Question

Gino’s Restaurant is a popular restaurant in Boston, Massachusetts. The owner of the restaurant has been trying to better understand costs at the restaurant and has hired a student intern to conduct an activity-based costing study. The intern, in consultation with the owner, identified the following major activities:

Activity Cost Pool	Activity Measure
Serving a party of diners	Number of parties served
Serving a diner	Number of diners served
Serving drinks	Number of drinks ordered

A group of diners who ask to sit at the same table is counted as a party. Some costs, such as the costs of cleaning linen, are the same whether one person is at a table or the table is full. Other costs, such as washing dishes, depend on the number of diners served.

  

Data concerning these activities are shown below:

   

	Serving a Party		Serving a Diner		Serving Drinks		Total
Total cost	$29,400		$69,000		$63,600		$162,000
Total activity	7,000	parties	10,000	diners	53,000	drinks

Prior to the activity-based costing study, the owner knew very little about the costs of the restaurant. She knew that the total cost for the month was $162,000 and that 10,000 diners had been served. Therefore, the average cost per diner was $16.20 ($162,000 ÷ 10,000 diners = $16.20 per diner).

Required:

1. Compute the activity rates for each of the three activities.

2. According to the activity-based costing system, what is the total cost of serving each of the following parties of diners?

a. A party of four diners who order three drinks in total.

b. A party of two diners who do not order any drinks.

c. A lone diner who orders two drinks.

3. Convert the total costs you computed in part (2) above to costs per diner. In other words, what is the average cost per diner for serving each of the following parties?

a. A party of four diners who order three drinks in total.

b. A party of two diners who do not order any drinks.

c. A lone diner who orders two drinks.

	Cost per Unit of Activity Serving a Party per party Serving a Diner per diner Serving Drinks per drink

	Total a. A party of four diners who order three drinks in total b. A party of two diners who do not order any drinks c. A lone diner who orders two drinks

	Average Cost a. A party of four diners who order three drinks in total per diner b. A party of two diners who do not order any drinks per diner c. A lone diner who orders two drinks per diner

Answer 1

(1) activity rate

	serving a party	serving a dinner	serving a drinks
Total cost	29400	69000	63600
Total activity	7000	10000	53000
Activity rate (total cost/total activity)	$4.2/serving a party	$6.9 / serving a dinner	$1.2 / serving a drinks

(2)

	Total	TOTAL	working
a.	A party of four diners who order three drinks in total	$35.4	1party+4diners+3drinks[4.2*1+6.9*4+1.2*3]
b.	A party of two diners who do not order any drinks	$18	1 party + 2diners+0drinks [4.2*1+6.9*2+1.2*0]
c.	A lone diner who orders two drinks	$12.3	1party+1DINER+2DRINK [4.2+6.9*1+1.2*1]

(3)

		Average Cost		working
a.	A party of four diners who order three drinks in total		8.85$ per diner	[35.4/4diners]
b.	A party of two diners who do not order any drinks		9$ per diner	[18/2diners]
c.	A lone diner who orders two drinks		12.3$ per diner	[12.3/1diners]