Question

Marwick’s Pianos, Inc., purchases pianos from a large manufacturer for an average cost of $2,450 per unit and then sells them to retail customers for an average price of $3,125 each. The company’s selling and administrative costs for a typical month are presented below:

During August, Marwick’s Pianos, Inc., sold and delivered 40 pianos.

Required:

1. Prepare a traditional format income statement for August.

2. Prepare a contribution format income statement for August. Show costs and revenues on both a total and a per unit basis down through contribution margin.

3. Refer to the income statement you prepared in (2) above. Why might it be misleading to show the fixed costs on a per unit basis?

 

Answer 1

1. Marwick’s Pianos, Inc. Traditional Income Statement For the Month of August

2. Marwick’s Pianos, Inc. Contribution Format Income Statement For the Month of August

 

3. Fixed costs remain constant in total but vary on a per unit basis inversely with changes in the activity level. As the activity level increases, for example, the fixed costs will decrease on a per unit basis. Showing fixed costs on a per unit basis on the income statement might mislead management into thinking that the fixed costs behave in the same way as the variable costs. That is, management might be misled into thinking that the per unit fixed costs would be the same regardless of how many pianos were sold during the month. For this reason, fixed costs generally are shown only in totals on a contribution format income statement. 

1. Marwick’s Pianos, Inc. Traditional Income Statement For the Month of August

2. Marwick’s Pianos, Inc. Contribution Format Income Statement For the Month of August

 

3. Fixed costs remain constant in total but vary on a per unit basis inversely with changes in the activity level. As the activity level increases, for example, the fixed costs will decrease on a per unit basis. Showing fixed costs on a per unit basis on the income statement might mislead management into thinking that the fixed costs behave in the same way as the variable costs. That is, management might be misled into thinking that the per unit fixed costs would be the same regardless of how many pianos were sold during the month. For this reason, fixed costs generally are shown only in totals on a contribution format income statement.