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• Introduction to Cost and Management Accounting
• High/Low and Linear Regression Analysis
• Inventory Management
• Accounting for Inventory
• Accounting for overheads
• Absorption Costing
• Marginal Costing
• Job Batch and Service costing
• Process Costing
• Target Costing
• Variances
• Standard Costing
• Cost Volume Profit analysis
• Relevant costing and Decision-Making Techniques
• Time Value of Money (TVM)

Job Costing

• Job costing is used when a business entity carries out tasks or Jobs to meet specific customer orders.
• Jobs are short-time and work is usually carried out in a fairly short period of time.
• A cost is calculated for each individual Job and this cost can be used to establish the profit/loss from doing the Job.
• Each Cost unit is a Job.
• A Job costing system is usually based on absorption costing principles.
• In many cases, Job costs include not just direct material and direct labour but also direct expense;
  • Rental cost for the Job,
  • depreciation of equipment used for Job.
• Production overheads might be absorbed on a direct labour hours basis or any other suitable basis.
• Non – Production overheads might be added;
  • as a percentage of prime cost of the Job; or
  • as a percentage of production cost of the Job.
• Each Job is given a unique identity number or Job number.
• Direct costs and overheads are recorded on a Job sheet or Job card for the Job.
• A Job account is similar to a W.I.P account, except Job account is for only one Job.
• The W.I.P account is the total of all individual Job account.
• When the Job is finished the total cost of Job is transferred to the cost of sales.

Job Account Proforma

Batch Costing

• Batch costing is a system of costing for items that are produced in ‘Batches’ rather than individually. A batch might also be called a Production run.
• In batch costing the total cost is established for each individual batch where each batch consists of a large number of similar units/items.
• Unlike Job costing it is less common to include Non-Production overheads costs within the total batch cost.. Although it is certainly possible to do so.

Cost per unit = Total Batch cost
                        No. of units

• In all other respects batch costing is very similar to Job costing.
• Any ‘Setup costs’ can be charged directly to the cost of the batch.

Batch costing proforma

Service Costing

• The costs of a service are the sum of direct materials, direct labour, direct expenses and a share of operational overheads (unless marginal costing is used).
• Service costing differs from costing in manufacturing industries in several ways:

• • No production system therefore no production overheads.
  • Direct materials are fairly small proportion of total costs.
  • Direct labour costs are high.
  • General overheads costs can be a very high proportion of total costs.

Composite cost units:

• One of the main problem with service costing is that it can be different to identify a suitable cost unit for the service.
• It is often appropriate to use a composite cost unit in service costing. This cost is made from two variables , such as a cost per man per day.

Service unit/composite cost unit = Total costs of services
                                                              No. of units of services

Read more

• Introduction to Cost and Management Accounting
• High/Low and Linear Regression Analysis
• Inventory Management
• Accounting for Inventory
• Accounting for overheads
• Absorption Costing
• Marginal Costing
• Job Batch and Service costing
• Process Costing
• Target Costing
• Variances
• Standard Costing
• Cost Volume Profit analysis
• Relevant costing and Decision-Making Techniques
• Time Value of Money (TVM)

Accounting for overheads Overview

What constitutes part of inventory value?

Part of Inventory

Direct costs

• Direct material
• Direct labour
• Direct expenses

Indirect Costs (Overheads)

• Variable Production/manufacturing overheads
• Fixed Production (Depends on costing system used):

In Absorption costing charged to cost unit i,e Absorbed.

Not Part of Inventory

Indirect Costs (Overheads)

• Variable non-Production
• Fixed Overheads:
  1. Production (Depends on costing system used): In marginal costing treated as period cost and charged as an expense in the period in which they incur
  2. Non-Production

Fixed Production Overheads

Fixed production overheads and

Fixed production absorption rate

• Absorption costing requires a company to calculate a fixed overhead absorption rate, which is then used to measure the fixed overhead that relates to each unit of production.
• A company must undertake a series of steps in order to arrive at meaning full rates:

• • Identify fixed manufacturing overhead.
  • Share the fixed production overhead to departments.
  • Estimate fixed overhead absorption rate based on usage of resources in each department.

To reach an absorption rate, a company needs to find something which varies with production(this maybe total number of units or no. of hours worked) and divide the total fixed production overheads by that figure.

Identifying and Methods of charging

fixed production overheads to cost centers

Allocation

• Overheads are allocated to cost centres. If a cost center is responsible for entire cost of an item, the entire cost is charged directly to the cost centre.
• Many items of indirect cost cannot be charged directly to a cost unit but can be charged directly to a cost centre, in that case charge items of expense in full to the cost centre.
• Fixed production may be allocated to:

• • Production department/centre
  • Service department/centre (that provide support to production department but not directly engaged in production).

Apportionment

Overhead costs that cannot be directly allocated to a cost centre must be share/apportioned between two or more cost centres.

Shared costs maybe divided between:

• administration cost centres,
• selling and distribution cost centres,
• production cost centres,
• service cost centres.

Apportionment of production overheads costs goes in TWO stages:

• sharing general cost between production and services centres and; then
• sharing cost of service centres between production centres (secondary apportionment)

After this has been done. The total overheads costs of each production centre should be:

• Cost allocated directly to the production centre, plus
• Share costs to production centres, plus
• Shared cost of service department apportioned to production centres.

The purpose of doing this is to calculate an absorption rate.

Apportionment of service department costs

to production departments

• After production overheads have been allocated and apportioned to production departments and service departments, then the total for each service department is re-apportioned to the production department.
• The basis of re-apportionment of the overheads from each service department is some measure of how much its service is used by other departments.

This is called secondary apportionment.

Secondary Apportionment



where one service department use another service department

A service department might be used by production department and by another service department. In that case the secondary apportionment proceeds in TWO stages:

• the cost of service department used by other are apportioned first; and
• then the new total for the second service department is apportioned to production departments.

where one service department use each other

A situation may arise where both service department do work for the other service department as well as the production departments. In that case apportionment can be done in either of two methods below, each gives the same result:

• Repeated Distribution,
• Simultaneous Equation.

Repeated distribution method

• Taking each service department in turn, the overheads of that department are apportioned to all departments that use its service (i,e to the other service department as well as to the production department).
• This leaves the first service department with no overheads.
• The overheads of the second service department are then apportioned to all department that use its services (i,e to the other service department as well as to the production department).
• Repeat this process until all the overheads from service departments are apportioned to production departments leaving service departments with NIL balance.

Simultaneous equation method

• This method is to create two equations for the apportionment of service department overheads. These are simultaneous equations.
• The solution to the simultaneous equation can then be used to calculate the overhead apportionment to each production department.
• The following steps involves:

Step I

• establish two simultaneous equations, one for each service department. Each equation should state the total amount of overheads that will be apportioned from service department plus the proportion of the costs of the other service department that will be apportioned to it.

e.g:

X= F.O.H + %Y
Y= F.O.H + % X

Step II

• solve the equations to find value for X and Y.

Step III

• use the values of X and Y to establish total costs to apportion from service department to each production department.

*The purpose of doing this is to calculate an absorption rate.

Accounting for overheads: Overhead Absorption Rate

Overhead Absorption Rate

• The overhead absorption rate is known by different names; Predetermined overhead absorption rate, the fixed overhead rate or fixed overhead applied.
• Budgeted data is used rather than data about actual costs and output.
• Predetermined overhead absorption rates are calculated from;

• • Budgeted/planned overhead expenditure, and
  • the budgeted volume/activity levels.

Total allocated and apportioned overheads
volume of activity in the period

An overhead absorption rate can be calculated for each production department separately or a single rate for all the production department in the factory (also known as Blanket Rate).

• Actual overhead expenditure and actual production volume will almost be different from planned expenditure and production volume. This means that production overheads absorbed in product costs will be higher or lower than actual production overhead expenditure.
• This means there is some over absorption or under absorption.

*There is no adjustment to the value of closing inventory to allow over/under absorption in costing.

Accounting for overheads pdf

The above is the most summarized version of accounting for overheads. Moreover, click here to Download the accounting for overheads pdf summary.

Read more

• Introduction to Cost and Management Accounting
• High/Low and Linear Regression Analysis
• Inventory Management
• Accounting for Inventory
• Accounting for overheads
• Absorption Costing
• Marginal Costing
• Job Batch and Service costing
• Process Costing
• Target Costing
• Variances
• Standard Costing
• Cost Volume Profit analysis
• Relevant costing and Decision-Making Techniques
• Time Value of Money (TVM)

Target Costing Overview

• Target costing is a method of strategic management of costs and profits.
• Target costing involves; setting a target or objective for the maximum cost of a product/service and then working how to achieve this target.
• Target costing is used mainly for new product development.

• • Having identified a target price and target profit, a target cost of the product can be established.

Target cost = Target sales price – Target profit

• The opportunities for cutting costs to meet a target cost are much greater during the product design stage than after the product development has been completed and production process has been set up.
• The estimated costs of a product design can be compared with target cost.
• If the expected cost is higher than target cost then there is a ‘Cost Gap’.
  The cost gap must be closed by finding ways at the product design stage without losing any of the features, so that target cost is achieved.

Cost Gap

Target costing method

• Target costing is based o the idea that when a new product is developed a company will have a reasonable idea about;

• • The sales price,
  • The sales volume over its expected life.
  • There may also be estimates of capital investment required and any incremental fixed cost.
• Taking the estimates of above it should be possible to calculate target cost.
• The target cost for a product might be the maximum cost for the product, which provide the minimum required return.

Elements in Estimated cost and Target costs

Raw materials costs:

The target cost should allow for expected wastage rates/loss in processing.

The price of materials should also allow for any possible increase up-to the time when the new product development has been completed.

Direct labour:

The target cost should allow for any expected idle time that will occur during manufacturing of product.

Production overheads:

A target cost could be a target marginal cost. However it is more like that target cost will be a full cost (i,e includes a share of fixed production overheads)

Target costing and Services

• Target costing can be used for services as well as products.
• Services vary widely in nature and differ from manufacturing as follows;

• • some service industries are labour intensive and direct materials costs can are only a small part of total costs.
  • overheads costs in many services are very high.

Implication of using target costing

• The use of a target costing system has implication for pricing, cost control and performance measurement.
• A company might decide on a target selling price for either a new or an existing product, which it considers necessary in order to win market share or target volume of sales.

Advantages of target costing

• It helps to improve understanding within a company of product costs.
• It recognizes, that the most effective way of reducing costs is to plan and control costs from the product design stage onward.
• It helps to create a focus on the final customer for the product/services because the concept of ‘value’ is important; target costs should be achieved without loss of value for the customer.
• Target costing can be used together with recognized methods for reducing costs; such as Just-in-time, Total Quantity management.

Closing the Target Cost Gap

• Target costs are rarely achievable.
• Target costing should involve a ‘multi-disciplinary approach’ to resolving the problem of How to close the cost gap.
• Ways of reducing costs might be in; product design and engineering, manufacturing processes used, selling methods and raw materials purchasing.
• Other common methods of closing the target cost gap are;

• • To re-design products.
  • To discuss with key suppliers methods of reducing materials cost.
  • To eliminate non value added activities or non value added features of the product design.
  • To train staff.