Some of the costs vary with the number of productions, some with the number of performances, and some are fixed and depend on neither the number of productions nor the number of performances. The costs of scenery, costumes, props, and publicity vary with the number of productions. It doesn't make any difference how many timesPeter Rabbitis performed, the cost of the scenery is the same. Likewise, the cost of publicizing a play with posters and radio commercials is the same whether there are 10, 20, or 30 performances of the play. On the other hand, the wages of the actors, directors, stagehands, ticket booth personnel, and ushers vary with the number of performances. The greater the number of performances, the higher the wage costs will be. Similarly, the costs of renting the hall and printing the programs will vary with the number of performances. Administrative expenses are more difficult to pin down, but the best estimate is that approximately 75% of the budgeted costs are fixed, 15% depend on the number of productions staged, and the remaining 10% depend on the number of performances. After the beginning of the year, the board of directors of the theater authorized expanding the theater's program to seven productions and a total of 168 performances. Not surprisingly, actual costs were considerably higher than the costs from the planning budget. (Grants from donors and ticket sales were also correspondingly higher, but are not shown here.)

PLANNING BUDGET ACTUAL BUDGET VARIANCE

Budget from productions 8 9 1

Budget # performance 110 158 48

Actors & Directors wages 202000 315000 113000

Stagehand wages 30000 45000 15,000

Ticket booth personnel, and usher wages 14000 23900 9900

Scenery Costumes and props 105000 120000 15000

Teather Hall Rent 50,000 70000 15,000

Printed Programs 20000 29500 9500

Publicity 10000 13000 3000

Admin Expenses 32000 45000 13000

Total: $463,118.00 $661,567.00 $198,449F

How a Flexible budget would be calculated based on the actual Budget.