Carlin and Marley, an accounting firm, provides consulting and tax planning services. For many years, the firm's total administrative cost (currently $291,000) has been allocated to services on this basis of billable hours to clients. A recent analysis found that 55% of the firm's billable hours to clients resulted from tax planning services, while 45% resulted from consulting services.

The firm, contemplating a change to activity-based costing, has identified three components of administrative cost, as follows:

Staff Support$207,000In-house computing charges57,000Miscellaneous office costs27,000Total$291,000

A recent analysis of staff support found a strong correlation with the number of clients served. In contrast, in-house computing and miscellaneous office cost varied directly with the number of computer hours logged and number of client transactions, respectively. Consulting clients served totaled 40% of the total client base, consumed 35% of the firm's computer hours, and accounted for 25% of the total client transactions.

If Carlin and Marley switched from its current accounting method to an activity-based costing system, the amount of administrative cost chargeable to consulting services would:

Multiple Choice

• decrease by $21,450.
• increase by $21,450.
• decrease by $50,550.
• change by an amount other than those listed.
• change, but the amount cannot be determined based on the information presented.