Accounting-for-Decision-Makers Reviews Questions

The correct answers are B. Direct labor and D. Raw materials . Product costs are the costs incurred to manufacture or acquire a product that will be sold. In a manufacturing setting, product costs normally include direct materials (raw materials) , direct labor , and manufacturing overhead . Corporate Finance Institute summarizes product costs as including direct material, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead.

Option A. Selling and administrative expenses is incorrect because those are period costs , not product costs. Option C. Period expenses is also incorrect for the same reason. Period costs are expensed in the period incurred and are not attached to inventory production. Lumen Learning similarly distinguishes product costs from period costs by explaining that product costs include direct materials, direct labor, and overhead, while selling and administrative expenses are period costs.

Because the question asks for two examples of costs directly associated with making a product, the best answers are Direct labor and Raw materials . These are core manufacturing inputs and become part of inventory until the goods are sold.

The correct answers are C. Interest income and D. Gain on sale of assets . Net income increases when revenues and gains increase, while it decreases when expenses and losses increase. Interest income is a type of revenue or other income that adds to earnings. Gain on sale of assets also increases net income because it represents the amount by which proceeds from the sale exceed the asset’s carrying value. OpenStax notes that the income statement includes revenues, expenses, gains, and losses in measuring financial performance.

Option A. Income tax expense decreases net income because it is an expense. Option B. Cost of sales also decreases net income because it is a major operating expense deducted in arriving at gross profit and ultimately net income. Gains and interest income improve profitability, whereas expenses reduce it. This distinction is fundamental in preparing and interpreting the income statement. Therefore, the two items that increase net income are Interest income and Gain on sale of assets , making C and D the correct answers.

The correct answer is C. Raw materials cost . A cost incurred as part of the production process is a product cost , and raw materials are one of the most direct examples. In manufacturing, raw materials are inputs physically used to create finished goods, so they are clearly part of production. Manufacturing cost guidance consistently identifies direct materials, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead as production-related costs.

Option A, sunk cost , refers to a past cost that has already been incurred and cannot be changed, so it is a decision-making concept rather than a specific production input. Option B, opportunity cost , represents the benefit forgone by choosing one alternative over another, not an actual recorded production cost. Option D, period cost , refers to costs such as selling and administrative expenses that are expensed in the period incurred and are not part of the manufacturing process. Because raw materials are directly consumed in producing goods, they are the clearest example of a cost incurred as part of production. Therefore, the correct answer is Raw materials cost , making Option C correct.

The correct answer is C . Under activity-based costing (ABC) , overhead is reassigned based on the activities that actually drive cost consumption. ABC often reveals that one product was previously undercosted while another was overcosted under traditional volume-based allocation. OpenStax explains that ABC can shift overhead between products and provide more accurate product-cost information for pricing and decision-making.

For Product A , the new overhead rises from $3 to $8 , increasing total unit cost from $6 ($2 + $1 + $3) to $11 ($2 + $1 + $8). Since the current selling price is only $8 , Product A is now shown as underpriced, so its selling price would likely need to increase . For Product B , overhead falls from $4 to $2 , reducing total unit cost from $9 to $7 . With a current selling price of $12 , Product B appears more profitable than previously believed, so management could choose to decrease its price if needed for competitive reasons. Therefore, the most logical result is Product A price up, Product B price down , which is Option C .