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Microlesson · 5-min read

Budget Ratios — Efficiency, Activity, Calendar & Capacity Ratios

# Budget Ratios

Budget ratios measure the performance of an organisation against the standards/budget set in advance. All ratios are expressed as a percentage.

## 1. Efficiency Ratio

$$\text{Efficiency Ratio} = \frac{\text{Standard Hours for Actual Output}}{\text{Actual Hours Worked}} \times 100$$

Purpose: To find out whether the work was done in more or less hours than the standard allowance.

  • > 100% → more efficient than expected
  • < 100% → less efficient than expected

## 2. Activity Ratio

$$\text{Activity Ratio} = \frac{\text{Standard Hours for Actual Output}}{\text{Budgeted Standard Hours}} \times 100$$

Purpose: To measure the level of activity of the organisation — whether the firm is operating at 70%, 80%, etc., of its planned activity level.

## 3. Calendar Ratio

$$\text{Calendar Ratio} = \frac{\text{Available Working Days}}{\text{Total Budgeted Working Days}} \times 100$$

Purpose: To check whether all the days/hours planned in the budget period were actually available — captures the effect of unplanned holidays, strikes, etc.

## 4. Standard Capacity Usage Ratio

$$\text{Standard Capacity Usage Ratio} = \frac{\text{Budgeted Hours}}{\text{Maximum Possible Hours in Budgeted Period}} \times 100$$

Purpose: Shows how many hours were planned against the total hours available (maximum capacity).

## 5. Actual Capacity Usage Ratio

$$\text{Actual Capacity Usage Ratio} = \frac{\text{Actual Hours Worked}}{\text{Maximum Possible Hours in the Period}} \times 100$$

Purpose: Shows how many hours were actually worked against the total hours available.

## 6. Actual Usage of Budgeted Capacity Ratio

$$\text{Actual Usage of Budgeted Capacity Ratio} = \frac{\text{Actual Working Hours}}{\text{Budgeted Hours}} \times 100$$

Purpose: Shows how many hours were actually worked against the total budgeted hours.

## Quick Reference Table

RatioNumeratorDenominator
EfficiencyStandard Hrs for Actual OutputActual Hrs
ActivityStandard Hrs for Actual OutputBudgeted Hrs
CalendarAvailable DaysBudgeted Days
Std Capacity UsageBudgeted HrsMax Possible Hrs
Actual Capacity UsageActual HrsMax Possible Hrs
Actual Usage of Budgeted CapacityActual HrsBudgeted Hrs

### Useful Identity

$$\text{Activity Ratio} = \text{Efficiency Ratio} \times \text{Actual Usage of Budgeted Capacity Ratio}$$

Worked example

### Example 1

Computing All Ratios — Comprehensive Example:

Budgeted production = 10,000 units per month; Standard time = 1 hour/unit; Budgeted hours = 10,000; Working days budgeted = 25; Days available = 24; Max possible hours in month = 12,000.

Actual production = 9,000 units; Actual hours worked = 8,500.

  • Standard Hrs for Actual Output = 9,000 × 1 = 9,000 hrs
  • Efficiency Ratio = 9,000 / 8,500 × 100 = 105.88% (efficient)
  • Activity Ratio = 9,000 / 10,000 × 100 = 90%
  • Calendar Ratio = 24 / 25 × 100 = 96%
  • Std Capacity Usage = 10,000 / 12,000 × 100 = 83.33%
  • Actual Capacity Usage = 8,500 / 12,000 × 100 = 70.83%
  • Actual Usage of Budgeted Capacity = 8,500 / 10,000 × 100 = 85%

Check: Efficiency × Actual Usage of Budgeted Capacity = 1.0588 × 0.85 ≈ 0.90 = Activity Ratio ✓

⚠️ Common exam mistakes

  • Inverting the numerator and denominator of the Efficiency Ratio — remember Standard Hrs is on top.
  • Confusing Budgeted Hours with Maximum Possible Hours — Budgeted Hours represent the planned workload, while Maximum Possible Hours represent total available capacity.
  • Using Actual Hours in the Activity Ratio instead of Standard Hours for Actual Output.
  • Mixing up Standard Capacity Usage (planning ratio) with Actual Capacity Usage (performance ratio).
  • Forgetting that an Efficiency Ratio above 100% means favourable (less time taken per unit than standard).
Reference:
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