Question $2$

A small business, Petal White wants to estimate its monthly utility costs based on the number of employees.

The business has collected data for the past $12$ months, as shown in the table below:

$\backslash$table$[[$Month$,$Number of Employees,Monthly Utility Cost $($RM$)],[$Jan$,10,800],[$Feb$,12,850],[$Mar$,11,820],[$Apr$,13,880],[$May$,15,910],[$Jun$,14,900],[$Jul$,16,930],[$Aug$,17,950],[$Sep$,18,980],[$Oct$,19,1000],[$Nov$,20,1020],[$Dec$,21,1050]]$

a$.$ What is the semi$-$variable cost and the cost driver employed by Petal White? How much is the total utility cost?

$(5$ marks$)$

b$.$ Perform the high$-$low method to estimate the variable cost per unit and total fixed costs of Petal White's production for the year. Please indicate the formula for high$-$low method. Keep your answer to the rounded figure.

$(5$ marks$)$