Smart Auto Clinic We ve got a crisis on our hands We hod budgeted a Total Contribution
Question:
Smart Auto Clinic
We ve got a crisis on our hands We hod budgeted a Total Contribution of just over 5412,500 and we've lost about S44,350 it seems os though everything has gone wrong somehow
Akshay Arora, Administrator of Smart Auto Clinic was greatly concerned that the results of the year's operations were considerably worse than budgeted. One reason for this problem was that competition had forced the company to lower its price for one of its most significant jobs, but there appeared to be some other reasons as well Mr. Arora decided to analyze these reasons in preparation for his upcoming meeting with the clinic's supervisors.
BACKGROUND:
Smart Auto Clinic had been formed over five years ago. Initially its only fine of business was Silencer Replacements. As the quality of original equipment silencers improved, and as Mr. Arora realized that its customers were interested in more than just silencer replacements, the company expanded its product lines. Currently, the company offered four services for jobs as they frequently were called Silencer Replacement, Tune up, Brake Replacement, and Oll Replacement.
A distinctive feature of the dini was its use of mechanic assistants. Since much of the work traditionally done by mechanics did not require the skill of a trained mechanic, Mr. Arora realized that he could offer lower prices to his customers by having mechanics only perform those tasks that required their specialized skils. The remaining tdas were done by lower-skilled, and hence lower wage, mechanic attestants Another distincture feature of the clinic was its testing function. Mr. Arora had purchased some highly sophisticated equipment that allowed him to test the work of every job to make sure that
there were no detects. The equipment that tested silencer replacement, for example, assessed the quality of the seals between the silencer and tailpipes to make sure that they would not nupture
after only a few hundred miles of driving. Similarly, other equipment tested the timing of an engine following a tune-up
FINANCIAL INFORMATION:
Exhibit I contains the budgeted number of jobs, by type the budgeted price per job, and the budgeted variable expenses per job. classified into four inputs (variable costs mechanics mechanic assistant, supplies, and testing. It also shows the total revenue and variable expenses for each job typeand contribution of each job type. Mr. Arora asked his statt assistant, Anita Maru, to use the actual data for the period, shown in Exhibit 2, as the basis for preparing a variance analysis report on results for the year. Her report was contain a complete breakdown of the reasons why the clinic's actual profit diverged from the budget. The report would be used by Me. Arora for his meeting with the supervisor