Wisconsin Administrative Code
Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
ATCP 90-139 - Trade and Consumer Protection
Chapter ATCP 103 - Dairy trade practices
Section ATCP 103.10 - Expense categories

(a) The functions to be included are the ownership and operation of buildings and grounds. Expenses shall include, but not be limited to, wage and fringe benefit expense of janitors, watchers, groundskeepers and other personnel employed in this function; rent or depreciation on buildings; real estate taxes; building insurance; building repairs; janitorial and groundskeeping supplies; purchased services for building maintenance and groundskeeping.

(b) Occupancy expense shall not include water, heat, light and power.

(c) The expenses accumulated in this category shall be allocated to other functions and cost centers on the basis of the area occupied by such functions and cost centers. Area shall be determined by measuring dimensions from current floor plans or by actual physical measurement of dimensions by tape measure. Occupancy expense for warehouse space shall be allocated to other functions and cost centers in a direct ratio to the occupancy of other space utilized by such functions and cost centers.

(a) The functions to be included are the housing and maintenance of vehicles. Expenses shall include, but not be limited to, salary, wage and fringe benefit expense of all personnel engaged in this function; depreciation and insurance of garage equipment; noncapitalized expendable tools; garage supplies; purchased parts; purchased repairs to vehicles.

(b) Expenses not to be included are gas; oil; tires; licenses; depreciation and insurance on vehicles; occupancy expense.

(c) Expenses accumulated in this category shall be converted into a value per unit factor. The unit factor value shall be based on the number of vehicles in each of 5 categories and upon a factor which represents the relative maintenance cost for each type of vehicle. The vehicle categories are passenger cars, retail route trucks, wholesale route trucks, ice cream route trucks, tank trucks and vans. Maintenance factors are passenger cars 1.0; retail route trucks 1.5; wholesale route trucks 1.8; ice cream route trucks 1.8; tank trucks and vans 2.5. The number of vehicles in each category shall be multiplied by the proportional maintenance factor for that category. The total of such extension shall be divided into the total garage expense from which a value per unit factor will be determined. This unit factor value shall be the basis for allocating garage expense back to the several categories of vehicles. Such allocations shall be transferred to the applicable functions and cost centers. In the event detailed records for individual vehicles or types of vehicles are kept, such records may be used in lieu of the relative maintenance factor, provided such records include all of the expense items specified herein.

(a) Functions included in this category are executive, financial and accounting; personnel, purchasing and general clerical. Expenses shall include, but not be limited to, salaries and fringe benefit expense of officers, department heads, their secretaries and clerical staffs; telephone and telegraph; dues, subscriptions and donations; stationery and supplies; professional services; home office expense allocations where dairy is a division of a larger corporation; franchise taxes; taxes on inventory or sales volume; insurance and depreciation on office equipment; interest paid and bank charges; allocated occupancy expense.

(b) Expenses not to be included are salaries, commissions and fringe benefit expense of salespersons and expense of vehicles assigned to them; salaries, wages, commissions and fringe benefit expense of managers of retail and wholesale sales and distribution, unless they are officers; route supervisors and driver salespersons; salaries and fringe benefit expense of plant supervisors unless they are officers; bad debts.

(c) The time and corresponding salary and fringe benefit expense of administrative personnel and of their direct secretarial personnel, along with all other expenses in this category, shall be assigned to individual cost centers or products whenever possible. The time and corresponding salary and fringe benefit expense of administrative personnel and of their direct secretarial expense, along with all other expenses which are not assigned to specific cost centers or products, shall be assigned to all products and allocated on the basis of total dollar sales. All expenses assigned to milk products, ice cream products and special products shall be allocated on the following basis:

(a) The functions included in this category are the procurement of raw milk and transportation to the processing plant. Expenses shall include, but not be limited to, salaries, wages and fringe benefit expense of the supervisor of procurement (if not an officer); fieldpersons and drivers of vehicles used in collection of milk; direct expense of operation of vehicles used in collection of milk (gas, oil, tires, depreciation, insurance); contract hauling expense; farm promotion expense; veterinary fees; expense of field and outside labor; laboratory tests; market administrator's fees.

(b) Expenses not to be included are repairs and purchased parts for vehicles, salaries of officers involved in raw milk procurement; receiving expense; garage expense; general and administrative expense.

(c) The total of expenses included in this category shall be included in raw material cost.

(a) The function included in this category is the purchase or production of water, steam, power and refrigeration. Expenses shall include, but not be limited to, wages and fringe benefit expense for stationary engineers and other personnel engaged in the production of these services; depreciation, insurance, supplies and repairs on equipment used in the production of these services; electric power and lights for plant and office; fuel for heating and steam production and similar services for plant and office; water for plant and office.

(b) Occupancy expense shall not be included in this category.

(c) The total of the expenses in this category shall be included in processing and packaging expense.

(a) Functions included are all plant functions from receiving of raw materials to loading of route trucks and including the handling of finished products at branch depots. Expenses to be included in this category are all salaries, wages and fringe benefit expense of all plant and loading platform labor and supervision; all supplies and purchased services for the plant, warehouse, cold room, hardening room and platform; all repairs, royalties, depreciation and insurance on plant equipment; all wages, fringe benefit expense, truck expense and other expense of transporting finished products from the plant to a distribution point which is not located at the plant; allocated general and administrative expenses; allocated occupancy expense; water, steam, power and refrigeration.

(b) Expenses not to be included are salaries and fringe benefit expense of plant supervisors who are officers of the company.

(c) The salaries, wages and fringe benefit expense of personnel assigned to processing, packaging and loading platform functions shall be assigned to the cost centers in which they are employed on the basis of time spent in such cost centers.

(d) The depreciation expense for equipment used in processing and packaging and loading platform functions shall be assigned to those functions on the basis of depreciation records for such equipment.

(e) Other expenses in this category shall be assigned to cost centers on the basis of available records or utilization.

(f) The transportation to branch expense shall be assigned to the loading platform function.

(g) The expense for water, steam, power and refrigeration shall be allocated to milk and ice cream products through the cold room and hardening room cost centers on the basis of point values (see Table I). For the purpose of this allocation only, one gallon of ice cream, one gallon ice cream mix or 3 dozen novelties are the equivalent of 20 fluid milk points.

(h) The general and administrative expense shall be allocated to cost centers in the same proportion that other identifiable cost center expense sub-totals bear to total expense.

(a) The functions included in this category are sales, advertising and promotion. The expenses shall include salaries, commissions, fringe benefit expense and traveling expenses of sales managers, salespersons, advertising managers, promotional driver salespersons not serving a regular delivery route, and the stenographic and clerical help directly assigned to such personnel; automobile and truck expense of personnel engaged in this function; promotion expense, including contest expense; advertising space, time, preparation and printing expense; all other direct expenses of advertising and promotion; bad debts.

(b) Expenses not included in this category are salaries and fringe benefit expense of sales managers who are officers; wages, commissions and fringe benefit expense of driver salespersons.

(c) Expenses in this category shall be assigned to product groups, milk or ice cream on the basis of the method of distribution (milk retail, milk wholesale, milk vendor, milk special route, milk private label, ice cream wholesale, ice cream vendor, ice cream special route, ice cream private label), provided that advertising space, time, preparation and printing expense and all other direct expense of advertising and promotion, other than internal promotion not directed to the general public, shall be assigned to all products and allocated on the basis of total dollar sales. None of the advertising or promotion expense shall be allocated to private label sales. Allocated occupancy expense shall be assigned to all products and allocated on the basis of total dollar sales.

(a) The expenses shall include, but not be limited to, the following: raw milk; cream; skim purchased; ingredients; pre-processing expense; ice cream or ice milk mixes; condensed or concentrated milk or skim milk; dry milk powders; any other fluid or dry milk products.

(b) The cost of raw milk to a wholesaler, regulated by Federal Market Order, shall not be less than the applicable class price and its applicable butterfat differential announced by the federal market order administrator regulating such wholesaler and any additional cost to the wholesaler such as premiums, handling and all other charges, unless a lesser cost for any applicable class can be shown by the wholesaler. Such costs shall include any federal market administrator audit adjustments.

(c) In the absence of proof of a lesser cost, a producer wholesaler selling milk of his or her own production shall include a cost per hundredweight of milk not less than the applicable class price and its applicable butterfat differential announced by the federal market administrator when such producer wholesaler is located in a geographic area regulated by any Federal Market Order. When such producer wholesaler is not located in a geographic area regulated by any Federal Market Order, in absence of a proof of lesser cost, he or she shall include a cost per hundredweight of milk not less than the applicable class price and its applicable butterfat differential announced by the federal market administrator of the Federal Market Order that is closest to the plant of such producer wholesaler.

(d) Any wholesaler not regulated by federal market order administrator shall use the price actually paid for milk purchased from producers or other sources. The price shall include all additional costs, such as premiums, handling and all other related charges.

(e) In determining separate prices for a hundredweight of butterfat and skim milk, the computation involves applying the announced butterfat differential to the prices of 3.5% milk. The computations would be as follows:

Class I skim value = Class I price - (B.F. Diff. x 35)

Class I butterfat value = Class I price + (B.F. Diff. x 965)

Class II skim value = Class II price - (B.F. Diff. x 35)

Class II butterfat value = Class II price + (B.F. Diff. x 965)

(f) All raw materials purchased from sources other than producers shall be included at invoice cost.

(g) The cost accumulated in this category of raw material expenses shall be accumulated for all products processed, and converted by computation to unit costs in accordance with unit weights specified in s. ATCP 103.17, Table VI.