Cost Terminology quiz

Cost allocation is the process of assigning and reassigning costs to cost objects. It is used for those costs that cannot be directly associated with a specific cost object. Cost allocation is often used for purposes of measuring income and assets for external reporting purposes.

Cost allocation is less meaningful for internal purposes because responsibility accounting systems emphasize controllability, a process often ignored in cost allocation

Financial accounting is primarily concerned with historical accounting, i.e., traditional financial statements, and with external financial reporting to creditors and shareholders. Management accounting applies primarily to the planning and control of organizational operations, considers nonquantitative information, and is usually less precise

A direct cost can be specifically associated with a single cost object in an economically feasible way. An indirect cost cannot be specifically associated with a single cost object. Thus, the specific cost object influences whether a cost is direct or indirect. For example, a cost might be directly associated with a single plant. The same cost, however, might not be directly associated with a particular department in the plant

A cost incurred for the benefit of more than one cost objective is known as a common cost. Allocation of common costs is a persistent problem in responsibility accounting. For example, how should the costs of corporate headquarters be allocated to the segments of a conglomerate? Common cost is also a synonym for
joint cost. In this sense, common costs are incurred in the production of two or more inseparable products (e.g., costs of refining petroleum into gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, lubricating oils, etc.) up to the point at which the products become separable (the split-off point).

Manufacturing costs are often grouped into the following classifications: prime cost, which equals direct materials plus direct labor (i.e., those costs directly attributable to a product), and conversion cost, which equals direct labor plus manufacturing overhead (i.e., the costs of converting raw materials into the finished product). The wages earned by a painter working for a painting contractor are thus properly classified as both a prime cost and a conversion cost.

Conversion costs consist of direct labor and factory overhead. These are the costs of converting raw materials into a finished product

Rent paid on the warehouse containing the finished books inventory is an example of an administrative expense, which is not part of manufacturing overhead. This is an example of a nonmanufacturing cost since the warehouse contains the finished books inventory and no manufacturing is occurring in that warehouse. Administrative expenses are those costs incurred by a company not directly related to producing or marketing the product

Materials, labor, and overhead (both fixed and variable) are examples of product costs. Abnormal spoilage is an example of a period cost. Abnormal spoilage is not inherent in a production process and should not be categorized as a product cost. Abnormal spoilage should be charged to a loss account in the period that detection of the spoilage occurs

Conversion costs are necessary to convert raw materials into finished products. They include all manufacturing costs, for example, direct labor and factory overhead, other than direct materials

Prime costs are direct materials and direct labor. They are directly identifiable elements of production costs and are directly traceable to the product

Under an absorption costing system, inventoriable (product) costs include all costs necessary for good production. These include direct materials and conversion costs (direct labor and overhead). Both fixed and variable overhead is included in inventory under an absorption costing system. Inventoriable costs are treated as assets until the products are sold because they represent future economic benefits. These costs are expensed at the time of sale

Using absorption costing, fixed manufacturing overhead is included in inventoriable (product) costs. Fixed manufacturing overhead costs are indirect costs because they cannot be directly traced to specific units produced

In the short run, management decisions are made in reference to incremental costs without regard to fixed overhead costs because fixed overhead cannot be changed in the short run. Thus, the emphasis in the short run should be on controllable costs. For example, service department costs allocated as a part of overhead may
not be controllable in the short run

Manufacturing costs consist of direct materials, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead. The cream, plant property taxes, and tires are all integral to the production of the final product and so are properly classified as manufacturing costs. Sales commissions, however, are not incurred until after the product has been manufactured. They are properly classified as a selling expense

Those tangible inputs to the manufacturing process that cannot practicably be traced to the product, such as wood screws and glue used in the production of school desks and chairs, are referred to as indirect costs. Indirect costs are one of the three components of manufacturing overhead, the other two being indirect labor
and factory operating costs

Direct costs are ones that can be associated with a particular cost object in an economically feasible way, that is, they can be traced to that object. Fixed costs are those that remain unchanged in total over the relevant range of production. A motel manager‟s salary is traceable to the single location she manages, and it remains
fixed over a set period of time regardless of the number of guests

Conversion costs are the direct labor, indirect materials, and factory overhead incurred to convert raw materials and transferred-in goods in a cost center to finished goods

Direct labor costs are wages paid to labor that can feasibly be specifically identified with the production of finished goods. Factory overhead consists of all costs, other than direct materials and direct labor, that are associated with the manufacturing process. Thus, straight-time wages would be treated as direct labor; however, because the overtime premium cost is a cost that should be borne by all production, the overtime hours times the overtime premium should be charged to manufacturing overhead

The cost of small tools used in mounting tires cannot be identified solely with the manufacture of a specific automobile. This cost should be treated as factory overhead because it is identifiable with the production process

Cost pools are accounts in which a variety of similar costs are accumulated prior to allocation to cost objectives. The overhead account is a cost pool into which various types of overhead are accumulated prior to their allocation. Indirect manufacturing costs are an element of overhead allocated to a cost pool.

Ordinarily, different allocation methods are applied to variable and fixed costs, thus requiring them to be separated. Establishing separate pools allows the determination of dual overhead rates. As a result, the assessment of capacity costs, the charging of appropriate rates to user departments, and the isolation of variances are facilitated