Income Statements under Absorption and Variable Costing Shawnee Motors Inc. assembles and sells MP3 players. The company began operations on August 1 and operated at 100% of capacity during the first month. The following data summarize the results for August: Sales (17,000 units) Production costs (22,000 units): $1,700,000 Direct materials Direct labor Variable factory overhead Fixed factory overhead $814,000 391,600 195,800 129,800 1,531,200 Selling and administrative expenses Variable selling and administrative expenses $237,300 Fixed selling and administrative expenses 91,900 329,200 If required, round interim per-unit calculations to the nearest cent a. Prepare an income statement according to the absorption costing concept. Shawnee Motors Inc. Absorption Costing Income Statement For the Month Ended August 31 Sales Cost of goods sold Gross profit Selling and administrative Income from operations 1,700,000 | 1,183,200 516,800 v 329,200 187,600 b. Prepare an income statement according to the variable costing concept. Shawnee Motors Inc. Variable Costing Income Statement For the Month Ended Auqust 31 Sales Variable cost of goods sold Manufacturing margin Variable selling and administrative expenses Contribution margin Fixed costs: 1,700,000 Fixed factory overhead Fixed selling and administrative expenses Total fixed costs Income from operations c. What is the reason for the difference in the amount of income from operations reported in (a) and (b)? Under the absorption costingmethod, the fixed manufacturing cost included in the cost of goods sold is matched with the revenues. Under variable costing,all of the fixed manufacturing cost is deducted in the period in which it is incurred, regardless of the amount of inventory change. Thus, when inventory increases, the absorption costing income statement will have a higher income from operations than will the variable costing income statement