Wetherald Products, Inc., has a Pump Division that manufactures and sells a number of products, including a standard pump that could be used by another division in the company, the Pool Products Division, in one of its products. Data concerning that pump appear below: The Pool Products Division is currently purchasing 4,000 of these pumps per year from an overseas supplier at a cost of $74 per pump.
Assume that the Pump Division has enough idle capacity to handle all of the Pool Products Division's needs. What should be the minimum acceptable transfer price for the pumps from the standpoint of the Pump Division?
A) $74 per unit
B) $53 per unit
C) $64 per unit
D) $82 per unit

Question

Wetherald Products, Inc., has a Pump Division that manufactures and sells a number of products, including a standard pump that could be used by another division in the company, the Pool Products Division, in one of its products. Data concerning that pump appear below:  The Pool Products Division is currently purchasing 4,000 of these pumps per year from an overseas supplier at a cost of $74 per pump.
Assume that the Pump Division has enough idle capacity to handle all of the Pool Products Division's needs. What should be the minimum acceptable transfer price for the pumps from the standpoint of the Pump Division?
A) $74 per unit 
B) $53 per unit 
C) $64 per unit 
D) $82 per unit

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

From the perspective of the selling division, profits would increase as a result of the transfer if and only if:
Transfer price > Variable cost per unit + (Total contribution margin on lost sales ÷ Number of units transferred)
Transfer price > $53 per unit + ($0 ÷ 4,000 units) = $53 per unit + $0 per unit = $53 per unit