Management Accounting, Sem 1, 2017
Assignment
81 Marks - Weight 30%
Due Date
12th May 2017, 4pm (Darwin time) (week 10)
This assignment consists of two (2) case study scenarios.
The due date and time is noted in the unit information document as well as above. It is
your responsibility to ensure you factor in any time difference between Darwin and
your location when submitting your assignment. For example, for those of you who live
on the east coast of Queensland, Darwin time is half an hour behind you.
Please construct your answer in a Word (doc or docx) file and upload using the
submission point for the assignment on Learnline.
Assignments submitted via e-mail will NOT be accepted.
There is no need to complete a university cover sheet but DO please include a title page
in your document that states your Student Name, Student Number, and your tutor’s
name.
Do not include the actual question in your submitted assignment, only include your
answer to the questions.
You will be graded on the following criteria:
Accuracy -
o Content
o Correct account names etc.
o Correct values
Presentation
o Accounting protocols
o Spelling
Be very careful that you acknowledge work of others to whom you have drawn
information from, a link to the CDU Harvard referencing guide is available on Learnline
under student resources. A link is also provided below. Any question found to be
plagiarised to any extent will result in a failed assignment. It is understood that correct
numerical answers will be identical and show up through safeassign, these will be
excluded from plagiarism charges.
http://www.cdu.edu.au/library/downloads/pdf/CDUHarvardReferencing.pdf
ACT502 Assignment Semester 1, 2017 2
Case Study 1 (31 marks)
You have recently taken a 12-month leave of absence from your job in Australia and
have accepted an AusAid sponsored position as the financial controller of the African
Nasal Hospital (ANH) group.
The ANH group was established in 1965 by Sir John Packard and his wife, Lady Julia
Packard, with the purpose of providing aid to people suffering from severe nasal issues.
While initially this aid was provided from one location, today there are 20 hospitals
throughout Africa.
Purpose
The Packards started ANH in response to a heartfelt need. While this issue was resolved
in America as far back as 1890, today more than 300,000 people in Africa suffer from
severe nasal issues due to limited access to medical treatment. Based on available
resources, ANH is able to treat approximately 25,000 patients per annum.
Funding
As patients receive free treatment at ANH, all funding for the organisation is based on
donations received from overseas organisations, as well as through aid programs run by
developed nations such as Australia and New Zealand.
Patient treatment
The two main causes of nasal issues are a lack of access to medical treatment, and poor
education. Patients suffering from severe nasal issues normally undergo a small surgical
procedure (with an 85% success rate), and then spend 14 days as an in-patient at the
hospital. Below provides a typical in-patient treatment program.
ACT502 Assignment Semester 1, 2017 3
Additional information :
Currently, all ANH staff are required to work a 40-hour week, with weekly wages
as follows: administration assistants $300, doctors $750, and nurses $450.
Anaesthetists are paid an hourly rate of $15. ANH is required to incur on-costs of
20% in relation to all employee salaries and wages.
Abuja Hospital currently employs three administration assistants, four doctors
and seven nurses, with three anaesthetists on call.
The provision of linen for all patients has been outsourced and costs $25 per bed
per week.
Patients are provided with all meals during their stay, at a cost of $15 per day.
ACT502 Assignment Semester 1, 2017 4
Medical supplies used during operations and for post-operational care have been
estimated at $250 per patient.
All surgical equipment is cleaned after each operation at a cost of $100 per
operation.
The annual administration budget for Abuja Hospital (with a 50 bed capacity) is
$195,000.
The annual corporate level administration budget for ANH is $750,000, with 975
beds available across the group’s 20 hospitals.
Annual ANH corporate level administrative costs are unlikely to be allocated to
the hospital level for the purposes of determining a break-even point as these
costs are unlikely to change should Abuja Hospital close. These costs would be
relevant if we were calculating the break-even point of the organisation.
Task:
ANH has recently been approached by a major US-based charity which has proposed to
fund ANH $1,125 for each patient treated at Abuja Hospital (one of ANH’s largest
hospitals).
Assuming that ANH accepts this proposal, You will need to:
1) Calculate the break-even number of patients for Abuja Hospital, assuming that no
other funding will be received.
To address the requirement, follow the steps below:
a. classify costs into variable and fixed
b. calculate the variable costs per patient,
c. calculate the contribution per patient
d. calculate the fixed costs (to the nearest dollar)
e. calculate the break-even number of patients for Abuja Hospital
f. calculate the current hospital capacity
2) Comment on the break-even point compared to the hospital’s capacity.
ACT502 Assignment Semester 1, 2017 5
Case Study 2 (50 marks)
Jet Santiago is the management accountant for the Pizza Gourmet chain of restaurants.
Pizza Gourmet is a successful pizza business focused on providing authentic, quality
Italian pizza.
It is a popular brand that enjoys a strong reputation for quality food and the restaurants
are known for their authentic Italian ambience.
Pizza Gourmet restaurants are popular dining venues and can command a premium
price for their pizzas. Service is either dine-in or take-away (pick-up and home
delivery).
The following factors are relevant to Pizza Gourmet.
1. Business model
The original Pizza Gourmet restaurant is still proprietor-owned, plus there are 150
franchise outlets. The business was expanded to include franchisees in July 2000 and
further expansion is planned.
2. Quality control systems
In order to maintain quality and ensure the brand promise is delivered, strong control is
maintained over franchisees. Key ingredients are received into a central hub and
premixed to the Pizza Gourmet recipe, then transported to restaurants for final
processing. An integrated stock control system is used, with all stock levels being
centrally monitored and all orders for ingredients originating only from Head Office.
3. Staff recruitment and training
Staff recruitment and training is controlled from Head Office. Pizza Gourmet manages
its staff in line with its slogan, ‘Treat your staff the way you would your best customer’.
The business uses an internally developed e-recruiting system to source staff and has
achieved significant cost savings this way. A centrally controlled enterprise resource
planning (ERP) system is used to administer all financial and operational aspects of the
business.
4. The changing economic situation
Pizza Gourmet’s business is operating well and has consistently earned high returns
over the past five years. However, with tight economic conditions many consumers are
moving from fine dining to mid-range restaurants, which means that competition in the
sector is increasing. Management is assessing options to maintain Pizza Gourmet’s
competitive advantage.
ACT502 Assignment Semester 1, 2017 6
Task:
Jet has been asked to prepare an analysis using Porter’s value chain to assist
management in assessing Pizza Gourmet’s competitive advantage.
Specifically, she has been asked to:
1. Prepare a value chain analysis for Pizza Gourmet and categorise each activity
according to Porter’s value chain. (Classify these per the activity types/value chain
element provided)
Use the following Activity types/Value chain element for your analysis:
Primary activities:
Inbound logistics
Operations
Outbound logistics
Marketing and sales
After-sales services
Support activities:
Administrative infrastructure
HR management
Technology development
Procurement
2. Assess whether each activity provided is a key element of Pizza Gourmet’s
competitive advantage. (Assess whether each activity is a key element by indicating
“Yes”or “No”)
3. Evaluate which activities Pizza Gourmet could outsource to achieve cost reduction.
(Indicate whether each activity could be outsourced by indicating “Yes”or “No”and
providing a brief explanation)
Use the template below with headings when answering tasks 2 and 3, one example of
value chain element of inbound logistics has been done for