Use the following information about the current year's operations of a company to calculate the cash paid for merchandise.

Cost of goods sold	$226,000
Merchandise inventory, January 1	54,800
Merchandise inventory, December 31	57,400
Accounts payable, January 1	54,400
Accounts payable, December 31	59,800

Select one:

a. $223,200.

b. $228,800.

c. $234,000.

d. $218,000.

e. $220,000.