In traditional costing methods, overhead costs are often allocated based on a single volume metric, such as labor hours or machine hours. This often leads to cost distortion, especially in companies with diverse products or services.
The is the fundamental engine of Activity-Based Costing (ABC) . Unlike traditional costing methods that spread overhead costs broadly across products using a single metric like labor hours, ABC uses cost drivers to trace indirect expenses directly to the activities that cause them. cost driver in activity based costing
solves this by assigning costs to activities based on their actual consumption of resources. The linchpin of this system is the Cost Driver . In traditional costing methods, overhead costs are often
ABC reveals that the Premium Pen (B) is significantly more expensive to produce regarding setup activities, despite lower volume. This allows management to price Product B correctly or reduce the number of setups. ABC reveals that the Premium Pen (B) is
| Characteristic | Explanation | |----------------|-------------| | | There is a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the driver and the cost. | | Measurable | The driver can be quantified reliably. | | Cost-effective | The benefit of using the driver exceeds the cost of measuring it. | | Behavioral | It encourages desirable behavior (e.g., reducing setups reduces cost). |
Cost drivers are the underlying causes of costs in an organization. They are the factors that influence the level of costs incurred by an organization. Cost drivers can be thought of as the "drivers" of costs, as they determine the amount of costs that are incurred.
| Activity Cost Pool | Typical Cost Driver | | :--- | :--- | | | Number of setups | | Quality Control | Number of inspections | | Purchasing | Number of purchase orders | | Material Handling | Number of material moves | | Customer Service | Number of customer calls / Hours spent on call | | Packaging & Shipping | Number of shipments or Weight of shipment | | Research & Development | Hours of engineering time |