It was autumn, Ruth's favorite time of year- and busiest time of year, too. She works at a company that produces apple-pie filling: sweet, yet a little tart, with just a touch of cinnamon- so tasty! And with ripe apples from local suppliers being in season, her company is ramping up production. The following expectations are in place for this last quarter of the year.

Sales forecast (units)

October 18,000

November 23,000

December 21,000

January 11,000

Additional information

Budgeted selling price is $3 per unit.

Desired ending inventory of finished goods is 20% of next month's sales.

Desired ending inventory of apples is 25% of next month's production needs for October and November, and 10% of next month's production needs for December.

Desired ending inventory of spice mix is 20% of next month's production needs Each finished unit requires 2 pounds of apples.

Each finished unit requires cup of spice mix.

Cost per pound of apples is $0.40.

Cost per cup of spice mix is $0.30.

Estimated production for January is 9,000 units.

A) Prepare the production budget for apple-pie filling for the fourth quarter