Rob McMillan owns an oil and propane distribution company. He is concerned about rising fuel prices and some customers falling behind on payments. The document provides a case study asking the reader to: 1) Calculate Rob's net price per gallon of fuel oil after applying trade discounts from his current supplier. 2) Determine whether a new supplier offering a better discount rate would provide a better deal. 3) Calculate customer savings from early payment discounts and penalties from late payments based on average monthly sales. 4) Re-calculate the results based on updated percentages of customers utilizing discounts and making late payments. It suggests Rob should be concerned because fewer customers are taking discounts and more are paying late.

1. Case Study 8-2 McMillan Oil &
Propane, LLC
Note: Show all work and calculations. The use of Microsoft® Excel® software is required.
Case Study 8-2: McMillan Oil & Propane, LLC
Rob McMillan finished reading the article in the local paper, “Fuel Prices Expected to Increase
into Summer.” The article cited major factors in the crude oil spike such as Iran’s nuclear
program and overall Mideast instability. Rob, an independent fuel oil and propane distributor in
rural Virginia, thought this wasn’t good news. It had been a moderate winter, but wholesale fuel
prices were higher than normal. Rob grabbed the last invoice from his supplier and saw that fuel
oil was priced at $1.964 per gallon, with trade discounts of 7/5/2.5 available. It seemed like
those discounts were not as good as in the past. McMillan Oil offers its own customers credit
terms of 2/15, net/30, with a 1% service charge on late payments. Of the $25,000 in average
fuel oil sales per month, normally half of Rob’s sales are paid within the discount period, and
only 5% incur the monthly service charge. Rob is concerned because a number of his fuel oil
customers are behind in their payments, and he is considering some changes.
1. Using the starting price of $3.353 per gallon, what is Rob’s net price after applying the
7/5/2.5 trade discount series using the net decimal equivalent?
2. Rob is considering purchasing his fuel oil from a new supplier offering fuel oil at $3.561 per
gallon, but with a better trade discount series of 10/7/4. Compared to your answers in Exercise
1, which supplier would be a better deal for his company?
3. Using the average monthly sales of $25,000, what is the total savings enjoyed by those fuel
oil customers who normally pay within the discount period? What is the total penalty paid by
those that are delinquent over 30 days?
4. Currently, only 25% of the sales volume is paid by customers who are taking advantage of
the discount, and 20% of the sales are over 30 days. Using these figures, how does that change
your results from Exercise 3 above? Because your answers show that Rob is presently making
more money (at least he should), why should he be concerned about the current situation? What
suggestions do you have?
Link: https://tutorsof.wordpress.com/2016/07/02/case-study-8-2-mcmillan-oil-propane-llc/