Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis

Cost-Volume-profit (CVP), in managerial economics is a form of cost accounting. It is a simplified model, useful for elementary instruction and for short-run decisions.

Cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis expands the use of information provided by breakeven analysis. A critical part of CVP analysis is the point where total revenues equal total costs (both fixed and variable costs). At this breakeven point (BEP), a company will experience no income or loss. This BEP can be an initial examination that precedes more detailed CVP analysis.

Cost-volume-profit analysis employs the same basic assumptions as in breakeven analysis. The assumptions underlying CVP analysis are:

The behavior of both costs and revenues is linear throughout the relevant range of activity. (This assumption precludes the concept of volume discounts on either purchased materials or sales.) Costs can be classified accurately as either fixed or variable. Changes in activity are the only factors that affect costs. All units produced are sold (there is no ending finished goods inventory). When a company sells more than one type of product, the sales mix (the ratio of each product to total sales) will remain constant.

The components of Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis are:

Level or volume of activity
Unit Selling Prices
Variable cost per unit
Total fixed costs
Sales mix

Methods

Methods accounting:

Activity-based costing
Grenzplankostenrechnung (GPK)
Lean accounting
Resource Consumption Accounting
Standard costing
Throughput accounting
Transfer pricing