Laticia G. Josiah
Finance 540
“Contribution Margin and Break Even Analysis” Simulation
Prof. Richard Franchetti
April 6, 2005
The ultimate goal of any firm is to generate profit. Steve Lefever states that there are two ways to generate profit: you can simply go from day to day and hope it happens or, you can identify the primary “drivers” of profitability and manage them. It is important for managers to manage how the sales dollars flow through the firm. Break-even analysis can help a firm make significantly better decisions for the future. This analysis is a very useful and effective method of assessing cost volume profit relationship. “The Contribution Margin and Break Even Analysis” simulation requires maximization of
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This allows Maria to meet the exact sales target for the month and earn an overall operating profit. If the break-even point for the new facility increases to 650,000 packs instead of 535,000 packs, the existing facility would be forces to reduce volume as producing at maximum capacity would exceed the monthly production target. The increase in the break-even point means that there will also be increase in variable costs. Although Maria would still be making a profit, she would not be maximizing her profit making ability. Since the contribution margin still allows fix cost to be covered, leaving the firm with a profit, Maria should still purchase the plant. From doing the simulation, the three main learning points that attracted my attention were the contribution margin, break- even analysis and variable costs. Throughout the paper, I have explained the importance of the contribution margin and the break-even analysis. Identifying your break-even sales volume begins with the proper division of operating costs into either fixed or variable costs. Fixed costs hold constant across a specific range of sales but variable costs fluctuate proportionately with any change in sales. The contribution margin from each sale becomes the critical third element that enters into the calculation of the break-even sales volume. The contribution margin represents the difference between the sales price and the
The breakeven point is used my companies to prevent loss. The Cost Volume Profit (CVP) is the tool in which to capture the breakeven point. Sometimes it is referred to as the breakeven analysis. The CVP assists the company in identifying future operation need, production costs, and expansion possibilities based on estimating costs, prices, and volumes. This profit response can help Competition Bikes determine the amount of needed sales, what products to manufacture, pricing policies, marketing strategies, and how much profit is actually needed. In this analysis we will assume
5. Determine the necessary sales in unit and dollars to break-even or attain desired profit using the break-even formula.
3. Market research estimates that monthly equipment production could be increased to 3,500 units which is well within production capacity limitations, if the price were cut from $1,580 to $1,400 per unit. Assuming the cost behavior patterns implied by the data in Exhibit 1 are correct, would you recommend that this action be taken? What would be the impact on monthly sales, costs, and income?
To find the break-even point for napkins, you use the same formula. The fixed cost is still $420,000.00. The selling price of napkins is $7.00. The variable cost is $4.50. $7.00 minus $4.50 is $2.50. So then you take $420,000.00 and divide it by $2.50 to find the breaking point of $168,000.00. The company will have to sell $168,000.00 to break even in sales. The margin for safety for napkins is -$48,000.00. This is found by subtracting the actual or expected cost of $120,000.00 by the break-even point of $168,000.00. You can cut sales by $48,000.00 and not sustain a loss.
If Marlene Herbert were to discontinue place mats, he would miss $270,000 that will go toward Mendel paper company fixed cost. The company currently has a plant overhead that is estimated at $420,000 for the quarter. In addition to the fixed plant overhead, the plant incurs fixed selling and administrative expenses per quarter of $118,000. This draws the company to a total fixed cost of $538,000. If Marlene Herbert were to discontinue the second highest contributor to the fixed cost, he would need to increase the volume of computer paper and lower material cost to help pull the contribution margin of the lowest product up to help support the lost of a whole product line.
Although the financial goal is to create profit, we need to calculate the breakeven point to get started.
There are some limitations of break-even as well. For example, it cannot give accurate results if the data used for it is predicted. Data such as change in direct cost
Breakeven Analysis for Product Tylenol Approach 1 - Same price as Tylenol Approach 2a - Cheaper than Tylenol Approach 2b - Cheaper w/lowered trade cost $ $ $ $ Unit Cost (Variable Cost) 0.60 0.60 0.60 0.60 Trade Cost (Selling Price to Retailers) $ 1.69 $ 1.69 $ 1.05 $ 0.70 Fixed Cost (Advertising) 2,000,000 6,000,000 6,000,000 6,000,000 Break-Even Quantity [Fixed Cost/(Trade Cost-Unit Cost)] 1,834,862 5,504,587 13,333,333 60,000,000 Contribution Margin (Unit) 64% 64% 43% 14%
Break even analysis can be used to decide whether to alter the existing product emphasis or not. For example in this case, if we refer last year’s data, we can see that the product C is not economically feasible to manufacture at $2.40 / unit. Following table gives the analysis for checking whether the company can afford to invest in additional “C” capacity.
This question gives students an opportunity to exercise their ability to interpret break-even analyses. Key teaching points should include explaining the preparation of a break-even chart, the interpretation of the break-even volume (938,799 hectoliters [HL]), and the comparison of the break-even volume to the current volume (1,173,000 HL). Another key point is that the chart in case Exhibit 5 is relevant only for the current cost structure of the company—if variable costs increase or the plant expansion is approved, the break-even volume will rise. Finally, students should be aided in understanding that “break-even” refers to operating profit, not free cash flow. The typical use of the break-even chart ignores taxes, investments, and the depreciation tax shield.
Break Even Point in Units = (Total Fixed Costs + Target Profit) ÷ Contribution Margin
Assigning the overhead costs to the products shows how profitable the products are after deducting all cost. However, it is important to find the appropriate method of overhead cost allocation. In Sippican’s case the traditional accounting method is used, which does not reflect the real resource usage of the different product lines. The correct method in this case would be to apply the time-driven ABC approach for cost allocation. Such method apart from showing the actual profitability after all cost deductions also depicts the differences in resource usage rates between the products and, thus, allows for identification of cost drivers. A contribution margin
According to, Skills for Business Decisions, “Cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis examines changes in profits in response to changes in sales volumes, costs, and prices.” (Kimmel P.D. 2009) A company’s profit is the CVP profit equation of Profit = Revenue – Expenses. A Cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis consists of five basic components that include:
Because each product has a different contribution margin percentage, the volume required for each break-even point would be different and will not add up to the company’s overall break-even volume of 1,100,000 units; the overall break-even volume assumes that there is only one contribution margin percentage which is :
Break-even point analysis is a measurement system that calculates the margin of safety by comparing the amount of revenues or units that must be sold to cover fixed and variable costs associated with making the sales. In other words, it’s a way to calculate when a project will be profitable by equating its total revenues with its total expenses. There are several different uses for the equation, but all of them deal with managerial accounting and cost management (Break-Even Point, n.d.)