Relevant information & Decision making

Managerial decision making is a process of making choices. If a choice is to be made among alternatives, there must be differences among the alternatives. Relevant information should be used by the decision maker in evaluating the alternatives and in making decisions.

Characteristics of Relevant Information:

Relevant information has two characteristics:

  1. Impact on the Future:

Relevant information has bearing on the future. Relevant information focuses on the future because every decision deals with selecting courses of action for the future. Noth­ing can be done to alter the past. The consequences of decisions are born in the future, not the past. Information to be relevant (i.e. relevant costs and benefits) to a decision should imply a future event.

Since relevant information involves future events, the managerial accountant must predict the amounts of the relevant costs and benefits. In making these predictions, the accountant often will use estimates of cost behavior based on historical data. There is an important and subtle issue here. Relevant information must involve costs and benefits to be realized in the future. However, the ac­countant’s predictions of those costs and benefits often are based on data from the past.

  1. Different under Different Alternatives:

Relevant information includes costs and benefits that differ among the alternatives. Expected future revenues and costs that do not differ or remain the same across alternatives have no impact on the decision and therefore irrelevant and should be eliminated from the relevant information analysis.

Further, in relevant information, due weight-age must be given to qualitative factors and quan­titative non financial factors.

According to Hilton, information to be useful for decision making should possess three char­acteristics:

  1. Relevance
  2. Accuracy
  3. Timeliness

Relevant Information and Differential Analysis:

Relevant information implies relevant costs and relevant revenues (benefits) which are useful to evaluate alternatives, to ascertain the effect of various alternatives on profit and to finally select the alternative with the greatest benefit.

Relevant revenues and relevant costs are defined as the current and future values that differ among the alternatives under consideration. They are the differences between the alternatives under consideration. The amounts of such differences are called differentials and the (accounting) analysis concerned with the effect of alternatives on revenues and costs is called differential analysis.

Thus, differential analysis, known as relevant information analysis also, is defined as the use of relevant revenues and relevant costs in decision making. Relevant revenues and costs are also known as differential revenues and differential costs. This analysis provides a decision rule to managers in decision-making which is ‘the alternative that gives the greatest incremental profit should be selected’. Incremental profit is the difference between the relevant revenues and relevant costs of each alternative.

A differential analysis of relevant costs is always preferable to complete analysis of all costs and revenues for a number of reasons:

(i) A differential analysis focuses on only those items that differ, providing a clearer picture of the impact of the decision at hand. Management is less apt to be confused by this analysis than by one that combines relevant and irrelevant items.

(ii) A differential analysis contains fewer items, making it easier and quicker to prepare.

(iii) A differential analysis can help to simplify complex situations (such as those encountered by multiple-product or multiple-plant firms), when it is difficult to develop complete firm-wide statements to analyze all decision alternatives.

Relevant Revenues:

Relevant (differential) revenue as stated earlier, is the amount of increase or decrease in revenue expected from a particular course of action as compared with an alternative. For instance, assume that a plant is being used to manufacture product A, which gives revenue of Rs 3, 00,000. If the plant could be used to make product B, which will provide revenue of Rs 3,50,000 the differential revenue from making and selling product B will be Rs 50,000.

Accrual Profit and Cash Flow:

Relevant revenues are like cash inflows. If the amount of accrual profit and cash flow differs, the manager should give importance to cash flow. I or short-run managerial decisions, timing of cash flow, i.e., when the cash flows are received, are not so important. However, for long-run decisions where the time span is usually for more than one year, the timing of cash flows is important in the evaluation of alternatives and in making decisions.

Relevant Costs:

Relevant Costs are also known as differential costs, decision making costs. Relevant or differential cost is the difference in the total costs between alternative choices. It is difference in total costs between two volumes. It is the cost that should be considered when a decision is made involving an increase or decrease of n units of output above a specified output.

When a decision results in an increased cost, the differential cost may be referred to as an incremental cost. If the cost decreases, the differential cost may be referred to as a decremental cost. The incremental cost includes the change in fixed component as well as the variable component. Assume that a company has physical facilities to manufacture 20,000 units of a product; production beyond that point would require the installation of additional equipment, that is, fixed costs as well as variable costs will have to be incurred if management desires to produce more than 20,000 units.

Differential and Incremental:

The term differential is more inclusive than incremental. The latter term suggests increases, and some decisions produce decreases in both revenues and costs. But the terms are not as important as what they denote. Differential costs are avoidable costs. If a company can change a cost by taking one action as opposed to another, the cost is avoidable and therefore differential.

Suppose a company could save Rs 5, 00,000 in salaries and other fixed costs if it stopped selling a product in a particular geographical region. The Rs 5, 00,000 is avoidable (differential) because it will be incurred if the company continues to sell in the region and will not be incurred if the firm stops selling in that region. Of course, the company will lose revenue if it discontinues sales in the region. Hence, the lost revenue is also differential in a decision to stop selling in the region.

Relevant costs vary with the type of decision. However, the following are the common char­acteristics of relevant costs:

(1) Relevant costs are expected future costs.

(2) They differ between different decision alternatives.

Expected future costs imply that the costs are expected to occur during the time period covered by the decision. For example, new product will need the incurrence of direct material, direct labour and other costs. Relevant costs also differ between decision alternatives. For example, a graduate may choose between higher education and immediate employment.

The costs that are relevant in this decision and which differ between the two decision are the costs of books, fees, etc., because these costs will not be incurred if the graduate takes up employment. However, irrelevant costs are costs of accommodation, clothing’s, etc. which will have to be incurred under both the decisions.

The differential cost concept is one of the most useful in planning and decision making. It provides a tool for testing the profitability of increased output for an acceptable alternative. In many short-run decisions, only costs, not revenues, will change. In this case, the most beneficial (profitable) decision will be one with the lowest cost because the lowest cost alternative will give the highest profit for the business enterprise, provided all other factors remain constant.

Join product cost

There are some industries where two or more products come out of a single raw material which is equally important. These are referred to as joint products.

C.l.M.A. defines joint product as Two or more products separated in the course of processing, each having a sufficiently high saleable value to merit recognition as a main product’.

According to T. Lang, Joint products means “Two-or more products separated in the course of the same processing operation, usually requiring further processing, each product being in such proportion that no single product can be designated as major product”.

In short, we can say, when two or more products of equal importance are simultaneously produced, then they are known as joint products.

Example:

In oil industry kerosene, gasoline, fuel oil, lubricants etc. are all produced from the same product, crude petroleum. They are of equal important; hence they are called joint products.

Meaning of By-Products:

Terminologically, a by-product is defined as “a product which is recovered incidentally from the material used in the manufacture of recognised main products, such a by­product having either a net realisable value or a usable value which is relatively low in comparison with the saleable value of the main products. By-product may be further processed to increase their realisable value.”

Example:

(a) In soap-making industry—in the process of mixing and boiling ingredients many rejections take place. These rejections are collected for recovery as by-product.

(b) In coke ovens gas and tar are treated as by-products.

Distinctions between Joint Products and By-Products:

The following are points of distinctions:

(i) Joint products are of equal importance while by-products are of not equal importance as compared to that of the main products.

(ii) Joint products are produced simultaneously while by-products are produced incidentally.

(iii) Joint products are of more or less equal sales value while by products is of insignificant sales value.

Meaning of Co-Products:

Co-products are such products which are produced simultaneously with the main product but not necessarily from the same raw material.

Example:

In lumbering operations, it is possible to obtain oak, pine and walnut boards at the same time but from different trees.

The concept of joint product, by-product and co-product can be clarified by the following diagram:

M: Material

P1 & P2 = Process I and Process II

S = Split-off point

M1 = Material required for co-product A

M2 = Material required for co-product B

PA & PB = Process operation for Products A and B, respectively.

Job Costing

Job Costing

Job costing is accounting which tracks the costs and revenues by “job” and enables standardized reporting of profitability by job. For an accounting system to support job costing, it must allow job numbers to be assigned to individual items of expenses and revenues. A job can be defined to be a specific project done for one customer, or a single unit of product manufactured, or a batch of units of the same type that are produced together.

To apply job costing in a manufacturing setting involves tracking which “job” uses various types of direct expenses such as direct labour and direct materials, and then allocating overhead costs (indirect labor, warranty costs, quality control and other overhead costs) to the jobs. A job profitability report is like an overall profit & loss statement for the firm, but is specific to each job number.

Job costing may assess all costs involved in a construction “job” or in the manufacturing of goods done in discrete batches. These costs are recorded in ledger accounts throughout the life of the job or batch and are then summarized in the final trial balance before the preparing of the job cost or batch manufacturing statement.

Job Costing Allocation of Materials

In a job costing environment, materials to be used on a product or project first enter the facility and are stored in the warehouse, after which they are picked from stock and issued to a specific job. If spoilage or scrap is created, then normal amounts are charged to an overhead cost pool for later allocation, while abnormal amounts are charged directly to the cost of goods sold. Once work is completed on a job, the cost of the entire job is shifted from work-in-process inventory to finished goods inventory. Then, once the goods are sold, the cost of the asset is removed from the inventory account and shifted into the cost of goods sold, while the company also records a sale transaction.

Job Costing Allocation of Labor

In a job costing environment, labor may be charged directly to individual jobs if the labor is directly traceable to those jobs. All other manufacturing-related labor is recorded in an overhead cost pool and is then allocated to the various open jobs. The first type of labor is called direct labor, and the second type is known as indirect labor. When a job is completed, it is then shifted into a finished goods inventory account. Then, once the goods are sold, the cost of the asset is removed from the inventory account and shifted into the cost of goods sold, while the company also records a sale transaction.

Job Costing Allocation of Overhead

In a job costing environment, non-direct costs are accumulated into one or more overhead cost pools, from which you allocate costs to open jobs based upon some measure of cost usage. The key issues when applying overhead are to consistently charge the same types of costs to overhead in all reporting periods and to consistently apply these costs to jobs. Otherwise, it can be extremely difficult for the cost accountant to explain why overhead cost allocations vary from one month to the next.

The accumulation of actual costs into overhead pools and their allocation to jobs can be a time-consuming process that interferes with closing the books on a reporting period. To speed up the process, an alternative is to allocate standard costs that are based on historical costs. These standard costs will never be exactly the same as actual costs, but can be easily calculated and allocated.

Features of job costing:

(a) It is a Specific Order Costing.

(b) The job is carried out or a product is produced to meet the specific requirements of the order. It may be related to single unit or a batch of similar units.

(c) It is concerned with the cost of an individual job or batch regardless of the time taken to produce it, but normally short duration jobs.

(d) Costs are collected to each job at the end of its completion.

(e) The costs of each job is ascertained by adding materials, labour and overheads.

(f) Only prime cost elements are traceable and the overheads are apportioned to each job on some appropriate basis and sometimes it is difficult to select a suitable method of absorption of overheads to individual jobs.

(g) Standardization of controls is comparatively difficult as each job differs and more detailed supervision and control is necessary.

(h) Work-in-progress may or may not exist at the end of the accounting period.

Advantages of Job Costing:

(a) The profit or loss made on each job can be measured if cost is set against the price tendered for the job.

(b) It generates the cost data useful for the analysis and control by the management.

(c) It highlights whether or not a job is likely to be profitable or not.

(d) It readily fits into the double entry system, and lends itself to performance evaluation and review of costs.

(e) Job costing enables a comparison to be made with performance on other jobs so that inefficiencies are identified and rectified.

(f) Some jobs are negotiated on a ‘cost plus’ basis, if there is difficulty in estimating a price for a certain job and the customer agrees to pay the cost of the job plus an agreed percentage as a profit margin. In cost plus jobs it is essential to maintain reliable costing records.

(g) The cost incurred to date on the job are known before the job is completed, and any mistakes or excessive costs show up at an early stage.

The major disadvantage of Job costing is that it is too expensive, time consuming in maintenance of cost records for each job undertaken.

Batch Costing

Batch Costing is used where articles are produced in batches and held in stock for assembly of components to produce finished products or for sale to customers. Costs are collected against each batch. When the batch is completed cost per unit is computed by dividing total cost by the number of units in each batch.

Batch Costing is used for producing articles like radio, television, watches, pen etc. where a large number of components are assembled to complete the finished products. If the components are produced in batches of large quantity it becomes economical and reduces overall cost of the product. In Batch Costing the important problem is to determine the optimum size of the batch or how much to produce.

Like Economic Order Quantity for materials the Economic Batch Quantity can be derived with the help of table, graph or mathematical formula since production under Batch Costing Method involves two elements of cost namely.

1) Setup or preparation costs which remains fixed per batch irrespective of the size of the batch and

2) Carrying Cost or Storage Cost which vary directly with the size of the batch.

Nature and Uses

Batch costing is a modified form of job costing. While job costing is concerned with costing of jobs that are executed against specific orders of the customers, batch costing is used where articles are manufactured in definite batches. The articles are usually kept in stock for selling to customers on demand.

The term batch refers to the ‘lot’ in which the articles are to be manufactured. Whenever a particular product is required, one unit of such product is not produced but a lot of ‘say’ 500 or 1,000 units of such product is produced. It is therefore also known as “Lot Costing”.

This method of costing is used in case of pharmaceutical or drug industries, ready-made garment factories, industries manufacturing component parts of radios, television sets, watches etc. The costing procedure for batch costing is similar to that under job costing except with the difference that a batch becomes the cost unit instead of a job.

Separate job cost sheets are maintained for each batch of products. Each batch is allotted a number. Material requisitions are prepared batch wise, the direct labour is engaged batch wise and the overheads are also recovered batch wise. Cost per unit is ascertained by dividing the total cost of a batch by number of items produced in that batch. Ordinary principles of inventory control are used.

Production orders are issued only when the stock of finished goods reaches the ordering level. In case the batches are repetitive, the costing work is much simplified.

Features

  1. The batch is the cost unit.
  2. The batch cost sheet is prepared in the similar manner as it is done in case of job costing. It shows essentially the same information in respect of the batch that job cost sheet shows in respect of a job.
  3. Economic batch quantity is calculated after considering set up cost, carrying cost and annual demand.
  4. Batch Account is opened for each batch. All direct materials, direct labour and production overheads are debited to the Batch Account. After completion, batch cost is transferred to cost of sales.

Formula

Cost per Unit = Total Batch Cost/ Total units in a Batch

For each and every batch, the cost sheet is prepared and maintained, by allotting the batch number. There is batch wise preparation of material requisition note, engagement of labor and recovery of overheads.

This costing method is employed by firms to manufacture a large number of similar items or components, as they pass through the same process and so it is beneficial to ascertain their cost of production collectively.

Job costing vs. Process costing

Job costing (known by some as job order costing) is fundamental to managerial accounting. It differs from Process costing in that the flow of costs is tracked by job or batch instead of by process.

The distinction between job costing and process costing hinges on the nature of the product and, therefore, on the type of production process:

Process costing is used when the products are more homogeneous in nature. Conversely, job costing systems assign costs to distinct production jobs that are significantly different. An average cost per unit of product is then calculated for each job.

  • Process costing systems assign costs to one or more production processes. Because all units are identical or very similar, average costs for each unit of product are calculated by dividing the process costs by the number of units produced.
  • Many businesses produce products with some unique features and some common processes. These businesses use costing systems that have both job and process costing features.
Job Costing Batch Costing
Product production process Each product has specific job orders, each of which follows a distinctive process of production. Products are homogeneous and they are produced in a continuous flow.
Purpose The main purpose of job costing is to accumulate all the costs incurred for completing a job. The main purpose of batch costing is to ascertain the cost of each component produced in a batch. For this, the total cost of one batch is calculated first.
Cost Calculation Costs are determined on a job basis. Costs are determined on a batch basis.
Scope of the Costing Job costing includes batch costing. Batch costing is a variant of job costing. Here, costs are accumulated for specific batches of similar products.
Supervision and Control As each job is different, there can’t be any standardization of controls. Careful supervision and strict control are necessary to avoid wastage of materials, machinery, and other resources. Comparatively, fewer controls are required since products are manufactured in batches and share the same set of resources.
Cost units In this method of costing, cost units, i.e., jobs are separately identified and need to be separately costed. Here, a batch is a cost unit that consists of a readily identifiable group of product units.
Adaptability It is useful in industries that accept orders as per the requirements of the customer. It is useful in industries where identical products are produced in large quantities.

Process Costing

Process Costing is defined as a branch of operation costing, that determines the cost of a product at each stage, i.e. process of production. It is an accounting method which is adopted by the factories or industries where the standardized identical product is produced, as well as it passes through multiple processes for being transformed into the final product.

Process costing is a cost accounting technique, in which the costs incurred during production are charged to processes and averaged over the total units manufactured. For this purpose, process accounts are opened in the books of accounts, for each process and all the expenses relating to the process for the period is charged to the respective process account.

Hence, it ascertains the total cost and unit cost of a process, for all the processes carried out in industry. Further, the average cost represents the cost per unit, wherein the total cost is divided by the total number of outputs produced during the period to arrive at the cost per unit. The cost per unit can be calculated using First in First Out Method (FIFO), Average Method and Weighted average Method.

Features of Process Costing

  • The plant has various divisions, and each division is a stage of production.
  • The production is carried out continuously, by way of the simultaneous, standardized and sequential process.
  • The output of a process is the input of another.
  • The production from the last process is transferred to finished stock.
  • The final product is homogeneous.
  • Both direct and indirect costs are charged to the processes.
  • The production may result in joint and by-products.
  • Losses like normal and abnormal loss occur at different stages of production which are also taken into consideration while calculating the unit cost.
  • The output of one process is transferred to another one at a price that includes the profit of the previous process and not at the cost.
  • At the end of the period, if there remains the stock of finished goods, then it is also expressed in equivalent completed units. It can be calculated as:
    Equivalent units of semi-finished goods or WIP = Actual number of units in process × Percentage of work completed

Process costing is employed by the industries whose production process is continuous and repetitive, as well as the output of one process is the input of another process. So, chemical industry, oil refineries, cement industries, textile industries, soap manufacturing industries, paper manufacturing industries use this method.

Process costing is used when there is mass production of similar products, where the costs associated with individual units of output cannot be differentiated from each other. In other words, the cost of each product produced is assumed to be the same as the cost of every other product. Under this concept, costs are accumulated over a fixed period of time, summarized, and then allocated to all of the units produced during that period of time on a consistent basis. When products are instead being manufactured on an individual basis, job costing is used to accumulate costs and assign the costs to products. When a production process contains some mass manufacturing and some customized elements, then a hybrid costing system is used.

Examples of the industries where this type of production occurs include oil refining, food production, and chemical processing. For example, how would you determine the precise cost required to create one gallon of aviation fuel, when thousands of gallons of the same fuel are gushing out of a refinery every hour? The cost accounting methodology used for this scenario is process costing.

Process costing is the only reasonable approach to determining product costs in many industries.   It uses most of the same journal entries found in a job costing environment, so there is no need to restructure the chart of accounts to any significant degree.  This makes it easy to switch over to a job costing system from a process costing one if the need arises, or to adopt a hybrid approach that uses portions of both systems.

Example of Process Cost Accounting

As a process costing example, ABC International produces purple widgets, which require processing through multiple production departments. The first department in the process is the casting department, where the widgets are initially created. During the month of March, the casting department incurs Rs. 50,000 of direct material costs and Rs. 120,000 of conversion costs (comprised of direct labor and factory overhead). The department processes 10,000 widgets during March, so this means that the per unit cost of the widgets passing through the casting department during that time period is Rs. 5.00 for direct materials and Rs. 12.00 for conversion costs. The widgets then move to the trimming department for further work, and these per-unit costs will be carried along with the widgets into that department, where additional costs will be added.

Manufacturing Costs

Manufacturing costs are the costs incurred during the production of a product. These costs include the costs of direct material, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead. The costs are typically presented in the income statement as separate line items. An entity incurs these costs during the production process.

Direct material is the materials used in the construction of a product. Direct labor is that portion of the labor cost of the production process that is assigned to a unit of production. Manufacturing overhead costs are applied to units of production based on a variety of possible allocation systems, such as by direct labor hours or machine hours incurred.

Example of Manufacturing Costs

Manufacturing costs are typically divided into three categories:

  1. Direct materials cost

The cost of raw materials used in the manufacturing process is one of the most common manufacturing expenses companies measure. You should always strive to deal with vendors to get the lowest possible prices on raw materials, and you should initiate quality control methods to avoid wasting raw materials. Another way raw materials costs can get out of hand is by keeping too much materials inventory. This costs you not only for the cost of the materials themselves, but also for warehousing and tracking them. Review your ordering methods to make sure you keep only the minimum amount of raw materials on hand.

  1. Direct labor cost

Paying wages to employees will be one of your major manufacturing expenses. You will need to constantly monitor this cost to make sure you are getting enough production for the money you are putting into labor. Average all the wages of your production crew and calculate how much labor costs you per hour and per day. Here is how to do the calculaton. Add all wages paid in a month and divide by the number of employees. Divide this figure by the number of work days in the month. This is your daily average wage paid. Divide this figure by the number of hours in a shift to get wages paid per hour.

  1. Manufacturing overhead

Manufacturing overhead is any manufacturing cost that is neither direct materials cost or direct labor cost. Manufacturing overhead includes all charges that provide support to manufacturing.

Manufacturing overhead includes

  • Indirect labor cost: The indirect labor cost is the cost associated with workers, such as supervisors and material handling team, who are not directly involved in the production.
  • Indirect materials cost: Indirect materials cost is the cost associated with consumables, such as lubricants, grease, and water, that are not used as raw materials.
  • Other indirect manufacturing cost: includes machine depreciation, land rent, property insurance, electricity, freight and transportation, or any expenses that keep the factory operating.
  1. Incidental Expenses

In addition to the three most common manufacturing costs, you have expenses for supplies such as tools, tape, lubricants and safety gear. Once you get a handle on your three largest manufacturing expenses, examine your facility to see where else you spend money that goes into your manufacturing costs. One issue you should pay particular attention to is defective products. The costs of manufacturing products that get rejected in quality control can add up quickly.

Production Costs vs. Manufacturing Costs Example

For example, a small business that manufactures widgets may have fixed monthly costs of $800 for its building and $100 for equipment maintenance. These expenses stay the same regardless of the level of production, so per-item costs are reduced if the business makes more widgets.

In this example, the total production costs are $900 per month in fixed expenses plus $10 in variable expenses for each widget produced. To produce each widget, the business must purchase supplies at $10 each. Each widget sells for $100. After subtracting the manufacturing cost of $10, each widget makes $90 for the business.

To break even, the business must produce 10 widgets every month. It must make more than 10 widgets to become profitable.

Measurement of Cost Behaviour

Cost can be classified into (i) fixed, (ii) variable and (iii) mixed costs, in terms of their vari­ability or changes in cost behaviour in relation to changes in output, or activity or volume. Activity may be indicated in any forms such as units of output, hours worked, sales, etc.

The classification of cost behaviour has been explained below:

  1. Fixed Cost

Fixed cost is a cost which does not change in total for a given time period despite wide fluc­tuations in output or volume of activity. The ICMA (U.K.) defines fixed cost as “a cost which tends to be unaffected by variations in volume of output. Fixed costs depend mainly on the affluxion of time and do not vary directly with volume or rate of output.” These costs, also known as standby costs, capacity costs or period costs, arise primarily because of the provision of facilities, physical and human, to carry on business operations.

Fixed costs enable a business firm to do a business, but they are not purely incurred for manu­facturing. Examples of fixed costs are rent, property taxes, supervising salaries, depreciation on office facilities, advertising, insurance, etc. They accrue or are incurred with the passage of time and not with the production of the product or the job. This is the reason why fixed costs are expressed in terms of time, such as per day, per month or per year and not in terms of unit. It is totally illogical to say that a supervisor’s salary is so much per unit.

By nature, the total fixed costs are constant which means that the fixed costs per unit will vary. Shows the behaviour of fixed costs in total and on a per unit basis. When a greater num­ber of units are produced, the fixed cost per unit decreases. On the contrary, when a lesser number of units are produced, the fixed cost per unit increases. This variability of fixed cost per unit creates problems in product costing. The cost per unit depends on the number of units produced or the level of activity achieved.

However, it should be improper to say that total fixed costs never change in amount. Rents, insurance, rates, taxes, salaries and other similar items may go up or down depending on the circum­stances. The basic concept is that the term “fixed” refers to fixity (non-variability) related to specific volume (or relevant range); the term does not imply that there will be no changes in fixed cost. This characteristics of fixed cost has been shown in below.

According to Exhibit. 2.4, the following are the fixed costs at different levels of production:

(a) Rs 50,000 fixed cost between 20,000 and 80, 000 units of production.

(b) Rs 60,000 fixed cost in excess of 80,000 units. This assumes that increases in production after a certain level (80,000 units) requires increase in fixed expenses which have been fixed earlier, e.g., additional supervision, increase in quality control costs.

(c) Rs 25,000 fixed cost from zero units (shut down) to 20,000 units. This explains that if the level of activity comes to less than 20,000 units, some fixed costs may not be incurred. For example, if the plant is shut down or production is reduced, many of the fixed costs, such as costs on accounting functions, supplies, staff, will not be incurred. However, if laying off of staff and personnel, etc. is not possible, then the fixed cost will remain at Rs 50,000.

  1. Variable Cost

Variable costs are those costs that vary in total amount directly and proportionately with the output. There is a constant ratio between the change in the cost and change in the level of output. Direct material cost and direct labour cost are the costs which are generally variable costs. For example, if direct material cost is Rs 50 per unit, then for producing each additional unit, a direct material cost of Rs 50 per unit will be incurred.

That is, the total direct material cost increases in direct proportion to increase in units manufactured. However, it should be noted that it is only the total variable costs that change as more units are produced; the per unit variable cost remains constant. Variable cost is always expressed in terms of units or percentage of volume; it cannot be stated in terms of time. Fig. shows behaviour of variable costs in total and on a per unit basis.

Fig. shows graphically the behaviour pattern of direct material cost. For the every increase in the units produced there is a proportionate increase in the cost when production increases in direct proportion at the constant rate of Rs 50 per unit. The variable cost line is shown as linear rather than curvilinear. That is, on a graph paper, a variable cost line appears as unbroken straight line in place of a curve. Variable cost per unit is shown by constant.

  1. Mixed Costs

Mixed costs are costs made up of fixed and variable elements. They are a combination of semi- variable costs and semi-fixed costs. Because of the variable component, they fluctuate with volume; because of the fixed component, they do not change in direct proportion to output. Semi-fixed costs are those costs which remain constant upto a certain level of output after which they become variable as shown in fig.

Semi-variable cost is the cost which is basically variable but whose slope may change abruptly when a certain output level is reached as shown in fig. An example of a mixed cost is the earnings of a worker who is paid a salary of Rs 1,500 per week (fixed) plus Re. 1 for each unit completed (variable). If he increases his weekly output from 1,000 units to 1,500 units, his earnings increase from Rs 2500 to Rs 3,000.

An increase of 50% in output brings only a 20% increases in his earnings.

Mathematically, mixed costs can be expressed as follows:

Total Mixed Cost = Total Fixed Cost + (Units x Variable Cost per Unit)

CVP Relationships

Cost Volume-Profit (CVP) relationship is an analysis which studies the relationships between the following factors and its impact on the amount of profits.

In simple words, CVP is a management accounting tool that expresses relationship among total sales, total cost and profit. Cost Volume-Profit relationship is one of the important techniques of cost and management accounting. It is a powerful tool which furnishes the complete picture of the profit structure and helps in planning of profits. It can also answer what if type of questions by telling the volume required to produce. This concept is relevant in all decision making areas, particularly in the short run.

Managerial accounting provides useful tools, such as cost-volume-profit relationships, to aid decision-making. Cost volume profit relationship helps you understand different ways to meet your company’s net income goals.

  1. The Basics of Cost-Volume-Profit (CVP) Analysis

Cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis is a key step in many decisions. CVP analysis involves specifying a model of the relations among the prices of products, the volume or level of activity, unit variable costs, total fixed costs, and the sales mix. This model is used to predict the impact on profits of changes in those parameters.

(a) Contribution Margin

Contribution margin is the amount remaining from sales revenue after variable expenses have been deducted. It contributes towards covering fixed costs and then towards profit.

(b) Unit Contribution Margin

The unit contribution margin can be used to predict changes in total contribution margin as a result of changes in the unit sales of a product. To do this, the unit contribution margin is simply multiplied by the change in unit sales. Assuming no change in fixed costs, the change in total contribution margin falls directly to the bottom line as a change in profits.

(c) Contribution Margin Ratio

The contribution margin (CM) ratio is the ratio of the contribution margin to total sales. It shows how the contribution margin is affected by a given dollar change in total sales. The contribution margin ratio is often easier to work with than the unit contribution margin, particularly when a company has many products. This is because the contribution margin ratio is denominated in sales dollars, which is a convenient way to express activity in multi-product firms.

  1. Some Applications of CVP Concepts

CVP analysis is typically used to estimate the impact on profits of changes in selling price, variable cost per unit, sales volume, and total fixed costs. CVP analysis can be used to estimate the effect on profit of a change in any one (or any combination) of these parameters. A variety of examples of applications of CVP are provided in the text.

  1. CVP Relationships in Graphic Form

CVP graphs can be used to gain insight into the behavior of expenses and profits. The basic CVP graph is drawn with dollars on the vertical axis and unit sales on the horizontal axis. Total fixed expense is drawn first and then variable expense is added to the fixed expense to draw the total expense line. Finally, the total revenue line is drawn. The total profit (or loss) is the vertical difference between the total revenue and total expense lines. The break-even occurs at the point where the total revenue and total expenses lines cross.

  1. Break-Even Analysis and Target Profit Analysis

Target profit analysis is concerned with estimating the level of sales required to attain a specified target profit. Break-even analysis is a special case of target profit analysis in which the target profit is zero.

(a) Basic CVP equations

Both the equation and contribution (formula) methods of break-even and target profit analysis are based on the contribution approach to the income statement. The format of this statement can be expressed in equation form as:

Profits = Sales – Variable expenses – Fixed expenses

(b) Break-even point using the equation method

The break-even point is the level of sales at which profit is zero. It can also be defined as the point where total sales equals total expenses or as the point where total contribution margin equals total fixed expenses. Break-even analysis can be approached either by the equation method or by the contribution margin method. The two methods are logically equivalent.

Margin of Safety

The margin of safety is the excess of budgeted (or actual) sales over the break-even volume of sales. It is the amount by which sales can drop before losses begin to be incurred. The margin of safety can be computed in terms of dollars:

Margin of safety in dollars = Total sales – Break-even sales

Cost Structure

Cost structure refers to the relative proportion of fixed and variable costs in an organization. Understanding a company’s cost structure is important for decision-making as well as for analysis of performance.

Operating Leverage

Operating leverage is a measure of how sensitive net operating income is to a given percentage change in sales.

Assumptions in CVP Analysis

Simple CVP analysis relies on simplifying assumptions. However, if a manager knows that one of the assumptions is violated, the CVP analysis can often be easily modified to make it more realistic.

  • Selling price is constant: The assumption is that the selling price of a product will not change as the unit volume changes. This is not wholly realistic since unit sales and the selling price are usually inversely related. In order to increase volume it is often necessary to drop the price. However, CVP analysis can easily accommodate more realistic assumptions. A number of examples and problems in the text show how to use CVP analysis to investigate situations in which prices are changed.
  • Costs are linear and can be accurately divided into variable and fixed elements: It is assumed that the variable element is constant per unit and the fixed element is constant in total. This implies that operating conditions are stable. It also implies that the fixed costs are really fixed. When volume changes dramatically, this assumption becomes tenuous. Nevertheless, if the effects of a decision on fixed costs can be estimated, this can be explicitly taken into account in CVP analysis. A number of examples and problems in the text show how to use CVP analysis when fixed costs are affected.
  • The sales mix is constant in multi-product companies: This assumption is invoked so as to use the simple break-even and target profit formulas in multi-product companies. If unit contribution margins are fairly uniform across products, violations of this assumption will not be important. However, if unit contribution margins differ a great deal, then changes in the sales mix can have a big impact on the overall contribution margin ratio and hence on the results of CVP analysis. If a manager can predict how the sales mix will change, then a more refined CVP analysis can be performed in which the individual contribution margins of products are computed.
  • In manufacturing companies, inventories do not change: It is assumed that everything the company produces is sold in the same period. Violations of this assumption result in discrepancies between financial accounting net operating income and the profits calculated using the contribution approach. This topic is covered in detail in the chapter on variable costing.

The Value Chain of Business Function

A company is in essence a collection of activities that are performed to design, produce, market, deliver and support its product (or service). It’s goal is to produce the products in such a way that they have a greater value (to customers) than the orginal cost of creating these products. The added value can be considered the profits and is often indicated as ‘margin’. A systematic way of examining all of these internal activities and how they interact is necessary when analyzing the sources of competitive advantage. A company gains competitive advantage by performing strategically important activities more cheaply or better than its competitors. Michael Porter’s value chain helps disaggregating a company into its strategically relevant activities, thereby creating a clear overview of the internal organization. Based on this overview managers are better able to assess where true value is created and where improvements can be made.

Porter’s Value chain Model

 

One company’s value chain is embedded in a larger stream of activities that can be considered the supply chain or as Porter mentions it: the Value System. Suppliers have a value chain (upstream value) that create and deliver the purchased inputs. In addition, many products pass through the value chain of channels (channel value) on their way to the buyer. A company’s product eventually becomes part of its buyer’s value chain. This article will not go into the entire supply chain (from suppliers all the way to the end-consumer), but rather focuses on one organization’s value chain. The value chain activities can be divided into two broader types: primary activities and support activities.

Primary Activities

The first are primary activities which include the five main activities. All five activities are directly involved in the production and selling of the actual product. They cover the physical creation of the product, its sales, transfer to the buyer as well as after sale assistance. The five primary activities are inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing & sales and service. Even though the importance of each category may vary from industry to industry, all of these activities will be present to some degree in each organization and play at least some role in competitive advantage.

  1. Inbound Logistics

Inbound logistics is where purchased inputs such as raw materials are often taken care of. Because of this function, it is also in contact with external companies such as suppliers. The activities associated with inbound logistics are receiving, storing and disseminating inputs to the product. Examples: material handling, warehousing, inventory control, vehicle scheduling and returns to suppliers.

  1. Operations

Once the required materials have been collected internally, operations can convert the inputs in the desired product. This phase is typically where the factory conveyor belts are being used. The activities associated with operations are therefore transforming inputs into the final product form. Examples: machining, packaging, assembly, equipment maintenance, testing, printing and facility operations.

  1. Outbound Logistics

After the final product is finished it still needs to finds it way to the customer. Depending on how lean the company is, the product can be shipped right away or has to be stored for a while. The activities associated with outbound logistics are collecting, storing and physically distributing the product to buyers. Examples: finished goods warehousing, material handling, delivery vehicle operations, order processing and scheduling.

  1. Marketing & Sales

The fact that products are produced doesn’t automatically mean that there are people willing to purchase them. This is where marketing and sales come into place. It is the job of marketers and sales agents to make sure that potential customers are aware of the product and are seriously considering to purchase them. Activities associated with marketing and sales are therefore to provide a means by which buyers can purchase the product and induce them to do so. Examples: advertising, promotion, sales force, quoting, channel selection, channel relations and pricing. A good tool to structure the entire marketing process is the Marketing Funnel.

  1. Service

In today’s economy, after-sales service is just as important as promotional activities. Complaints from unsatisfied customers are easily spread and shared due to the internet and the consequences on your company’s reputation might be vast. It is therefore important to have the right customer service practices in place. The activities associated with this part of the value chain are providing service to enhance or maintain the value of the product after it has been sold and delivered. Examples: installation, repair, training, parts supply and product adjustment.

Support Activities

The second category is support activities. They go across the primary activities and aim to coordinate and support their functions as best as possible with eachother by providing purchased inputs, technology, human resources and various firm wide managing functions. The support activities can therefore be divided into procurement, technology development (R&D), human resource management and firm infrastructure. The dotted lines reflect the fact that procurement, technology development and human resource management can be associated with specific primary activities as well as support the entire value chain.

  1. Procurement

Procurement refers to the function of purchasing inputs used in the firm’s value chain, not the purchased inputs themselves. Purchased inputs are needed for every value activity, including support activities. Purchased inputs include raw materials, supplies and other consumable items as well as assets such as machinery, laboratory equipment, office equipment and buildings. Procurement is therefore needed to assist multiple value chain activities, not just inbound logistics.

  1. Technology Development (R&D)

Every value activity embodies technology, be it know how, procedures or technology embodied in process equipment. The array of technology used in most companies is very broad. Technology development activities can be grouped into efforts to improve the product and the process. Examples are telecommunication technology, accounting automation software, product design research and customer servicing procedures. Typically, Research & Development departments can also be classified here.

  1. Human Resource Management

HRM consists of activities involved in the recruiting, hiring (and firing), training, development and compensation of all types of personnel. HRM affects the competitive advantage in any firm through its role in determining the skills and motivation of employees and the cost of hiring and training them. Some companies (especially in the technological and advisory service industry) rely so much on talented employees, that they have devoted an entire Talent Management department within HRM to recruit and train the best of the best university graduates.

  1. Firm Infrastructure

Firm infrastructure consists of a number of activities including general (strategic) management, planning, finance, accounting, legal, government affairs and quality management. Infrastructure usually supports the entire value chain, and not individual activities. In accounting, many firm infrastructure activities are often collectively indicated as ‘overhead’ costs. However, these activities shouldn’t be underestimated since they could be one of the most powerful sources of competitive advantage. After all, strategic management is often the starting point from which all smaller decisions in the firm are being based on. The wrong strategy will make it extra hard for people on the workfloor to perform well.

Linkages within the Value Chain

Although value activities are the building blocks of competitive advantage, the value chain is not a collection of independent activities. Rather, it is a system of interdependent activities that are related by linkages within the value chain. Decisions made in one value activity (e.g. procurement) may affect another value activity (e.g. operations). Since procurement has the responsibility over the quality of the purchased inputs, it will probably affect the production costs (operations), inspections costs (operations) and eventually even the product quality. In addition, a good working automated phone menu for customers (technology development) will allow customers to reach the right support assistant faster (service). Clear communication between and coordination across value chain activities are therefore just as important as the activities itself. Consequently, a company also needs to optimize these linkages in order to achieve competitive advantage. Unfortunately these linkages are often very subtle and go unrecognized by the management thereby missing out on great improvement opportunities.

In the end, Porter’s Value Chain is a great framework to examine the internal organization. It allows a more structured approach of assessing where in the organization true value is created and where costs can be reduced in order to boost the margins. It also allows to improve communication between departments. Combining the Value Chain with the VRIO Framework is a good starting point for an internal analysis. In case you are interested in the entire supply chain, you could repeat the process by adding the value chains of your company’s suppliers and buyers and place them in front and behind your own company’s value chain.

Management Process & Accounting

Although management actions differ from organization to organization, they generally follow a four-stage management process. As illustrated at the beginning of this chapter and in the chapters that follow, the four stages of this process are:

  • Planning
  • Performing
  • Evaluating
  • Communicating

Management accounting is essential in each stage of the process as managers make business decisions.

  1. Planning

Diagram below shows the overall framework in which planning takes place. The overriding goal of a business is to increase the value of the stakeholders’ interest in the business. The goal specifies the business’s end point, or ideal state. For example, Wal-Mart’s end point is “to become the worldwide leader in retailing.”

A company’s mission statement describes the fundamental way in which the company will achieve its goal of increasing stakeholders’ value. It also expresses the company’s identity and unique character.

The mission statement is essential to the planning process, which must consider how to add value through strategic objectives, tactical objectives, and operating objectives.

Strategic objectives are broad, long-term goals that determine the fundamental nature and direction of a business and that serve as a guide for decision making. Strategic objectives involve such basic issues as what a company’s main products or services will be, who its primary customers will be, and where it will operate.

Tactical objectives are mid-term goals that position an organization to achieve its long-term strategies. These objectives, which usually cover a three to five-year period, lay the groundwork for attaining the company’s strategic objectives.

Operating objectives are short-term goals that outline expectations for the performance of day-to-day operations. Operating objectives link to performance targets and specify how success will be measured.

To develop strategic, tactical, and operating objectives, managers must formulate a business plan. A business plan is a comprehensive statement of how a company will achieve its objectives. It is usually expressed in financial terms in the form of budgets, and it often includes performance goals for individuals, teams, products, or services

  1. Performing

Planning alone does not guarantee satisfactory operating results. Management must implement the business plan in ways that make optimal use of available resources in an ethical manner. Smooth operations require one or more of the following:-

  • Hiring and training personnel
  • Matching human and technical resources to the work that must be done
  • Purchasing or leasing facilities
  • Maintaining an inventory of products for sale
  • Identifying operating activities, or tasks, that minimize waste and improve the quality of products or services

Critical to managing any retail business is a thorough understanding of its supply chain. The supply chain is the path that leads from the suppliers of the material to its final consumers. The supply chain expresses the links between businesses growers to vendors to the business to their customers.

  1. Evaluating

When managers evaluate operating results, they compare the organization’s actual performance with the performance levels they established in the planning stage. They earmark any significant variations for further analysis so that they can correct the problems. If the problems are the result of a change in the organization’s operating environment, the managers may revise the original objectives. Ideally, the adjustments made in the evaluation stage will improve the company’s performance.

  1. Communicating

Whether accounting reports are prepared for internal or external use, they must provide accurate information and clearly communicate this information to the reader. Inaccurate or confusing internal reports can have a negative effect on a company’s operations. Full disclosure and transparency in financial statements issued to external parties is a basic concept of generally accepted accounting principles, and violation of this principle can result in stiff penalties.

Management Accounting Differences with Financial Accounting

Management Accounting also known as Managerial Accounting is the accounting for managers which helps the management of the organization to formulate policies and forecasting, planning and controlling the day to day business operations of the organization. Both the quantitative and qualitative information are captured and analyzed by the management accounting.

The functional area of management accounting is not limited to providing a financial or cost information only. Instead, it extracts the relevant and material information from financial and cost accounting to assist the management in budgeting, setting goals, decision making, etc. The accounting can be done as per the requirement of the management, i.e. weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. and there is no format set on the basis of which it is to be reported.

Financial Accounting

Financial Accounting is an accounting system which is concerned with the preparation of financial statement for the outside parties like creditors, shareholders, investors, suppliers, lenders, customers, etc. It is the purest form of accounting in which proper record keeping and reporting of financial data are done, to provide relevant and material information to its users.

Financial Accounting is based on various assumptions, principles and convention like going concern, materiality, matching, realisation, conservatism, consistency, accrual, historical cost, etc. The financial statement consists of a Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Cash flow statement which are prepared as per the guidelines provided by the relevant statute.

Normally, the statements based on the financial accounting are prepared for one accounting year, to enable the user to make comparisons regarding the financial position, profitability and performance of the company in a specific period. Not only external parties but internal management also gets information for forecasting, planning, and decision making.

A common question is to explain the differences between financial accounting and managerial accounting, since each one involves a distinctly different career path. In general, financial accounting refers to the aggregation of accounting information into financial statements, while managerial accounting refers to the internal processes used to account for business transactions. There are a number of differences between financial and managerial accounting, which fall into the following categories:

  1. Aggregation

Financial accounting reports on the results of an entire business. Managerial accounting almost always reports at a more detailed level, such as profits by product, product line, customer, and geographic region.

  1. Efficiency

Financial accounting reports on the profitability (and therefore the efficiency) of a business, whereas managerial accounting reports on specifically what is causing problems and how to fix them.

  1. Proven information

Financial accounting requires that records be kept with considerable precision, which is needed to prove that the financial statements are correct. Managerial accounting frequently deals with estimates, rather than proven and verifiable facts.

  1. Reporting focus

Financial accounting is oriented toward the creation of financial statements, which are distributed both within and outside of a company. Managerial accounting is more concerned with operational reports, which are only distributed within a company.

  1. Standards

Financial accounting must comply with various accounting standards, whereas managerial accounting does not have to comply with any standards when information is compiled for internal consumption.

  1. Systems

Financial accounting pays no attention to the overall system that a company has for generating a profit, only its outcome. Conversely, managerial accounting is interested in the location of bottleneck operations, and the various ways to enhance profits by resolving bottleneck issues.

  1. Time period

Financial accounting is concerned with the financial results that a business has already achieved, so it has a historical orientation. Managerial accounting may address budgets and forecasts, and so can have a future orientation.

  1. Timing

Financial accounting requires that financial statements be issued following the end of an accounting period. Managerial accounting may issue reports much more frequently, since the information it provides is of most relevance if managers can see it right away.

  1. Valuation

Financial accounting addresses the proper valuation of assets and liabilities, and so is involved with impairments, revaluations, and so forth. Managerial accounting is not concerned with the value of these items, only their productivity.

There is also a difference in the accounting certifications typically found in each of these areas. People with the Certified Public Accountant designation have been trained in financial accounting, while those with the Certified Management Accountant designation have been trained in managerial accounting.

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