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Activity Based Costing: - Direct Materials and Direct Labor - Overhead
Activity Based Costing: - Direct Materials and Direct Labor - Overhead
Based Costing
Nature of Overhead Costs
• Direct Materials and Direct Labor
– Easy to trace
• Overhead
– Not easily and conveniently traceable to cost
objects
– Cost effectiveness
Cost effectiveness
– Must be assigned with estimated
1
Traditional Allocation Method of
Overhead Costs
• Allocated to cost object based on the cost
object’s consumption of some measure of
bj t’ ti f f
activity, usually labor hours
P 20,000,000 total overhead cost = P 40 per hour rate
500,000 total labor hours
,
A product consuming 8 labor hours would be
charged P 320 of overhead
Traditional Allocation Method
• Spreads overhead cost over entire customer
base
• Each order “appears” to cost the same
• Orders with high profit margins subsidize
orders with low profit margins
• A single or plantwide
g p rate called a
predetermined overhead rate is used:
• Job Order = Direct Labor Costs
• Process Cost = Machine Hours
2
Traditional Allocation Method
• Assumes all overhead is volume‐related
A ll h di l l t d
• Factory‐wide or departmental rates
– All related to single activity measure
• Departmental focus, not process focus
• Focus on costs incurred, not cause of costs
Focus on costs incurred not cause of costs
NEED: Total overhead from depreciation
on equipment, utilities, repairs,
maintenance has increased 5
Activity‐Based Costing System
Fundamental
Cost Objects Assignment to Other
A i Oh
Cost Objects
Activities Cost of:
• Product
• Service
Costs of Activities • Customer
3
Activity‐Based Costing
An overhead cost allocation system
that allocates overhead to multiple
activity cost pools and assigns the
activity cost pools to products or
services by means of cost drivers
y
that represent the activities used.
Activity
Any event, action, transaction, or
work sequence that causes a cost to
be incurred in producing a product
or providing a service.
4
Activity Cost Pool
The overhead cost allocated to a
distinct type of activity or related
activities.
Cost Driver
Any factor or activity that has a
direct cause‐effect relationship with
the resources consumed.
In ABC cost drivers are used to assign
activity cost pools to products or
activity cost pools to products or
services.
5
Activity‐Based Costing
• Purpose
– Allocation of indirect costs based on causal
activities
• Attempts to identify “direct” link
between cost and cost object
– Results in better allocation
Results in better allocation
11
Activity‐Based Costing
• Traditional allocation method
Costs Products
• Activity‐based allocation method
First stage Second stage
12
6
Overview of ABC
• Identifies activities required to produce the
product or service
d t i
• Determines the cost of the activities
• Allocates costs to the cost object based on the
object’s consumption of activities
13
Operation of an ABC System
• Assign costs to activity pools
– First stage allocation
First stage allocation
– Identify the costs incurred to perform
various activities
• Determine the measure of activity best
related to each cost pool
– Cost drivers
14
7
Operation of an ABC System
• Determine rate per unit of activity
• Assign costs to products/services based on
consumption of activities
– Second stage allocation
• Indirect costs are converted to direct costs
15
Cost Hierarchies
• Not all costs are volume‐related
– Unit level
– Batch level
– Product level
– Facility level
16
8
Output Unit‐Level Activities
• Activities performed for each unit of
production.
d i
• These are resources sacrificed on
activities performed on each
individual unit of product or service.
• Energy, machine depreciation,
repairs
Batch‐Level Activities
• Activities performed for each batch
of products.
f d
• These are resources sacrificed on
activities that are related to a group
of units of product(s) or service(s)
rather than to each individual unit of
product or service.
• Set‐up hours, procurement cost
9
Product‐Level Activities
• Activities performed for and identifiable
with an entire product line.
• These are often called service‐
sustaining costs and are resources
sacrificed on activities undertaken to
support individual products or services.
• Design Costs, Engineering Costs
Facility‐Level Activities
• Activities required to support or sustain
an entire production process and not
an entire production process and not
dependent on number of products,
batches, or units produced.
• These are resources sacrificed on
activities that cannot be traced to
i di id l
individual products or services but
d t i b t
support the organization as a whole.
• General administration, rent, building
security
10
Implementing ABC
• Step 1 – Plan the system
– What are the goals?
• Inventory valuation
• Process improvement
– Foster active involvement
– Assemble cross‐functional team
• Functional specialists
21
Implementing ABC
• Step 2 – Define, analyze activities and
resources
– Decompose organization into elemental activities
• Who does what, and why?
– Interview employees
– Determine resources
– Determine inputs and outputs
22
11
Implementing ABC
– Gather statistics on activities
• Inputs and outputs
I t d t t
• Transaction, duration, intensity
• For possible use as second‐stage cost drivers
23
Implementing ABC
• Step 3 – Establish activity cost pools and
determine first stage allocation
– First stage allocations assign costs to cost
pools
• Requires costs to be re‐categorized according
to why they are incurred, not by type
• Drivers may be employee time, square
footage, etc.
24
12
Implementing ABC
• Step 4 – Determine second stage drivers and
assign costs to cost objects
i t t t bj t
– Outputs of activity analysis may be second stage
drivers
• Distance moved, times handled, machine hours, units,
etc.
– Amount assigned to the cost object is the amount
A i d h bj i h
of activity consumed times the rate per unit of the
activity
25
Implementing
Activity‐Based Costing
Step 1
Step 1 Step 2
Step 2
Identify cost objects. Identify the direct costs
of the products.
Product X
Product X Direct material
Product Y Direct labor
Mold cleaning and
maintenance
13
Implementing
Activity‐Based Costing
Cleaning and maintenance costs of
P 360,000 are direct batch‐level costs.
Why?
Because these costs consist of workers’
wages for cleaning molds after each
batch of lenses is run.
Implementing
Activity‐Based Costing
Product X
Cost Hierarchy
Description Category
Direct materials Unit‐level P1,520,000
g
Direct mfg. labor Unit‐level 800,000
Cleaning and maint. Batch‐level 160,000
Total direct costs P2,480,000
14
Implementing
Activity‐Based Costing
Product Y
Cost Hierarchy
Description Category
Direct materials Unit‐level P 920,000
g
Direct mfg. labor Unit‐level 260,000
Cleaning and maint. Batch‐level 200,000
Total direct costs P1,380,000
Implementing
Activity‐Based Costing
Step 3
p
Select the cost‐allocation bases to use for
allocating indirect costs to the products.
(1) (2) (3)
Activity Cost Hierarchy Total Costs
Design Product‐sustaining P450,000
Setups Batch‐level P409,200
Operations Unit‐level P637,500
15
Implementing
Activity‐Based Costing
Step 4
p
Identify the indirect costs associated
with each cost‐allocation base.
Overhead costs incurred are assigned
to activities, to the extent possible, on
the basis of a cause‐and‐effect relationship.
Implementing
Activity‐Based Costing
Step 5
p
Compute the rate per unit.
(1) (5)
X Y Total
Setup‐hours:
p 640 2,000 2,640
P409,200 ÷ 2,640 = P155
16
Implementing
Activity‐Based Costing
Step 6
p
Compute the indirect costs allocated
to the products.
X: P155 × 640 = P 99,200
Y: P155 × 2,000 = 310,000
Total P409,200
Implementing
Activity‐Based Costing
Step 7
p
Compute the costs of the products.
X and Y would show three
direct cost categories.
1
1. Direct materials
Direct materials
2. Direct manufacturing labor
3. Cleaning and maintenance
17
Implementing
Activity‐Based Costing
X and Y
and Y would show six indirect cost pools.
would show six indirect cost pools
1. Design
2. Molding machine setups
3. Manufacturing operations
4. Shipment setup
5. Distribution
6. Administration
Activity‐Based Management
ABM describes management decisions that use
activity‐based costing information to satisfy
customers and improve profits.
Product pricing and mix decisions
Cost reduction and process improvement decisions
Design decisions
18
Product Pricing and
Mix Decisions
ABC gives management insight into the cost
structures for making and selling diverse products.
It provides more accurate product cost
information and more detailed information
on costs of activities and the drivers of those costs.
Cost Reduction and Process
Improvement Decisions
Manufacturing and distribution personnel use
ABC systems to focus on cost‐reduction efforts.
Managers set cost‐reduction targets in terms of
reducing the cost per unit of the cost‐allocation base.
19
Design Decisions
Management can identify and evaluate new designs
to improve performance by evaluating how product
and process designs affect activities and costs.
Companies can work with their customers to
evaluate the costs and prices of alternative designs.
l h d f l d
ABC and Department
Indirect‐Cost Rates
Many companies have evolved their
costing system from using a single
cost pool to using separate indirect‐cost
rates for each department:
Design
Manufacturing
Distribution
20
ABC and Department
Indirect‐Cost Rates
Why?
Because the cost drivers of resources in each
department or subdepartment differ from the
single, company‐wide, cost‐allocation base.
ABC systems are a further refinement of
department costing systems.
When is ABC Most Useful?
• High amounts of overhead cost
• M lti l
Multiple products
d t
• Complex products
• Complex production system
• Significant variation in volume between high
p
and low volume products
42
21
When is ABC Most Useful?
• Different products place different demands on
resources
• Problems with current cost allocations due to
changes in products or processes
• Better cost information is needed
43
Switch to ABC when...
• Products differ greatly in volume and manufacturing
complexity
• Products lines are
P d li
– numerous
– diverse
– require differing degrees of support services
• Overhead costs constitute a significant portion of
total costs
• The manufacturing process or number of products
The manufacturing process or number of products
has changed significantly
• Production or marketing managers are ignoring data
provided existing system
22
Implications of ABC/ABM
• Shifts focus from managing costs to
managing activities
managing activities
• Aids in recognizing, measuring and
controlling complexity
• Promotes understanding of why costs
are incurred
• Provides better cost allocation
information
45
Implications of ABC/ABM
• Useful for planning future operations
• Fosters continuous improvement
• Likely to meet with substantial
resistance
– Analysis of why and how activities are
performed
46
23
Benefits of ABC Systems
Significant amounts of indirect costs are
Significant amounts of indirect costs are
allocated using only one or two cost pools.
All or most costs are identified
as output unit‐level costs.
Products make diverse demands on
Products make diverse demands on
resources because of differences in
volume, process steps, batch size,
or complexity.
Benefits of ABC Systems
Products that a company is well‐suited to
make and sell show small profits while
products for which a company is less
suited show large profits.
Complex products appear to be very
profitable and simple products
appear to be losing money.
24
Benefits of ABC Systems
Operations staff have significant
disagreements with the accounting
staff about the costs of manufacturing
and marketing products and services.
Limitations of ABC Systems
The main limitations of ABC are the
measurements necessary to
implement the system.
ABC systems require management
to estimate costs of activity pools
f l
and to identify and measure cost
drivers for these pools.
25
Limitations of ABC Systems
Activity‐cost rates also need to be
updated regularly.
Very detailed ABC systems are costly
to operate and difficult to understand.
ABC In Service and
Merchandising Companies
The general approach to ABC in the
service and merchandising areas is very
similar to the approach in manufacturing.
Costs are divided into homogeneous cost
pools and classified as output unit‐level,
l d l f d l l
batch‐level, product‐ or service‐sustaining,
and facility‐sustaining costs.
26
ABC In Service and
Merchandising Companies
The cost pools correspond to key activities.
Costs are allocated to products or customers
using activity drivers or cost‐allocation
bases that have a cause‐and‐effect
relationship with the cost in the cost pool.
References:
• Horngren, Foster and Datar, Cost Accounting:
AM
A Managerial Emphasis, 11th Edition
i l E h i 11th Editi
(Prentice‐Hall)
• Louderback,et al. Managerial Accounting ,
(South‐Western College Publishing.)
• Weygandt, et al. Managerial Accounting , 2nd
Weygandt et al Managerial Accounting 2nd
edition (Wiley)
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