1. Leverage is the use of fixed costs to magnify returns at high levels of operation.
2. Leverage works best when volume is increasing.
3. Operating leverage emphasizes the impact of using fixed assets in the business.
4. Financial leverage emphasizes the impact of using debt in the business.
5. Operating leverage determines how income from operations is to be divided between debt holders and stockholders.
6. Operating leverage will change when a firm alters the mix of fixed capital resources and labor that it uses.
7. Contribution margin is equal to fixed costs minus variable costs.
8. Property Taxes and depreciation expense are examples of variable costs.
9. Sales commissions and raw material are variable costs.
10. The contribution margin is equal to price per unit minus total costs per unit.
11. As the contribution margin rises, the breakeven point goes down.
12. A lower price for the firm's product will reduce the firm's breakeven point.
13. If economic conditions were expected to be favorable, an investor would likely prefer a firm with a low degree of leverage.
14. Use of financial leverage must consider risk, not just maximizing profit.
15. For firms in industries that offer some degree of stability, are in a positive stage of growth, and are operating in favorable economic condition, the use of debt is not needed or recommended.
16. Managers who are risk averse and uncertain about the future would most likely minimize combined leverage.
17. Management should tailor the use of leverage to meet its own risk-taking desires.
18. Cash breakeven analysis eliminates the depreciation expense and other non-cash charges from fixed costs.
19. The degree of operating leverage is a number indicating the relationship between the percentage change in sales to the percentage change in earnings per share.
20. The closer a firm is to its break-even point, the lower the degree of operating leverage will be.
21. Degree of operating leverage should be computed only over a profitable range of operations.
22. Financial leverage primarily affects the left-hand side of the balance sheet.
23. Operating leverage primarily affects the left hand side of the balance sheet while financial leverage affects the right hand side of the balance sheet.
24. The degree of financial leverage measures the percentage change in EPS for every 1 percent move in EBIT.
25. If a firm has a DFL of 2.0, EPS will change 2% for every 1% change in volume.
26. The degree of financial leverage is not influenced by the interest rate on debt, only the amount borrowed.
27. A firm with a high degree of financial leverage could face financial difficulty even though it is in a stable industry.
28. Operating leverage influences the bottom half of the income statement while financial leverage deals with the top half.
29. The degree of combined leverage is the sum of the degree of operating leverage and the degree of financial leverage.
30. Degree of combined leverage considers the impact of a change in volume on the change in operating income.