Question 1

Lindon Company is the exclusive distributor for an automotive product that sells for $50 per unit and has a CM ratio of 20%. The companys fixed expenses are $108,000 per year. The company plans to sell 13,000 units this year.

Required:

1. What are the variable expenses per unit?

2. Use the equation method:

a. What is the break-even point in unit sales and in dollar sales?

b. What amount of unit sales and dollar sales is required to earn an annual profit of $75,000?

c. Assume that by using a more efficient shipper, the company is able to reduce its variable expenses by $5 per unit. What is the companys new break-even point in unit sales and in dollar sales?

.

3. Repeat (2) above using the formula method.

a. What is the break-even point in unit sales and in dollar sales?

b. What amount of unit sales and dollar sales is required to earn an annual profit of $75,000?

c. Assume that by using a more efficient shipper, the company is able to reduce its variable expenses by $5 per unit. What is the companys new break-even point in unit sales and in dollar sales?

Question 2

Morton Companys contribution format income statement for last month is given below:

Sales (46,000 units $27 per unit)	$	1,242,000
Variable expenses		869,400
Contribution margin		372,600
Fixed expenses		298,080
Net operating income	$	74,520

The industry in which Morton Company operates is quite sensitive to cyclical movements in the economy. Thus, profits vary considerably from year to year according to general economic conditions. The company has a large amount of unused capacity and is studying ways of improving profits.

Required:

1. New equipment has come onto the market that would allow Morton Company to automate a portion of its operations. Variable expenses would be reduced by $8.10 per unit. However, fixed expenses would increase to a total of $670,680 each month. Prepare two contribution format income statements, one showing present operations and one showing how operations would appear if the new equipment is purchased. (Round your "Per unit" answers to 2 decimal places.)

2.Refer to the income statements in (1) above. For both present operations and the proposed new operations, compute

a. The degree of operating leverage.

b. The break-even point in dollar sales.

c. The margin of safety in both dollar and percentage terms.

3. Refer again to the data in (1) above. As a manager, what factor would be paramount in your mind in deciding whether to purchase the new equipment? (Assume that enough funds are available to make the purchase.)

	Performance of peers in the indstry
	Stock level maintained
	Reserves and surplus of the company
	Cyclical movements in the economy

4. Refer to the original data. Rather than purchase new equipment, the marketing manager argues that the companys marketing strategy should be changed. Rather than pay sales commissions, which are currently included in variable expenses, the company would pay salespersons fixed salaries and would invest heavily in advertising. The marketing manager claims this new approach would increase unit sales by 50% without any change in selling price; the companys new monthly fixed expenses would be $372,600, and its net operating income would increase by 25%. Compute the break-even point in dollar sales for the company under the new marketing strategy.