What is operating leverage? What does it mean if a company has a degree of operating leverage of 3?

Short Answer

Expert verified

The change will be more operating income than sales.

Step by step solution

01

Meaning of operating leverage

The change in operating income when sales volume changes due to a change in fixed costs is known as operating leverage.

02

What does it mean if a company has a degree of operating leverage of 3?

The degree of operating leverage of 3 means that the percentage variation in operating income will be three times the percentage in sales.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Use the following information to complete Short Exercises S20-16 and S20-17.

Wild Waters Swim Park sells individual and family tickets. With a ticket, each person receives a meal, three beverages, and unlimited use of the swimming pools. Wild Waters has the following ticket prices and variable costs for 2018:

Individual Family Sales price per ticket \( 50 \) 150 Variable cost per ticket 35 140

Wild Waters expects to sell one individual ticket for every four family tickets. Wild Waters’s total fixed costs are $27,500.

S20-17 Calculating breakeven point for two products

For 2019, Wild Waters expects a sales mix of four individual tickets for every one family ticket.

Requirements

1. Compute the new weighted-average contribution margin per ticket.

2. Calculate the total number of tickets Wild Waters must sell to break even.

3. Calculate the number of individual tickets and the number of family tickets the company must sell to break even.

Use the following information to complete Short Exercises S20-16 and S20-17.

Wild Waters Swim Park sells individual and family tickets. With a ticket, each person receives a meal, three beverages, and unlimited use of the swimming pools. Wild Waters has the following ticket prices and variable costs for 2018:

Individual Family Sales price per ticket \( 50 \) 150 Variable cost per ticket 35 140

Wild Waters expects to sell one individual ticket for every four family tickets. Wild Waters’s total fixed costs are $27,500.

S20-16 Calculating breakeven point for two products

Using the Wild Waters Swim Park information presented, do the following tasks.

Requirements

1. Compute the weighted-average contribution margin per ticket.

2. Calculate the total number of tickets Wild Waters must sell to break even.

3. Calculate the number of individual tickets and the number of family tickets the company must sell to break even.

What is a mixed cost? Give an example.

A furniture manufacturer specializes in wood tables. The tables sell for \(100 per unit and incur \)40 per unit in variable costs. The company has \(6,000 in fixed costs per month. The company desires to earn an operating profit of \)12,000 per month.

10. Calculate the required sales in units to earn the target profit using the equation method.

11. Calculate the required sales in units to earn the target profit using the contribution margin method.

12. Calculate the required sales in dollars to earn the target profit using the contribution margin ratio method.

13. Calculate the required sales in units to break even using the contribution margin method.

You have just begun your summer internship at Omni Instruments. The company supplies sterilized surgical instruments for physicians. To expand sales, Omni is considering paying a commission to its sales force. The controller, Matthew Barnhill, asks you to compute: (1) the new breakeven sales figure, and (2) the operating profit if sales increase 15% under the new sales commission plan. He thinks you can handle this task because you learned CVP analysis in your accounting class.

You spend the next day collecting information from the accounting records, performing the analysis, and writing a memo to explain the results. The company president is pleased with your memo. You report that the new sales commission plan will lead to a significant increase in operating income and only a small increase in breakeven sales.

The following week, you realize that you made an error in the CVP analysis. You overlooked the sales personnel’s $2,800 monthly salaries, and you did not include this fixed selling cost in your computations. You are not sure what to do. If you tell Matthew Barnhill of your mistake, he will have to tell the president. In this case, you are afraid Omni might not offer you permanent employment after your internship.

Requirements

1. How would your error affect breakeven sales and operating income under the proposed sales commission plan? Could this cause the president to reject the sales commission proposal?

2. Consider your ethical responsibilities. Is there a difference between (a) initially making an error and (b) subsequently failing to inform the controller?

3. Suppose you tell Matthew Barnhill of the error in your analysis. Why might the consequences not be as bad as you fear? Should Barnhill take any responsibility for your error? What could Barnhill have done differently?

4. After considering all the factors, should you inform Barnhill or simply keep quiet?

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