Several years ago, Westmont Corporation developed a comprehensive budgeting system for planning and control purposes. While departmental supervisors have been happy with the system, the factory manager has expressed considerable dissatisfaction with the information being generated by the system. A report for the company's Assembly Department for the month of March follows: Assembly Department Cost Report For the Month Ended March 31 Actual Planning Results Budget 15,000 20,000 Variances Machine-hours $ 9,000 $ 9,600 $ 600 F 30,800 33,000 2,200 F 90,200 106,500 16,300 F Variable costs: Supplies Scrap Indirect materials Fixed costs: Wages and salaries Equipment depreciation Total cost 76,300 72,000 4,300 U 102,000 102,000 $308,300 $323,100 $14,800 F After receiving a copy of this cost report, the supervisor of the Assembly Department stated, These reports are super. It makes me feel really good to see how well things are going in my department. I can't understand why those people upstairs complain so much about the reports." For the last several years, the company's marketing department has chronically failed to meet the sales goals expressed in the company's monthly budgets. Required: 1. The company's president is uneasy about the cost reports, identify at least two reasons. 2. What kind of reports should be used to give better insight into how well departmental supervisors are controlling costs? 3. Complete the new performance report for the quarter, based on Flexible Budget Performance approach. 4. Were costs well controlled in March? Required 1 Required 2 Required 3 Required 4 Complete the new performance report for the quarter, based on Flexible Budget Performance approach. (Do not round your intermediate calculations. Indicate the effect of each variance by selecting "F" for favorable, "U" for unfavorable, and "None" for no effect (i.e., zero variance). Input all amounts as positive values.) Westmont Corporation Assembly Department Flexible Budget Performance Report For the Month Ended March 31 Revenue and Spending Flexible Variances Budget Actual Results Activity Variances Planning Budget 20,000 Machine-hours (9) 15,000 $ 9,000 $ 9,600 30,800 33,000 90,200 106,500 Supplies Scrap Indirect materials Wages and salaries Equipment depreciation Total 76,300 102,000 $ 308,300 72,000 102,000 $ 323,100