Question

Mark Fletcher, president of SoftGro, Inc., was looking forward to seeing the performance reports for November because he knew the company’s sales for the month had exceeded budget by a considerable margin. SoftGro, a distributor of educational software packages, had been growing steadily for approximately two years. Fletcher’s biggest challenge at this point was to ensure that the company did not lose control of expenses during this growth period. When Fletcher received the November reports, he was dismayed to see the large unfavorable variance in the company’s Monthly Selling Expense Report that follows.

SoftGro, Inc.
Monthly Selling Expense Report
For the Month of November
	Annual Budget				November Budget				November Actual				November Variance
Unit sales		2,110,000				302,000				342,000				40,000
Dollar sales	$	156,140,000			$	22,348,000			$	25,308,000			$	2,960,000
Orders processed		69,600				7,800				7,240				(560	)
Sales personnel per month		90				90				96				(6	)
Advertising	$	38,400,000			$	3,200,000			$	3,225,000			$	25,000	U
Staff salaries		3,120,000				260,000				260,000
Sales salaries		2,376,000				198,000				213,000				15,000	U
Commissions		6,245,600				893,920				1,012,320				118,400	U
Per diem expense		4,212,000				351,000				378,700				27,700	U
Office expenses		8,644,800				796,400				758,800				37,600	F
Shipping expenses		12,182,000				1,646,000				1,829,000				183,000	U
Total expenses	$	75,180,400			$	7,345,320			$	7,676,820			$	331,500	U

Fletcher called in the company’s new controller, Susan Porter, to discuss the implications of the variances reported for November and to plan a strategy for improving performance. Porter suggested that the company’s reporting format might not be giving Fletcher a true picture of the company’s operations. She proposed that SoftGro implement flexible budgeting. Porter offered to redo the Monthly Selling Expense Report for November using flexible budgeting so that Fletcher could compare the two reports and see the advantages of flexible budgeting.

Porter discovered the following information about the behavior of SoftGro’s selling expenses.

• The total compensation paid to the sales force consists of a monthly base salary and a commission; the commission varies with sales dollars.
• Sales office expense is a semivariable cost with the variable portion related to the number of orders processed. The fixed portion of office expense is $6,000,000 annually and is incurred uniformly throughout the year.
• Subsequent to the adoption of the annual budget for the current year, SoftGro decided to open a new sales territory. As a consequence, approval was given to hire six additional salespeople effective November 1. Porter decided that these additional six people should be recognized in her revised report.
• Per diem reimbursement to the sales force, while a fixed amount per day, is variable with the number of sales personnel and the number of days spent traveling. SoftGro’s original budget was based on an average sales force of 90 people throughout the year with each salesperson traveling 15 days per month.
• The company’s shipping expense is a semivariable cost with the variable portion, $5.00 per unit, dependent on the number of units sold. The fixed portion is incurred uniformly throughout the year.

Required:

1.) Why would Susan Porter propose that SoftGro use flexible budgeting in this situation?

Required 1 Required 2 Why would Susan Porter propose that SoftGro use flexible budgeting in this situation? (Select which of the following statements (is) are true by selecting an "X".) Flexible budgeting provides management with the tools to evaluate the effects of varying levels of activity on costs, revenues, and profits. Flexible budgeting has a direct impact on actual results. Flexible budgeting improves the analysis of actual results. Flexible budgeting enables management to improve planning and decision making.

2.) Prepare a revised Monthly Selling Expense Report for November that would permit Mark Fletcher to more clearly evaluate SoftGro’s control over selling expenses.

Answer 1

Answer with working notes is given below

1) All 4 are the answers 2) SOFTGRO INC. Revised Monthly Selling Expense Report for November Flexible Budget Variance Advertising $3,200,000 $3,225,000 $25,000 Unfavourable Staff salaries $260,000 $260,000 $0 None Sales salaries $211,200 $213,000 $1,800 Unfavourable Commissions $1,012,320 $1,012,320 $0 None Per diem expense $374,400 $378,700 $4,300 Unfavourable Office expenses $775,120 $758,800 $16,320 Favourable Shipping expenses $1,846,000 $1,829,000 $17,000 Favourable Total expenses $7,679,040 $7,676,820 $2,220 Favourable Working notes: $198,000 Sales salaries November budget Sales person Salary per sales person Actual sales person Flexible budget 2,200 $211,200 Sales office expense Annual fixed cost Variable expenses Orders processed per order processed $8,644,800 $6,000,000 $2,644,800 69,600 $38.00 Flexible budget Annual fixed cost Order processed- Actual Variable expense Total $500,000 (Annual cost/12) 7,240 $275,120 (7,240*$38) $775,120 (Fixed + Variable) Sales commission Dollar sales Sales commission % Actual sales Flexible budget $893,920 $22,348,000 4.00% $25,308,000 $1,012,320 $351,000 Per diem expense November budget Total sales person Per sales person diem 90 $3,900 Budget for 99 people $374,400 (3,900* 96) Shipping expense November budget Variable expenses Fixed expense $1,646,000 $1,510,000 (302,000*$5) $136,000 Flexible budget Actual units Variable shipping expense Fixed expense Flexible budget 342,000 $1,710,000 (342,000*$5) $136,000 $1,846,000 (Fixed + Variable)