a-1. Determine the variable cost per case assuming that 450,000 cases will be shipped next month based on the controller's analysis of accounts. (Round your answer to 2 decimal places.)

a-2. Prepare an estimate of operating costs.

Caiman Distribution Partners is the Brazilian distribution company of a U.S. consumer products firm. Inflation in Brazil has made bidding and budgeting difficult for marketing managers trying to penetrate some of the country's rural regions. The company expects to distribute 450,000 cases of products in Brazil next month. The controller has classified operating costs (excluding costs of the distributed product as follows: Account Supplies Operating Cost 1,784,000 All varlable 221,000 157000 Fixed 110,000 171,000 Fixed 861,000 557000 Fixed 230,000 140,000 Fixed 850,000 143,000 Flxed 757,000 617000 FIxed 928,000 831,000 359,000 Fixed Truck expense Building leases Warehouse labor Equipment leases Data processing equipment All fixed Total $7,572,000 Although overhead costs were related to revenues throughout the company, the experience in Brazil suggested to the managers that they should incorporate information from a published index of Brazilian prices in the distribution sector to forecast overhead in a manner more likely to capture the economics of the business. Following instructions from the corporate offices, the controller's office in Brazil collected the following information for monthly operations from last year: 241.000 339,000 242,000 428,000 344,000 366,000 421,000 449,000 349,000 423,000 414,000 450,000 Price Index 105 124 115 113 113 132 120 Operating Costs $5,699,169 5,806,668 5,849,935 5,927,647 5,939,165 6,043,394 5,918,525 6,133,898 6,126,160 6,186,655 6,208,829 6,362,285 5 130 124 10 12 139 These data are considered representative for both past and future operations in Brazil