In business, a revenue center is a division that gains revenue from product sales or service provided. [1] The manager in a revenue center is accountable for revenue only.
A revenue center is one of the five divisions of a responsibility center – cost center, revenue center, profit center, contribution center and investment center. [2] Cost centers, like revenue centers, only monitor costs, thereby making them a counterpart to the revenue center. [3] Revenue centers only measure the output (in fiscal standings) and are therefore marketing establishments which are exempt from profit generation and accountability thereof. [4] In a revenue center performance is measured by comparing actual sales to projected ones (as well as number of sales or revenue per time scale). Quota and budget comparisons are also used as a performance indicator. [5] [6]
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. [7] Not all costs are ignored in a revenue center. For example, the manager of a revenue center is responsible for the expenses of his department (such as maintenance costs). [8] In a sales office (the most widespread example of a revenue center), 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. [9] 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. [10]
In a revenue center the manager usually has control over issues regarding marketing and sales. This is delegated to him because both of the spheres require extensive knowledge that is explicit to the local market. However, the revenue center manager will not be given control over decision on quantity or product mix. If the manager is given control over these decisions problems can arise (see below). [4]
Technological advancements have been able to reduce expenses in revenue centers as well as bring non-traditional (online) revenue centers to non-retail companies that work in manufacturing or service industries. This can be done by setting up websites which offer products directly from the supplier. This reduces cost by shortening the distribution channel and cuts out wholesalers and retailers. [11]
One of the biggest problems in a revenue center is that costs are mostly ignored. If costs are not monitored by another division of the business, profits can be hindered. Furthermore, the manager of a revenue center does not have the insight required for marketing decisions, consequently responsibility for a marketing decision cannot be given to a revenue center manager. Setting prices on products or services is an example of revenue center managers being unable to undertake marketing decisions. [4]
It is easy to calculate the performance of a revenue center as revenue is the only variable being performed against. However, this means that performance evaluations are also limited to one variable, which is usually not enough to see the performance of a business division. [12]
Pure revenue centers hardly exist. This is due to the fact that costs cannot be completely ignored. Usually (as stated above) revenue center managers control expenses. [12]
Revenue center managers should not be allowed to make marketing decisions. For example, if a revenue center manager is allowed to set the revenue target, he will maximise revenue. This will cause the marginal revenue to become zero. [7]
In large companies with multiple products, revenue centers will be responsible for meeting revenue target for each product. The problem will arise if all revenues are added together into a total of all products. The revenue manager will then be able to make up any losses in revenue by taking the revenue from the ones that outperformed the targets to the ones that underperformed, thereby causing a loss in overall profits. [7]
Businesses may decide to open revenue centers when entering new markets or industries. The initial cost of these centers is high, and it is highly likely that a lot of time is required in order for those centers to become profitable and cover the start-up expenditures. [7]
The following is a list of some examples of revenue centers.
Cost accounting is defined by the Institute of Management Accountants as "a systematic set of procedures for recording and reporting measurements of the cost of manufacturing goods and performing services in the aggregate and in detail. It includes methods for recognizing, classifying, allocating, aggregating and reporting such costs and comparing them with standard costs". Often considered a subset of managerial accounting, its end goal is to advise the management on how to optimize business practices and processes based on cost efficiency and capability. Cost accounting provides the detailed cost information that management needs to control current operations and plan for the future.
In management accounting or managerial accounting, managers use accounting information in decision-making and to assist in the management and performance of their control functions.
In microeconomic theory, the opportunity cost of a choice is the value of the best alternative forgone where, given limited resources, a choice needs to be made between several mutually exclusive alternatives. Assuming the best choice is made, it is the "cost" incurred by not enjoying the benefit that would have been had by taking the second best available choice. The New Oxford American Dictionary defines it as "the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen". As a representation of the relationship between scarcity and choice, the objective of opportunity cost is to ensure efficient use of scarce resources. It incorporates all associated costs of a decision, both explicit and implicit. Thus, opportunity costs are not restricted to monetary or financial costs: the real cost of output forgone, lost time, pleasure, or any other benefit that provides utility should also be considered an opportunity cost.
Inventory or stock refers to the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale, production or utilisation.
Marketing management is the organizational discipline which focuses on the practical application of marketing orientation, techniques and methods inside enterprises and organizations and on the management of a firm's marketing resources and activities.
An income statement or profit and loss account is one of the financial statements of a company and shows the company's revenues and expenses during a particular period.
In accounting and economics, fixed costs, also known as indirect costs or overhead costs, are business expenses that are not dependent on the level of goods or services produced by the business. They tend to be recurring, such as interest or rents being paid per month. These costs also tend to be capital costs. This is in contrast to variable costs, which are volume-related and unknown at the beginning of the accounting year. Fixed costs have an effect on the nature of certain variable costs.
Throughput accounting (TA) is a principle-based and simplified management accounting approach that provides managers with decision support information for enterprise profitability improvement. TA is relatively new in management accounting. It is an approach that identifies factors that limit an organization from reaching its goal, and then focuses on simple measures that drive behavior in key areas towards reaching organizational goals. TA was proposed by Eliyahu M. Goldratt as an alternative to traditional cost accounting. As such, Throughput Accounting is neither cost accounting nor costing because it is cash focused and does not allocate all costs to products and services sold or provided by an enterprise. Considering the laws of variation, only costs that vary totally with units of output e.g. raw materials, are allocated to products and services which are deducted from sales to determine Throughput. Throughput Accounting is a management accounting technique used as the performance measure in the Theory of Constraints (TOC). It is the business intelligence used for maximizing profits, however, unlike cost accounting that primarily focuses on 'cutting costs' and reducing expenses to make a profit, Throughput Accounting primarily focuses on generating more throughput. Conceptually, Throughput Accounting seeks to increase the speed or rate at which throughput is generated by products and services with respect to an organization's constraint, whether the constraint is internal or external to the organization. Throughput Accounting is the only management accounting methodology that considers constraints as factors limiting the performance of organizations.
A cost centre is a department within a business to which costs can be allocated. The term includes departments which do not produce directly but they incur costs to the business, when the manager and employees of the cost centre are not accountable for the profitability and investment decisions of the business but they are responsible for some of its costs.
In business and accounting, net income is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest, and taxes for an accounting period.
In business, operating margin—also known as operating income margin, operating profit margin, EBIT margin and return on sales (ROS)—is the ratio of operating income to net sales, usually expressed in percent.
Gross margin is the difference between revenue and cost of goods sold (COGS), divided by revenue. Gross margin is expressed as a percentage. Generally, it is calculated as the selling price of an item, less the cost of goods sold, then divided by the same selling price. "Gross margin" is often used interchangeably with "gross profit", however, the terms are different: "gross profit" is technically an absolute monetary amount and "gross margin" is technically a percentage or ratio.
Contribution margin (CM), or dollar contribution per unit, is the selling price per unit minus the variable cost per unit. "Contribution" represents the portion of sales revenue that is not consumed by variable costs and so contributes to the coverage of fixed costs. This concept is one of the key building blocks of break-even analysis.
A profit center is a part of a business which is expected to make an identifiable contribution to the organization's profits.
In accrual accounting, the matching principle instructs that an expense should be reported in the same period in which the corresponding revenue is earned and is associated with accrual accounting and the revenue recognition principle states that revenues should be recorded during the period in which they are earned, regardless of when the transfer of cash occurs. By recognizing costs in the period incurred, a business can see how much money was spent to generate revenue, reducing "noise" from the mismatch between when costs are incurred and when revenue is realized. Conversely, cash basis accounting calls for recognizing an expense when the cash is paid, regardless of when the expense was incurred.
In business, overhead or overhead expense refers to an ongoing expense of operating a business. Overheads are the expenditure which cannot be conveniently traced to or identified with any particular revenue unit, unlike operating expenses such as raw material and labor. Therefore, overheads cannot be immediately associated with the products or services being offered, thus do not directly generate profits. However, overheads are still vital to business operations as they provide critical support for the business to carry out profit making activities. For example, overhead costs such as the rent for a factory allows workers to manufacture products which can then be sold for a profit. Such expenses are incurred for output generally and not for particular work order; e.g., wages paid to watch and ward staff, heating and lighting expenses of factory, etc. Overheads are also a very important cost element along with direct materials and direct labor.
In bookkeeping, accounting, and financial accounting, net sales are operating revenues earned by a company for selling its products or rendering its services. Also referred to as revenue, they are reported directly on the income statement as Sales or Net sales.
Sales effectiveness refers to the ability of a company's sales professionals to “win” at each stage of the customer's buying process, and ultimately earn the business on the right terms and in the right timeframe. Improving sales effectiveness is not just a sales function issue; it's a company issue, as it requires deep collaboration between sales and marketing to understand what is working and not working, and continuous improvement of the knowledge, messages, skills, and strategies that sales people apply as they work sales opportunities.
A responsibility center is an organizational unit headed by a manager, who is responsible for its activities and results. In responsibility accounting, revenues and cost information are collected and reported on by responsibility centers.
Top-line growth is the increase in revenue or gross sales by a company over a defined period and is used to indicate the financial strength of a business and its potential for growth in the future. It is usually measured over periods of one-half or full years and is often reported as a percentage growth compared to the previous year or period. Top-line growth does not accrue across periods, instead it is recalculated based on the performance of the business in a specified reporting period. It is a gross figure that represents economic inflows to the company, prior to the deduction of expenses or changes in equity contributed by the business owners or the investors. Top-line growth is often used as a metric for business growth potential and overall operating performance. In most businesses, it forms an integral part of their strategic planning and a means of assessments for such strategies.