Chapter 14 Operational Performance Measurement: Sales and Direct-Cost Variances, and the Role of Nonfinancial Performance Measures

The main reason behind it is that the variance analysis of materials, labor, and overhead indicates the difference between original budget and actual sales/amount. It explains that the management should make changes in the budgets in order to diminish the chances of failure (Epstein & Jermakowicz, 2010). Moreover, the company should make changes in its all budgets like production budget, sales budget, manufacturing budget, selling budget and general & administrative. These changes would be helpful to reduce the difference between the actual and projected sales of the firm.

Use of the flexible budget shows the budgeted operating income given the actual sales. When you compare the flexible budget to the actual budget you are able to compare the total sales and cost incurred given the same units sold. The sales price variance, which is the actual sales less the flexible budgeted sales, was $14,700 favorable. This means that actual sales were higher than budgeted sales at that usage. This is attributable to the increase in service price from $25 to $26.40. Price variance for material usage was $2,100 over the flexible budget projection. This could be attributed to overuse or waste of materials. As expected, the direct labor price variance was $3,375 lower than the flexible budget amount. This is attributed to the manager’s effective use of labor. Operating expenses were also higher than the flexible budget

Variance Analysis is utilized to support the management during the initial stages. It is the procedure of investigating each variance between the actual and budgeted costs to determine the reasons as to why the planned amount was not met, in more detailed explanation (Ventureline, 2012). There are several influences that contribute to the variance report and one is the department’s assumptions, second is the possible risk for this assumption, and third is the actual expense used for the budget. Let’s say the CEO or Director announces the monthly budget that the department needs to meet. Once the department receives the monthly budget outcomes, the budget

To gain further insight, we subdivide the flexible budget variance for direct cost inputs into more detailed variances as following:

The company had a budget of $5,247,250, with the flexible budget being $5,117,385, however the final numbers were $5,096,847, which gives the company an unfavorable variance of -$130,065. Total Variable Cost however was a favorable expense. With a planned budget of $3,967,962 and a flexible budget of $3,869,612 the actual output was $3,805,400 the favorable variance came out to $98,349. Contribution margin was also an unfavorable variance (-$31,716).

Flexible budget variance is used to do the variance analysis, it measures how well the business keeps units cost material and labor inputs within standards. The comparison noted in Exhibit F uses budget data on the original activity level. Variance analysis, direct material and direct labor, indicates that they are over budget and are unfavorable significantly. As per the data for direct material it is 13% over budget ($28055 / $212195), and for direct labor it is 10% over budget ($48000/$480000).

Managers can use variance for control, decision implementation, performance evaluation, organizational learning and continuous improvement. Variances analysis can be applied to activity costs to gain insight into why actual activity differ from activity cost in static budget or in the flexible budget

A flexible budget is a budget designed to identify what resources will be required to reach a predetermine result. Comparing it to the company's master budget to identify any differences in sales or spending. Examining the differences can reveal causal factors for an underperforming budget. (Elmerraji, 2007)

Overhead costs include rent, office staff, depreciation, and other. Once the flexible budget was complete, variances between the actual and flexible budget could be calculated (Exhibit B). The variance for frame assembly was favorable with actual costs being $82,663 less than in the flexible budget. The variances for wheel and final assembly however were both unfavorable. Wheel assembly had an unfavorable variance of $50,650, while final assembly variance was the highest at an unfavorable variance of $231,200. Taking into account these three aspects of direct cost, direct cost has an unfavorable variance $199,187. Although most overhead costs are fixed, 2/3 of other costs are variable and increase with the increased production. As shown in Exhibit B, overhead variance is unfavorable at $60,000. The direct cost variance and overhead variable together lead to a total unfavorable variance of $259,187.

Companies will have set guidelines to trigger the need for a variance report such as variances over a specific percentage or dollar amount. (Cleverly, Song, & Cleverly, 2011, Pg. 381) In an analysis of revenues, a negative variation is unfavorable; in an analysis of costs, a negative variation is favorable. (Dove & Forthman, 1995) Variation is calculated by subtracting the expected or budgeted figure from the actual figure for each variable. The variable figure is then divided by the expected figure in order to establish a percentage of the variance. Wages that are over the budgeted amount would be an unfavorable variance and would be an indication that there is a need for a variance report. (Dove & Forthman, 1995) Supply costs being less than the budgeted amount would be a favorable variance, however it could result in the supplies budget being reduced if there is not a reasonable explanation as to the cause for the variance. Therefore, a variable department manager would ask for a variance report detailing the reason for the variance to be completed, otherwise it appears as if the budget is overstated and needs to be reduced.

Static and flexible budgets are district funds performed in business.The static budgets are prepared at the beginning of the period in which it is a budget does not change, unlike a flexible budget that changes as volume changes. Static budgets are established for a meticulous activity to compare the outcomes with the accounted profits and costs (Grand Canyon University). A flexible budget is made from fixed in which it remain the same except for the variable cost in which it will change the total.

The operating budget requires prepreration of data from sales, production, manufacturing, selling expense, and general and administrative expense budgets. The budget varaiance is the difference between the budgeted amount of expense or revenue, and the actual amount. The budget variance should be used when the actual revenue is higher than the budget or when the actual expense is less than the budget.

During the evening, she spent several hours studying the operating expense categories, eventually preparing Exhibit 3, which showed budgeted operating expenses by category and her judgment about their degree of variability. She also listed the actual operating expenses for the period on the exhibit.

John Deere Component Works (JDCW), subdivision of John Deere and Co. was in charged specifically of the manufacturing of tractor component parts. The demand for JDCW’s products had problems due to the collapse of farmland value and commodity prices. Numerous and constant failures in JDCW’s competition for bids, alerted top management to start questioning their current costing methods. As an outcome, the analysis has to be guided to research on the current costing methods with the intention of establishing legitimacy and to help the company in adopting a more appropriate costing system.

This paper will describe the differences between static and flexible budgets. Budgeting is a key component of financial management in any business. The most traditional form of budget is the static budget, which is one "that incorporates values about inputs and outputs that are conceived before the period in question begins" (Investopedia, 2012). This concept will be contrasted with a flexible budget. This technique allows for the values of inputs and outputs to be changed at any point, or at multiple points, during the period in question. The company would normally make such a change whenever it is realized that the change is needed. A new price from a supplier, for example, could be reflected immediately in a flexible budget, rather than at the end of the period. This and other differences between the two types of budget will be outlined in the course of this paper. The first section will explain the relationship between fixed and variable costs in a flexible budget. The second section will discuss the differences between static and flexible budgets. The third section will explain how flexible budgets can assist with cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis.