本量利分析的目的
  
  本量利分析是成本、業(yè)務量和利潤三者依存關系分析的簡稱，它是指在成本習性分析的基礎上，運用數學模型和圖式，對成本、利潤、業(yè)務量與單價等因素之間的依存關系進行具體的分析，研究其變動的規(guī)律性，以便為企業(yè)進行經營決策和目標控制提供有效信息的一種方法。
  
  A critical part of CVP analysis is the point where total revenues equal total costs (both fixed and variable costs). At this break-even point, a company will experience no income or loss. This break-even point can be an initial examination that precedes more detailed CVP analysis.
  
  CVP analysis employs the same basic assumptions as in breakeven analysis. The assumptions underlying CVP analysis are:
  
  ·The behavior of both costs and revenues are linear throughout the relevant range of activity. (This assumption precludes the concept of volume discounts on either purchased materials or sales.)
  
  ·Costs can be classified accurately as either fixed or variable.
  
  ·Changes in activity are the only factors that affect costs.
  
  ·All units produced are sold (there is no ending finished goods inventory).
  
  ·When a company sells more than one type of product, the product mix (the ratio of each product to total sales) will remain constant.
  
  The components of CVP analysis are:
  
  ·Level or volume of activity
  
  ·Unit selling prices
  
  ·Variable cost per unit
  
  ·Total fixed costs
  
  CVP analysis looks primarily at the effects of differing levels of activity on the financial results of a business. The reason for the particular focus on sales volume is because, in the short-run, sales price, and the cost of materials and labour, are usually known with a degree of accuracy. Sales volume, however, is not usually so predictable and therefore, in the short-run, profitability often hinges upon it. For example, Company A may know that the sales price for product x in a particular year is going to be in the region of $50 and its variable costs are approximately $30.
  
  It can, therefore, say with some degree of certainty that the contribution per unit (sales price less variable costs) is $20. Company A may also have fixed costs of $200,000 per annum, which again, are fairly easy to predict. However, when we ask the question: ‘Will the company make a profit in that year?’, the answer is ‘We don’t know’. We don’t know because we don’t know the sales volume for the year. However, we can work out how many sales the business needs to make in order to make a profit and this is where CVP analysis begins.