<![CDATA[Effective production cost control requires a benchmark that matches the actual level of activity. Many entities, including micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), still evaluate efficiency by comparing actual costs with static budgets, so that the resulting variances are mixed with volume effects. This study aims to synthesize evidence on the integration of flexible budgeting and variance analysis as a tool for evaluating production cost efficiency. A structured narrative literature review of 20 articles published in 2021–2026 is conducted, with thematic synthesis and a recalculation of data from five articles to compare deviations from the static budget with deviations in unit cost. The results show that flexible budgets serve as an activity-adjusted benchmark, while variance analysis decomposes deviations into volume, price, efficiency, and spending components. Where volume is far below plan, unit-cost deviations are much smaller than deviations from the static budget and reverse direction for one component, whereas where volume is close to plan the two measures are broadly aligned. Variances are mainly attributed to input prices and quantities, labor productivity, operational disruptions, and budgeting quality. This study proposes a five-stage integrative framework and recommends empirical testing on MSMEs using periodic production data.]]>
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