Scattergraph, High-Low Method, and Predicting Cost for a Different Time Period from the One Used to Develop a Cost Formula

Farnsworth Company has gathered data on its overhead activities and associated costs for the past 10 months. Tracy Heppler, a member of the controller's department, has convinced management that overhead costs can be better estimated and controlled if the fixed and variable components of each overhead activity are known. One such activity is receiving raw materials (unloading incoming goods, counting goods, and inspecting goods), which she believes is driven by the number of receiving orders. Ten months of data have been gathered for the receiving activity and are as follows:

Month		Receiving Orders			Receiving Cost
1		1,000			$18,000
2		700			15,000
3		1,500			28,000
4		1,200			17,000
5		1,300			25,000
6		1,100			21,000
7		1,600			29,000
8		1,400			24,000
9		1,700			27,000
10		900			16,000

Required:

1. On your own paper, prepare a scattergraph based on the 10 months of data. Based on this, does the relationship appear to be linear?

2. Using the high-low method, select a cost formula for the receiving activity.

Using the cost formula, what is the predicted cost of receiving for a month in which 1,450 receiving orders are processed? $

3. Prepare a cost formula for the receiving activity for a quarter. Based on this formula, what is the predicted cost of receiving for a quarter in which 4,650 receiving orders are anticipated? $

Prepare a cost formula for the receiving activity for a year. Based on this formula, what is the predicted cost of receiving for a year in which 18,000 receiving orders are anticipated? $