Information provided:

MW Clothing is a machine$-$intensive manufacturing company that produces clothes for many different retailers. The company recently finished working on an order from a customer, which consisted of $50$ blue colored jeans with specifications of a $32-$inch waist and $32-$inch length. The following cost data relate to the manufacturing activities of MW Clothing for this order.

$*$Factory insurance, depreciation and utilities' costs are considered indirect manufacturing overhead costs.

Data provided:

Direct Materials

Direct Labor

Indirect Materials

Indirect Labor

Salaries, Administrative staff

Insurance, factory

Depreciation, factory

Utilities, factory

Direct Labor Hours

Machine Hours

$\backslash$table$[[$$$,5,000],[$$$,15,000],[$$$,1,000],[$$$,1,500],[$$$,20,000],[$$$,500],[$$$,1,600],[$$$,1,800],[,300],[,2,000]]$

Part f$1)$ Which allocation base results in a smaller variance between actual and estimated manufacturing overhead?

Part $f2)$ Which allocation base should the company use to calculate the predetermined overhead rate? Explain why.

Total Estimated Overhead costs

Total Estimated Direct Labor Hours

Total Estimated Machine Hours

$$,70,000$

$3,850$

$25,000$