The budgeted income statement for the Minnie and Pearl partnership for $2024$ is as follows.

Required:

$($Round to the nearest unit, dollar, and percentage, where necessary.$)$

Compute the Company's break$-$even point in total sales dollars and in units for $2024.$

Minnie has proposed a plan to get the partnership "out of the red" and improve profitability. She feels that the quality of the product could be substantially improved by spending $$0\mathrm{.}25$ more per unit on better raw materials. The selling price per unit could be increased to only $$5\mathrm{.}25$ because of competitive pressures. Minnie estimates that sales volume will increase by $25\%.$ Compute net operating income under Minnie's proposal, the break$-$even point in dollars, and the degree of operating leverage. $($Round the contribution margin ratio and degree of operating leverage to two decimal places.$)$

Pearl was a marketing major in college. She believes that sales volume can be increased only by intensive advertising and promotional campaigns. She therefore proposed the following plan as an alternative to Minnie's: $($a$)$ increase variable marketing expenses to $$0\mathrm{.}59$ per unit, $($b$)$ lower the selling price per unit by $$0\mathrm{.}25,$ and $($c$)$ increase fixed marketing expenses by $$40,000.$ Pearl quoted an old marketing research report that said that sales volume would increase by $60\%$ if these changes were made. Compute net operating income under Pearl's proposal, the break$-$even point in dollars, and the degree of operating leverage. $($Round the contribution margin ratio and degree of operating leverage to two decimal places.$)$

Which plan should be accented? Explain your answer