Blueprint Problem: Return on investment, margin, and turnover

Return on Investment (ROI)

The manager of an investment center should be evaluated based on revenues, costs, and investments. An evaluation based on net income ignores the amount of investment the investment center required. One way to measure operating profit in relation to investment is a calculation called the return on investment.

One formula for calculating return on investment is:

Income from Operations Invested Assets

ROI is effective because it takes into consideration the three factors under the control of an investment center manager: revenues, costs, and investments. ROI measures the income (or return) earned on each dollar of investment.

APPLY THE CONCEPTS: Calculating return on investment

The divisional income statements for three divisions of the McLaren Company are shown.

McLaren Company
Divisional Income Statements
For the Year Ending December 31, 2011
	Division A			Division B			Division C
Sales Revenue	$1,218,000			$809,600			$408,000
Operating expenses	718,620			607,200			216,240
Income from operations before service-department charges	$499,380			$202,400			$191,760
Service-department charges	228,984			8,096			110,160
Income from operations	$270,396			$194,304			$81,600

Additional financial data from the three divisions of the McLaren Company are shown.

	Division A		Division B		Division C
Invested assets		$1,160,000		$704,000		$480,000

Calculate the return on investment for each division. When required, round the ROI to the nearest hundredth of a percent (for example, 16.943% would be rounded to 16.94%).

	Division A	Division B	Division C
Return on investment	%	%	%

Margin and Turnover

One way to analyze the difference in return on investment for each division is to separate the return on investment formula into two calculations: margin and turnover. Margin shows the relationship between income from operations and sales. It measures the profit earned for each dollar of sales, which is a measure of SelectprofitabilityefficiencyCorrect 1 of Item 2. Turnover shows the relationship between sales and invested assets. It measures how many dollars of sales result from each dollar of invested assets, which is a measure of SelectprofitabilityefficiencyCorrect 2 of Item 2.

The formulas for margin and turnover are:

Margin	=	SelectIncome from OperationsInvested AssetsSalesCorrect 3 of Item 2 SelectIncome from OperationsInvested AssetsSalesCorrect 4 of Item 2
Turnover	=	SelectIncome from OperationsInvested AssetsSalesCorrect 5 of Item 2 SelectIncome from OperationsInvested AssetsSalesCorrect 6 of Item 2

APPLY THE CONCEPTS: Calculating margin and turnover

Calculate the margin and the turnover for each division. When required, round margin to the nearest tenth of a percent (for example, 14.6%) and turnover to two decimal places (for example, 0.82).

	Division A		Division B		Division C
Margin		%		%		%
Turnover

The division showing the highest operating profitability is Division SelectABCCorrect 7 of Item 3.

The division showing the highest operating efficiency is Division SelectABCCorrect 8 of Item 3.

APPLY THE CONCEPTS: Using margin and turnover to calculate return on investment

A second way to calculate return on investment (ROI) is Return on Investment = Margin x Turnover. Using the margins and turnovers you recorded above, calculate the return on investment for each division. When required, round the return on investment to the nearest hundredth of a percent (for example, 16.94%).

Calculate the return on investment for each division. Round the ROI to the nearest hundredth of a percent (for example, 16.94%).

	Division A	Division B	Division C
Return on investment	%	%	%