Band 8+: The table below shows the expenses of a used bookstore in Scotland for the first and last month of the same year. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The table compares the expenditures of a Scottish second-hand bookshop in January and December of 2018.

Overall, the total spending rose remarkably, mainly because of a significant increase in the rental cost, which was the highest expense of the bookstore. In addition, most of the categories witnessed increases while wages and benefits, equipment and utilities saw some decreases.

The store’s total spending increased nearly 40%, from approximately $4,700 at the beginning of the year to over $6,500 at the end of the year, and the main contributor for this was an over 50% rise in the rental expenditure, from about $3,200 to nearly $5,000. In addition, spending on professional fees, marketing, and other expenses witnessed some increases, reaching $132, $355 and nearly $600, respectively, and the figure for maintenance, the tiniest cost, also went up to $42 in December.

In contrast, there were decreases in the amount of money spent on other categories. The figures for salaries and equipment fell slightly from $260 to $226, and from $53 to $43 at the end of 2018, respectively, while the budget for utilities saw a more significant decrease, from over $450 in January to around half of that in December.