Wisseman Corporation is a shipping container refurbishment company that measures its output by the number of containers refurbished. The company has provided the following fixed and variable cost estimates that it uses for budgeting purposes. Fixed Element per Month Variable Element per Container Refurbished Revenue $ 5,300 Employee salaries and wages $ 55,100 $ 900 Refurbishing materials $ 600 Other expenses $ 41,200 When the company prepared its planning budget at the beginning of September, it assumed that 28 containers would have been refurbished. However, 26 containers were actually refurbished during September. The activity variance for total expenses for September would have been closest to: a. $400 F b. $400 U c. $3,000 U d. $3,000 F

Note that an activity variance is the difference between a revenue or cost item in the flexible budget and the same item in the static planning budget, and can also be the difference in the actual level of activity used in the flexible budget and the level of activity assumed in the planning budget.

In budgeting activity variance is divided into two types;

When actual results are better than expected results the given variance is described as favorable variance. In common use favorable variance is denoted by the letter F - usually in parentheses (F).
When actual results are worse than expected results given variance is described as adverse variance, or unfavorable variance. In common use adverse variance is denoted by the letter U or the letter A - usually in parentheses (A).

In the case of Wisseman Corporation the activity variance for total expenses for September would have been closest to $3,000 F.