Reference no: EM13178130

Microimage Technology, Inc. produces miniature digital color cameras that can be attached to endoscopes and other medical devices.  The cameras sell for $215 per unit and are disposed of after each use.  For 2014, the company's first full year of operation, the company had sales of 80,000 units and a net loss of $9,810,000, as follows:

Microimage Technology, Inc.

Income Statement

For the Year Ended December 31, 2014:            

 

Sales                           $17,200,000

Less Cost of Goods Sold                    $18,360,000

Gross Profit (loss)                     (1,160,000)

Less selling and administrative expenses:

Selling expense               $3,750,000

Administrative expense            $4,900,000     $8,650,000

Net loss                            ($9,810,000)

The company is closely held, with six major investors.  Early in the first quarter of 2015, Warren Logan, company CFO, was preparing to meet with them to present profitability estimates for the coming two years.  He expected the meeting to be somewhat hostile.  Two days before, he had received an email from one of the investors, Sanjay Patel:

Warren:

I expected a net loss but not this big.  And I certainly didn't expect a negative gross profit!  It looks like more we sell, the more we'll lose.  I hope you come to the investor meeting next week with some explanations and some better numbers. 

SP.

In preparing for the meeting, Warren assembled the following information based on results for 2014:

Units Sold                          $80,000

Units Produced                        $80,000

Selling Price                         $ 215

Manufacturing Costs:

Direct material costs                    $1,280,000

Direct labor costs                   $1,200,000

Variable manufacturing overhead:

Equipment Maintenance                 $160,000  

Inspection costs                          $400,000

Miscellaneous fixed manufacturing overhead     $3,700,000

$18,360,000

Selling expenses

Variable selling expense:

Shipping                          $  280,000

Commissions                     $  800,000

Travel                        $  120,000

Fixed selling expense:

Salaries                        $1,900,000

Miscellaneous fixed

Selling expense                        $650,000

$3,750,000

Administrative expenses (all fixed)

Research and development             $2,700,000

Administrative salaries not related to R&D         $1,300,000

Miscellaneous administrative expense          $ 900,000

   $ 4,900,000

Assumptions for 2015

1.) The company will hire two additional sales managers at a base salary of $90,000 each.

2.) R&D will be cut by $1,100,000.

3.) Unit sales will increase by 30 percent.

Assumptions for 2016

1.) The company will hire one additional sales manager at a base salary of $90,000.

2.) R&D will be increased by $600,000 over 2015.

3.) Unit sales will increase by 60 percent over 2015.

Required:

a.) Recast the full costing income statement for 2014 into a variable costing format.  Does it appear, as Sanjay Patel contends, that the more the company sells, the more it loses?

b.) Based on the previous information, calculate sales in dollars and units needed to break even in 2015.

c.) Warren Logan, CFO, has developed assumptions that he believes are reasonable for 2015 and 2016.  Using these assumptions, prepare budgeted income statements for 2015 and 2016 using the variable costing method.  Are the major investors likely to find forecasted profits encouraging?