"I think we goofed when we hired that new assistant controller," said Ruth Scarpino, president of Provost Industries. "Just look at this report that he prepared for last month for the Finishing Department. I cant understand it."

Finishing Department costs:
Work in process inventory, April 1, 1,400 units; materials 100% complete; conversion 88% complete	$ 8,731*
Costs transferred in during the month from the preceding department, 2,900 units	33,476
Materials cost added during the month	14,057
Conversion costs incurred during the month	29,650
Total departmental costs	$ 85,914
Finishing Department costs assigned to:
Units completed and transferred to finished goods, 3,700 units at $23.22 per unit	$ 85,914
Work in process inventory, April 30, 600 units; materials 0% complete; conversion 50% complete	0
Total departmental costs assigned	$ 85,914

*Consists of cost transferred in, $4,306; materials cost, $2,075; and conversion cost, $2,350.

"He's struggling to learn our system," replied Frank Harrop, the operations manager. "The problem is that he's been away from process costing for a long time, and it's coming back slowly."

"It's not just the format of his report that I'm concerned about. Look at that $23.22 unit cost that he's come up with for April. Doesn't that seem high to you?" said Ms. Scarpino.

"Yes, it does seem high; but on the other hand, I know we had an increase in materials prices during April, and that may be the explanation," replied Mr. Harrop. "Ill get someone else to redo this report and then we can see whats going on."

Provost Industries manufactures a ceramic product that goes through two processing departmentsMolding and Finishing. The company uses the weighted-average method in its process costing.

\begin{tabular}{|l|l|l|l|r|} \hline & TransferredInCosts & Materials & Conversion & Total \\ \hline 1-a. Equivalent units of production & & & & \\ \hline 1-b. Cost per equivalent unit & & & \\ \hline 1-c. Cost of ending work in process inventory & & & & \\ \hline 1-d. Cost of units completed and transferred out & & & & \\ \hline \end{tabular}