Pettit Ice Cream Company produces various ice cream products for which demand is highly seasonal. The company sells more ice cream in warmer months and less in colder ones. Last year, the high point in production activity occurred in August when Pettit produced 50,000 gallons of ice cream at a total cost of $82,000. The low point in production activity occurred in February when the company produced 20,000 gallons of ice cream at a total cost of $46,000.
Required
a. Use the high-low method to estimate the amount of fixed cost per month incurred by Pettit Ice
Cream Company.
b. Determine the total estimated monthly cost when 40,000 gallons of ice cream are produced.
c. What factors could cause the estimate determined in Requirement b to be inaccurate?
d. Explain how regression analysis could be used to improve accuracy. Your explanation should include a discussion of the R2 statistic as well as the potential impact of multiple regression analysis.