Question

The controller of Norton Industries has collected the following monthly expense data for use in analyzing the cost behavior of maintenance costs.

Month Total Maintenance Costs Total Machine Hours
January $2,700 300
February $3,000 350
March $3,600 500
April $4,500 690
May $3,200 500
June $5,500 700
1. Determine the variable cost components using the high-low method. (Round variable cost to 3 decimal places e.g. 12.250.)
Variable cost per machine hour $ _
2. Determine the fixed cost components using the high-low method. (Round answer to 0 decimal places e.g. 2,520.)
Total fixed costs $ _

Answer 1

Results are below.

Step-by-step explanation:

Giving the following information:

January $2,700 300

February $3,000 350

March $3,600 500

April $4,500 690

May $3,200 500

June $5,500 700

To calculate the variable and fixed costs, we need to use the following formulas:

Variable cost per unit= (Highest activity cost - Lowest activity cost)/ (Highest activity units - Lowest activity units)

Variable cost per unit= (5,500 - 2,700) / (700 - 300)

Variable cost per unit= $7

Fixed costs= Highest activity cost - (Variable cost per unit * HAU)

Fixed costs= 5,500 - (7*700)

Fixed costs= $600

Fixed costs= LAC - (Variable cost per unit* LAU)

Fixed costs= 2,700 - (7*300)

Fixed costs= $600