act 241 project

ACCT 241 – Fall 2019 Experiential Learning Course Project
This project has several requirements listed below worth a total of 100 points which comprises 10% of your course grade. This project is due not later than 9:45am, Thursday, December 5th and must be submitted on Blackboard. Your file should include your full name and should be titled “(Insert your Name)ELCP.doc” or xlsx, or pdf depending on the file format you choose to use (e.g., SmithELCP.pdf). Whichever file format you use, make sure it will print out with proper page breaks. For example, if you choose to put all the project requirements in Excel, make sure each page or tab (if used) is properly formatted so it doesn’t run across multiple pages with phrases or parts of tables.
PROJECT SCENARIO
In about seven weeks, you will be heading home for winter break. A local not-for-profit (NFP) organization (Funtime) is planning to participate in an annual winter carnival as an annual fund- raising project and has offered you an opportunity to operate its booth. Please refer to the NFP organization as Funtime throughout the project.
WHAT WILL YOU BE SELLING?
In this booth, you will be selling a single food item highly popular at winter carnivals and festivals known as a “beaver tail”. Basically, it is fried dough that is prepared in batches ahead of time and fried using a hot oil fryer as orders are received from customers. Customers may have options to add various toppings (such as fresh fruit, fruit preserves, and chocolate sauce). You may consider what topping(s) you are willing to offer, and extra topping costs should be included in the selling price of your beaver tail.
During the operation, you will be responsible for purchasing all materials and ingredients needed, to produce and sell the beaver tails as well as hiring all of your help if needed.
HOW LONG IS YOUR OPERATION?
The carnival will run for five days from 4:00 pm – midnight local time.
WHAT WILL OPERATING EXPENSES INCLUDE?
Several operating expenses will be incurred during the five days. First, 12.5% of your gross sales revenue will be charged by the Wintertime Amusement Company (the operator of the winter carnival who provides the booth space). Second, 12.5% of your gross sales revenue will go to Funtime as its commission for providing you the booth including lighting and utilities. Third, Funtime will provide its frying equipment to you at a cost of $250 per day. This fryer equipment can fry eight beaver tails at a time but only one fryer can be used due to the size of the booth. The rental charge does not include the oil needed to fry the beaver tail.

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MARKET
In past years, annual attendance at the carnival is approximately equal to the first six digits of your AU student ID number over the five days of the carnival. Sales of beaver tails by all the various vendors (including your booth) has historically been approximately 10% of the carnival attendance, so it is a very competitive market for this short term.
PRODUCT PRICE
You will need to perform market research to determine an appropriate price for your beaver tails.
GETTING STARTED ON THE ANALYSIS
Your analysis will require you to think like an entrepreneur, deal with ambiguity, and make informed judgments as you determine the practicality and financial viability of this business venture.
To do so, you will need to determine all the ingredients of the product to make and related materials to sell it; understand the production process to make the product and get it ready for sale; and identify and research all other costs (direct or indirect) associated with this undertaking.
Thus, as you proceed, you will need to decide what data to collect (e.g., various costs, set up and production times, capacity to make enough product to make a profit) and where and how to find this information. In addition, you will need to organize, analyze, and communicate information in a way that makes sense to you and to others (in particular, the reviewer – your instructor). For example, you may need to recruit one or more associates to work with you to staff the booth, produce the product, and sell it.
PROJECT REQUIREMENTS
A. (5 points) Determine your financial goal for this five-day venture. Specifically, how much money do you expect to make on a net basis? The booth will need to operate for 40 hours so if you have an opportunity to take a temporary job for a week over winter break, you should expect to net at least as much as your net earnings would be for the week. Keep in mind you will also have to set up the operation before you open for business as well as to close it down after operating hours each day. Briefly describe how you established this goal.
B. (15 points) Briefly describe the product (that is, is it just a beaver tail or will you include additional toppings) you will sell at the carnival as well as all of the costs that you will likely incur during the week. Identify and define an appropriate cost driver for each cost. Classify each cost as variable, fixed, or mixed for the carnival time horizon. For mixed costs, if any, be sure to identify
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the variable and fixed components using linear regression or the high–low method. Please note that it is highly unlikely you will find any mixed costs. Use the format below.
To find these costs, you will need to perform research to determine the actual costs of your beaver tail production, including direct materials, direct labor, and overhead costs involved in making your product. In addition to the information provided above, document your sources for each of these costs. Be sure to list every ingredient used in making the beaver tail along with topping(s) ingredients, if offered, using the above format.
Note: You may choose to do some “window” shopping to verify prices and/or make the product to verify the quantities of the ingredients to make a batch of fried beaver tails. Alternatively, there are YouTube videos that can help you do this. For example, see https://youtu.be/1LeRh_DgYhU – be sure to note how many beaver tails are made from the recipe in this video (that is, a batch) so you can estimate the direct (that is, material and labor) costs to produce a beaver tail. Also, keep in mind what other items you will need to prepare and serve a fried beaver tail to a customer.
C. (20 points) Using the cost information you found in part B, classify these costs into the production costs of direct materials, direct labor, and overhead and selling and administrative costs for a beaver tail. Use the formats below in this section. An example of each type of cost is provided. You will first need to determine how many beaver tails you can produce in a batch and then determine the cost per unit = that is, the beaver tail.
Direct Material (per batch of X Beaver tails and per beaver tail produced)
Direct Labor (per batch of X beaver tails and per beaver tail produced)
Cost Item
Cost Type (Fixed, Mixed, Variable)
Cost Driver (if applicable)

Explanation if needed
E.g. Equipment Rental

Cost Item
Quantity per Batch
Cost per batch ($)
Cost per unit ($)
Cost Type
Source of cost estimate
Eggs
16
$ 3.00
$3.00/X
Variable
URL…….
Cost Item
Hours per Batch
Cost per hour
Cost per unit ($)
Cost Type
Source of cost estimate
Hired labor
0.10
$10 per hour
$.10/X
URL……
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Production Overhead
Selling and Administrative Cost
D. (5 points) Perform market research to estimate the appropriate price to charge for a beaver tail. Keep in mind that your chosen selling price will be partly a function of your financial goal and partly market-determined (i.e., the price needs to be realistic competitively). State your price per beaver tail and the source(s) you used to establish the price.
Selling Price per beaver tail____________ Source(s)____________________
E. (35 points) To ensure that this business venture is a viable idea and not a waste of your time, you need to perform a CVP analysis. This analysis provides the basis for assessing the reasonableness of this business opportunity. Using your answers for part B through D, determine the following:
1. The contribution margin per unit of your product? ____________
2. The contribution margin ratio? ________________
3. Total fixed costs? __________________
4. Sales volume in units at the break-even point? ________________
5. Sales revenue in dollars at the break-even point? ______________
6. Sales volume in units required to reach your financial goal? ___________ 7. Sales revenue in dollars required to reach your financial goal? _________
Provide supporting documentation for your analysis in the form of a contribution format income statement using the format below
Cost Item
Overhead Production Cost
Cost Type

Source of estimate
Fryer Equipment
$1,250
Fixed

Project information
Cost Item
Cost
Cost Type

Source of estimate cost
Booth Rental
$.125*Your selling price*units sold
Variable

Project Scenario
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Contribution Income Statement Format for Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis
Item
Price or cost per unit
No. of Units
Total
Revenue
Variable costs (list each cost)
Contribution Margin
Fixed Cost (list each cost)
Operating Income
F. (10 points) In no more than two pages, summarize your results and calculate your operating income per hour to determine if this opportunity is worth your time.
G. (10 points) Write a brief (1page) memo addressed to the Executive Director of Funtime to advise the director whether you will accept the opportunity and why. This memo should be essentially an executive summary of the project. (E.g., Mr. Feelcold, Executive Director, Funtime, Frozen Lake, MN 55805).
Your Final Report consisting of Sections A through G above. Please note: your final report should not exceed 10 pages including your narratives and tables or exhibits. You may use this project scenario as a template to organize and submit your project report.