Budgets are important tools for helping companies analyze their costs and pinpoint ways to maximize their profits. Some companies follow static budgets, which remain constant regardless of sales ...

As you work to create a budget, it’s important to understand how fixed and variable expenses will impact your bottom line. David McMillin writes about credit cards, mortgages, banking, taxes and ...

Fixed expenses are easier to plan around because they stay the same from one month to the next. Variable expenses, on the other hand, are less predictable. Understanding both types and how they impact ...

Cost structures (the ratio of fixed to variable costs) vary across and within industries. Hospital managers and policymakers can make better decisions when they under-stand cost structures, including ...

Being able to survive and thrive as a business owner has as much to do with managing costs as it does with generating revenue. Like the chief financial officer of any company, you have to be concerned ...

Overhead costs are expenses tied to things other than the production of goods or services. Here's how to calculate overhead.

The high-low method is used in cost accounting to estimate fixed and variable costs based on a business's highest and lowest levels of activity. By focusing on these extremes, the high-low method ...

Budgeting, quite simply, is the act of spending your money efficiently. The importance of budgeting cannot be overemphasized, and whether you’re looking at your individual finances or running a ...

I'm a freelance financial journalist and a regular contributor to U.S. News and CreditCards.com. I've written for Life + Money by Citi, Bankrate and The Balance, among others. You can find me on ...