Joint Direct Materials Variance Acme Manufacturing produces corrugated board containers that the nearby wine industry uses to package wine in bulk. Acme buys kraft paper by the ton, converts it to...

Joint Direct Materials Variance Acme Manufacturing produces corrugated board containers that the nearby wine industry uses to package wine in bulk. Acme buys kraft paper by the ton, converts it to heavy-duty paperboard on its corrugator, and then cuts and glues it into folding boxes. The boxes are opened and filled with a plastic liner and then with the wine. Many other corrugated board converters are in the area, and competition is strong. Acme is eager to keep its costs under control. The company has used a standard cost system for several years. Responsibility for variances has been established. For example, the purchasing agent is responsible for the direct materials price variance, and the general supervisor answers for the direct materials usage variance. Recently, the industrial engineer and the company’s management accountant participated in a workshop sponsored by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) at which there was some discussion of variance analysis. They noted that the workshop proposed that the responsibility for some variances was properly dual. The accountant and engineer reviewed Acme’s system and were not sure how to adapt the new information to it. Acme has the following standards for its direct materials:

Required Determine the following for Acme (Round all variances to the nearest whole dollar): 1. Direct materials price variance, calculated at point of production. Was this variance favorable (F) or unfavorable (U)? 2. Direct materials usage variance. Was this variance favorable (F) or unfavorable (U)?  3. “Pure” direct materials price variance [defined as: SQ × (AP − SP)]. Was this variance favorable (F) or unfavorable (U)?  4. Direct materials joint price-quantity variance [defined as: (AP – SP) × (AQ – SQ)]. Was this variance favorable (F) or unfavorable (U)? (Hint: You can determine the sign of the joint price-quantity variance by working backward from the total DM variance [= (AP × AQ) – (SP × SQ)], subtracting the “pure” price variance and the usage variance [both of which are calculated above].)