Question
A Companys total overhead costs at various levels of activity are presented below: Month Machine-Hours Total Overhead Cost April 74,000 $ 179,000 May 64,000 $
A Companys total overhead costs at various levels of activity are presented below:
Month | Machine-Hours | Total Overhead Cost | ||
April | 74,000 | $ | 179,000 | |
May | 64,000 | $ | 187,000 | |
June | 84,000 | $ | 266,000 | |
July | 95,000 | $ | 240,000 | |
Assume that the overhead cost above consists of utilities, supervisory salaries, and maintenance. The breakdown of these costs at the 64,000-machine-hour level of activity in May is as follows:
Utilities (variable) | $ | 50,000 |
Supervisory salaries (fixed) | 20,000 | |
Maintenance (mixed) | 117,000 | |
Total overhead cost | $ | 187,000 |
The company wants to break down the maintenance cost into its variable and fixed cost elements.
1. Estimate how much of the $240,000 of overhead cost in July was maintenance cost. (Hint: To do this, first determine how much of the $240,000 consisted of utilities and supervisory salaries. Think about the behaviour of variable and fixed costs within the relevant range.) (Round the "Variable cost per unit" to 2 decimal places.)
2. Using the highlow method, estimate a cost formula for maintenance. (Round the "Variable cost per unit" to 2 decimal places.)
3. Express the companys total overhead cost in the form Y = a + bX. (Round the "Variable cost per unit" to 2 decimal places.)
4. What total overhead cost would you expect to be incurred at an activity level of 79,000 machine-hours? (Round the "Variable cost per unit" to 2 decimal places.)
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