Answer:
A variable cost is a corporate expense that changes in proportion to production output.
Step-by-step explanation:
Absorption costing includes all costs, including fixed costs, related to production, while variable costing only includes the variable costs directly incurred in production. Companies that use variable costing keep fixed-cost operating expenses separate from production costs.
Variable costs increase or decrease depending on a company's production volume; they rise as production increases and fall as production decreases. Examples of variable costs include the costs of raw materials and packaging.