LO2 Brown Jordan P20-34. Allocating Service Department Costs: Direct and Step Methods; Department and Plantwide Overhead Rates Assume that Brown Jordan, a manufacturer of fine casual outdoor furniture, allocates Human Re- sources Department costs to the producing departments (Cutting and Welding) based on number of employees; Facilities Department costs are allocated based on the amount of square footage occupied. Direct department costs, labor hours, and square footage data for the four departments for October are as follows: Human Resources Facilities Cutting $150,000 12 $450,000 20 Direct department overhead costs Number of employees Number of direct labor hours Amount of square footage $2,662,500 60 12,000 225,000 Welding $1,102,500 90 15,000 75,000 15,000 4,500 Assume that two jobs, A1 and A2, were completed during October and that each job had direct materi- als costs of $3,000. Job Al used 75 direct labor hours in the Cutting Department and 25 direct labor hours in the Welding Department. Job A2 used 25 direct labor hours in the Cutting Department and 75 direct labor hours in the Welding Department. The direct labor rate per hour, including benefits, is $50 in both departments. Required a. Find the cost of each job using a plantwide rate based on direct labor hours. b. Find the cost of each job using department rates with direct service department cost allocation. c. Find the cost of each job using department rates with step service department cost allocation. d. Explain the differences in the costs computed in requirements (a)(c) for each job. Which costing method is best for product pricing and profitability analysis