Determine fixed and variable costs using the high$-$low method and prepare graph.

E$2\mathrm{.}26($LO $3)$ The controller of Furgee Industries has collected the following monthly expense data for use in analyzing the cost behaviour of maintenance costs.

$\backslash$table$[[$Month$,$Total Maintenance Costs,Total Machine Hours$],[$Fanuary$,$$$2,500,300],[$March$,3,000,350],[$April$,3,600,500],[$May$,4,500,690],[$June$,3,200,400],[,4,900,700]]$

Instructions

a$.$ Determine the fixed and variable cost components using the high$-$low method.

b$.$ Prepare a graph showing the behaviour of maintenance costs, and identify the fixed and variable cost components. Use $100-$hour increments and $$1,000$ cost increments.