternatives. (Revenuesare treated in the same way as costs, so we will simplify thediscussion by referring to costs.) All decisions relate to thefuture; so, only future costs can be relevant. In addition, thecost must differ from one alternative to another. If a future costis the same for more than one alternative, it has no effect on thedecision. Such a cost is an irrelevant cost.

Assume that Reeves Company is considering accepting a specialorder for $25 per unit when the normal selling price is $30 perunit. Reeves has enough excess capacity to make the order withoutdisplacing normal sales. The alternatives facing Reeves Company are(Select "Yes" for the statements that are applicable and "No" forthe items that do not apply):

Choose which of the following are relevant in deciding whetheror not to accept the special order. (Select "Yes" for thestatements that are applicable and "No" for the items that do notapply)

While cost and revenue information is important, otherinformation may be needed to make an informed decision. Thesenon-financial factors are termed qualitative and are often relevantin decision making. For example, in deciding whether to make acomponent in-house or purchase it from an outside supplier, thecompany may consider any difference in quality or in responsivenessto the company's production schedules.