Westmont Corporation uses a comprehensive budgeting system for planning and control purposes. While departmental supervisors are happy with the system, the factory manager is not.

A report for the company's Assembly Department for March follows:

Assembly Department
Cost Report
For the Month Ended March 31
	Actual Results	Planning Budget	Variances
Machine-hours	25,000	30,000
Variable costs:
Supplies	$ 6,900	$ 7,500	$ 600	F
Scrap	21,000	22,500	1,500	F
Indirect materials	65,000	75,000	10,000	F
Fixed costs:
Wages and salaries	67,900	65,000	2,900	U
Equipment depreciation	95,000	95,000	0
Total cost	$ 255,800	$ 265,000	$ 9,200	F

After receiving this report, the supervisor of the Assembly Department stated, These reports are super. It makes me feel good to see how well things are going in my department. I cant understand why those people upstairs complain so much about the reports.

For the last several years, the companys marketing department chronically failed to meet the sales goals expressed in the companys monthly budgets.

Required:

1. The companys 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?