The distribution based on a common unit of measure that correlates closely with the causes of service department costs. The distribution can be bused on number of employees, kilowatt-hour consumption, consumption. horsepower-hour consumption, floor space, asset value, or cost of materials to be requisitioned. The costs of service departments ultimately are distributed to producing predetermined overhead departments to establish rates. The common methods for distributing service department overhead to benefiting departments are the direct method, the step method, and the simultaneous method.