John Sather, a local grocer in Round Lake, Minnesota established S.docx

John Sather, a local grocer in Round Lake, Minnesota established Sather Company in 1936. He sold cookies throughout southwestern Minnesota. Sather re-bagged candy that he purchased in bulk from various sources. One of his sources was Farley Candy Company. The expansion of the company continued in 1972. Sather Company went nationwide and secured product distribution to half of the nation Kmart business. The corporation expanded and purchased Kitchen Fresh Company, Bayou Candy Division of the American Candy Company, Powell’s Candy Company, and Northstar Candy Company. In 1991, Sathers had three manufacturing facilities as well as two distribution centers. Farley and Sathers merged together in 1996 and purchased confectionary business units from Kraft Foods. Farley’s and Sathers Candy Inc., became an independent company as of January 2002. The company is engages in producing and distributing a wide range of candy and confectionary products. It’s most popular products consist of panned chocolates, toffee, and caramel nuts. In May of 2002, the corporation acquired several brands from Hershey such as Jujyfruits, Jujubes, Gummi Bears, Now and Laters, Chuckles, Hot Dog, RainBlo, Super Bubble, Wunderbeans and the list continues.Farley’s and Sather has made improvements to their product quality throughout the years by differentiating different colors in each product which represent the final output for each division. Their strategy of utilizing packaging and distribution of a high caliber has assisted in maintaining their position as a strong competitor in the candy manufacturing industry.
Examine the effect of changes in the variable cost / fixed cost structure of the company on cost- volume analysis decisions by managers
We have selected a company that is engaged in candy and confectionary products. Generally cost volume analysis is meant for understanding the how the cost and volume do help to generate good amount of profit for the business. As it is a company that deals with products at a large volume, we may say that, more the volume of products, it may reduce the cost of the product to a particular level and when the sales price of product are more than that, then the product fetches profitability to the company ("Definition of 'cost-volume," 2014). As the company prepares the candy and confectionary items at a large scale, the input raw material prices and other expenses like labour, machine used etc have its price increased, so it automatically leads to increase the variable cost increasing along with the fixed costs . So the managers tend to look at the price of the input material and take appropriate decisions in order to go ahead with decisions as an impact we tend to see the price of the candy / confectionary items keep increasing year on year.
Analyze the current cost system used by the company to determine manufacturing costs and examine the benefits of using an activity-based cost system over the traditional system for management dec ...

1. John Sather, a local grocer in Round Lake, Minnesota
established Sather Company in 1936. He sold cookies
throughout southwestern Minnesota. Sather re-bagged candy
that he purchased in bulk from various sources. One of his
sources was Farley Candy Company. The expansion of the
company continued in 1972. Sather Company went nationwide
and secured product distribution to half of the nation Kmart
business. The corporation expanded and purchased Kitchen
Fresh Company, Bayou Candy Division of the American Candy
Company, Powell’s Candy Company, and Northstar Candy
Company. In 1991, Sathers had three manufacturing facilities as
well as two distribution centers. Farley and Sathers merged
together in 1996 and purchased confectionary business units
from Kraft Foods. Farley’s and Sathers Candy Inc., became an
independent company as of January 2002. The company is
engages in producing and distributing a wide range of candy and
confectionary products. It’s most popular products consist of
panned chocolates, toffee, and caramel nuts. In May of 2002,
the corporation acquired several brands from Hershey such as
Jujyfruits, Jujubes, Gummi Bears, Now and Laters, Chuckles,
Hot Dog, RainBlo, Super Bubble, Wunderbeans and the list
continues.Farley’s and Sather has made improvements to their
product quality throughout the years by differentiating different
colors in each product which represent the final output for each
division. Their strategy of utilizing packaging and distribution
of a high caliber has assisted in maintaining their position as a
strong competitor in the candy manufacturing industry.
Examine the effect of changes in the variable cost / fixed cost
structure of the company on cost- volume analysis decisions by
managers
We have selected a company that is engaged in candy and
confectionary products. Generally cost volume analysis is meant
for understanding the how the cost and volume do help to
generate good amount of profit for the business. As it is a

2. company that deals with products at a large volume, we may say
that, more the volume of products, it may reduce the cost of the
product to a particular level and when the sales price of
product are more than that, then the product fetches profitability
to the company ("Definition of 'cost-volume," 2014). As the
company prepares the candy and confectionary items at a large
scale, the input raw material prices and other expenses like
labour, machine used etc have its price increased, so it
automatically leads to increase the variable cost increasing
along with the fixed costs . So the managers tend to look at the
price of the input material and take appropriate decisions in
order to go ahead with decisions as an impact we tend to see the
price of the candy / confectionary items keep increasing year on
year.
Analyze the current cost system used by the company to
determine manufacturing costs and examine the benefits of
using an activity-based cost system over the traditional system
for management decisions.
It is very difficult to find out that, which costing system the
company is using at present as these are all up to the company’s
internal affairs. So viewing the company’s website and other
information retrieved, we draw the following conclusions.
· The existing cost system distorts profit approximation due to
Farley’s & Sathers Candy’s acquaintance to stock fluctuations
as an outcome of its costing profit being a task of both trades
and manufacture.
· Farley’s &Sathers Candy’s divisional managers have to
transact with fixed expenditures being capitalized in unsalable
stock. Supposing there is a diminution in sales demand, Farley’s
&Sathers Candy will be gone with excess stock. If such excess
is not disposed of, the income calculation for the present period
will be deceptive.
· The significances of these restrictions are that expenditures
are unethically divided between the managers notwithstanding
the fact that not all of them are tangled in all the procedures.
This will result in the misrepresentation of profit margins

3. accomplished by managers.
· The profit margins are extremely inaccurate since the costs
have been equally divided amongst the partitions. This in turn,
faults the evaluation system which is reliant on on the profit
margin to measure performance of managers.
F(x) = y, where X represents the income margin Adoption of
Activity-Based Costing System at Farley’s & Sathers Candy Inc
Activity-Based Costing is a system that computes the costs of
individual actions and assigns costs to cost substances on the
basis of the activities assumed to goods each merchandise or
service. It is demanded that ABC is particularly valuable in
companies when:
-Varying stresses on capitals.
-Volume does not energy costs;
-Expenses are a large percentage of entire cost;
-Variedproduce range;
Application of ABC at Farley’s &SathersCandy Inc will
includeconvinced stages:
-Recognizing the chief activities that take place in an
association- For Farley’s &SathersCandy Inc, packaging is the
only action that involves the three divisions.
-Assigning costs to cost pools/cost centre for each activity- For
Farley’s & Sathers Candy Inc, each activity is assigned cost
centres
-Formulating the cost driver for each chief activity-
-Assigning the price of activities to products according to each
product’s demand for undertakings.
These reasons will smear to Farley’s &SathersCandy Inc. A
wide diversity of products are produced with
extremelymechanical processes. The products are probable to
consume/cause diverse costs in their manufacture and it highly
unlikely that volume energies many of the expenses. Not all the
products pass over and done with the three procedures. For
instance, the question states that the products pass through a
mixture of common courses: one such proceduremight be
cooking. The factory pot used can be used as long as the

4. presentessence that is being cooked is needed but when a fresh
aroma is needed the pot has to be cleaned out. This causes
costs. Consequently, it can be understood that the driver of this
cost is “flavor change”, not capacity. Farley’s & Sathers Candy
Inc at present assigns most of its costs created on volume, the
merchandises that have very insufficient flavors will be bearing
too lavish cost.Limitations of ABC
Farley’s & Sathers Candy Inc will need to think very carefully
about the character of the costs. The situation says that “some
but not all the processes are common”. How can these be
charged ? .Although ABC will assist with the actions that
enclose the processes for instance set-ups, rinse and so on rather
than the procedure itself, it is very uncertain that ABC can
tender much help here. Other limits to ABC comprise
-It is based on past analysis and therefore become invalidated
when there is a alteration in the method or organization of doing
trade.
-It is not a customary reporting custom
-It does not recognize the true charge of a product or
service.Performance dimension
- Benefits of using income margin to measure managerial
performance comprise-
-Managers can evaluate whether the income being generated
cover up the wealth invested in the unit.
-Management uses it to endorse discipline in the organization’s
capital monetary plan procedure.
However the use of Return On Investment by Farley’s & Sathers
Candy Inc was based on a defective profit margin that did not
take into account the accurate costs incurred by every division.
With the opening of ABC, the correctness of the income margin
for every division will be superior. However, breakdown will
show how a manger may attempt to influence his performance
evaluation by charitable an illusion of a nice augment in
profitability when in reality managers improved their ROI but
reduced the long run value of every division. These and other
limits have escorted to the opening of the balance scorecard.

5. Conclusion of ABC
The introduction of ABC might lead to greater awareness of a
number of drivers of costs and consequently this will lead to a
healthy and defendable base for those expenditure. This will, in
turn, make the managers responsible for their proceedings and
turn their focus towards effectiveness. though, it will not
resolve the issues talked about. There is perhaps a sign of weak
management here. ABC will facilitate a better view of cost
drivers to be created and ought to consequently lead to better
activity management other than it will not cure the problems of
an unsuitable performance assessment system. Thus the
introduction of the balanced scorecard will assist management
in bring into line the performance of managers with the
visualization of Farley’s & SathersCandy Inc. The balanced
scorecard might not be sufficient and should be measured as a
pattern for measuring performance. Economic Value added or
Process re-engineering could be used to balance the balanced
scorecard.
Evaluate strategies management can implement in response to
changing conditions affecting budgetary planning and
forecasting.
Sales: $295 million (2012 actual)
Sales: $220 million (2012 actual)
Sales: $300 million (2012 budgeted)
Sales: $180 million (2012 budgeted)
In the 1970s, Bowman’s (1990) study demonstrated that firms
had developed a financial orientation in which outside actors
were considered as competitors that drive down income levels.
Though, intellect argued that benefits can also come from
partnering with competitors, customers and suppliers. The
consciousness that competitors can be supportive as well as
challenging has broadened the notion of strategic management
accounting as a procedure of information sharing among
competitors. Accounting information will be required at every
stage of the calculated decision making course of action.

6. Response To Changing Conditions
Strategy difficulty recognition: This requires non-financial,
qualitative information about issues of an internal and external
character This will engross conducting a PESTEL analysis and
analyzing Porter’s five forces production structure.
Strategic options: To generate these alternatives, management
necessitates both monetary and non monetary quantitative data
created from internal and external subjects.
Strategic measures: To select suitable actions, management
requires principally quantitative, internal information about
costs, financial, benefits and possibility of courses of action.
The requirement of monetary and non monetary data as well as
quantitative and qualitative data is what makes the former
management accounting information inadequate.
The fundamental purpose of management accounting is to help
managers in accomplishing the organization’s strategic
objectives. For this, managers have to believe the strategic
decisions involved.
Reference
Farle'ys & sathers candy company, inc. mergers & acquisitions.
(2014, February 28). Retrieved from
http://www.privco.com/private-company/farleys-and-sathers-
candy-co
Definition of 'cost-volume profit analysis'. (2014, February).
Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cost-
volume-profit-analysis.asp
Bradford, T. (2008).Types of Accounting Costing Systems.
Retrieved February 10, 2011 from
http://www.suite101.com/content/joborder-costing-a51851
Tiffany, Susan, "Sathers Secures Nice as Manufacturer," Candy
Industry, Jul 1995, p. 51.
Cohen, D. S. (2002).The Heart of Change. Boston: Harvard
Business School Publishing.
Drucker, F. (1999). Management Challenges of the 21st
Century. New York: Harper Business.
Gomez-Mejia, L. et al. (2008). Management: People,

7. Performance, Change. New York, USA: McGraw Hill.