Nova Companys total overhead cost at various levels of activity are presented below:

Month Machine- Hours Total Overhead Cost

April 51,000 $ 194,630

May 41,000 $ 171,330

June 61,000 $ 217,930

July 71,000 $ 241,230

Assume that the total overhead cost above consists of utilities, supervisory salaries, and maintenance. The breakdown of these costs at the 41,000 machine-hour level of activity is:

Utilities (variable) $ 45,100

Supervisory salaries (fixed) 57,000

Maintenance (mixed) 69,230

Total overhead cost $ 171,330

Nova Companys management wants to break down the maintenance cost into its variable and fixed cost elements.

Required:

1. Estimate how much of the $241,230 of overhead cost in July was maintenance cost. (Hint: to do this, it may be helpful to first determine how much of the $241,230 consisted of utilities and supervisory salaries. Think about the behavior of variable and fixed costs.)

2. Using the high-low method, estimate a cost formula for maintenance in the form Y = a + bX.

3. Express the companys total overhead cost in the form Y = a + bX. 4. What total overhead cost would you expect to be incurred at an activity level of 46,000 machine-hours?