$$ Actual sales representative expense $1$st quarter $2024$ vs budgeted $1$st quarter $2024$ is $101\%$

$$ Actual sales representative expense $1$st quarter $2024$ vs budget whole year $2024$ is $25\%$

Provide sales representative expense analysis point on actual $1$st quarter performance against budget to CEO

Background information

Assume the date is now April $2024$

Sylvia and Wiremu is a privately owned clothing company with its head office located in Sydney, Australia. The company operates within both the retail and non$-$retail sectors$.$ In the retail arena, it runs its own women's clothing stores, primarily situated in suburban locales across major Eastern Australian cities and Auckland, New Zealand, as opposed to central business district $($CBD$)$ areas. In the non$-$retail space, it sells clothing to corporates, schools and sporting organisations.

The dynamic business landscape of the past few years has compelled the company to pivot towards importing the majority of its product range from overseas sources. Presently, a substantial $90\%$ of its products are sourced from Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia and Vietnam. The $2024$ budget, spanning from January to December $2024,$ was initially crafted based on certain assumptions about the exchange rates between Australia and New Zealand. However, after the budget's formulation, both countries have witnessed a deterioration in their exchange rates. Despite this, economic conditions in the retail sector have remained relatively robust in Australia and New Zealand, notwithstanding the influence of increasing interest rates on consumer spending.

In the non$-$retail sector, most of Sylvia and Wiremu's workforce is composed of sales representatives who are each responsible for the regions they are allocated. For the retail sector, the $2024$ budget strategy is for the company to expand into the menswear retail market by building on its long and successful history in the womenswear retail market. The expected margin on menswear is expected to be lower than those achieved on womenswear sales. Recent agreements also provided the company with the opportunity to open new stores in Perth $($Australia$)$ and Wellington $($New Zealand$).$ These stores subsequently opened in February $2024.$ The $2024$ budget does not include the expansion of the two new stores.

You are a Chartered Accountant $($CA$)$ recently employed by Sylvia and Wiremu, and part of your role is to negotiate with key suppliers to secure the best prices for the company across all regions.

The other major part of your role is to complete an analysis on organisational progress and performance. You have now analysed Sylvia and Wiremu's budget for $2024($i$.$e$.$the financial year ending $31$ December $2024)$ and compared it to the actual data for $2023($i$.$e$.$ the financial year ended $31$ December $2023)$ and the actual results for the first three months of the $2024($i$.$e$.$ January $-$ March $2024).$ Sylvia and Wiremu's Chief Executive Officer $($CEO$)$ has asked for your opinion on how well the company is tracking with regard to the $2024$ budget goals. The busiest quarter is Oct $-$ Dec each year, due to Christmas sales