Power industries has two support departments in their factory: Maintenance (M) and personnel (P). They also have three operating departments Assembly (A), Finishing (F) and Boxing (B) .Maintenance costs are allocated based on square footage and personnel costs are allocated based on number of employees. Costs of each department and other data are summarized below:

Cost(000's $300 Square feet 400 # of employees DLH Total $2950 6400 210 250 500 10 1000 2000 75 600 2000 75 800 1500 25 25 10500 5000 4500 20000 Required:1.using the direct method, allocate all support costs to the operating departments Total $300 $250 $1000 $600 $800 2. What method of support department cost allocation is considered the most accurate and why