Peregrine: Coordinating a Rapidly Growing Operation — سؤال دراسة حالة في المحاسب الإداري المعتمد

The case

Peregrine Survey Robotics builds compact mapping robots for engineering firms. The business is growing unevenly across customer segments. The assembly supervisor releases batches whenever finished inventory falls below the prior month's shipments. The commercial team announces promotions without checking component availability. Treasury learns about major supplier payments only when invoices arrive. Each function uses its own forecast, and the planning file covers only the next month.

A new controller is introducing coordinated sales, inventory, production and cash planning. For the assembly operation, the approved monthly cost model is $9,600 fixed cost plus $72 per robot produced. In June, actual production was 350 robots and actual total assembly cost was $33,900.

Assumptions

June activity is within the relevant range, and the $72 rate and $9,600 fixed amount are the applicable budget standards.
For the cost variance, use actual cost minus flexible-budget cost: negative is favorable.
The matching question asks for the primary planning weakness explicitly described by each observation.

Peregrine's flexible cost budget applies planned rates to Activity used to flex output. Comparing actual cost with that budget removes the effect of Effect removed from the spending comparison. If output rises above the static plan and the variable rate is unchanged, the static comparison can show an apparently Apparent static cost direction cost variance merely because more robots were built.

Calculate June's assembly-cost variance as actual cost minus flexible-budget cost. Enter whole US dollars, using a negative amount for favorable and a positive amount for unfavorable; no rounding is necessary.

Answer USD

A whole number. A negative amount may be written with a minus sign or in brackets.

Select TWO features the controller should build into Peregrine's new budgeting process.

Select two answers. Selected 0 / 2

Answer Let each function keep its own demand forecast and reconcile the totals at year-end. Require all budget estimates to equal the prior month's actual amounts. Use operating managers' information while reviewing assumptions for consistency and possible slack. Freeze approved volumes for the full year so that each function can plan without interruption. Set challenging but attainable targets and connect them to the company's operating priorities.

To require justification of discretionary activities without automatic renewal of the prior base, use Justifying the spending base budgeting. To maintain a twelve-month forecast by adding a new month as each month closes, use Maintaining the horizon budgeting. To estimate support costs from the number of setups, inspections and orders required, use Using activity drivers budgeting.

Select TWO ways a shared budgeting process would address the communication failures described at Peregrine.

Select two answers. Selected 0 / 2

Answer A proposed sales promotion can trigger discussion of component lead times, production capacity and collection timing before commitments are made. A signed budget eliminates the need for future conversations between treasury and operations. Finance can replace all operational quantities with one total-dollar target. A common set of volumes and timing assumptions allows treasury to plan supplier payments and funding needs alongside the operating plan. The commercial team can promise deliveries without capacity review once an annual revenue total is approved.

After a major customer delays a project, which response best uses Peregrine's budget as a management tool?

Answer Keep the original production schedule and hold the extra units in inventory until the customer's project restarts. Update the sales, inventory and cash forecasts and coordinate actions, while keeping the approved budget for variance analysis. Replace the approved budget with the new forecast so that reported variances reflect only controllable performance. Require assembly to make up the missing sales through additional production.

Match each observation to the primary planning weakness it demonstrates. Each row focuses on one stated feature.

Assembly releases a batch only after finished inventory has already fallen below the prior month's shipments.

Treasury learns about large supplier payments only when the invoices arrive.

Promotions are approved without translating the expected sales increase into inventory requirements.

Commercial, assembly and treasury teams each approve a different demand forecast.

The planning file ends after the next month and is not extended to preserve a forward-looking horizon.

The marks, the correct answers and the explanations appear as soon as the answers are submitted. Unanswered questions earn no marks.

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