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Nursing questions

Expense Forecasting and Benchmarking

Two calculations with the same trap in both. The collection rate means the price charged is not the revenue received, and every figure downstream depends on getting that right.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 23, 2026

01

The collection rate is the trap in both scenarios

Both scenarios contain the same trap and it is the one that separates a health care finance answer from a generic one. The price charged is not the revenue received. An eighty percent collection rate on an $1,075 charge means net revenue of $860 per unit, and the contribution margin is that figure minus the $420 variable cost, not the charge minus the variable cost. Run the break-even on the wrong number and every conclusion that follows is wrong while looking entirely competent. The same applies in the second scenario, where a fifty percent collection rate halves the effective price per unit before any volume growth is applied. Say explicitly that you have adjusted for collection, because a marker cannot tell from a correct-looking number whether you understood the adjustment or omitted it. Both scenarios also supply figures you do not strictly need, which is part of the exercise: capacity matters in the first and the first-year service inclusion in the second.

For the break-even itself, divide fixed costs by the contribution margin to get the units required, then compare that against both anticipated demand and available capacity, since the scenario supplies capacity precisely so you can check whether break-even is reachable at all. If demand falls short, the brief asks what steps could make a case to proceed, and the defensible answers are concrete: raise the charge, improve collections, reduce variable cost per unit, or argue the service on strategic grounds such as referral capture or a contractual requirement, which is a legitimate case and should be labelled as a non-financial one. In the second scenario, note that the benefit side has two components, the new revenue and the avoided labour cost including the twenty percent fringe, and that the hurdle rate is what makes this a decision rather than an arithmetic exercise: a positive return below the hurdle is still a rejection.

Likely learning objectives

  • Adjust charges for collection rate before any margin calculation.
  • Compute break-even units and test them against demand and capacity.
  • Separate financial from strategic justifications for proceeding.
  • Apply a hurdle rate as a decision threshold rather than a benchmark.

Assignment instructions

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Assignment Expense Forecasting and Benchmarking Expense Forecasting and Benchmarking Looking Ahead: Application Expense Forecasting and Financial Analysis Cycle You will begin this assignment in Week 9 and it will be due by Day 7 of Week 10. Throughout this course, you’ve examined the importance of anticipating financial fluctuations that may impact your organization’s ability to provide services. While financial managers have no time machines or crystal balls, they do have expense forecasts. Expense forecasting is one of the preeminent tools that financial managers can use to prepare their organizations for future fiscal turbulence. In this Assignment, you will examine a scenario and generate a corresponding expense forecast in Excel. Before pursuing an opportunity or making a major purchase, financial decision makers must first ascertain if the expenditures are justified. Determining whether a new process, system, or purchase will yield worthwhile returns is no easy task. However, managers have a variety of tools to help them decide whether the new expenditure is warranted. Analyzing a venture’s benefit/cost ratio, marginal profit and loss statement, and break-even points enable nurse managers to make educated decisions about how they choose to commit their funds. Note: For those Assignments in this course that require you to perform calculations you must:Use the Excel spreadsheet template for the Week 3 assignment Show all your calculations and formulas in the spreadsheet. Answer any questions included with the problems (as text in the Excel spreadsheet). A title and reference page are NOT needed in this assignment. Put your name and assignment at the top of the Excel spreadsheet. For those not comfortable with the use of Microsoft Excel, this week’s Optional Resources suggest several tutorials. To prepare: Review the information in the Week 9 and 10 Learning Resources dealing with expense forecasting, profit and loss, break-even analysis, and benefit and cost ratio analysis. Focus on how they are calculated and how they can be used in decision making. View the following tutorial videos, provided in this week’s Learning Resources. Week 10 Application Assignment Tutorial: Benefit Cost Ratio Week 10 Application Assignment Tutorial: Breakeven Analysis Week 10 Application Assignment Tutorial: Expense Forecasting Week 10 Application Assignment Tutorial: Profit and Loss Scenario Assignment Expense Forecasting and Benchmarking Use the Week 10 Application Assignment Template, provided in this week’s Learning Resources, to complete this assignment. Carefully examine the information in each of the scenarios and provide the necessary calculations. Using this information will help you answer the questions. Note: All the scenarios will be submitted as one document. Each scenario will be on a different tab in the spreadsheet. Expense Forecasting In this Application Assignment you calculate scenarios focusing on benefit/cost ratio analysis, marginal profit and loss statements, and break-even analysis. For these scenarios, you will utilize the provided figures to perform calculations and then make recommendations about the viability of the investment opportunities Expense Forecasting Scenario Your department has performed 20,000 procedures during the first six months (January–June) of 20X1. Spending during that period of time was $210,000 for fixed expense items and $1,200,000 for variable expense items. Of those amounts, $50,000 of fixed expense money was spent on preparing for a Joint Commission survey. Volume is anticipated to be 10% higher in the second half of the year. On November 1st, two new procedure technicians will begin work. The salary and fringe benefit costs for each are $96,000/year. Based on the information provided, prepare an expense forecast for 20X1. Annualization for Fixed: (Adjusted Total for Year to Date Expense/6) * 12 =Total Annualized Amounts Annualization for Variable (Adjusted Total for Year to Date Expense/ 20,000) * 40,000 =Total Annualized Amounts. Financial Analysis Cycle Marginal Profit and Loss Statement Scenario You are examining a proposal for a new business opportunity – a new procedure for which demand is expected to be 1,400 units the first year, growing by 600 units a year thereafter. The price charged per procedure is $1,000. The collection rate is anticipated to be 80%. Each procedure consumes $300 of supplies. Salary cost is estimated to cost $540,000 each year, fringe benefits are 25% of salaries, rent for the facility is $55,000/yr and operating cost are $120,000/yr. Questions: Develop a marginal profit and loss statement for this business opportunity.Based on that analysis, should this opportunity be pursued? Break-Even Analysis Scenario You can charge $1,075 for a new service. Demand is anticipated to be 8,000 units a year. Your business is able to handle up to 16,500 units annually, so capacity should not be a problem. The average collection rate is 80%. The new service has annual fixed costs of $4,700,000. Variable cost per unit of service is $420. Expense Forecasting and Benchmarking Question: Use break-even analysis to determine if this new service is financially viable. If the business is not financially viable, what steps could you take to make a case to proceed with implementation? Explain your decision. Benefit/Cost Ratio Analysis Scenario You are considering the acquisition of a new piece of equipment with a useful life of five years. This new technology will make your clinical operation more efficient and allow for a reduction of 10 FTEs. The equipment purchase price is $4,500,000 plus 10% installation fee. The purchase price includes service for the first year, an item that has an annual cost of $10,000. There is a potential for additional volume of 150,000 units in the first year, growing by 30,000 each year thereafter. The price charged per unit is $15.00 with a 50% collection rate. The staff being eliminated are paid $12.50 per hour. The fringe benefits rate is 20%. The hurdle rate is 7.5%. Questions: After reviewing Dr. Ward’s Video and the calculations below, please answer the following questions: What is meant by benefit/cost ratio, average payback period and ROI and why are the all important to understand when purchasing new equipment? Based on this information, would you pursue this opportunity? Explain your decision in 250-500 words in the text box below. Important information for writing discussion questions and participationHi Class, Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts. Contact me if you have any questions. Important information on Writing a Discussion Question Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references) There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article. Include in-text citations in your response Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information Follow APA-7th edition Points will be deducted if the above is not followed Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week. Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references) Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count. Follow APA 7th edition Points will be deducted if the above is not followed Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points. Here are some helpful links Student paper example Citing Sources The Writing Center is a great resource

Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

Welcome to class Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to. I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you. Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted. If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations. Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements. Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week. I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

02

What this financial analysis requires

  1. 01A break-even analysis determining whether the new service is financially viable.
  2. 02Steps that could make a case to proceed if it is not viable, with your decision explained.
  3. 03An explanation of benefit-cost ratio, average payback period and return on investment.
  4. 04A statement of why each matters when purchasing new equipment.
  5. 05A decision on whether to pursue the equipment opportunity, in 250-500 words.
03

Break-even, then the investment appraisal

01

Net revenue per unit

Apply the collection rate to the charge before anything else.

What the assessor is likely looking for

The adjustment stated explicitly, not just performed.

02

Contribution margin and break-even

Compute the margin and the units required to cover fixed costs.

What the assessor is likely looking for

Working shown from adjusted revenue.

03

Viability against demand and capacity

Compare break-even units to the 8,000 demand and 16,500 capacity figures.

What the assessor is likely looking for

Both comparisons made, since both are supplied.

04

Steps to make the case

Propose price, collection, cost and strategic routes to viability.

What the assessor is likely looking for

Financial and strategic arguments kept distinct.

05

The three investment measures

Define benefit-cost ratio, payback period and return on investment and their uses.

What the assessor is likely looking for

What each measure sees that the others do not.

06

The equipment decision

Total the benefits including fringe-loaded labour savings and test against the hurdle.

What the assessor is likely looking for

A decision that turns on the hurdle rate.

04

Where the finance concepts are documented

Recommended databases

  • HFMA
  • PubMed Central
  • CMS
  • University Library

Search sequence

  1. 1.Review the break-even formula in a health care finance source before calculating.
  2. 2.Check how collection rate is conventionally applied to gross charges.
  3. 3.Look up hurdle rate and its relationship to cost of capital.
  4. 4.Read on payback period limitations for the comparison section.
05

Reference shortlist

These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.

Value-Based Programs

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services · 2025

Review before citing

Payment structure, for why collection rates differ across payers.

06

Before you submit the analysis

Common mistakes

  • Using the charge rather than the collected amount as revenue.
  • Computing break-even without checking it against capacity.
  • Omitting fringe benefits from the avoided labour cost.
  • Treating a positive return as sufficient when it sits below the hurdle rate.
  • Presenting a strategic argument as though it were a financial one.

Submission checklist

  • Have you adjusted both scenarios for their collection rates?
  • Is break-even compared against both demand and capacity?
  • Does the labour saving include the twenty percent fringe?
  • Is the hurdle rate applied as a threshold?
  • Are non-financial arguments labelled as such?

Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read Brinevia's academic-integrity policy.

Written by

Maren Caldwell

MSN, RN, CNE

Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation

Maren is a registered nurse with over 15 years of clinical and educational experience in medical-surgical nursing. She writes on NCLEX preparation, patient care fundamentals, pharmacology and evidence-based practice.

Reviewed by

Dr. Tessa Redmond

DNP, RN, CNE

Evidence-based practice and clinical education

Tessa is a doctorally-prepared nurse educator. She reviews Brinevia content for clinical accuracy and alignment with current evidence-based guidelines.

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