A sole trader fixes his prices to achieve a gross profit percentage on sales revenue of 40%. All his sales are for cash.

He suspects that one of his sales assistants is stealing cash from sales revenue.

His trading account for the month of June 2003 is as follows:

              
                                                                                                                   $
                Recorded sales revenue                                                      181,600
                Cost of sales                                                                         114,000
                                                                                                        ––––––––
                 Gross profit                                                                           167,600
                                                                                                         ––––––––

Assuming that the cost of sales figure is correct, how much cash could the sales assistant have taken?

A   $5,040
B   $8,400
C   $22,000
D    It is not possible to calculate a figure from this information.

B
A $181,600 x 40% = 72,640 – 67,600 = $5,040
B $114,000 x 10/6 = $190,000 – 181,600 = $8,400 (correct)
C $181,600 – (114,000 + 40%)