Question

Each year, Sunshine Motos surveys 7,500 former and prospective customers regarding satisfaction and brand awareness. For the current year, the company is considering outsourcing the survey to Global Associates, who have offered to conduct the survey and summarize results for $30,300.Craig Sunshine, the president of Sunshine Motors, believes that Global will do a higher-quality job than his company has been doing, but is unwilling to spend more than $10,000 above the current costs. The head of bookkeeping for Sunshine has prepared the following summary of costs related to the survey in the prior year.
Mailing $16,600
Printing (done by Lester Print Shop) $4,500
Salary of Pat Fisher, part-time employee who stuffed envelopes and summarized data when surveys were returned (100 hours X $15) $1,500
Share of depreciation of computer and software used to track survey responses and summarized results. $1,100
Share of electricity/phone/etc. based on square feet of space occupied by Pat Fisher vs. entire company. $500

Required:
What is the incremental cost of going outside versus conducting the survey as in the past?

Answer 1

Answer:

incremental cost analysis

                            survey is done      outsource survey     differential

                            by the company    to Global                   amount

Mailing costs       $16,600                 $0                              ($16,600)

Printing costs      $4,500                  $0                              ($4,500)

Labor costs         $1,500                   $0                              ($1,500)

Outsourcing         $0                         $30,300                    $30,300

costs                                                                                                    

totals                    $22,600                $30,300                   $7,700

The incremental cost of outsourcing the surveys is $7,700. Some of the current costs are unavoidable, e.g. depreciation expense and utilities, so they should not be considered in this analysis. But other costs, e.g. direct labor, are avoidable.

I know that Pat using the computer will increase the company's electric bill by a few dollars, but it would never be $500 (maybe $5). Maybe he even calls a few customers to check some answers, but again this might add $10 to the phone bill. Also, Pat using the computer's mouse or any other equipment might result in it breaking down, but that is not worth $1,500. Since the cost analysis is not specific, it is safer not to include depreciation or utilities.