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Many large undertakings in the U.S.A. like General Motors etc. follow this system of management control. Such type of cost centre may normally be a service department but sometimes does some productive work. A packing department producing packing materials will come under this category. To implement a responsibility accounting system, the business must be organized so that responsibility is assignable to individual managers. There is very small difference between revenue center and profit center. It is easy to calculate the performance of a revenue center as revenue is the only variable being performed against.
The identification of appropriate cost centres, as well as analysis of cost within cost centres, is extremely beneficial for cost comparison and control on a regular basis. Expenses should be appropriately segregated to cost centres in order to derive the cost of a product or service. Once the expenses are assigned to cost centres, they are attributed to cost units on a suitable basis depending upon the consumption of resources involved in a particular product or service. In addition, the manager of a cost centre is held accountable for the cost control of his cost centre. But he or she is not concerned with meeting profit or revenue targets.
A revenue center has costs, however to the manager of a revenue center this is of little importance as revenue is his sole performance indicator. For example, the manager of a revenue center is responsible for the expenses of his department . In a sales office , maintenance costs can be construed as rent, salaries, taxes and security. However, any costs related to product sale and manufacturing are not included in such expenses. A revenue center becomes a profit center if the latter is encompassed, thus making a profit center a blend of both a cost and revenue center. While revenue centers may be responsible for their own departmental expenses, such as rent and salaries, they do not have direct control over the cost of production of products and services.
A risk in using revenue centers to judge performance is that a revenue center manager may not be prudent in expending funds or incurring risks in order to generate those sales. For example, a manager could begin selling to lower-quality customers in order to generate sales, which increases the risk of bad debt losses. A better alternative is the profit center, where managers are judged on both their revenues and expenses. Beneficial competitive environment—All profit centres managers target success and profit by managing costs and aiming higher revenues. Companies can take advantage of mobile phone applications to add revenue centers to their business. Business technology and advancements in business software allow non-retail companies to add revenue centers to service or production operations.
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Quota and budget comparisons are also used as a performance indicator. A revenue centre is a segment of the organisation which is primarily responsible for generating sales revenue. A revenue centre manager does not possess control over cost, investment in assets, but usually has control over some of the expense of the marketing department.
Profit center is that segment of activity of a business which is responsible for both revenue and expenses. In order to evaluate a revenue center’s performance, only its revenues must be considered and everything else must be ignored. Organizations go for responsibility accounting to conduct detailed analysis at every level.
In fact, profit centre managers are more focused on raising income by increasing output or enhancing distribution channels. The performance of the profit centre is measured in terms of whether or not the centre met its budgeted or target profit. It is usually created in organizations seeking to increase market share. Costs that are related to the activities of revenue center to some extent act as a secondary factor, but the difference of revenues and costs of sale gives the margins, through which existence of a company is secured.
- Setting prices on products or services is an example of revenue center managers being unable to undertake marketing decisions.
- Therefore, revenue centers are useful when a company is entering a new market and expects that it will take a lot of time and startup expenses before the center becomes profitable.
- It creates a sense of accountability among the profit centre managers.
- Thereafter, the actual results are compared with the standard ones and are evaluated against the objectives of the firm.
- It refers to the part of the company where a manager has authority and responsibility.
Company size, the number of product or service lines and industry standards are all factors companies use when choosing or adding additional centers for their operations. In a revenue center, outputs are measured in monetary terms, but no formal attempt is made to relate inputs (i.e. expenses or costs) to outputs. Revenue centers are, marketing organizations that do not have profit responsibility. Actual sales or orders booked are measured against budgets or quotas. Each revenue center is also an expense center in that the revenue center manager is held accountable for the expenses incurred directly within the unit. Revenue centers are not charged for the cost of the goods that they market.
What is the Responsibility Center?
A responsibility centre is an organizational subsystem charged with a well-defined mission and headed by a manager accountable for the performance of the centre. Aresponsibility centre is an organization unit headed by a responsible manager. Moreover, in the case of a non-profit organization, the term ‘revenue centre’ may be adopted instead of ‘profit centre’ because profit is not the primary goal of such an organization. A production cost centre is one where manufacturing activities are carried out and where the form and structure of raw materials are converted into a final product. Some assets may be used by two or more responsibility centres and it becomes difficult to apportion the amount of those assets to various centres. Investment Centres may be used for big responsibility centres where assets will be in exclusive possession of that centre.
Certain disadvantages may crop up and impair the system of responsibility centers. There are usually 4 types of responsibility center which are identified as under. A responsibility centre is a segment of an organization for which a particular executive is responsible.
When the output is meant for outsiders, then the revenue will be measured from the price charged from customers. If the output is meant for other responsibility centre, then management takes a decision whether to treat the centre as profit centre or not. The cost centre in manufacturing units can be the service and production departments.
Starting small is usually a better way to build and expand business operations without incurring large amounts of debt or other expenses. These centers may also take time to become profitable and recover the initial start-up expenses. For this reason, starting multiple revenue units may exacerbate the potential downside to these new business operations. In a cost centre, the manager is only accountable for the costs incurred in his sub-unit. When the actual costs of his sub-unit deviate from the anticipated costs, the manager must explain the significant differences. On the other hand, in a profit centre, the manager goes above and beyond, as he or she is also accountable for profits and their improvement.
Revenue center
The Security or Loss Prevention department may take on the task of fire systems but ultimately this is the responsibility of the engineering department as the building operators to monitor for regulatory compliance. In calculating return on investments, beginning-of-period investment, end of period investment or average investment may be taken. However, the choice seems to be between beginning-of-period investment and average investment. Divisional investment is equal to net fixed assets of the division + current assets of the division — current liabilities of the division.
The main responsibility of the manager of such a responsibility centre is to increase contribution. Higher the contribution better will be the performance of the manager of a contribution centre. Notice that the only difference is the name at the top of the report and that the word “expense” has been replaced with “product”. Make sure to look https://1investing.in/ at each report carefully to determine if you are looking at a cost center report or a revenue center report. A revenue center performance report looks very similar to a cost center performance report. This means that the expense centre is not performing efficiently and is held responsible for the unfavorable performance of the department.
In both cases they are exploiting the add-on purchases people make when presented with opportunity. Categorization of costs must be under controllable or uncontrollable costs. Higher authorities get a clear picture of the organization through responsibility reports. The manager of the concerned centre is responsible for the activities of that centre. Direct resources used in productive activities such as direct materials, etc.
A revenue center is a distinct operating unit of a business that is responsible for generating sales. For example, a department store may consider each department within the store to be a revenue center, such as men’s shoes, women’ shoes, men’s clothes, women’s clothes, jewelry, and so forth. A revenue center is judged solely on its ability to generate sales; it is not judged on the amount of costs incurred. Revenue centers are employed in organizations that are heavily sales focused.
Main Types of Responsibility Centre
Cost centre managers have control over some or all of the costs in their segment of business, but not over revenues. Traditional revenue centers are retail businesses that sell products to customers. The term revenue center is a slight misnomer; no one exists or operates without expending business resources. These centers may be more appropriately called profit centers since the operations must earn a profit to be considered valuable for the company. Company management will review the sales generated from revenue centers and compare them to the expenses used to generate these sales. Using a traditional profit accounting system helps managers determine the value of each revenue unit.
Place of revenue centre in organizational structure
Although the contribution of a profit centre can not be measured solely by the amount of profit contributed by it, profit must be treated as the main measure of a business unit’s performance by the top management. If the top management does not give weightage to this, the divisional manager will tend to show less concern for this vital aspect of performance. revenue centre is accountable for In responsibility accounting, the firm splits into several responsibility centres. It can also maintain control and discipline over the organization. The organization delegates authority through responsibility centres at all levels of management. An investment centre manager is accountable for all costs, revenues, and capital investment.
For instance, a maintenance and repair department, a store department, and so on. The performance of a cost centre is measured in terms of quantity of inputs used in producing a given output. A comparison between the actual input used and the predetermined budgeted inputs is made to determine the variances which represent the efficiency of the cost centre. Various responsibility centres are created by dividing the organization into units.