Tyrone Fletcher, president of SoftGro, Incorporated, 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 SOFTGRO, INCORPORATED Monthly Selling Expense Report For the Month of November Annual Budget 2,100,000 $ 176,400,000 67,200 90 $ 37,200,000 3,120,000 2,268,000 7,056,000 $ 25,200,000 November Budget November Actual 300,000 November Variance 338,000 38,000 $ 28,392,000 7,600 90 6,900 96 $ 3,192,000 (700) $ 3,124,000 260,000 201,700 6 $ 24,000 U 12,700 U 0 Per diem expense Sales office expense Shipping expenses Total expenses 4,050,000 8,299,200 14,220,000 $ 76,213,200 $ 3,100,000 260,000 189,000 1,008,000 337,500 691,600 1,935,000 $ 7,521,100 1,135,680 364,800 729,000 2,117,000 $ 7,932,180 127,680 U 27,300 U 37,400 F 182,000 U $ 411,080 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. 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 $5,880,000 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 • 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 $5,880,000 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 hire six additional salespeople effective November 1. Porter decided that these additional six people should be recognized 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. Actual travel days per salesperson in November were equal to the 15 days budgeted. • The company's shipping expense is a semivariable cost with the variable portion, $6.00 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 Tyrone 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 Why would Susan Porter propose that SoftGro use flexible budgeting in this situation? Note: Select "Yes" if the statement is a benefit of allocating utility costs to the divisions, and "No" if it is not a benefit. Flexible budgeting provides management with the tools to evaluate the effects of varying levels of activity on costs, revenues, and profits. Flexible budgeting has a direct impact on actual results. Flexible budgeting improves the analysis of actual results. Flexible budgeting enables management to improve planning and decision making. Required: < Required 1 Required 2 > 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 Tyrone 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 Tyrone Fletcher to more clearly evaluate SoftGro's control over selling expenses. Note: Indicate the effect of each variance by selecting "Favorable" or "Unfavorable". Select "None" and enter "0" for no effect (i.e., zero variance). Do not round intermediate calculations. Advertising Staff salaries Sales salaries Commissions Per diem expense Sales office expense Shipping expenses Total expenses SOFTGRO, INCORPORATED Revised Monthly Selling Expense Report for November Flexible Budget Actual $ 0 $ < Required 1 0 Variance Required 2 > Show less▲