Allocating overhead costs among products Flemming Company makes three products in its factory: plastic cups, plastic tablecloths, and plastic bottles. The expected overhead costs for the next fiscal year include the following.

L.O. 3, 4 L.O. 3, 4 Vogue Beauty Deluxe Total Direct labor hours 3,000 5,000 4,500 12,500 Machine hours 1,000 1,000 1,000 3,000 Flemming uses machine hours as the cost driver to allocate overhead costs. Budgeted machine hours for the products are as follows.

Cups 500 Hours Tablecloths 800 Bottles 1,200 Total machine hours 2,500 Required

a. Allocate the budgeted overhead costs to the products.

b. Provide a possible explanation as to why Flemming chose machine hours, instead of labor hours, as the allocation base.