What is meant by Cost object?
Cost object is anything in relation to which user of cost information wants to measure cost. It can be a product or collection of products or even a unit of product. It can be an activity. It can be a cost center i.e. a department responsible to incur cost. It can even be an instance […]
What is Cost accounting?
Cost accounting is a process of monetizing outflow of resources or loss of benefits in relation to certain aspect of the business for which user demands an information which is mostly used in decision making process. It is in the nature of humans to seek benefit in every activity they pursue. Due to the same […]
What is meant by Cost?
Cost is the monetary amount of resources or the consideration for using the resource invested or consumed or used up. In its most simplistic form cost is monetary measurement of resource outflow due to any reason. As cost is an information, user of information may require this information to be generated or processed as per […]
What is Cost classification and in how many ways can we classify cost?
Cost classification is a simple process in which we group or categorize costs on the basis of common characteristics. Grouping costs on the basis of their nature, form, source or any other attribution makes it really easy to understand their effects and ultimately to take decisions about costs and beyond any shadow of doubt classifying […]
Is depreciation expense a fixed cost or a variable cost?
Let’s revisit the terms Fixed cost and Variable cost and then we will discuss where depreciation cost/expense really fits. Fixed costs are such costs that do not change with the change in activity level (e.g. units produced) with in the relevant range. Where relevant range can be defined in terms of time or activity level. […]
Is ‘Cost of goods sold’ a Product cost or a Period cost?
Before we discuss under what heading should we classify cost of goods sold, let’s first of all clear out our minds for the terms inventoriable costs and period costs with a quick review. You can the answer on difference between period costs and product costs in good detail here. Inventoriable costs (Product cost) or Product […]
What is the difference between Product cost and Period cost?
Product costs or Inventoriable costs are all such costs that form part of the inventory.These are basically such costs that relates directly to the products and are incurred to produce such products and also include the costs that are incurred to bring these products into saleable condition (or simply present location and condition). Examples are […]
Can direct costs be fixed and indirect costs be variable costs?
Classifying costs as direct or indirect cost is one way of cost classification whereas classifying costs on the basis of their behaviour as fixed or variable costs is just another way of classification of costs. Both classifications are separate and must not be confused together. The cost that can be traced back to a product […]
What is Opportunity cost and why is it a Relevant cost as well?
Opportunity costs are defined to be the economic value of the benefit sacrificed under one alternative to avail the benefit under another alternative course of action. For example, company have the option of manufacturing either alpha or beta. As company does not have enough resources to manufacture both of them so it will have to […]
What is the difference between Notional cost and Opportunity cost?
Notional costs and Opportunity costs are two important concepts in cost and management accounting as they have far reaching effects on decisions making process. But both are distinct and understanding the features of each type of cost is vital as it has important implications from decision making perspective. All opportunity costs included in the cost […]
