Reference no: EM132782826

Pretoria Consolidated Resource Company (PCRC) has several divisions. However, only two divisions transfer products to other divisions. The Mining Division refines toldine, which is then transferred to the Metals Division. The toldine is processed into an alloy by the Metals Division, and the alloy is sold to customers at a price of P150 per unit. The Mining Division is currently required by PCRC to transfer its total yearly output of 500,000 units of toldine to the Metals Division at a total actual manufacturing cost plus 10 pecent. Unlimited quantities of toldine can be purchased and sold on the open market at P90 per unit. While the Mining Division could sell all the toldine it produces at P90 per unit in the open market, it would incur a variable selling cost of P5 per unit.

Jacob Ncube, manager of the Mining Division, is unhappy with having to transfer the entire output of toldine to the Metals Division at 110 percent of cost. In a meeting with the management of PCRC, he said, "Why should my division be required to sell toldine to the Metals Division at less than Market Price? For the year ended in May, Metals' contribution margin was P24 Million on sales of 500,000 units, while Mining's contribution was only P7 Million on the transfer of the same number of units. My division is subsidizing the profitability of the Metals Division. We should be allowed to charge the market price for toldine when transferring to the Metals Division."

The following table shows the detailed unit cost structure for both the Mining and Metals divisions during the most recent year.

                                                                        Mining                        Metals

                                                                          Division                    Division

Transfer Price from Mining Division                    --                       P 66

Direct material                                                P 12                         6

Direct Labor                                                       16                         20

Manufacturing overhead                                        32                          25

Total cost per unit                                                   P60                      P 117

• Manufacturing-overhead cost in the Mining Division is 25 percent fixed and 75 percent variable.
• Manufacturing-overhead cost in the Metals Division is 60 percent fixed and 40 percent variable.

Required:

Question 1. Explain why transfer prices based on total actual costs are not appropriate as the basis for divisional performance measurement.

Question 2. Using the market price as transfer price, determine the contribution margin for both the Mining Division and the Metals Division

Question 3. If Pretoria Consolidated Resources Company were to institute the use of negotiated transfer prices and allow divisions to buy and sell on the open market, determine the price range for toldine that would be acceptable to the both the Mining Division and the Metals Division. Explain your answer.

Question 4. Use the general transfer-pricing rule to compute the lowest transfer price that would be acceptable to the Mining Division. Is your answer consistent with your conclusion in requirement (3)? Explain.

Question 5. Identify which one of the three types of transfer prices (cost-based, market-based, or negotiated) is most likely to elicit desirable management behavior at PCRC. Explain your answer.