Question:
A bank manager of Citizens Bank Inc. uses the managerial accounting system to track the costs of operating the various departments within the bank. The departments include Cash Management, Trust Commercial Loans, Mortgage Loans, Operations, Credit Card, and Branch Services. The budget and actual results for the Operations Department are as follows:
|
Resources
|
Budget
|
Actual
|
|
Salaries
|
$150,000
|
$150,000
|
|
Benefits
|
30,000
|
30,000
|
|
Supplies
|
45,000
|
42,000
|
|
Travel
|
20,000
|
30,000
|
|
Training
|
25,000
|
35,000
|
|
Overtime
|
25,000
|
20,000
|
|
Total
|
$295,000
|
$307,000
|
|
Excess of actual over budget
|
$ 12,000
|
|
a. What information is provided by the budget? Specifically, what questions can the bank manager ask of the Operations Department manager?
b. What information does the budget fail to provide? Specifically, could the budget information be presented differently to provide even more insight for the bank manager?