Suppose that Kicker had the following sales and cost experience (in thousands of dollars) for May of the current year and for May of the prior year:

In August of the prior year, Kicker started an intensive quality program designed to enable it to build original equipment manufacture (OEM) speaker systems for a major automobile company. The program was housed in research and development. In the beginning of the current year, Kicker's accounting department exercised tighter control over sales commissions, ensuring that no dubious (e.g., double) payments were made. The increased sales in the current year required additional warehouse space that Kicker rented in town.

Required:
1. Calculate the contribution margin ratio for May of both years.
2. Calculate the break-even point in sales dollars for both years.
3. Calculate the margin of safety in sales dollars for both years.
4. Analyze the differences shown by your calculations in Requirements 1, 2, and3.

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May, Prior Year May, Current Year $43,560 Total sales Less: $41,700 Purchase price paid Additional labor and supplies Commissions (17,000) (1,400) (1.250) (16,000) (1,200) 1.100) $ 23,400 $ 23,910 Contribution margin Less: Fixed warehouse cost Fixed administrative cost Fixed selling cost Research and development (680) (4,300) (5,600) (9750) $ 3,580 (500) (4,300) (5,000) Operating income $9,600