ACC 202: Final Project Part II Budget Variance Report
Christie Herron
Southern New Hampshire University
Budget Variance report
Planning is a function that is employed by every organization in projecting the future outcome of the firm. Successful firms achieve their goals through the use of different types of budgets. These budgets include, production budget, sales budget, labor budget and expenses budget. These budgets also show the targets that should be achieved by the firm within the budgeted time plan.
The report below analyzes the performance of Peyton business, the budget, the actual performance and the variance from the budget. Further, the report provides the causes of the variance and the strategies that should be
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These issues include, factors that led to the increase in price of the labor. Additionally, the reasons for the increment in the number of hours used in production need to be investigated. Based on the variances identified, the firm need to increase the number of production hours so as to be effective in their operations. Also, the firm should ensure the costs incurred on the labor costs do not surpass the total income such that, the firm does not incur losses. While increasing the number of hours is a prudent strategy, the firm should consider the ethical matters affected by the increment. The firm should not be driven by the profit motive at the expense of ethical production. Some of the ethical matters that need to be considered include ensuring the firm carry out their production activities within the set standards. Additionally, the minimum labor rate per hour paid to the workers should be met to avoid violating the legal labor requirements (Garrison, Noreen, & Brewer, 2003). The budget analysis shows that the labor hours of the firm are higher than the budgeted amount. As such, the firm needs to evaluate the cost benefit analysis of making or buying their products. To make this decision, various factors need to be considered. Before making the decision, Peyton needs to evaluate the marginal costs and revenue of making versus buying the products. The firm should take the option which provides the highest marginal profit which is the
The company should consider ethical aspects of the changes in original budget and actual sales/amount. The main reason behind it is the variances in materials, labor, and overhead. In addition to this, the firm should evaluate the actual variance in the materials, labor, and overhead and after that change in budgets in order to maintain business ethics and to reduce improper changes in budget that is unethical aspect of the business (Delaney & Whittington, 2012).
“Organizational Management and Leadership” defines planning as “the development of goals, which leads to the development of an overall strategy for achieving those goals. Planning can be performed at all levels of an organization. Supervisors are planning when a weekly work schedule is put together for hourly staff. Top executives are planning when they define the mission statement of the company and determine how the organization can maintain its competitive advantage.”
Develop and diagram an activity based cost model using the information in the case. Provide your best estimates about the cost and profitability of Wilkerson’s three product lines. What difference does your cost assignment have on reported product costs and profitability? What causes any shifts in cost and profitability?
Planning is the foundation of all the functions of management upon which the other three areas should be built. During planning, management must evaluate the company’s current situation and then developing strategies to achieve these goals, this is called strategic planning.
Budget is a planned outcome of the future - defined by your plan that your business wants to achieve.
By following these rules, I have saved a lot more money than I anticipated. I eliminating my spending money on majority of my entertainment, mostly because I was so busy this semester with school and sports. I was also very conscious on what necessities I needed and if I could price match or get the items on sale. Therefore, my budget variance was higher than expected, which means I am on the right path when it comes to managing my money. Based on this experience I would probably not do anything different as my plan has worked out accordingly.
The planning determines which actions the company must take to accomplish her targets. Based on the planning the company can take into account required capital, staff needs, patenting, etc.
A budget, as defined by Hilton (2009 pg 348), is a detailed plan, expressed in quantitative terms that specifies how resources will be acquired and used during a specific period of time. A budget is a financial document utilized to project future income and expenses. A budget is based on how much you make in income and what your monthly expenses are. Budgets evaluate performances while the plan is what is going to happen or refine what you want to accomplish by thinking ahead. The purpose of having a budget is it improves efficiency, assigns responsibility, provides direction, and helps businesses plans and control finances. Managers use the budget as a
The company has to be able judge its spending performance. Does not matter what type of company it is, the ability to measure performance using budgets is an important process in any business organisation. Planning helps to understand where business is at present and where it is going to be in the future. Company’s planning process has to involve different developing objectives and prepare
There are associated ethical considerations to several of the recommended changes. Strengthening the interview and hiring process will help to eliminate the hiring of unqualified candidates whose only experience with the work is through a personal connection with existing employees. This will help to ensure that candidates with the proper qualifications are placed in positions that are currently experiencing inefficiences. Reevaluating the material suppliers could potentially eliminate any improper compensation between current management and the supplier and reduce the acceptance of inferior materials. Increasing the proper storage of accepted material will not only elimate the waste of improperly stored materials, but also reduces the risk management threat of theft by employees. These are the ethical considerations of several of the recommended changes.
The school budget is static as it assumes fixed costs for the expenses. A static budget is generally used as a projection tool for estimating business expenses within a given period of time. Discrepancies resulting from the fluctuating cost of commodities or initial budgeting errors appear on a static budget as static budget variance. When accounting for the end of a budget cycle's actual expenses, the static budget variance needs to be combined with the actual initial static budget in order to achieve accurate financial reporting. For simplicity, it can help to think of a static budget as a projection budget.
In the future budget plan, the expected sales must be calculated within the reasonable margin based on previous performance of the company. To ensure that the projected budget will be close to the actual performance of the company; inflation and the season must be considered as
Planning is considered to be a primary function of management. All organisations operate in a complex, dynamic and competitive business environment, and therefore, have to plan their actions without which they may not be able to survive.
Planning is a process of establishing a mission with clear goals as a means to achieve them. Good planning requires special skills and perspectives allowing decision-makers to understand the challenges they are facing and apply the most effective solution to a problem. In order to achieve success, one must plan accordingly. Planning can be short term or long term. Short term plans are done on daily basis and are easier to achieve than long term plans. Long term plans are also known as strategic plans and are used to achieve a long range vision or mission of a company. In both methods of planning, short term and long term, is necessary to achieve top notch results. Like in any other process, there are both benefits and pitfalls to a
Currently, Whiz Calculator is estimating the budget for the coming year’s selling expenses as if it is comprised of only fixed expenses. President Riesman finds this method unsatisfactory for two major reasons: 1. It is difficult to judge how good the estimates made by the department heads really are; and 2. Selling conditions fluctuate over time and there is no way to account for these changes in the selling expenses once the budget is set for that year. Thus a new budgeting method is being researched at this time.