Expenses that vary with some activity. For example, sales commissions expense and cost of goods sold will be greater when sales are greater; electricity expense will decrease when machine hours are reduced.
Expenses that vary with some activity. For example, sales commissions expense and cost of goods sold will be greater when sales are greater; electricity expense will decrease when machine hours are reduced.
decreases. Examples of Variable Expenses Assume that a website business sells a product and requires the customer to pay with a credit card. The credit card processor charges the business a fee of 3% of each amount...
What is contribution margin? Definition of Contribution Margin In accounting, contribution margin is defined as: revenues minus variable expenses. The contribution margin can be expressed as an amount and/or as a...
on knowing how a company’s costs or expenses will change as the volume of sales change. The break-even point calculation is based on the following amounts: Total amount of fixed expenses Variable expenses per unit or...
is an example of a variable expense. 3. Property taxes and rent are often fixed expenses. True Right! Property taxes do not vary with sales. Rather they are fixed, because they are based upon an assessed value of the...
of a company’s break-even point, its expenses are sorted into fixed expenses, variable expenses, and semivariable or mixed expenses. Examples of Causes for an Increase in a Break-even Point Some of the reasons why a...
A company’s total contribution margin in dollars is the total net sales minus the total amount of variable expenses. Dividing the contribution margin in dollars by the total amount of net sales is the contribution...
(including semivariable expenses) into fixed costs/expenses and variable costs/expenses. For simple businesses with similar products or services, the total amount of fixed costs/expenses is divided by the...
+ variable expenses (cartons, helpers, etc.) of $150,000 (50,000 items X $3 each) = total static budget of $500,000. Unlike the static budget, a flexible budget for the shipping department will increase when more than...
This ratio indicates the percentage of each sales dollar that is available to cover a company’s fixed expenses and profit. The ratio is calculated by dividing the contribution margin (sales minus all variable...
The result of subtracting all variable expenses from revenues. It indicates the amount available from sales to cover the fixed expenses and profit.
Sometimes referred to in the context of cost or expense behavior such as “variable expenses increase as volume increases.” In this context volume might be an activity such as the number of machine hours, the...
What is the break-even point? Definition of Break-even Point In accounting, the break-even point refers to the revenues necessary to cover a company’s total amount of fixed and variable expenses during a specified...
Break-even Point (Flashcards) Download Single-Sided PDF Download Double-Sided PDF All Cards (34) Marked Wrong (0) Marked Right (0) break-even point This is the number of units or the revenues needed by a company in order...
Our Explanation of Break-even Point illustrates how to determine the number of units or sales dollars that will result in zero net income. The techniques rely on a product's contribution margin or contribution margin...
a contribution margin of $4 per unit (selling price of $10 per unit minus variable expenses of $6 per unit), the company’s break-even point in sales for the year is 75,000 units. Break-even Point in Billable Service...
). The contribution margin ratio is sales minus the variable costs and expenses divided by the sales. Examples of Ways to Reduce the Break-even Point The break-even point will be reduced by any (or any combination) of...
Is contribution margin the same as operating income? Definition of Contribution Margin Contribution margin is defined as revenues minus the variable costs and variable expenses. Example of Contribution Margin Assume that...
What is the contribution margin ratio? Definition of Contribution Margin Ratio The contribution margin ratio is the percentage of sales revenues, service revenues, or selling price remaining after subtracting all of the...
sales. The cost of goods sold will consist of both fixed and variable product costs. However, selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) are not part of the cost of goods sold. Definition of Contribution...
What are mixed costs? Definition of Mixed Costs In accounting, the term mixed costs refers to costs and expenses that consist of two components: A fixed component, the total of which does not change as the volume of...
Our Explanation of Improving Profits will assist you in focusing on the costs and revenues that are relevant (and ignoring those which are not relevant) for improving profits and eliminating losses. Examples of the...
a reasonable range of activity. Learn more about fixed costs What is a variable expense? An expense is variable when its total amount changes in proportion to the change in sales, production, or some other activity....
of volume is more than a reasonable change. If volume did triple, it is likely that the company would have to add more space and more salaried employees. This would mean more fixed expenses. In Total Within A Reasonable...
Variable costs and expenses divided by net sales. To learn more, see Explanation of Break-even Point.
Our Explanation of Improving Profits will assist you in focusing on the costs and revenues that are relevant (and ignoring those which are not relevant) for improving profits and eliminating losses. Examples of the...
An income statement that subtracts all variable costs and expenses from revenues in order to show the contribution margin. From that is subtracted the fixed costs and expenses to arrive at net income. To learn more, see...
income of exactly zero. Examples Causing a Break-even Point to Increase The break-even point will increase by any of the following: An increase in the amount of the company’s fixed costs/expenses An increase in...
of contribution margin: selling price minus the variable costs and expenses. Once the contribution margins have covered the total amount of fixed costs and expenses, the entire contribution margin on the next...
How do we deal with a negative contribution margin ratio when calculating our break-even point? Definition of Negative Contribution Margin A negative contribution margin ratio indicates that a company’s variable costs...
remain the same 7. The break-even point is where revenues are equal to the total of __________ expenses. Select... the fixed the variable both fixed and variable 8. Calculating the break-even point of a manufacturer...
variable costs and expenses equals the __________ __________. 4. A cost that is part fixed and part variable is referred to as a semivariable or __________ cost. 5. Which of the following would be considered to be the...
holds true for the variable costs and expenses associated with the missed revenues and the missed opportunity. Example of Calculating Opportunity Costs Assume that a small manufacturer has a limited number of machine...
and expenses. Net Sales Wrong. Net Sales is Gross Sales minus Sales Discounts and Sales Returns and Allowances. Operating Income Right! 15. What is defined as sales minus all variable expenses? Contribution Margin...
Our Explanation of Income Statement helps you learn the most important features of a corporation's income statement (also known as the statement of operations or profit and loss statement). We provide more understanding...
Used in conjunction with cost or expense behavior. Mixed expenses consist of a constant or fixed portion and a variable portion. For example, sales salaries would be a mixed expense if each sales person’s...
Costs that are matched with revenues on the income statement. For example, Cost of Goods Sold is an expense caused by Sales. Insurance Expense, Wages Expense, Advertising Expense, Interest Expense are expenses matched...
An item that is dependent on another item. For example, your wages would be a dependent variable and the hours you work would be the independent variable. This relationship is often expressed as y = a + bx, where y is...
A cost or expense where the total changes in proportion to changes in volume or activity. For example, if a company pays a sales commission on all of its sales, commission expense is a variable expense because...
Featured Review
"I am a partner in a small family accounting firm in Pennsylvania. I became a PRO user so I could review and refresh on the basics, as well as new items and regulations that pop up every other day. I love the way each subject is organized for easy access and review. I can go in, read the materials, and take an exam at the end to help solidify the concepts in my mind. It's always helpful to be able to go back and refresh my memory as I age and tend to concentrate in only specific areas of accounting. I have also benefited from the website by being able to review material when clients have questions or any particular situations that need further research on my part." - Steve
Join PRO or PRO Plus and Get Lifetime Access to Our Premium Materials
Read all 2,645 reviewsWe now offer 10 Certificates of Achievement for Introductory Accounting and Bookkeeping: