The managers of HRY Corporation are analyzing some of their corporate costs to determine the costs of each departments use of administrative services. The accountant wants to allocate the costs of payroll processing using an activity-based costing system. The most appropriate cost driver for the payroll processing cost pool is the:

A) Number of pay periods per month

B) Number of employees

C) Average hourly wage for all employees

D) Maximum number of deductions from an individual employee's paycheck