Accounting Principles

Thirteenth Edition
Weygandt Kimmel Kieso

Chapter 23

Incremental Analysis
Prepared by
Coby Harmon
University of California, Santa Barbara
Westmont College
 Chapter 23

Incremental Analysis
Chapter Outline
Learning Objectives
LO 1 Describe management’s decision-making process and
incremental analysis.
LO 2 Analyze the relevant costs in accepting an order at a special
price.
LO 3 Analyze the relevant costs in a make-or-buy decision.
LO 4 Analyze the relevant costs in determining whether to sell or
process materials further.
LO 5 Analyze the relevant costs to be considered in repairing,
retaining, or replacing equipment.
LO 6 Analyze the relevant costs in deciding whether to eliminate
an unprofitable segment or product.
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 Decision-Making and Incremental Analysis
Making decisions is an important management function.
Does not always follow a set pattern.
Decisions vary in scope, urgency, and importance.
Steps usually involved in process include:

Illustration 23.1
Management’s decision-making process

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 Decision-Making Process
In making business decisions,
Considers both financial and non-financial information.
Financial information
 Revenues and costs, and
 Effect on overall profitability.

a. Non-financial information
 Effect on employee turnover
 The environment
 Overall company image.

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 Incremental Analysis Approach
a. Decisions involve a choice among alternative actions.
b. Process used to identify the financial data that change
under alternative courses of action.
 Both costs and revenues may vary or
 Only revenues may vary or
 Only costs may vary

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 How Incremental Analysis Works
Illustration 23.2
Basic approach in incremental analysis

a. Incremental revenue is €15,000 less under Alternative

B.
b. Incremental cost savings of €20,000 is realized.
LO 1
c. Alternative B produces €5,000 more net income.
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 How Incremental Analysis Works
Important concepts used in incremental analysis:
a. Relevant cost.
b. Opportunity cost.
c. Sunk cost.

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 How Incremental Analysis Works
a. Sometimes involves changes that seem contrary to
intuition.
b. Variable costs sometimes do not change under
alternatives.
c. Fixed costs sometimes change between
alternatives.

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 Types of Incremental Analysis
Common types of decisions involving incremental analysis:
1. Accept an order at a special price.
2. Make or buy component parts or finished products.
3. Sell products or process them further.
4. Repair, retain, or replace equipment.
5. Eliminate an unprofitable business segment or product.

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 Special Orders
Accept an Order at a Special Price
a. Obtain additional business by making a major price
concession to a specific customer.
b. Assumes that sales of products in other markets are
not affected by special order.
c. Assumes that company is not operating at full
capacity.

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 Accept an Order at a Special Price
Illustration: Sunbelt Ltd. produces 100,000 Smoothie blenders
per month, which is 80% of plant capacity. Variable
manufacturing costs are Rs560 per unit. Fixed manufacturing
costs are Rs28,000,000, or Rs280 per unit. The blenders are
normally sold directly to retailers at Rs1,400 each. Sunbelt has
an offer from Kensington Ltd. (a foreign wholesaler) to purchase
an additional 2,000 blenders at Rs770 per unit. Acceptance of
the offer would not affect normal sales of the product, and the
additional units can be manufactured without increasing plant
capacity. What should management do?

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 Accept an Order at a Special Price
ILLUSTRATION 23.4
Incremental analysis—accepting an order at a special price

a. Fixed costs do not change since within existing

capacity – thus fixed costs are not relevant.
b. Variable manufacturing costs and expected revenues
change – thus both are relevant to the decision.
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 Make or Buy
Illustration: Rhee Ltd. Illustration 23.5 presents the annual costs in
producing 25,000 ignition switches for scooters.
Illustration 23.5
Annual product
cost data

Instead of making its own switches, Rhee might purchase the

ignition switches at a price of ₩8,000 per unit. “What should
management do?”

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 Make or Buy Decision ILLUSTRATION 23.6
Incremental analysis—make or buy

 Total manufacturing cost is ₩1,000 higher per unit than purchase price.
 Must absorb at least ₩50,000,000 of fixed costs under either option.

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 Opportunity Cost
The potential benefit that
may be obtained from
following an alternative
course of action.

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 Opportunity Cost
Illustration: Assume that through buying the switches, Rhee Ltd.
can use the released productive capacity to generate additional
income of ₩38,000,000 from producing a different product. This
lost income is an additional cost of continuing to make the switches
in the make-or-buy decision.

ILLUSTRATION 23.7
Incremental analysis—make or buy, with opportunity cost

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 Sell or Process Further
• May have option to sell product at a given point in
production or to process further and sell at a higher
price.
• Decision Rule:

Process further as long as the incremental revenue from

such processing exceeds the incremental processing
costs.

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 Single-Product Case
Illustration: Woodmasters Ltd. makes tables. The cost to
manufacture an unfinished table is HK$350. The selling price per
unfinished unit is HK$500. Woodmasters has unused capacity that
can be used to finish the tables and sell them at HK$600 per unit.
For a finished table, direct materials will increase HK$20 and direct
labor costs will increase HK$40. Variable manufacturing overhead
costs will increase by HK$24 (60% of direct labor). No increase is
anticipated in fixed manufacturing overhead.

Illustration 23.8
Per unit cost of
unfinished table

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 Single-Product Case
The incremental analysis on a per unit basis is shown in Illustration
23.9 (see Helpful Hint).

ILLUSTRATION 23.9
Incremental analysis—sell or Should Woodmasters sell or process
processfurther?
further.
process further

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 Multiple-Product Case
Joint product situation for Marais Creamery. Cream and skim
milk are products that result from the processing of raw milk

ILLUSTRATION 23.10
Joint production process— Joint product costs are sunk costs and thus not
Creamery
relevant to the sell-or-process further decision.

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 Multiple-Product Case
ILLUSTRATION 23.11
Cost and revenue data per day for cream. Cost and revenue data
per day for cream

Determine whether the company should simply sell the cream

or process it further into cottage cheese.

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 Multiple-Product Case
Analysis of whether to sell cream or process into cottage cheese.

ILLUSTRATION 23.12
Analysis of whether to sell cream or process into cottage cheese

Marais should or should

shouldnot
notprocess
processthe
thecream
creamfurther?
further?

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 Multiple-Product Case
Cost and revenue data per day for skim milk. ILLUSTRATION 23.13
Cost and revenue data
per day for skim milk

Determine whether the company should sell the skim milk or

process it further into condensed milk.

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 Multiple-Product Case
Analysis of whether to sell skim milk or process into condensed
milk.
Illustration 23.14

shouldor
Marais should orshould
shouldnot
notprocess
processthe
themilk
milkfurther?
further?

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 Repair, Retain, or Replace Equipment
Illustration: Yamamoto Group is considering replacing a factory
machine with a new machine. Yamamoto Group has a factory
machine that originally cost ¥11,000,000. It has a balance in
Accumulated Depreciation of ¥7,000,000, so its book value is
¥4,000,000. It has a remaining useful life of four years. The
company is considering replacing this machine with a new
machine. A new machine is available that costs ¥12,000,000. It is
expected to have zero residual value at the end of its four-year
useful life. If the new machine is acquired, variable manufacturing
costs are expected to decrease from ¥16,000,000 to ¥12,500,000
and the old unit could be sold for ¥500,000. The incremental
analysis for the four-year period is as follows.

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 Repair, Retain, or Replace Equipment
Prepare the incremental analysis for the four-year period.

ILLUSTRATION 23.15
Incremental analysis—retain or replace
equipment Retain or Replace

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 Repair, Retain, or Replace Equipment
Additional Considerations
a. The book value of old machine does not affect the
decision.
 Book value is a sunk cost.
 Costs which cannot be changed by future decisions (sunk
cost) are not relevant in incremental analysis.
b. However, any trade-in allowance or cash disposal
value of the existing asset is relevant.

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 Eliminate Unprofitable Segment or Product
a. Key: Focus on Relevant Costs.
b. Consider effect on related product lines.
c. Fixed costs allocated to the unprofitable segment
must be absorbed by the other segments.
d. Net income may decrease when an unprofitable
segment is eliminated.
e. Decision Rule: Retain the segment unless fixed costs
eliminated exceed contribution margin lost.

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 Eliminate Unprofitable Segment or Product
Illustration: Venus sports manufactures three models of tennis
rackets:
 Profitable lines: Pro and Master
 Unprofitable line: Champ Should Champ
be eliminated?

ILLUSTRATION 23.16
Segment income data

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 Eliminate Unprofitable Segment or Product
Prepare income data after eliminating Champ product line. Assume
fixed costs are allocated 2/3 to Pro and 1/3 to Master.

ILLUSTRATION 23.17
Income data after eliminating
unprofitable product line
Total income is decreased by €10,000.

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 Eliminate Unprofitable Segment or
Product
Incremental analysis of Champ provided the same results:
Illustration 23.18
Do Not Eliminate Champ Incremental analysis—eliminating unprofitable
segment with no reduction in fixed costs

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 Eliminate Unprofitable Segment or Product
Assume that €22,000 of the fixed costs attributed to the Champ
line can be eliminated if the line is discontinued.
Illustration 23.19
Eliminate Champ Incremental analysis—eliminating unprofitable
segment with reduction in fixed costs

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Copyright
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