Monument Corp. is preparing its budget for the first quarter of 2018. The following data is provided:

Inventory, Purchases, and COGS Budget	Jan	Feb	March
Cost of goods sold (a)	$30,000	$27,000	$40,000
Desired ending inventory (b)	15,400	18,000	?
Total inventory required	45,400	45,000
Less: Beginning inventory	(20,000)	(15,400)
Purchases	25,400	29,600
(a) COGS = 75% of sales
(b)$10,000 + 20% of COGS for next month

April's cost of goods sold is 34,000.

The amount of Merchandise Inventory to be shown on the budgeted balance sheet at March 31 would be ________.