Assignment

Description

The Discussion Board (DB) is part of the core of online learning. Classroom discussion in an online environment requires the active participation of students and the instructor to create robust interaction and dialogue. Every student is expected to create an original response to the open-ended DB question as well as engage in dialogue by responding to posts created by others throughout the week. At the end of each unit, DB participation will be assessed based on both level of engagement and the quality of the contribution to the discussion.

At a minimum, each student will be expected to post an original and thoughtful response to the DB question and contribute to the weekly dialogue by responding to at least two other posts, either the instructor's response to one of your posts, or posts from students. The first contribution must be posted before midnight (Central Time) on Friday of each week. Two additional responses are required, each on different days, after Friday of each week. Students are highly encouraged to engage on the Discussion Board early and often - at a minimum of three different days each week, as this promotes learning and is an important factor in grading for the Discussion Board assignment.

The purpose of the Discussion Board is to allow students to learn through sharing ideas and experiences as they relate to course content and the DB question. Because it is not possible to engage in two-way dialogue after a conversation has ended, no posts to the DB will be accepted after the end of each unit.

Assignment Details

Cost behavior and cost classifications are key components to efficiently utilizing managerial accounting techniques. In order to make decisions, accountants and managers must be able to correctly identify and classify each cost associated with a given product or service.

Using your personal knowledge or the internet to select a product or service. The product or service does not have to be an actual product or service - it can be completely fictional. For the selected product or service, identify at least 5 costs involved with the product or service and complete the following questions.

• Classify each cost as direct or indirect.
• Identify the cost behavior as either variable, fixed or mixed.
• Provide a brief (2 or 3 sentences) on the relationship of these costs.

Please note you will need to make some assumptions about the product or service. Internal product information is generally not available to the public so you will need to make some educated guesses about what may be required.

Here is an example to help get you started:

Product: toothbrush

Costs:

1. Plastic for handle (direct materials, variable)
2. Material for bristles (direct materials, variable)
3. Plant electricity to run equipment (indirect, fixed)
4. Labor to assemble each toothbrush (direct labor, variable)
5. Glue/Adhesive to hold bristles (indirect, variable)

Relationship: As the number of toothbrushes made increases, the direct materials and direct labor will also increase to meet the demand. Electricity is required to operate other aspects in addition to the equipment so this a shared cost across all functions. Electricity is necessary cost for all operations and not solely for the production of toothbrushes.