Doggone Groomers is in the dog-grooming business. Its operating costs are described by the following formulas:

Grooming supplies (variable) .... y = $0 + $4x

Direct labor (variable) ..... y = $0 + $12x

Overhead (mixed) ...... y = $8,000 + $1x

Puli, the owner, has determined that direct labor is the cost driver for all three categories of costs.

Instructions

(a) Prepare a flexible budget for activity levels of 550, 600, and 700 direct labor hours.

(b) Explain why the flexible budget is more informative than the static budget.

(c) Calculate the total cost per direct labor hour at each of the activity levels specified in part (a).

(d) The groomers at Doggone normally work a total of 650 direct labor hours during each month. Each grooming job normally takes a groomer 1¼ hours. Puli wants to earn a profit equal to 40% of the costs incurred. Determine what she should charge each pet owner for grooming.