Miller Cereals is a small milling company that makes a single brand of cereal. Recently, a business school intern recommended that the company introduce a second cereal in order to diversify the product portfolio. Currently, the company shows an operating profit that is 25 percent of sales. With the single product, other costs were twice the cost of rent.

The intern estimated that the incremental profit of the new cereal would only be 6.5 percent of the incremental revenue, but it would still add to total profit. On his last day, the intern told Millers marketing manager that his analysis was on the company laptop in a spreadsheet with a file name, NewProduct.xlsx. The intern then left for a 12-month walkabout in the outback of Australia and cannot be reached.

When the marketing manager opened the file, it was corrupted and could not be opened. She then found an early (incomplete) copy on the companys backup server. The incomplete spreadsheet is shown as follows. The marketing manager then called a cost management accountant in the controllers office and asked for help in reconstructing the analysis.

Status Quo:% IncreaseAlternative:Single Product(Decrease)Two ProductsDifferenceSales revenue25%$75,000CostsMaterial55,000%67,500Labor25%67,500Rent40%Depreciation9,500%9,500Utilities%6,5001,750OtherTotal costsOperating profit%