If I know what the direct material costs are and what the total costs are, how do I calculate the $ amount of direct labor? I know that the overhead allocation rate is 75% of the direct material and direct labor combined.

Thanks!

Er... that's a new one on me. It's not uncommon for problems to have overhead as a percent of labor and make you solve for the labor and overhead -- I've never seen overhead as a percent of combined material and labor.

But:

material + labor + .75 (material + labor) = total

Can you plug in and solve the algebra?

I have material at $400 and total @2100 but can't get it to compute??

So 400 + L + .75(400 + L) = 2100

Are you having trouble setting that up, or solving the algebra? Distribute first, then combine like terms, and then solve for the L.

Thanks!

You're welcome. (I guess that means you were having trouble setting it up.)