Hunter-gatherer Ltd produces Widgets. The table below shows the budget and actual units sold together with standard costs and actual costs for materials and labour used in the manufacture of Widgets.

Data for July 2008: Budget Actual

Units of finished Widgets sold 5000 4500

Standard material required

(kg per Widget) 1.5 1.7 Actual materials used

6750

7650

-900

(kg per Widget)

Standard material costs per kg £12.50 £13.00 Actual material cost per kg

Standard labour hours required

(hours per Widget) 1.2 1.3 Actual labour hours used

5400

5850

-450

(hours per Widget)

Standard labour costs per hour £14.00 £13.90 Actual labour cost per hour

Assume that the quantity of materials purchased and the quantity used are identical.

a. Produce a report that compares the original budget with actual costs for materials and labour in July.

b. Produce a budget versus actual variance report using a flexible budget and calculate the variances on that basis.

c. Calculate both usage and price variances for each of materials and labour.

d. Explain why variance analysis using a flexible budget may be helpful for management control.