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Revenue, Costs, Profits and Cash

Fixed, variable, total and average costs

  • 3 things to know
  • Papers 1 and 3

Overview

Fixed and variable costs, the formulae for total and average cost and calculating each, why average fixed cost falls as output rises, average variable cost, costs when nothing is produced, classifying costs, semi-variable costs, the time period, and falling average total cost.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Numbers

How does a firm work out what each unit costs, and what happens to that figure as output rises?

Key term

Why can raising output lower average total cost even though total cost rises?

Key term

Define fixed costs.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Define fixed costs.

    Model answer

    Fixed costs are costs that do not change with the level of output, such as rent, insurance and the salaries of permanent staff.

  2. 2

    Define variable costs.

    Model answer

    Variable costs are costs that change directly with the level of output, such as raw materials and the wages of hourly-paid production workers.

  3. 3

    State the formula for total cost.

    Model answer

    Total cost = total fixed costs + total variable costs.

  4. 4

    State the formula for average cost.

    Model answer

    Average cost = total cost ÷ output.

  5. 5

    A firm has fixed costs of £24,000 a month and a variable cost of £6 per unit. Calculate its total cost at an output of 5,000 units.

    Model answer

    Total cost is £54,000.

  6. 6

    A firm with fixed costs of £24,000 and a variable cost of £6 per unit produces 5,000 units. Calculate its average cost.

    Model answer

    Average cost is £10.80 per unit.

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