When the financial controller of Bakers Company set the budget for the year ahead, it was expected that monthly output of cake packages would be 12,000 units. In March the output was increased to 14,000 per month following negotiation with a chain of corner shops. The following table reports the original budget and the actual outcome for the month of March.
|
|
Original budget |
Actual for March |
|
Cake packages output |
12,000 |
14,000 |
|
|
£ |
£ |
|
Direct materials |
48,000 |
53,000 |
|
Direct labour |
24,000 |
29,000 |
|
Variable overhead |
6,000 |
7,200 |
|
Fixed overhead |
4,000 |
4,500 |
|
Total production costs |
82,000 |
93,700 |
Required
(1) Prepare a statement showing a flexible budget and variances.
(2) Make a recommendation on the most significant variance for investigation, and suggest two possible causes to investigate.