Mark Fletcher, president of SoftGro, Inc., was looking forward to seeing the performance reports for November because he knew the company's sales for the month had exceeded budget by a considerable margin. SoftGro, a distributor of educational software packages, had been growing steadily for approximately two years. Fletcher's biggest challenge at this point was to ensure that the company did not lose control of expenses during this growth period. When Fletcher received the November reports, he was dismayed to see the large unfavorable variance in the company's Monthly Selling Expense Report that follows.
Mark Fletcher, president of SoftGro, Inc., was looking forward to seeing the performance reports for November because he knew the company's sales for the month had exceeded budget by a considerable margin. SoftGro, a distributor of educational software packages, had been growing steadily for approximately two years. Fletcher's biggest challenge at this point was to ensure that the company did not lose control of expenses during this growth period. When Fletcher received the November reports, he was dismayed to see the large unfavorable variance in the company's Monthly Selling Expense Report that follows.
Chapter1: Financial Statements And Business Decisions
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 1Q
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please help me provide complete and correct answer this time with all working for both parts answer in text please answer correct

Transcribed Image Text:Porter discovered the following information about the behavior of SoftGro's selling expenses.
• The total compensation paid to the sales force consists of a monthly base salary and a commission; the
commission varies with sales dollars.
• Sales office expense is a semivariable cost with the variable portion related to the number of orders processed.
The fixed portion of office expense is $6,360,000 annually and is incurred uniformly throughout the year.
• Subsequent to the adoption of the annual budget for the current year, SoftGro decided to open a new sales
territory. As a consequence, approval was given to hire six additional salespeople effective November 1. Porter
decided that these additional six people should be recognized in her revised report.
• Per diem reimbursement to the sales force, while a fixed amount per day, is variable with the number of sales
personnel and the number of days spent traveling. SoftGro's original budget was based on an average sales force
of 90 people throughout the year with each salesperson traveling 15 days per month.
• The company's shipping expense is a semivariable cost with the variable portion, $5.00 per unit, dependent on
the number of units sold. The fixed portion is incurred uniformly throughout the year.
Required:
1. Why would Susan Porter propose that SoftGro use flexible budgeting in this situation?
2. Prepare a revised Monthly Selling Expense Report for November that would permit Mark Fletcher to more clearly
evaluate SoftGro's control over selling expenses.
Complete this question by entering your answers in the tabs below.
Required 1 Required 2
Prepare a revised Monthly Selling Expense Report for November that would permit Mark Fletcher to more clearly evaluate
SoftGro's control over selling expenses. (Indicate the effect of each variance by selecting "Favorable" or "Unfavorable". Sel
"None" and enter "0" for no effect (i.e., zero variance). Do not round intermediate calculations.)
SOFTGRO, INC.
Advertising
Staff salaries
Sales salaries
Commissions
Per diem expense
Office expenses
Shipping expenses
Total expenses
Revised Monthly Selling Expense Report for November
Flexible Budget
$ 2,624,000
270,000
269,200 X
908,160
464,000
834,800
$
1,822,000
7,192,160
Actual
$2,600,000 $ 24,000
Variance
270,000
268,800
908,160
460,800
3,200
845,400 x
(10,600)
1,862,000 >
(40,000)
$ 7,215,160 $ (23,000)
< Required 1
400
0
Unfavorable
None
Unfavorable
None
Unfavorable
Favorable
Favorable
Favorable
Required 2 >

Transcribed Image Text:Mark Fletcher, president of SoftGro, Inc., was looking forward to seeing the performance reports for November
because he knew the company's sales for the month had exceeded budget by a considerable margin. SoftGro, a
distributor of educational software packages, had been growing steadily for approximately two years. Fletcher's
biggest challenge at this point was to ensure that the company did not lose control of expenses during this growth
period. When Fletcher received the November reports, he was dismayed to see the large unfavorable variance in
the company's Monthly Selling Expense Report that follows.
Unit sales
Dollar sales
Orders processed
Sales personnel per month
Advertising
Staff salaries
Sales salaries
Commissions
Per diem expense
Office expenses
Shipping expenses
Total expenses
SOFTGRO, INC.
Monthly Selling Expense Report
For the Month of November
Annual
Budget
2,170,000
$143,220,000
84,000
90
November
Budget
314,000
$20,724,000
9,000
90
$ 31,200,000
3,240,000
3,024,000
5,728,800
5,184,000
432,000
9,552,000
796,000
12,554,000
1,712,000
$ 70,482,800 $ 6,890,960
$ 2,600,000
270,000
252,000
828,960
November
Actual
344,000
$22,704,000
8,300
96
November
Variance
30,000
$1,980,000
(700)
(6)
24,000 U
$ 2,624,000 $
270,000
269,200
17,200 U
908,160
79,200 U
464,000
32,000 U
834,800
38,800 U
1,822,000
110,000 U
$ 7,192,160 $ 301,200 U
Fletcher called in the company's new controller, Susan Porter, to discuss the implications of the variances reported
for November and to plan a strategy for improving performance. Porter suggested that the company's reporting
format might not be giving Fletcher a true picture of the company's operations. She proposed that SoftGro
implement flexible budgeting. Porter offered to redo the Monthly Selling Expense Report for November using
flexible budgeting so that Fletcher could compare the two reports and see the advantages of flexible budgeting.
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