Problem: Willis Cosmetics produces a variety of cosmetics and hair care products. One popular shampoo is produced at the company's Genoa Street Plant (GSP). The financial staff are in the process of revising the estimates for overhead and looking at different approaches. After much discussion, the staff selected direct labor costs as the best cost driver to explain overhead cost. The staff have collected monthly data on direct labor and overhead costs at GSP for the most recent fiscal year. The data follow: Month Direct Labor Cost Overhead Costs 1 $ 234,000 $ 122,500 2 294,050 271,250 3 250,300 152,500 4 217,700 97,500 5 266,400 187,500 6 261,550 175,000 7 245,300 137,500 8 337,800 492,020 9 305,400 312,500 10 222,550 105,000 11 206,300 87,000 12 229,050 113,750
Required: Estimate the monthly fixed costs and the unit variable cost percentage of direct labor cost using the high-low estimation method. Note: Enter negative values with a minus sign.