Keeping track of production quantities and costs is a natural part of a company's work. Estimating costs for the next period based on activity and costs from prior periods is also common practice. Data visualizations can provide a unique perspective in the analysis of these costs over time. For example, the following column charts reveal a company's trends in its DM, DL, and MOH costs over the previous four quarters for the production quantities specified. Direct Material Cost $30,000 Direct Labor Cost $250,000 $25,000 $24,000 $200,000 $21,000 $20,000 $18,000 $150,000 $140,000 Actual Overhead $250,000 $200,000 $200,000 $150,000 $150,000 $150,000 $200,000 $200,000 $15,000 $15,000 $10,000 $100,000 $90,000 $75,000 $50,000 $100,000 $50,000 $5,000 $- $- $- Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 To access these visualizations within Tableau, please click here. Within Tableau, you can hover over the figures to see additional detail. The figures shown here include all relevant detail.