Management besides reviewing all the expenditure variance also take great care to investigate any variances in sales revenue.
This is because any variances in sales revenue has a direct impact upon the contribution and profitability of the business.
In a marginal cost system, the variances are calculated in contribution terms whereas:
In an absorption costing system, the sales variances are determined in terms of profit.
The TOTAL Sales Variance are segregated into the following two(2) variances:
| Sales PRICE Variance |
[Standard selling price per unit-Actual selling price per unit] x Actual quantity of units sold |
| Sales VOLUME Variance |
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· Measure the effect on contribution or profit of the divergence between actual sales and the budgeted level of sales. · In a marginal costing system the difference between the actual and budgeted sales is multiplied by the standard contribution per unit. · In an absorption system this difference is multiplied by the standard profit per unit. · Formula: [ Budgeted Sales level-Actual Sales level]x Standard Contribution or profit per unit |
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Illustration: Company A budgeted sales are 3,500 Product A per month at a standard price of $70 each against their unit cost of $35. At the end of the third month, the actual sales revenue was $780,000 and 12,000 Product A had been sold. Further details: Volume Unit selling price Profit per unit Budget 10,500 70 35 Actual 12,000 65 30 Required: Compute: (a) the sales VOLUME profit variance; (b) the sales PRICE variance. Solution: (a) The Sales VOLUME variance is: [Actual units sold-budgeted units sold]x Standard profit per unit =(12,000-10,500]x$35 =$52,500F (b) The Sales PRICE variance is: [Actual selling price-budgeted selling price]x actual sales volume =[$65-$70] x 12,000 =$60,000A To recheck: Total PROFIT Variance= Sales Price Variance + Sales Volume Variance Budgeted profit =10,500 x $35=$367,500 Less: Actual profit =12,000 x $30=$360,000 Total PROFIT variance=$367,500-$360,000= $7,500A From solution a & b: Sales VOLUME variance($52,500F) +Sales PRICE variance($60,000A)= $7,500A |