Question

The St. Lucia Blood Bank, a private charity partly supported by government grants, is located on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. The blood bank has just finished its operations for September, which was a particularly busy month due to a powerful hurricane that hit neighboring islands causing many injuries. The hurricane largely bypassed St. Lucia, but residents of St. Lucia willingly donated their blood to help people on other islands. As a consequence, the blood bank collected and processed over 20% more blood than had been originally planned for the month.

A report prepared by a government official comparing actual costs to budgeted costs for the blood bank appears below. Continued support from the government depends on the blood bank’s ability to demonstrate control over its costs.

St. Lucia Blood Bank Cost Control Report For the Month Ended September 30
	Actual Results		Planning Budget		Variances
Liters of blood collected		540		420
Medical supplies	$	7,938	$	6,510	$	1,428	U
Lab tests		4,973		4,788		185	U
Equipment depreciation		3,640		3,300		340	U
Rent		1,400		1,400		0
Utilities		786		700		86	U
Administration		12,064		11,534		530	U
Total expense	$	30,801	$	28,232	$	2,569	U

The managing director of the blood bank was very unhappy with this report, claiming that his costs were higher than expected due to the emergency on the neighboring islands. He also pointed out that the additional costs had been fully covered by payments from grateful recipients on the other islands. The government official who prepared the report countered that all of the figures had been submitted by the blood bank to the government; he was just pointing out that actual costs were a lot higher than promised in the budget.

The following cost formulas were used to construct the planning budget:

	Cost Formulas
Medical supplies	$15.50q
Lab tests	$11.40q
Equipment depreciation	$3,300
Rent	$1,400
Utilities	$700
Administration	$10,400 + $2.70q

  

Answer 1

	Actual	Spending variances		Flexible budget	Activity variances		Planning budget
Liters of blood collected	540			540			420
Medical supplies	7938	432	F	8370	1860	U	6510
Lab tests	4973	1183	F	6156	1368	U	4788
Equipment depreciation	3640	340	U	3300	0	None	3300
Rent	1400	0	None	1400	0	None	1400
Utilities	786	86	U	700	0	None	700
Administration	12064	206	U	11858	324	U	11534
Total expenses	30801	983	F	31784	3552	U	28232