Chapter 17 – Understanding Accounting and Financial Information
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Businesses must use more formal plans, but they follow the same procedure an individual does—
determine how much revenue will come into the firm, divide that revenue among the expenses, and de-
termine the expected profit or loss from operations. In essence, the firm is preparing a “planned” income
statement when it sets up a budget.
The starting point in budgeting is estimating expected revenue, which is the total amount of goods
or services that company expects to sell. For management to get an accurate figure, the firm’s sales de-
partment must give a realistic estimate of probable sales. This figure will be a blend of past sales figures,
expected business conditions, and company objectives. For example, if 1,200,000 units are to be sold, and
the expected price per unit is $7, the total revenue should be $8,400,000.
Next, expected expenses are calculated by the departments in the firm that will be involved. The
production department should submit a plan showing how much it will cost to produce those items, in-
cluding such costs as raw materials, wages, electricity, and maintenance. The marketing department
should develop a plan for sales activities such as advertising, personal selling, and sales promotion. Then
administrative, depreciation, and other costs must be computed.
After all the firm’s departments have submitted their estimates, management can calculate the
projected net income by subtracting total expected expenses from expected revenues.
At this point, management adds its plans and projections to the raw figures and begins “fine–
tuning” the budget. The departmental budgets may be sent back for further work and the first few steps
repeated until a comprehensive budget acceptable to all is created. Each department then develops a de-
partmental budget based on the figures in the comprehensive budget.
The budgeting process does not end here. The only thing you have at this point is a plan, stated in
monetary terms, of what you expect to do during the next year. Unless budgetary control is added, the
budget becomes useless. Budgetary control involves comparing actual performance against planned per-
formance and taking corrective action if differences are found.
For instance, the production department budget may call for spending $490,000 each month to
produce one month’s output of 100,000 units. If, at the end of the month, the chief accountant finds that
$505,000 has been spent, he or she knows that actual expenses are exceeding planned expenses by
$15,000 and can notify the production manager to take corrective action.
With this information, the manager can investigate the problem. Are raw materials being wasted?
Was there an increase in the cost of these materials? On the basis of the results of this investigation, a
change may be made in production methods or a new supplier may be found. If it is found that the origi-
nal budget was not realistic, the budget itself may be changed to show realistic goals. In this way, man-
agement makes adjustments in order to meet the goals it has set. Budgets and budgetary control are excel-
lent planning and control tools.
Determining Costs and Setting Prices
The income statement shows an item called “cost of sales” or “cost of goods sold,” which in-
cludes various costs—material, labor, and overhead. Analyses that are more detailed can be made to relate
these costs to each product, and costs can be compared with the income from the sales of that product.
This shows what the present cost–profit situation is at a given level of sales. Another study is usually
made to find out what the situation would be if sales increased or decreased.
Each company has its own approach to cost accounting. Some emphasize quality, others price.
Cost analysis provides a basis for determining which approach to follow. All involve a trade-off of value
against cost.
Deciding on Capital Investments