Question

Cover-to-Cover Company is a manufacturer of shelving for books. The company has compiled the following cost data, and wants your help in determining the cost behavior. After reviewing the data, complete requirements (1) and (2) that follow.

Units Produced	Total Lumber Cost	Total Utilities Cost	Total Machine Depreciation Cost
6,000 shelves	$72,000	$7,900	$120,000
12,000 shelves	144,000	14,800	120,000
24,000 shelves	288,000	28,600	120,000
30,000 shelves	360,000	35,500	120,000

1. Determine whether the costs in the table are variable, fixed, mixed, or none of these.

Lumber	Variable Cost
Utilities	Mixed Cost
Depreciation	Fixed Cost

2. For each cost, determine the fixed portion of the cost, and the per-unit variable cost. If there is no amount or an amount is zero, enter "0". Recall that, for N = Number of Units Produced, Total Costs = (Variable Cost Per Unit x N) + Fixed Cost. Complete the following table with your answers. Round variable portion of cost (per unit) answers to two decimal places.

Cost	Fixed Portion of Cost	Variable Portion of Cost (per Unit)
Lumber	$	$
Utilities
Depreciation

Feedback

Review the definitions for fixed, variable, and mixed costs, and the relationships between units produced and total cost for each type of cost. Recall that the high-low method may be used to separate a cost into its fixed and variable components.

High-Low

Biblio Files Company is the chief competitor of Cover-to-Cover Company in the bookshelf business. Biblio Files is analyzing its manufacturing costs, and has compiled the following data for the first six months of the year. After reviewing the data, answer questions (1) through (3) that follow.

	Units Produced		Total Cost
January	4,360	units	$65,600
February	275		6,250
March	1,000		15,000
April	4,775		96,250
May	1,750		32,500
June	3,015		48,000

1. From the data previously provided, help Biblio Files Company estimate the fixed and variable portions of its total costs using the high-low method. Recall that Total Costs = (Variable Cost Per Unit x Number of Units Produced) + Fixed Cost. Complete the following table.

Total Fixed Cost	Variable Cost per Unit
$	$

2. With your Total Fixed Cost and Variable Cost per Unit from the high-low method, compute the total cost for the following values of N (Number of Units Produced).

Number of Units Produced	Total Cost
3,500	$
4,360
4,775

3. Why does the total cost computed for 4,360 units not match the data for January?

a. The high-low method is accurate only for months in which production is at full capacity.

b. The high-low method only gives accurate data when fixed costs are zero.

c. The high-low method gives a formula for the estimated total cost and may not match levels of production other than the highest and lowest.

d. The high-low method gives accurate data only for levels of production outside the relevant range.

Feedback

Review the high-low method, and use the smallest and largest levels of production in your computation.

Contribution Margin

Review the contribution margin income statements for Cover-to-Cover Company and Biblio Files Company on their respective Income Statements. Complete the following table from the data provided on the income statements. Each company sold 74,800 units during the year.

	Cover-to-Cover Company	Biblio Files Company
Contribution margin ratio (percent)	%	%
Unit contribution margin	$	$
Break-even sales (units)
Break-even sales (dollars)	$	$

Feedback

Review the definitions of contribution margin ratio and unit contribution margin. Also review the formulas for break-even in terms of units sold and sales dollars.

Income Statement - Cover-to-Cover

Cover-to-Cover Company Contribution Margin Income Statement For the Year Ended December 31, 20Y8
Sales		$374,000
Variable costs:
Manufacturing expense	$224,400
Selling expense	18,700
Administrative expense	56,100	(299,200)
Contribution margin		$74,800
Fixed costs:
Manufacturing expense	$5,000
Selling expense	4,000
Administrative expense	9,700	(18,700)
Operating income		$56,100

Income Statement - Biblio Files

Biblio Files Company Contribution Margin Income Statement For the Year Ended December 31, 20Y8
Sales		$374,000
Variable costs:
Manufacturing expense	$149,600
Selling expense	14,960
Administrative expense	59,840	(224,400)
Contribution margin		$149,600
Fixed costs:
Manufacturing expense	$75,500
Selling expense	8,000
Administrative expense	10,000	(93,500)
Operating income		$56,100

Sales Mix

Biblio Files Company is making plans for its next fiscal year, and decides to sell two new types of bookshelves, Basic and Deluxe. The company has compiled the following estimates for the new product offerings.

Type of Bookshelf	Sales Price per Unit	Variable Cost per Unit
Basic	$5.00	$1.75
Deluxe	9.00	8.10

The company is interested in determining how many of each type of bookshelf would have to be sold in order to break even. If we think of the Basic and Deluxe products as components of one overall enterprise product called “Combined,” the unit contribution margin for the Combined product would be $2.31. Fixed costs for the upcoming year are estimated at $328,020. Recall that the totals of all the sales mix percents must be 100%. Determine the amounts to complete the following table.

Type of Bookshelf	Percent of Sales Mix	Break-Even Sales in Units	Break-Even Sales in Dollars
Basic	%		$
Deluxe	%		$

Feedback

Review the definition of break-even point.

Recall that the Combined unit contribution margin is given by [(Basic unit contribution margin) x (Basic percent of sales mix)] + [(Deluxe unit contribution margin) x (Deluxe percent of sales mix)]. Since these percents must add up to 100%, we have the following:

(Basic percent of sales mix) + (Deluxe percent of sales mix) = 100%, so that

(Deluxe percent of sales mix) = 100% - (Basic percent of sales mix)

Target Profit

Refer again to the income statements for Cover-to-Cover Company and Biblio Files Company on their respective Income Statement. Note that both companies have the same sales and net income. Answer questions (1) - (3) that follow, assuming that all data for the coming year is the same as the current year, except for the amount of sales.

1. If Cover-to-Cover Company wants to increase its profit by $40,000 in the coming year, what must their amount of sales be?
$

2. If Biblio Files Company wants to increase its profit by $40,000 in the coming year, what must their amount of sales be?
$

3. What would explain the difference between your answers for (1) and (2)?

a. Biblio Files Company has a higher contribution margin ratio, and so more of each sales dollar is available to cover fixed costs and provide operating income.

b. Cover-to-Cover Company’s contribution margin ratio is lower, meaning that it’s more efficient in its operations.

c. The companies have goals that are not in the relevant range.

d. The answers are not different; each company has the same required sales amount for the coming year to achieve the desired target profit.

Answer 1

Variable cost varies with per unit of output while fixed cost remains constant.
Lumber is variable cost
Utilities is mixed cost
Depreciation is a fixed cost
As per High low method, variable cost per unit = (Cost at highest level - Cost at lowest level)/Difference in units
	Fixed Portion	Variable Portion
Lumber	0	12
Utilities	1000	1.15
Depreciation	120000	0
As per High low method, variable cost per unit = (Cost at highest level - Cost at lowest level)/Difference in units
=(96250-6250)/(4775-275)
=$20 per unit
Fixed cost = 6250 - 275*20 = $750
Units	Total cost
3500	70,750
4360	87,950
4775	96,250
3.c. The high-low method gives a formula for the estimated total cost and may not match levels of production other than the highest and lowest.