Problem 2-28A Estimating fixed and variable cost using the regression method Dean and Powell Tax Services Company has 31 branch offices in the nation. Each office has about three to six professional accountants and one to two secretaries. In a busy season, the office manager, who is also a professional accountant, can hire temporary employees for support work such as document filing and typing. Norman Dean, the president, is wondering whether he should expand his business by opening more offices. One of the factors that he is considering is how to estimate office support costs. Andrea Jones, the accountant, collected the following cost data for all 31 offices: CHECK FIGURES b. VC/hr $15.19 FC: $1142 Branch Professional Hours Support Costs Branch Professional Hours Support Costs A1 A2 B1 82 B3 D1 D2 D3 D4 225 113 337 412 258 146 275 364 190 434 251 $4,241 3,435 6,398 6,502 4,140 3,368 3,020 6,396 3,946 8,189 4,506 F2 G1 62 G3 G4 G5 G6 165 353 471 492 323 359 $3,056 5,936 8,615 9,639 5,968 7.115 3,237 7,515 7,374 5,376 5,734 394 386 279 314 H2 12