AC239's Unit 2 cost classification exercise, finished, tags each cost on a furniture maker's list by behavior and by traceability and splits the mixed utility bill by high-low. Searches like "ac 239 unit 2 assignment example", "ac239 unit 2 sample" and "ac239 unit 2 example" land here.
What a finished AC239 Unit 2 cost classification exercise looks like
A grid with the cost list down the left, six columns across: variable, fixed, mixed, direct, indirect, and product or period. A check mark sits in one behavior column and one traceability column for every line, and the final column names where the cost ends up, in inventory or on the income statement when incurred. Sample lines: wood and fabric are variable and direct; the plant supervisor's salary is fixed and indirect, a product cost through overhead; sales commissions are variable but a period cost, traced to no product at all. Beneath the grid, the utility bill gets its own block. Six months of machine hours and utility cost are listed, the high and low activity months picked out, and the variable rate and fixed portion computed. A cost formula closes the block.
How a AC239 Unit 2 example is structured
The grid keeps the list's own order, so a grader can match line to line without searching. Behavior columns come before traceability columns because the two questions are independent, and placing them apart prevents the most common confusion in the unit, the belief that direct means variable. Four or five lines carry a short footnote where the classification depends on a fact in the problem, such as a machine leased at a fixed monthly rate versus one leased per hour of use. The high-low block comes after the grid because the grid is what identifies the utility bill as mixed. It works from the activity measure rather than the cost when choosing high and low months. A two-sentence close notes that the contribution and break-even work often following this unit draws on exactly these columns.
Six columns, one list
Behavior, traceability and product-or-period across the top; the problem's cost lines down the side in their original order, each marked once in every group.
Direct is not the same as variable
Glue and sandpaper, variable yet too small to trace to any one chair, and a supervisor assigned to a single product line, fixed yet direct to that line, show the two questions separate.
Footnotes where facts decide
A lease paid monthly versus one paid per machine hour, a supervisor over one product line versus several. Each footnote names the fact that settled the classification.
High-low on the utility bill
Highest and lowest activity months chosen by machine hours, the change in cost divided by the change in hours, and the fixed portion recovered from either month.
The cost formula
Total utility cost stated as a fixed amount plus a rate per machine hour, checked against a middle month to show it predicts reasonably.
Where marks go in AC239 Unit 2
Treating direct and variable as synonyms costs the most, usually through a fixed factory cost marked variable because it is clearly part of production. Graders see it most often on the supervisor's salary and on factory rent. Period costs placed in inventory, especially administrative salaries or advertising, lose points in most sections since they never touch a product. The high-low method loses marks when the high and low months are chosen by cost rather than by activity, which can pick the wrong pair entirely when a month carried an unusual bill. A fixed portion computed by pairing one month's activity with another month's total cost produces a formula that fails its own check. Grids with two marks in one group, or none, lose a small amount per line, and those accumulate.
Get a AC239 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Classification turns on the cost list and activity data in the Unit 2 problem, so send those with the rubric and any format instructions. Each line gets a verdict, with footnotes where the facts decide it, and the high-low block is worked on your months. Expect it in 24-48h; the first custom sample is free.
AC239 Unit 2 questions, answered
Is direct labor always a variable cost?
In most AC239 problems it is treated as variable, since hours rise and fall with output. Some problems describe a workforce paid a fixed salary regardless of volume, and then direct labor is fixed while remaining direct. The sample follows the problem's facts and footnotes the line whenever the classification departs from the usual assumption, which is where graders look for reasoning.
Why use high-low when regression is more accurate?
Because the unit is testing whether the idea of separating a mixed cost is understood, and high-low shows the idea with two data points and simple arithmetic. It ignores every other month, which is its weakness, and a sentence noting that limitation often earns credit. Sections that assign regression or a scatter plot instead get that method in the same block.
What does product versus period mean for a service business?
A service firm holds no inventory, so every cost goes to the income statement in the period incurred and the distinction mostly disappears. Traceability still matters, though: a law firm's paralegal hours trace to a client matter, and office rent does not. When an AC239 problem uses a service business, the sample replaces the product column with a client or job column.