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	Total	Total	Total Machine
Produced	Lumber Cost	Utilities Cost	Depreciation Cost
4,000 shelves	$48,000	$5,600	$130,000
8,000 shelves	$96,000	$10,200	$130,000
16,000 shelves	$192,000	$19,400	$130,000
20,000 shelves	$240,000	$24,000	$130,000

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

	Variable Cost	Fixed Cost	Mixed Cost	None of these
Lumber
Utilities
Depreciation

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.

Cost Fixed Portion of Cost Variable Portion of Cost (per Unit)

Lumber $ $

Utilities $ $

Depreciation $ $

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.

Month	Number of Units Produced	Total Cost
January	4,360	$65,600
February	225	$6,250
March	1,000	$15,000
April	5,475	$111,250
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 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 Costs
3,500
4,360
5,475

3. Why does the total cost computed for 4,360 units not match the data for January in the table at the top of this panel?

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.

The High-Low method only gives accurate data when fixed costs are zero.

The High-Low method gives accurate data only for levels of production outside the relevant range.

The High-Low method is accurate only for months in which production is at full capacity.

Review the contribution margin income statements for Cover-to-Cover Company and Biblio Files Company on their respective Income Statements panels. Complete the following table from the data provided in the income statements. Each company sold 84,800 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) $ $

Cover-to-Cover Company

Contribution Margin Income Statement

For the Year Ended December 31

1	Sales			$424,000.00
2	Variable costs:
3	Manufacturing		$233,200.00
4	Selling		21,200.00
5	Administrative		63,600.00	318,000.00
6	Contribution margin			106,000.00
7	Fixed Costs:
8	Manufacturing		$5,000.00
9	Selling		4,000.00
10	Administrative		33,400.00	42,400.00
11	Income from operations			$63,600.00

Biblio Files Company

Contribution Margin Income Statement

For the Year Ended December 31

1	Sales			$424,000.00
2	Variable costs:
3	Manufacturing		$169,600.00
4	Selling		16,960.00
5	Administrative		67,840.00	254,400.00
6	Contribution margin			169,600.00
7	Fixed Costs:
8	Manufacturing		$88,000.00
9	Selling		8,000.00
10	Administrative		10,000.00	106,000.00
11	Income from operations			$63,600.00

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 $346,962. 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	%		$

Refer again to the income statements for Cover-to-Cover Company and Biblio Files Company on their respective Income Statement panels. 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. If required, round answers to the nearest dollar.

1. If Cover-to-Cover Company wants to increase its profit by $30,000 in the coming year, what must their amount of sales be?

2. If Biblio Files Company wants to increase its profit by $30,000 in the coming year, what must their amount of sales be?

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

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

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

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

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

Answer 1

1 and 2.	Lumber cost:
	Units Produced	Lumber cost	Cost per unit
	4000	48000	12
	8000	96000	12
	16000	192000	12
	20000	240000	12
	It is a variable cost since cost per unit is $12 per unit produced
	Utilities cost:
	Units Produced	Utilities cost	Cost per unit
	4000	5600	1.4
	8000	10200	1.275
	16000	19400	1.2125
	20000	24000	1.2
	It is a mixed cost since cost per unit changes in each level of unit produced.
	Variable cost=Change in total cost/Change in units produced
	Consider highest and lowest level of activity. i.e,4000 units and 20000 units
	Variable cost=(24000-5600)/(20000-4000)=$1.15 per unit
	Consider 20000 units
	Fixed cost=Total cost-(Variable cost per unit*Unit produced)=24000-(1.15*4000)=$ 19400
	Depreciation cost:
	Units Produced	Utilities cost
	4000	130000
	8000	130000
	16000	130000
	20000	130000
	It is a fixed cost since total cost is same at each level of unit produced
		Variable Cost	Fixed Cost	Mixed Cost	None of these
	Lumber	x
	Utilities			x
	Depreciation		x
	Cost	Fixed Portion of Cost	Variable Portion of Cost (per Unit)
	Lumber	0	12
	Utilities	1.15	19400
	Depreciation	0	130000
1	Variable cost=Change in total cost/Change in units produced
	Consider highest and lowest level of activity. i.e,225 units and 5475 units
	Variable cost=(111250-6250)/(5475-225)=$20 per unit
	Consider 5475 units
	Fixed cost=Total cost-(Variable cost per unit*Unit produced)=111250-(20*5475)=$ 1750
2	Number of units produced			Total cost
	3500			(3500*20)+1750=$ 71750
	4360			(4360*20)+1750=$ 88950
	5475			(5475*20)+1750=$ 111250
3	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.