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ACCA PM知识点：Cost-volume-profit analysis

文章来源：ACCA全球官网

发布时间：2021-09-01 17:52

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Cost-volume-profit analysis looks primarily at the effects of differing levels of activity on the financial results of a business

In any business,or,indeed,in life in general,hindsight is a beautiful thing.If only we could look into a crystal ball and find out exactly how many customers were going to buy our product,we would be able to make perfect business decisions and maximise profits.

Take a restaurant,for example.If the owners knew exactly how many customers would come in each evening and the number and type of meals that they would order,they could ensure that staffing levels were exactly accurate and no waste occurred in the kitchen.The reality is,of course,that decisions such as staffing and food purchases have to be made on the basis of estimates,with these estimates being based on past experience.

While management accounting information can’t really help much with the crystal ball,it can be of use in providing the answers to questions about the consequences of different courses of action.One of the most important decisions that need to be made before any business even starts is‘how much do we need to sell in order to break-even?’By‘break-even’we mean simply covering all our costs without making a profit.【点击免费下载>>>更多ACCA学习相关资料】

This type of analysis is known as‘cost-volume-profit analysis’(CVP analysis)and the purpose of this article is to cover some of the straight forward calculations and graphs required for this part of the Performance Management syllabus,while also considering the assumptions which underlie any such analysis.

The objective of CVP analysis

CVP analysis looks primarily at the effects of differing levels of activity on the financial results of a business.The reason for the particular focus on sales volume is because,in the short-run,sales price,and the cost of materials and labour,are usually known with a degree of accuracy.Sales volume,however,is not usually so predictable and therefore,in the short-run,profitability often hinges upon it.For example,Company A may know that the sales price for product X in a particular year is going to be in the region of$50 and its variable costs are approximately$30.

It can,therefore,say with some degree of certainty that the contribution per unit(sales price less variable costs)is$20.Company A may also have fixed costs of$200,000 per annum,which again,are fairly easy to predict.However,when we ask the question,‘Will the company make a profit in that year?’the answer is‘We don’t know’.We don’t know because we don’t know the sales volume for the year.However,we can work out how many sales the business needs to achieve in order to make a profit and this is where CVP analysis begins.

Methods for calculating the break-even point

The break-even point is when total revenues and total costs are equal,that is,there is no profit but also no loss made.There are three methods for ascertaining this break-even point:

(1)The equation method

(2)The contribution margin method

(3)The graphical method

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