Flaming Foliage Sky Tours is a small sightseeing tour company in New Hampshire. The firm specializes in aerial tours of the New England countryside during September and October, when the fall color is at its peak. Until recently, the company had not had an accounting department. Routine bookkeeping tasks, such as billing, had been handled by an individual who had little formal training in accounting. As the business began to grow, however, the owner recognized the need for more formal accounting procedures. Jacqueline Frost has recently been hired as the new controller, and she will have the authority to hire an assistant. During her first week on the job, Frost was given the following performance report. The report was prepared by Red Leif, the company’s manager of aircraft operations, who was planning to present it to the owner the next morning. “Look at these favorable variances for fuel and so forth,” Leif pointed out, as he showed the report to Frost. “My operations people are really doing a great job.” Later that day, Frost looked at the performance report more carefully. She immediately realized that it was improperly prepared and would be misleading to the company’s owner.

Required:
1. Prepare a columnar flexible budget for Flaming Foliage Sky Tours’ expenses, using air miles as the cost driver at the following activity levels: 32,000 air miles, 35,000 air miles, and 38,000 air miles.
2. In spite of several favorable expense variances shown on the report above, the company’s September operating income was only about two-thirds of the expected level. Why?
3. Write a brief memo to the manager of aircraft operations explaining why the original variance report is misleading.
4. Prepare a revised expense variance report for September that is based on the flexible budget prepared in requirement 1.
5. Jacqueline Frost presented the revised expense report to Leif along with the memo explaining why the original performance report was misleading. Leif did not take it well. He complained of Frost’s “interference” and pointed out that the company had been doing just fine without her. “I’m taking my report to the owner tomorrow,” Leif insisted. “Yours just makes us look bad.” What are Frost’s ethical obligations in this matter? What should she do?

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Passenger revenue Less: Variable expenses: Fuel Aircraft maintenance Flight crew salaries Selling and administrative Total variable expenses Contribution margin Less: Fixed expenses: Depreciation on aircraft Landing fees Supervisory salaries Selling and administrative Total fixed expenses Operating income FLAMING FOLIAGE SKY TOURS Performance Report for the Month of September Formula Flexible Budget (per air mile) $3.50 $ 50 75 40 .80 $2.45 $ 1.05 Per Month $ 2,900 900 9,000 11,000 $23,800 Actual (32,000 air miles) $112,000 $ 17,000 23,500 13,100 24,900 $ 78,500 $ 33,500 $ 2,900 1,000 8,600 12,400 $ 24,900 $ 8,600 Static Budget (35,000 air miles) $122,500 $ 17,500 26,250 14,000 28,000 $ 85,750 $36,750 $2,900 900 9,000 11,000 $ 23,800 $ 12,950 Variance $ 10,500 U $ 500 F 2,750 F 900 F 3,100 F $ 7,250 F $ 3,250 U $ 0 100 U 400 F 1,400 U $1,100 U $ 4,350 U