Management Accounting: Control Report and Business Performance of Amana's Souvenir Business

This report provides a control report and evaluation of the business performance of Amana's souvenir business. It includes recommendations for areas of improvement and a cost-benefit analysis of selling online through own website vs Amazon. The report covers the areas of management accounting, budget reports, sales reports, department reports, inventory reports, and more. The subject is management accounting and the course code is not mentioned. The course name and college/university are also not mentioned.

MANAGEMENT
ACCOUNTING

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
PART A...........................................................................................................................................3
I. Monthly Control report............................................................................................................3
2. Performance of Amana’s business in 2020.............................................................................5
3. Recommendations for Areas of Improvements.......................................................................7
PART B...........................................................................................................................................8
1. Determination of best business options on the basis of relevant costs – Own Website Vs
Amazon........................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
Books and Journals....................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Management accounting aims at providing such financial data that could be used within
the organization by advising management on several aspects to facilitate overall organizational
development (Bril and et.al., 2020). Common reports that are being prepared by the management
accountant involves budget reports, sales reports, department reports, inventory reports, etc. In
this report, with regards to the Amana’s tourist business selling souvenirs to the tourists
travelling to England. The financial results of this business have greatly affected because of the
fluctuations taking place in the revenue generation as a result of less tourists travelled during the
Easter days. This situation took place because of the lockdown implementation during 2020 and
2021. Accordingly, the flexed budget would be prepared to determine the variances in expenses
as a result of change in activity level. On the basis of this control report, the evaluation of
souvenir’s business would be done with respect to 2020 and recommendations would be
provided accordingly to indicate the areas of improvement. Secondly, the two business options
associated with operating online that is, through setting up own website or tying up with Amazon
will be compared in terms of relevant costs and benefits underlying these options.
MAIN BODY
PART A
I. Monthly Control report
Particulars Original
Budget (£)
Flexed
Budget (£)
Actual (£) Variance (£)
(Actual
budget –
Flexed
budget)
Favourable
or Adverse
Total number
of units sold
during the year
(A)
100000 80000 80000

Selling price
per unit (B)
25 25 20
Sales Revenue
(C) = A * B
1000000 * 25
= 2500000
80000 * 25 =
2000000
80000 * 20 =
1600000
1600000 –
2000000 =
-400000
Adverse
Less Variable
Costs:
Materials
(D)
100000 *
2.50 =
250000
80000 * 2.50
= 200000
80000 * 3.5
= 280000
280000 –
200000 =
80000
Adverse
Labour
(E)
100000 * 4 =
400000
80000 * 4 =
320000
80000 * 5.5
= 440000
440000 -
320000 =
120000
Adverse
Overheads
(F)
100000 *
1.50 =
150000
80000 * 1.50
= 120000
80000 * 1.5
= 120000
120000 –
120000 = 0
-
Contribution
(G) = C – D –
E - F
100000 * 17
= 1700000
80000 * 17 =
1360000
80000 * 9.5
= 760000
760000 –
1360000 =
-600000
Adverse
Less Fixed
overheads (H)
Warehouse
rental (I)
200000 200000 170000 170000 –
200000 =
-30000
Favourable
Insurance 100000 100000 100000 100000 –
100000 = 0
-
Fulltime
warehouse
50000 50000 35000 35000 –
50000 = -
Favourable

supervisor
salary
15000
Profit 1350000 1010000 455000 455000 –
1010000 =
-555000
Adverse
2. Performance of Amana’s business in 2020
Performance of business gets several factors such as changing costs element, business
capacity to finance uncertain event, inability of meet capital requirements and the most
significant is the changing market requirements as a result legislations & policies implemented
by the existing system with respect to the unpredictable events like Covid - 19. Here, the factor
that has affected the business of Amana in 2020 was the implementation of lockdowns and
policies of social distancing which acts as a roadblock for tourists to visit the destinations of
England during this period. This has led to the significant impact over the businesses that are
majorly involved in serving tourists and the family owned business of Amana is belonging to this
category only where they are selling souvenirs to the tourists arriving in England.
However, with the implementation of lockdowns and travelling restrictions by the UK
government during 2020 and 2021, the sales that were expected in the time of Easter days were
not achieved and accordingly, the variances have been calculated in flexed budget report
prepared above (Faccia and Pandey, 2021). The reports show that the profitability has greatly
affected during 2020 where the planned profit figures should be £1010000 and instead of this the
figures for profit achieved was just 455000 which is lower to the extent of 55%. The reason for
such a lower profit margins was identified as the reduction in selling price from £25 to £20 in
order to create more demand for the souvenirs while operating through physical stores. This
comparison of profits and selling price has been done between the flexed budget and actual
results because the original budgets are not appropriate tool for identifying the variances in the
costs and profit margins as the activity level is not same due to original budget was prepared by
taking the expected demand for souvenirs as 100000 units while the actual sales unit were only
80000 units, therefore, flexed budget has been prepared for making comparison of costs and
profits at the similar activity level of 80000 units.

Therefore, the above report show that both the units sold and profit margins get
negatively affected because of the less arrival of tourists as compared to what has been expected.
The report also showing that the costs of materials as well as the labor showing adverse
movement in 2020 as a result of actual costs incurred being higher than what was expected while
preparing budget (Himawan, 2022). The reasons for rising material costs could be the lower
supply of the same in the market as a result of low confidence among producers with respect to
the implementation of lockdowns. The lower supply of materials against the demand for the
same leads to rise in the prices. In the time of lockdown, no one was intended to come out of
their homes because of increased chances of catching the virus everywhere. This in turn
definitely made it difficult for the producers to provide for the required number of labors to
initiate production activity and accordingly, paying higher wages could be the only option
leading to unfavorable variances.
With respect to the rising costs, the management of Amana has not transfer the rising cost
burden to their customers instead they have reduced per unit price to push the demand upward.
Such strategy may not be considered as a sustainable one because it further creates issue in
ensuring the standard quality of the product and spending on activities like marketing or
branding which are some of the most important factor for raising demand (Kiiru, Kamau and
Nzioki, 2018). Also, reducing selling price as seen in case of souvenir seller usually led to poorly
reduced margins making it difficult for the business to ensure development & growth in the
future.
Another important component in the above control report was identified as overheads
which dictates two elements that is, fixed as well as variable. It can be seen that the per unit cost
is fixed however, the overall cost has varied because of lower activity level. This has been said
on the basis of no variance found in the overheads figure in actual as well as flexed budget which
means the fixed cost / unit is constant. Here, favorable variances have resulted for Amana
because of the actual overheads being comparatively less than the budgeted one.
Further, the warehouse rentals and salary paid to the warehouse supervisor has reduced
leading to favorable variance (Alamsyah, Sudirman and Hakim, 2020). This is because of the
lockdowns causing closer of business and accordingly, the supervisor must not be available for
the entire budget period leading lower payments of salary. Also, the reduced activity level has

caused reduced space requirements and therefore, the rental charges were decreased. Due to
these reasons that are directly associated with the lockdown implementation, the control report
has affected accordingly.
3. Recommendations for Areas of Improvements
With regards to what has been evaluated earlier in this report about the business
performance of souvenir’s seller, the areas that are in need of immediate attention or required to
improved involves, price at which the souvenirs must be sold, labor as well as material costs &
the last one is the profit margins that have affected because of the rising costs associated with
these factors. Accordingly, the following recommendations would be fruitful:
 Management should go for ensuring better quality of their souvenirs along with
undertaking more of branding & marketing programs rather than decreasing their
souvenir’s price. This way the quality would not be compromised and the profit
margins could be enhanced on the basis of branding. Keeping selling price
constant would further help them in meeting the rising production costs
(Fedorovych, 2020).
 For lowering the cost paid for buying the raw materials, it could be better for the
management to find some other supplier from whom they can get the required
materials at cheaper cost. By doing so, the profit margins could be kept in
alignment with the budget figures and accordingly, its negative effects on the
profit margins could also be avoided.
 Rising per unit cost of labor is identified as another area requiring immediate
actions from the management to lower down the same. Therefore, it could be
suggested to the managers at this tourist business to replace the existing labor
with comparatively cheap labor. Further, if they want to continue with the existing
labor force, then they could go for making use of efficient technology which is
deemed to be useful in enhancing the productivity & efficiency of workers as a
result of reduced working hours.
 At last, the management is suggested to follow the strategy of sustainable pricing.
Through this strategy, the budget profit margins would easily be met along with
the greater ability to lift the burden of rising costs of production. Moreover, the

activities such as marketing, branding along with the maintenance of higher
quality of product would be satisfied with greater possibility only if the profit
margins will not be compromised.
PART B
1. Determination of best business options on the basis of relevant costs – Own Website Vs
Amazon
The cost & benefit analysis has been performed for the souvenir’s sellers who aims to sell their
products online and accordingly, the comparison will be done between the option to sell through
own website or tying up with Amazon to use their platform. The analysis would assume the
selling as £20 per souvenirs as this was the only sales price prevailing during the period between
2020-2021.
Own website option for selling online
Particulars Amount in £
Guaranteed sales units of 100000 per annum 100000 * £20 = £2000000
Less: Relevant costs with respect to this
option
Cost associated with setting up of delivery
network
-150000
Cost associated with upgrading of current
website for handling higher sales volume
-50000
Salary required to be paid to fulltime
programmer
-35000
Expected earnings generated through this
option
1765000
Using Amazon platform for conducting sales online
Particulars Amount in £
Guaranteed sales revenue through selling 65000 * 20 = 1300000

65000 units
Less: Relevant cost with respect to this option
Amazon fulfilment fees -50000
Expected earnings generated through this
option
1250000
It can be easily seen through the above cost & benefit analysis performed for two different
options with reference to establishing online platform for offering souvenirs online that the
option of selling by way of own website is found to be more profitable.
Own website & Amazon platform – Pros & Cons
After pandemic, it has been seen that businesses are found to be rigorously selling by way of
online platforms either creating their own website or tying up with Amazon. This in turn has led
to rise in their market share as customers in both local & international market is targeted
simultaneously. With regards to this, a question always comes in the mind that whether to go for
setting online shop by way of Amazon or own website and accordingly, the following pros &
cons of each of these options must be taken into account.
Competition: On going with the option of Amazon platform, the businesses usually face high
level of competition from millions of brand operating online through this platform because of
differentiating quality & price of different sellers (Lai and et.al., 2022). However, there are still
ways with the help of which businesses can outsmart ratings, sponsored ads and reviews. Despite
of these advantages, sellers have poor or no control over their pricing as well as return policy
associated with the products available through Amazon platform. In such circumstances, to keep
up with the other market players, the management of Amana business must adopt such policies
related to pricing & returning of the products that are well aligned with other sellers over the
platform to ensure greater brand visibility. Further, by opting for own website option, the
management of Amana could avoid the difficulties arising on account of poor control and
visibility of the brand which is actually found to be beneficial in terms of greater profitability &
sales.

Convenience: It can be understood in terms of costs, initial outlay, distribution systems, etc.
which is considered to be the biggest element while choosing different selling options (Mehta
and et.al., 2020). In the given case, the costs required to be paid while going with the Amazon
option is very less as compared to the higher costs of developing own websites. Accordingly,
Amazon is found as an attractive option in terms of reaching huge audiences at a very low
commitments of capital. The overall costs for the development & maintenance of own websites
has come to £235000 while the another option of going online that is, by way of Amazon
platform, the initial costs are restricted just to the Amazon fulfilment fees which arises on
account of additional benefits enjoyed by businesses such as quick delivery, lower rates of
shipping, etc.
Ownership & Cost related aspects: The costs required to be incurred in case of two alternatives
of online selling are different as can be seen in the table above where the total costs required in
case of own website and Amazon platform are identified as £235000 and £50000 respectively
indicating large amount of deviation between the two options and therefore, Amazon is
considered as the most convenient option in terms of costs aspects (Song, Li and Geng, 2020).
However, there is another big factor which is considered while deciding whether to own website
or tie up with Amazon for selling online is of advantage of exercising ownership. This is because
the former option provides for the same while the latter would not and accordingly, the issue of
ownership arises here. Despite of attractive branding option available over Amazon platform, the
brand identity on individual basis is not possible because of cut throat competition (Ailawadi,
2021).
CONCLUSION
On the basis of the report prepared and analysis done above, it has been determined that
several businesses across London get affected as a result of pandemic emerging in 2020 and
2021 leading to several government restrictions over the movement of customers from one
nation to another. Amana’s business indulged in selling souvenirs to tourists was among such
severely affected businesses because of pandemic. Accordingly, the control report depicts that
the number of souvenirs sold during the year has reduced and the profit margins of this business
got greatly affected because of simultaneous reduction in selling price and rising costs per unit.
Further, the best option for conducting online sales was identified as developing own website

because of higher profitability, advantages in terms of control over pricing, ability to enjoy
ownership, etc.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ailawadi, K. L., 2021. Commentary: omnichannel from a manufacturer’s perspective. Journal of
Marketing, 85(1), pp.121-125.
Alamsyah, A., Sudirman, I. and Hakim, W., 2020. The Effect of Business Ethics Principles on
Operational Budget Control Policy (Cost Transport). Hasanuddin Journal of Business
Strategy, 2(2), pp.1-10.
Bril, A., and et.al., 2020, September. Personnel changes and labor productivity in regulatory
budget monitoring. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol.
940, No. 1, p. 012105). IOP Publishing.
Faccia, A. and Pandey, V., 2021, November. Business planning and big data, budget modelling
upgrade through data science. In 2021 the 6th International Conference on Information
Systems Engineering (pp. 21-25).
Fedorovych, M. I., 2020. Bibliometric and Trend Analysis of Budget Transparency. Business
Ethics and Leadership, 4(2), p.117.
Himawan, H., 2022. Analysis of budget usage associated with internal audit
activities. PERSPEKTIF: Sudut Pandang Lintas Pengetahuan, 1(1), pp.961-965.
Kiiru, S. M., Kamau, J. G. and Nzioki, P. M., 2018. Effect of budget planning on financial
performance of small and medium enterprises in nakuru town central business district.
Lai, G., and et.al., 2022. “Fulfilled by Amazon”: A Strategic Perspective of Competition at the e-
Commerce Platform. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management.
Mehta, Y., and et.al., 2020. A comparative study of recommender systems. In ICDSMLA
2019 (pp. 1021-1029). Springer, Singapore.
Song, W., Li, W. and Geng, S., 2020. Effect of online product reviews on third parties’ selling on
retail platforms. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 39, p.100900.