In: Accounting
CVP discusses fixed and variable costs. However, we also have mixed costs have both a variable and fixed cost component. For example, many overhead costs operate like that. For example, electricity usually has a base charge and then it has a usage charge. So, what do we do with those costs in CVP? Does this mean we can't use for companies with mixed costs?
Mixed Costs also known as semi-variable costs contains two components which are-
1. Fixed component- It includes all those costs which does not change with the change in volume of activity
2. Variable component- It includes all those costs which changes with the change in volume of activity
For such mixed costs, In CVP we apply mixed cost formula and bifurcate the mixed cost into Fixed costs component and variable cost component
The mixed costs formula is
y = a + bx
where
No, this doesn't mean we can't use for companies with mixed costs, we have to calculate the fixed cost component and the variable cost component from the mixed costs using the mixed cost formula mentioned above and consider the calculated variable costs and fixed costs in CVP .