The gross margin for a manufacturing company is the excess of sales over:

cost of goods sold, including fixed manufacturing overhead.

all variable costs, including variable selling and administrative expenses.

variable costs, excluding variable selling and administrative expenses.

cost of goods sold, excluding fixed manufacturing overhead.

6

What is the cause of the difference between absorption costing net operating income and variable costing net operating income?

Absorption costing allocates fixed manufacturing costs between cost of goods sold and inventories; variable costing considers all fixed manufacturing costs to be period costs.

Absorption costing deducts all manufacturing costs from net operating income; variable costing deducts only prime costs.

Absorption costing includes fixed administrative costs in product costs; variable costing considers fixed administrative costs to be period costs.

Absorption costing includes variable manufacturing costs in product costs; variable costing considers variable manufacturing costs to be period costs.