At the Auric Company, the Cost of the Personnel Department

Multiple Choice

At the Auric Company, the cost of the personnel department has always been charged to production departments based upon number of employees. Recently, opinions gathered from the department managers indicate that the number of new hires might be a better predictor of personnel costs.
$$\begin{array}{l}\text { Total personnel department costs are } \$ 287,500 \text {. }\\\begin{array} { l r r r } \text { Department } & \underline { \mathbf { A } } & \underline { \mathbf { B } } & \underline { \mathbf { C } } \\\text { Number of employees } & 70 & 280 & 225 \\\text { Number of new hires } & 25 & 13 & 12\end{array}\end{array}$$
-Which cost estimation method is being used by Auric Company?

A) the simple regression method
B) the conference method
C) the account analysis method
D) the marginal costing method