Course Outline
Join PRO

What is the difference between actual overhead and applied overhead?

Author:
Harold Averkamp, CPA, MBA

Definition of Actual Overhead

In the context of actual and applied overhead, actual overhead refers to a manufacturer’s indirect manufacturing costs. (Costs that are outside of the manufacturing operations, such as marketing and general management, are expenses of the accounting period and are not applied or assigned to products.)

Actual overhead are the manufacturing costs other than direct materials and direct labor. Since the overhead costs are not directly traceable to products, the overhead costs must be allocated, assigned, or applied to goods produced.

Examples of Actual Overhead

A few of the many overhead costs are:

  • Electricity used to power the production equipment
  • Natural gas to heat the production facilities
  • Depreciation of the production equipment and facilities
  • Normal repairs and maintenance of the production equipment
  • Salaries and benefits for production supervisors

These actual costs will be recorded in general ledger accounts as the costs are incurred.

Definition of Applied Overhead

Applied overhead is the amount of the manufacturing overhead that is assigned to the goods produced. This is usually done by using a predetermined annual overhead rate.

Example of Applied Overhead

Let’s assume that a company expects to have $800,000 of overhead costs in the upcoming year. It also expects that it will have its normal 16,000 of production machine hours during the upcoming year. As a result, the company will apply, allocate, or assign overhead to the goods manufactured using a predetermined overhead rate of $50 ($800,000 divided by 16,000) for every production machine hour used.

Since the future overhead costs and future number of machine hours were not known with certainty, and since the actual machine hours will not occur uniformly throughout the year, there will always be a difference between the actual overhead costs incurred and the amount of overhead applied to the manufactured goods. Hopefully, the differences will be not be significant at the end of the accounting year.

Join PRO to Track Progress
Must-Watch Video

Learn How to Advance Your Accounting and Bookkeeping Career

  • Perform better at your current job
  • Refresh your skills to re-enter the workforce
  • Pass your accounting class
  • Understand your small business finances
Watch the Video

Join PRO or PRO Plus and Get Lifetime Access to Our Premium Materials

Read all 2,645 reviews

Features

PRO

PRO Plus

Features
Lifetime Access (One-Time Fee)
Explanations
Quizzes
Q&A
Word Scrambles
Crosswords
Bookkeeping Video Training
Financial Statements Video Training
Flashcards
Visual Tutorials
Quick Tests
Quick Tests with Coaching
Cheat Sheets
Business Forms
All PDF Files
Progress Tracking
Earn Badges and Points
Certificate - Debits and Credits
Certificate - Adjusting Entries
Certificate - Financial Statements
Certificate - Balance Sheet
Certificate - Income Statement
Certificate - Cash Flow Statement
Certificate - Working Capital
Certificate - Financial Ratios
Certificate - Bank Reconciliation
Certificate - Payroll Accounting

About the Author

Harold Averkamp

For the past 52 years, Harold Averkamp (CPA, MBA) has worked as an accounting supervisor, manager, consultant, university instructor, and innovator in teaching accounting online. He is the sole author of all the materials on AccountingCoach.com.

Learn More About Harold

Certificates of
Achievement

Certificates of Achievement

We now offer 10 Certificates of Achievement for Introductory Accounting and Bookkeeping:

  • Debits and Credits
  • Adjusting Entries
  • Financial Statements
  • Balance Sheet
  • Income Statement
  • Cash Flow Statement
  • Working Capital and Liquidity
  • Financial Ratios
  • Bank Reconciliation
  • Payroll Accounting
Badges and Points
  • Work towards and earn 30 badges
  • Earn points as you work towards completing our course
View PRO Plus Features
Course Outline
Take the Tour Join Pro Upgrade to Pro Plus