=+3-31 KK High–low method OBJECTIVES 4, 5 Ken Howard, financial analyst at JVR Ltd, is examining the behaviour of quarterly maintenance costs for budgeting purposes. Ken collects the following data on machine-hours worked and maintenance costs for the past 12 quarters:

Quarter Machine-hours Maintenance costs 1 100 000 $205 000 2 120 000 240 000 3 110 000 220 000 4 130 000 260 000 5 95 000 190 000 6 115 000 235 000 7 105 000 215 000 8 125 000 255 000 9 105 000 210 000 10 125 000 245 000 11 115 000 200 000 12 140 000 280 000 Required 1 Estimate the cost function for the quarterly data using the high–low method.