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Selasa, 12 Mei 2009

pricing - variable or marginal cost pricing

With variable (or marginal cost) pricing, a price is set in relation to the variable costs of production (i.e. ignoring fixed costs and overheads).

The objective is to achieve a desired “contribution” towards fixed costs and profit.

Contribution per unit can be defined as: SELLING PRICE less VARIABLE COSTS

Total contribution can be calculated as follows:

Contribution per unit v Sales Volume

The resulting profit in a business is, therefore:

Total Contribution less Total Fixed Costs

The break even level of sales can be calculated using this information as follows:

Break even volume = Total Fixed Costs / Contribution per Unit

Consider a business with the following costs and volumes for a single product:

Fixed costs:

Factory production costs

£750,000

Research and development

£250,000

Fixed selling costs

£550,000

Administration and other overheads

£325,000

Total fixed costs

£1,625,000

Variable costs

Variable cost per unit

£8.00

Mark-Up

Mark-up % required

35%

Budgeted sale volumes (units)

500,000

Prices are set using variable costing by determining a target contribution per unit. This reflects:

• Variable costs per unit

• Total fixed costs

• The desired level of target profit (i.e. contribution less fixed costs)

The variable/marginal costing method can be illustrated using the same data used further above:

• Assume that the selling price per unit is £12
• Variable costs per unit are £8
• The contribution per unit is, therefore, £4 (£12 less £8)

What is the break even volume for the business?

• Total fixed costs are £1,625,000
• To achieve break-even, therefore, the business needs to sell at least 406,250 units (each of which produces a contribution of £4)

Looked at another way, what would be the required sales volume to generate a profit of £250,000?

• Total contribution required = total fixed costs + required profit
• Total contribution = £1,625,000 + £250,000 = £1,875,000
• Contribution per unit = £4
• Sales volume required therefore = 468,750 (£1,875,000 / £4)

The advantages of using a variable/marginal costing method for pricing include the following:

• Good for short-term decision-making;
• Avoids having to make an arbitrary allocation of fixed costs and overheads;
• Focuses the business on what is required to achieve break-even

However, there are some potential disadvantages of using this method:

• There is a risk that the price set will not recover total fixed costs in the long term. Ultimately businesses must price their products that reflects the total costs of the business;
• It may be difficult to raise prices if the contribution per unit is set too low


http://tutor2u.net/business/marketing/pricing_variablecost.asp


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