Contribution margin
Financial Dictionary — Cost Accounting
Definition
Sales minus variable costs.
Use cases, Example & Why it matters
Use cases
- Used in product/service costing, budgeting, and variance analysis.
- Used to support pricing decisions and profitability analysis by cost behavior and drivers.
- Used to support pricing decisions and profitability analysis by cost behavior and drivers.
Example
- Example: The costing team uses **Contribution margin** to allocate costs and analyze margins by product line.
Why it matters
- Why it matters: Improves cost accuracy, supports better pricing and budgeting, and strengthens performance measurement.