問21
頻出度★★★
製造・販売業 A 社の損益分岐点売上高を下げる施策として，最も適切なものはどれか。
平成23年度 特別試験 ITパスポート試験 問21
ストラテジ系企業活動 › 会計・財務
This question's explanation and your answers so far.
解説
問 21
Incorrectア
If equipment identical to the current equipment is added, depreciation, equipment maintenance costs, insurance premiums and so on increase, so fixed costs rise. The numerator of break-even point sales = fixed costs ÷ contribution margin ratio becomes larger, so break-even point sales in fact go up. Even if production volume increases, whether that leads to higher sales is a separate matter, so this is not a measure that lowers the break-even point.
- イ
正解 The correct answer is イ. Break-even point sales are found as fixed costs ÷ contribution margin ratio, where the contribution margin ratio = 1 − variable cost ratio. Therefore, the only ways to lower break-even point sales are to make the fixed costs in the numerator smaller, or to make the contribution margin ratio in the denominator larger (by raising the unit selling price, or by lowering the variable cost ratio). Suppressing labor costs and streamlining indirect departments are measures that cut exactly those costs which arise as a fixed amount regardless of whether sales rise or fall, that is, fixed costs themselves. Once the fixed costs in the numerator become smaller, break-even point sales certainly go down, and the company becomes one that can turn a profit with less sales. Hence イ is the most appropriate.
Incorrectウ
Even if only the sales quantity is increased while the selling price stays constant, neither the fixed costs nor the variable cost ratio changes, so the contribution margin ratio stays the same and break-even point sales themselves do not move. What the increase in quantity brings is a wider margin by which actual sales exceed the break-even point (that is, more profit), not a lower break-even point level. Note that what the question asks about is not the amount of profit but the break-even point sales.
Incorrectエ
If the selling price is lowered while the sales quantity stays as it is, the variable cost per unit does not change but the unit price falls, so the variable cost ratio rises and the contribution margin ratio drops. The denominator of break-even point sales = fixed costs ÷ contribution margin ratio becomes smaller, so break-even point sales go up. Far from lowering the break-even point, a price cut is a measure that increases the sales needed to become profitable.
ここがポイント
- Break-even point sales = fixed costs ÷ contribution margin ratio (contribution margin ratio = 1 − variable cost ratio). The only things that can lower this value are cutting fixed costs or raising the contribution margin ratio (raising the unit price, lowering the variable cost ratio); sales quantity does not appear in the formula, so it does not affect the level of the break-even point.
- The idea of separating costs into fixed costs and variable costs (fixed-variable cost separation). Labor costs and indirect-department expenses are treated as fixed costs that are not proportional to sales, while material costs and outsourcing costs are treated as variable costs proportional to sales; on that basis, adding equipment is judged as an increase in fixed costs, and a price cut as a rise in the variable cost ratio.
用語