A consultancy firm has three operating departments; Tax, Estate Planning and Small Business, and two service departments; Internal Accounting and Administrative Services. Only the three operating departments are facing customers. The service departments are offering their services to the operating departments. However, the Administrative Service department is also offering services to the Internal Accounting department. Following information on the five departments: Annual cost ($) Square feet Operating Revenue ($) Tax Estate Planning Small Business Internal Accounting Administrative Services 4,800,000 2,300,000 3,000,000 690,000 450,000 8,000 2,000 4,000 1,000 1,000 8,500,000 3,500,000 6,000,000 The annual costs do not include costs from the service departments. Required: a. Describe the three allocation methods (Direct allocation, Step-down allocation, and Reciprocal allocation) and give your opinion on which method you will recommend the consultancy firm to use. b. Use your chosen method to allocate the service departments annual costs to the three operating departments using Square feet and Operating revenue as allocation base and explain the differences