Question

9. Scharfenberg Corporation is an oil well service company that measures its output by the number of wells serviced. The company has provided the following fixed and variable cost estimates that it uses for budgeting purposes and the actual results of operations for March.

		Fixed Element per Month	Variable Element per Well Serviced	Actual Total for March
	Revenue.......................................		$5,700	$145,100
	Employee salaries and wages........	$50,300	$1,200	$79,300
	Servicing materials........................		$500	$12,200
	Other expenses.............................	$31,600		$31,400

When the company prepared its planning budget at the beginning of March, it assumed that 23 wells would have been serviced. However, 25 wells were actually serviced during March.

The activity variance for “Other expenses” for March would have been closest to:

A) $0

B) $200 F

C) $2,712 F

D) $200 U

The revenue variance for March would be closest to:

A) $2,640 U

B) $2,640 F

C) $1,224 U

D) $1,224 F

Answer 1

Answer a.

Flexible Budget for Other Expenses = $31,600
Planning Budget for Other Expenses = $31,600

Activity Variance for Other Expenses = Flexible Budget for Other Expenses - Planning Budget for Other Expenses
Activity Variance for Other Expenses = $31,600 - $31,600
Activity Variance for Other Expenses = $0

Answer b.

Actual Result for Revenue = $145,100

Flexible Budget for Revenue = $5,700 * Actual Number of Wells Served
Flexible Budget for Revenue = $5,700 * 25
Flexible Budget for Revenue = $142,500

Revenue Variance = Actual Result for Revenue - Flexible Budget for Revenue
Revenue Variance = $145,100 - $142,500
Revenue Variance = $2,600 Favorable