5. Porras Pottery Products, Inc., spends $220,000 per annum on its collection department. The company has $12 million in credit sales, its average collection period is 23 months, and the percentage of bad-debt losses is 4 percent.

The company believes that if it were to double its collection personnel, it could bring down the average collection period to 2 months and bad-debt losses to 3 percent. The added cost is $180,000, bringing total expenditures to $400,000 annually. Is the increased effort worthwhile if the opportunity cost of funds is

(a) 20 percent?

(b) 10 percent? (Assume a 360-day year.)