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Lees Corp

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Lees Corp. is deciding whether to keep or drop a small segment of its business. Key information regarding the segment includes: Contribution margin: 35,000 Avoidable fixed costs: 30,000 Unavoidable fixed costs: 25,000

Given the information above, Lees should:

  1. Drop the segment because the contribution margin is less than total fixed costs.
  2. Drop the segment because avoidable fixed costs exceed unavoidable fixed costs.
  3. Keep the segment because the contribution margin exceeds avoidable fixed costs.
  4. Keep the segment because the contribution margin exceeds unavoidable fixed costs.

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Answer:

Choice "c" is correct. Whether to keep or drop a segment will depend on whether the contribution margin of the segment in question exceeds avoidable fixed costs (relevant costs that wouldn’t exist if the

segment did not exist). Unavoidable fixed costs will be incurred regardless of whether or not the segment is kept, so they are not factored into the decision. Choice "a" is incorrect. Fixed costs need to be broken out between avoidable and unavoidable in order to make the determination as to whether to keep or drop a segment. Lees Corp. would only drop the segment if the contribution margin of the segment is less than the avoidable fixed (relevant) cost. Choice "b" is incorrect. The contribution margin needs to be compared to avoidable fixed costs in order to determine whether to keep or drop a segment. Choice "d" is incorrect. Unavoidable fixed costs will be incurred regardless, so contribution margin of the segment needs to be compared to the avoidable fixed costs as the key elements to determine whether to keep or drop a segment.