Question 2 – Learning Outcome 1 (20 marks) You are the recently appointed Head of Sales for an insurance company. There are several departments within the company’s sales division.
During a recent review of the sales division’s current annual budget, you have identified the following issues:
• All departments within the sales division have variances, both above and below budget.
• Variance management is dealt with differently by each department within the division.
• The proportion of allocated budget to each department in the division is inconsistent.
a) Identify, with justification, four significant ways in which the budget variances in the sales division
can be managed effectively.
(8 marks)
b) Explain four actions you can take to improve the accuracy of budgeting when producing the next annual budget for the sales division.