Data concerning manufacturing overhead for the Barkley Company are presented below. The Mixing Department is the cost center.

An analysis of the overhead costs reveals that all variable costs are controllable by the manager of the Mixing Department and 50% of the supervisory costs are the only fixed costs that are controllable at the department level.

The flexible budget formula and the cost and activity for the months of July and August are as follows:

	Flexible Budget Per
	Direct Labor Hour	Actual Costs	Actual Costs
		July	August
Direct labor hours		6,000	7,000
Overhead costs
Variable
Indirect materials	$3.50	$20,500	$25,100
Indirect labor	6.00	39,500	40,700
Factory supplies	1.00	9,600	8,200
Fixed
Depreciation	$20,000	$15,000	$15,000
Supervision	20,000	18,000	20,900
Property taxes	5,000	12,000	12,000
Total costs		$114,600	$121,900

Instructions: (a) Prepare the responsibility reports for the Mixing Department for each month.

(b) Comment on the manager's performance in controlling costs during the two month period.