meaning of cost assignment accounting

What is Cost Assignment?

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Cost assignment.

Cost assignment is the process of associating costs with cost objects, such as products, services, departments, or projects. It encompasses the identification, measurement, and allocation of both direct and indirect costs to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the resources consumed by various cost objects within an organization. Cost assignment is a crucial aspect of cost accounting and management accounting, as it helps organizations make informed decisions about pricing, resource allocation, budgeting, and performance evaluation.

There are two main components of cost assignment:

• Direct cost assignment: Direct costs are those costs that can be specifically traced or identified with a particular cost object. Examples of direct costs include direct materials, such as raw materials used in manufacturing a product, and direct labor, such as the wages paid to workers directly involved in producing a product or providing a service. Direct cost assignment involves linking these costs directly to the relevant cost objects, typically through invoices, timesheets, or other documentation.
• Indirect cost assignment (Cost allocation): Indirect costs, also known as overhead or shared costs, are those costs that cannot be directly traced to a specific cost object or are not economically feasible to trace directly. Examples of indirect costs include rent, utilities, depreciation, insurance, and administrative expenses. Since indirect costs cannot be assigned directly to cost objects, organizations use various cost allocation methods to distribute these costs in a systematic and rational manner. Some common cost allocation methods include direct allocation, step-down allocation, reciprocal allocation, and activity-based costing (ABC).

In summary, cost assignment is the process of associating both direct and indirect costs with cost objects, such as products, services, departments, or projects. It plays a critical role in cost accounting and management accounting by providing organizations with the necessary information to make informed decisions about pricing, resource allocation, budgeting, and performance evaluation.

Example of Cost Assignment

Let’s consider an example of cost assignment at a bakery called “BreadHeaven” that produces two types of bread: white bread and whole wheat bread.

BreadHeaven incurs various direct and indirect costs to produce the bread. Here’s how the company would assign these costs to the two types of bread:

• Direct cost assignment:

Direct costs can be specifically traced to each type of bread. In this case, the direct costs include:

• Direct materials: BreadHeaven purchases flour, yeast, salt, and other ingredients required to make the bread. The cost of these ingredients can be directly traced to each type of bread.
• Direct labor: BreadHeaven employs bakers who are directly involved in making the bread. The wages paid to these bakers can be directly traced to each type of bread based on the time spent working on each bread type.

For example, if BreadHeaven spent $2,000 on direct materials and $1,500 on direct labor for white bread, and $3,000 on direct materials and $2,500 on direct labor for whole wheat bread, these costs would be directly assigned to each bread type.

• Indirect cost assignment (Cost allocation):

Indirect costs, such as rent, utilities, equipment maintenance, and administrative expenses, cannot be directly traced to each type of bread. BreadHeaven uses a cost allocation method to assign these costs to the two types of bread.

Suppose the total indirect costs for the month are $6,000. BreadHeaven decides to use the number of loaves produced as the allocation base , as it believes that indirect costs are driven by the production volume. During the month, the bakery produces 3,000 loaves of white bread and 2,000 loaves of whole wheat bread, totaling 5,000 loaves.

The allocation rate per loaf is:

Allocation Rate = Total Indirect Costs / Total Loaves Allocation Rate = $6,000 / 5,000 loaves = $1.20 per loaf

BreadHeaven allocates the indirect costs to each type of bread using the allocation rate and the number of loaves produced:

• White bread: 3,000 loaves × $1.20 per loaf = $3,600
• Whole wheat bread: 2,000 loaves × $1.20 per loaf = $2,400

After completing the cost assignment, BreadHeaven can determine the total costs for each type of bread:

• White bread: $2,000 (direct materials) + $1,500 (direct labor) + $3,600 (indirect costs) = $7,100
• Whole wheat bread: $3,000 (direct materials) + $2,500 (direct labor) + $2,400 (indirect costs) = $7,900

By assigning both direct and indirect costs to each type of bread, BreadHeaven gains a better understanding of the full cost of producing each bread type, which can inform pricing decisions, resource allocation, and performance evaluation.

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COST ASSIGNMENT Definition

COST ASSIGNMENT involves assigning costs of an account to the accounts that are responsible or accountable for incurring the cost. For example, the cost of issuing purchase orders is allocated to the various objects procured. The cost assignment is done through assignment paths and cost drivers. The assignment path identifies the source account (the account whose cost is being assigned "Issue Purchase Orders" in the above example) and destination accounts (the accounts to which the costs are being allocated the various cost objects procured by issuing purchase orders in the above example). The cost driver identifies the measure or rationale on the basis of which the assignment needs to be done, that is, whether the costs of issuing purchase orders need to be assigned to various cost objects evenly, based on some defined percentage values, or based on some criterion, like the number of purchase orders of each cost object issued. Defining the cost drivers and assignment paths (i.e., source and destination accounts) enable proper assignment and accounting of the various costs incurred in the organization.

Learn new Accounting Terms

CAPITAL TO RISK ASSET RATIO (CRAR) is one of the most widely used analytical measures of bank capital adequacy and a tool for controlling bank risk. Since risk assets are always less than total assets, the capital/risk asset ratio is naturally higher than the capital/total asset ratio for any given computational period.

ANALYSIS CODES, in accounting, represent software driven analysis methods which are independent of the normal grouping of account codes. An analysis code allows management to collect and monitor income and expenditure for a particular function or event that is not captured by the use of a project code or class, i.e. allows for much finer segmentation.

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The procedures by which direct or indirect costs are charged to or made the responsibility of particular cost centres, and ultimately charged to the products manufactured or services provided by the organization. Procedures used to achieve cost attribution include absorption costing, activity-based costing, marginal costing, and process costing. See also cost allocation; cost tracing.

From:   cost assignment   in  A Dictionary of Accounting »

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What Is Cost Accounting?

Understanding cost accounting.

• Cost vs. Financial Accounting
• Cost Accounting FAQs

The Bottom Line

• Corporate Finance

Cost Accounting: Definition and Types With Examples

Yarilet Perez is an experienced multimedia journalist and fact-checker with a Master of Science in Journalism. She has worked in multiple cities covering breaking news, politics, education, and more. Her expertise is in personal finance and investing, and real estate.

Cost accounting is a form of managerial accounting that aims to capture a company's total cost of production by assessing the variable costs of each step of production as well as fixed costs, such as a lease expense.

Cost accounting is not GAAP-compliant , and can only be used for internal purposes.

Key Takeaways

• Cost accounting is used internally by management in order to make fully informed business decisions.
• Unlike financial accounting, which provides information to external financial statement users, cost accounting is not required to adhere to set standards and can be flexible to meet the particular needs of management.
• As such, cost accounting cannot be used on official financial statements and is not GAAP-compliant.
• Cost accounting considers all input costs associated with production, including both variable and fixed costs.
• Types of cost accounting include standard costing, activity-based costing, lean accounting, and marginal costing.

Investopedia / Theresa Chiechi

Cost accounting is used by a company's internal management team to identify all variable and fixed costs associated with the production process. It will first measure and record these costs individually, then compare input costs to output results to aid in measuring financial performance and making future business decisions. There are many types of costs involved in cost accounting , each performing its own function for the accountant.

Types of Costs

• Fixed costs are costs that don't vary depending on the level of production. These are usually things like the mortgage or lease payment on a building or a piece of equipment that is depreciated at a fixed monthly rate. An increase or decrease in production levels would cause no change in these costs.
• Variable costs are costs tied to a company's level of production. For example, a floral shop ramping up its floral arrangement inventory for Valentine's Day will incur higher costs when it purchases an increased number of flowers from the local nursery or garden center.
• Operating costs are costs associated with the day-to-day operations of a business. These costs can be either fixed or variable depending on the unique situation.
• Direct costs are costs specifically related to producing a product. If a coffee roaster spends five hours roasting coffee, the direct costs of the finished product include the labor hours of the roaster and the cost of the coffee beans.
• Indirect costs are costs that cannot be directly linked to a product. In the coffee roaster example, the energy cost to heat the roaster would be indirect because it is inexact and difficult to trace to individual products.

Cost Accounting vs. Financial Accounting

While cost accounting is often used by management within a company to aid in decision-making, financial accounting is what outside investors or creditors typically see. Financial accounting presents a company's financial position and performance to external sources through financial statements , which include information about its revenues , expenses , assets , and liabilities . Cost accounting can be most beneficial as a tool for management in budgeting and in setting up cost-control programs, which can improve net margins for the company in the future.

One key difference between cost accounting and financial accounting is that, while in financial accounting the cost is classified depending on the type of transaction, cost accounting classifies costs according to the information needs of the management. Cost accounting, because it is used as an internal tool by management, does not have to meet any specific standard such as  generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and, as a result, varies in use from company to company or department to department.

Cost-accounting methods are typically not useful for figuring out tax liabilities, which means that cost accounting cannot provide a complete analysis of a company's true costs. 

Types of Cost Accounting

Standard costing.

Standard costing assigns "standard" costs, rather than actual costs, to its cost of goods sold (COGS) and inventory. The standard costs are based on the efficient use of labor and materials to produce the good or service under standard operating conditions, and they are essentially the budgeted amount. Even though standard costs are assigned to the goods, the company still has to pay actual costs. Assessing the difference between the standard (efficient) cost and the actual cost incurred is called variance analysis.

If the variance analysis determines that actual costs are higher than expected, the variance is unfavorable. If it determines the actual costs are lower than expected, the variance is favorable. Two factors can contribute to a favorable or unfavorable variance. There is the cost of the input, such as the cost of labor and materials. This is considered to be a rate variance.

Additionally, there is the efficiency or quantity of the input used. This is considered to be a volume variance. If, for example, XYZ company expected to produce 400 widgets in a period but ended up producing 500 widgets, the cost of materials would be higher due to the total quantity produced.

Activity-Based Costing

Activity-based costing (ABC) identifies overhead costs from each department and assigns them to specific cost objects, such as goods or services. The ABC system of cost accounting is based on activities, which refer to any event, unit of work, or task with a specific goal, such as setting up machines for production, designing products, distributing finished goods, or operating machines. These activities are also considered to be cost drivers , and they are the measures used as the basis for allocating overhead costs.

Traditionally, overhead costs are assigned based on one generic measure, such as machine hours. Under ABC, an activity analysis is performed where appropriate measures are identified as the cost drivers. As a result, ABC tends to be much more accurate and helpful when it comes to managers reviewing the cost and profitability of their company's specific services or products.

For example, cost accountants using ABC might pass out a survey to production-line employees who will then account for the amount of time they spend on different tasks. The costs of these specific activities are only assigned to the goods or services that used the activity. This gives management a better idea of where exactly the time and money are being spent.

To illustrate this, assume a company produces both trinkets and widgets. The trinkets are very labor-intensive and require quite a bit of hands-on effort from the production staff. The production of widgets is automated, and it mostly consists of putting the raw material in a machine and waiting many hours for the finished good. It would not make sense to use machine hours to allocate overhead to both items because the trinkets hardly used any machine hours. Under ABC, the trinkets are assigned more overhead related to labor and the widgets are assigned more overhead related to machine use.

Lean Accounting

The main goal of lean accounting is to improve financial management practices within an organization. Lean accounting is an extension of the philosophy of lean manufacturing and production, which has the stated intention of minimizing waste while optimizing productivity. For example, if an accounting department is able to cut down on wasted time, employees can focus that saved time more productively on value-added tasks.

When using lean accounting, traditional costing methods are replaced by value-based pricing  and lean-focused performance measurements. Financial decision-making is based on the impact on the company's total value stream profitability. Value streams are the profit centers of a company, which is any branch or division that directly adds to its bottom-line profitability.

Marginal Costing

Marginal costing (sometimes called cost-volume-profit analysis ) is the impact on the cost of a product by adding one additional unit into production. It is useful for short-term economic decisions. Marginal costing can help management identify the impact of varying levels of costs and volume on operating profit. This type of analysis can be used by management to gain insight into potentially profitable new products, sales prices to establish for existing products, and the impact of marketing campaigns.

The  break-even point —which is the production level where total revenue for a product equals total expense—is calculated as the total fixed costs of a company divided by its contribution margin. The contribution margin , calculated as the sales revenue minus variable costs, can also be calculated on a per-unit basis in order to determine the extent to which a specific product contributes to the overall profit of the company.

History of Cost Accounting

Scholars believe that cost accounting was first developed during the  industrial revolution  when the emerging economics of industrial supply and demand forced manufacturers to start tracking their fixed and variable expenses in order to optimize their production processes.

Cost accounting allowed railroad and steel companies to control costs and become more efficient. By the beginning of the 20th century, cost accounting had become a widely covered topic in the literature on business management.

How Does Cost Accounting Differ From Traditional Accounting Methods?

In contrast to general accounting or financial accounting, the cost-accounting method is an internally focused, firm-specific system used to implement  cost controls . Cost accounting can be much more flexible and specific, particularly when it comes to the subdivision of costs and inventory valuation. Cost-accounting methods and techniques will vary from firm to firm and can become quite complex.

Why Is Cost Accounting Used?

Cost accounting is helpful because it can identify where a company is spending its money, how much it earns, and where money is being lost. Cost accounting aims to report, analyze, and lead to the improvement of internal cost controls and efficiency. Even though companies cannot use cost-accounting figures in their financial statements or for tax purposes, they are crucial for internal controls.

Which Types of Costs Go Into Cost Accounting?

These will vary from industry to industry and firm to firm, however certain cost categories will typically be included (some of which may overlap), such as direct costs, indirect costs, variable costs, fixed costs, and operating costs.

What Are Some Advantages of Cost Accounting?

Since cost-accounting methods are developed by and tailored to a specific firm, they are highly customizable and adaptable. Managers appreciate cost accounting because it can be adapted, tinkered with, and implemented according to the changing needs of the business. Unlike the  Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)-driven financial accounting, cost accounting need only concern itself with insider eyes and internal purposes. Management can analyze information based on criteria that it specifically values, which guides how prices are set, resources are distributed, capital is raised, and risks are assumed.

What Are Some Drawbacks of Cost Accounting?

Cost-accounting systems ,and the techniques that are used with them, can have a high start-up cost to develop and implement. Training accounting staff and managers on esoteric and often complex systems takes time and effort, and mistakes may be made early on. Higher-skilled  accountants  and  auditors  are likely to charge more for their services when evaluating a cost-accounting system than a standardized one like GAAP.

Cost accounting is an informal set of flexible tools that a company's managers can use to estimate how well the business is running. Cost accounting looks to assess the different costs of a business and how they impact operations, costs, efficiency, and profits. Individually assessing a company's cost structure allows management to improve the way it runs its business and therefore improve the value of the firm. These are meant to be internal metrics and figures only. Since they are not GAAP-compliant, cost accounting cannot be used for a company's audited financial statements released to the public.

Fleischman, Richard K., and Thomas N. Tyson. "The Economic History Review: Cost Accounting During the Industrial Revolution: The Present State of Historical Knowledge." Economic History Review , vol. 46, no. 3, 1993, pp. 503-517.

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