Development of methodological foundations of operational analysis

For commercial companies, regardless of industry affiliation, an effective tool is required to justify rational management decisions in the field of pricing, cost optimization and profit maximization. In order to manage financial performance for certain types of activities, in the context of each specific transaction, it is advisable to conduct operational analysis aimed at determining the sensitivity of profit to changes in the most important parameters. In the process of theoretical research, methods of analysis and synthesis, the principles of complexity and consistency are used, while the operational analysis itself is based on the theory of cost behavior, economic and mathematical modeling, methods of margin and factor analysis. The article investigates the practice of operational analysis in the activities of foreign and Russian companies, identifies the scope and system of operational analysis tasks in the financial management system. The study identified the problem of insufficient methodological development and practical application of operational analysis for business demonstrating loss in the analyzed period, and justified the criteria of optimal performance of operational analysis in relation to profitable and unprofitable companies. The hypothesis that for unprofitable companies the most important criterion for selecting the best options for combining sales volumes and cost structure should be considered the restriction on the minimum possible value of the operating lever, which modulo must be much more than 1.0.