Final answer:
The financial advantage of accepting the U.S. Army's special order for 7,000 rets is $9,800. This is because the company would be reimbursed for the variable costs of $238,000 and receive an additional fee of $9,800, which contributes to covering any fixed costs or increasing profit.
Step-by-step explanation:
The financial advantage or disadvantage of accepting the U.S. Army's special order for 7,000 rets from the Polaski Company can be analyzed by looking at the incremental costs and revenues associated with the order. Since the company can produce and sell 46,000 rets per year, producing an additional 7,000 for the Army when only 39,000 are expected to be sold through regular channels would not incur any additional fixed manufacturing overhead, as these costs are already covered by the initial 39,000 units.
The variable costs for producing one ret are $25 (direct materials) + $6 (direct labor) + $3 (variable manufacturing overhead) = $34 per unit. Multiplying the variable cost by the additional 7,000 units gives a total variable cost of $238,000 for the special order. There are no variable selling expenses for this order. The U.S. Army would reimburse these costs and pay a fixed fee of $1.40 per unit, resulting in $9,800 ($1.40 x 7,000) additional revenue.
To calculate the total financial impact, add the reimbursement for variable costs to the additional fee. Thus, the total reimbursement is $238,000 + $9,800 = $247,800. Since the variable costs for the order are completely covered, the entire $9,800 fee contributes to covering fixed costs or increasing profit. Therefore, the financial advantage of accepting the special order is $9,800.