Jeffrey Vaughn, president of Frame$-$It Company, was just concluding a budget meeting with his senior staff. It was November of $20$x$0,$ and the group was discussing preparation of the firm$$s master budget for $20$x$1.$I$$ve decided to go ahead and purchase the industrial robot we$$ve been talking about. We$$ll make the acquisition on January $2$ of next year, and I expect it will take most of the year to train the personnel and reorganize the production process to take full advantage of the new equipment.$$

In response to a question about financing the acquisition, Vaughn replied as follows: $$The robot will cost $$1,360,000.$ We$$ll finance it with a one$-$year $$1,360,000$ loan from Shark Bank and Trust Company. I$$ve negotiated a repayment schedule of four equal installments on the last day of each quarter. The interest rate will be $10$ percent, and interest payments will be quarterly as well.$$ With that the meeting broke up$,$ and the budget process was on$.$

Frame$-$It Company is a manufacturer of metal picture frames. The firm$$s two product lines are designated as S $($small frames; $5\backslash$times $7$ inches$)$ and L $($large frames; $8\backslash$times $10$ inches$).$ The primary raw materials are flexible metal strips and $9-$inch by $24-$inch glass sheets. Each S frame requires a $1-$foot metal strip; an L frame requires a $2-$foot strip. Allowing for normal breakage and scrap glass, Frame$-$It can get either four S frames or two L frames out of a glass sheet. Other raw materials, such as cardboard backing, are insignificant in cost and are treated as indirect materials. LaKendra Jackson, Frame$-$It$$s controller, is in charge of preparing the master budget for $20$x$1.$ She has gathered the following information:

Sales in the fourth quarter of $20$x$0$ are expected to be $75,000$ S frames and $65,000$ L frames. The sales manager predicts that over the next two years, sales in each product line will grow by $7,000$ units each quarter over the previous quarter. For example, S frame sales in the first quarter of $20$x$1$ are expected to be $82,000$ units.

Frame$-$It$$s sales history indicates that $75$ percent of all sales are on credit, with the remainder of the sales in cash. The company$$s collection experience shows that $80$ percent of the credit sales are collected during the quarter in which the sale is made, while the remaining $20$ percent is collected in the following quarter. $($For simplicity, assume the company is able to collect $100$ percent of its accounts receivable.$)$

The S frame sells for $$11,$ and the L frame sells for $$16.$ These prices are expected to hold constant throughout $20$x$1.$

Frame$-$It$$s production manager attempts to end each quarter with enough finished$-$goods inventory in each product line to cover $20$ percent of the following quarter$$s sales. Moreover, an attempt is made to end each quarter with $20$ percent of the glass sheets needed for the following quarter$$s production. Because metal strips are purchased locally, Frame$-$It buys them on a just$-$in$-$time basis; inventory is negligible.

All of Frame$-$It$$s direct$-$material purchases are made on account, and $80$ percent of each quarter$$s purchases are paid in cash during the same quarter as the purchase. The other $20$ percent is paid in the next quarter.

Indirect materials are purchased as needed and paid for in cash. Work$-$in$-$process inventory is negligible.

Projected production costs in $20$x$1$ are as follows: