ABSTRACT
High volume retail brands are primarily aimed at meeting the needs of customers to satisfy their needs and generate profits for the commercial organisation. Services are supplied to customers only when they can generate revenues that cover their costs and generate surpluses. This chapter introduces general concepts about the control of costs and sales and provides an example of the trading accounts of two units. The examples show that there is relationship between sales, variable costs, the cost of labour, overheads and profits. The chapter examines the unit manager to establish a framework for understanding costs and the relationships between different types of costs, as well as understanding how sales can be analysed in a way that might generate extra sales at a lower level of costs. The costs can be fixed or variable, controllable or uncontrollable, and unit or total. The chapter provides a basic understanding of the principles involved in making a unit profitable.
