What is cost incurred? Definition of Cost Incurred A cost incurred is a cost that a company (or other organization) becomes liable for. Example of Cost Incurred Assume that a retailer begins operations on December 1 and...
What is cost incurred? Definition of Cost Incurred A cost incurred is a cost that a company (or other organization) becomes liable for. Example of Cost Incurred Assume that a retailer begins operations on December 1 and...
The planned or expected costs. Often used in manufacturing for accounting for inventories and production. When actual costs differ from the standard costs, variances are reported.
A current or future cost that will differ among alternatives. For example, if a company is deciding whether to expand its sales territory, the real estate tax and depreciation on the company’s headquarters building...
What is historical cost? Definition of Historical Cost Historical cost is a term used instead of the term cost. Cost and historical cost usually mean the original cost at the time of a transaction. The term historical...
The amount by which total costs will change when an activity is increased by one unit. In the equation of the line, y = a + bx, the variable cost rate is represented by ‘b’ and the units of activity are...
The accounting focused on determining the cost per unit of a manufacturer in order to value inventory and cost of goods sold. It is also used to determine unit costs of items processed in service businesses, such as a...
See Explanation of Standard Costing.
The incremental cost of storing or holding inventory. It is an annual percentage that includes the cost of rent, insurance, cost of capital, deterioration and obsolescence.
In estimating the ending inventory under the retail method the cost ratio is the cost of goods available divided by the retail value of the goods available.
A common cost. Often refers to the costs prior to the point where several products emerge from a common process.
The amount needed to replace an asset such as inventory, equipment, buildings, etc. If an asset’s replacement cost is greater than the asset’s carrying amount, the cost principle prohibits the use of the...
A corporation’s cost of capital is its weighted average after-tax cost of its debt, preferred stock, common stock, retained earnings, and other components of stockholders’ equity. The cost of capital is...
What is a variable cost? Definition of Variable Cost A variable cost is a constant amount per unit produced or used. Therefore, the total amount of the variable cost will change proportionately with the change in volume...
An amount that should be charged to the current accounting period as an expense.
Cost Accounting (Word Scramble) Download PDF To see each answer, press or click on the blue "Unscramble" button. 1. In variable or ________ costing, fixed manufacturing overhead costs are not assigned to...
The amount of an asset’s cost that will be depreciated. It is the cost minus the expected salvage value. For example, if equipment has a cost of $30,000 but is expected to have a salvage value of $3,000 then the...
What is opportunity cost? Definition of Opportunity Cost Opportunity cost is the profit that was lost or missed because of some action or failure to take some action. Some refer to opportunity cost as opportunity lost....
Within a reasonable range of activity, the slope of the cost line is the variable rate, which is often denoted as ‘b’ in the straight line y = a + bx.
What is setup cost? Definition of Setup Cost In manufacturing, setup cost is the cost incurred to get equipment ready to process a different batch of goods. Hence, setup cost is regarded as a batch-level cost in activity...
The original cost incurred to acquire an asset (as opposed to replacement cost, current cost, or cost adjusted by a general price index). If a company purchased land in 1980 for $10,000 and continues to hold that land,...
See Explanation of Standard Costing.
The cost transferred from one department to the next department in a process costing system.
The change in total costs in response to the change in some activity. For example, some of the costs of owning and operating a vehicle will increase in total with an increase in miles driven. These are referred to as...
Also referred to as a sunk cost. A past cost is not relevant to a decision.
What is the cost of sales? Definition of Cost of Sales Cost of sales is often a line shown on a manufacturer’s or retailer’s income statement instead of cost of goods sold. The cost of sales for a manufacturer is the...
An assumption that determines the order in which costs should flow out of a balance sheet account (e.g. Inventory, Investments, Treasury Stock) when the item is sold. For an illustration of the cost flow assumption, see...
A past, historical cost. They are called sunk because a past cost cannot be changed and decisions involve only the present and the future.
Cost that is considered to be part of the cost of merchandise. For a retailer, the inventoriable cost is the cost from the supplier plus all costs necessary to get the item into inventory and ready for sale, e.g....
What is the cost of capital? Definition of Cost of Capital The cost of capital is the weighted-average, after-tax cost of a corporation’s long-term debt, preferred stock (if any), and the stockholders’ equity...
The cost associated with setting up a piece of production equipment. This would include the cost of the setup mechanic, the cost of scheduling, record keeping, moving the starting material, and testing the first few...
What is a standard cost? Definition of Standard Cost A standard cost is described as a predetermined cost, an estimated future cost, an expected cost, a budgeted unit cost, a forecast cost, or as the “should be”...
This phrase has two connotations. One is the cost of holding inventory. In this case the carrying cost is the cost of capital tied up in inventory, the cost of storage, insurance, and obsolescence. Often this is...
Variable costs and expenses divided by net sales. To learn more, see Explanation of Break-even Point.
What is an incremental cost? Definition of Incremental Cost An incremental cost is the difference in total costs as the result of a change in some activity. Incremental costs are also referred to as the differential...
See incremental cost.
The cost of repairing or replacing previously sold products during their warranty periods.
See job order cost sheet.
What is the cost principle? Definition of Cost Principle The cost principle is one of the basic underlying guidelines in accounting. It is also known as the historical cost principle. The cost principle requires that...
What is a cost variance? Definition of Cost Variance Generally a cost variance is the difference between the actual amount of a cost and its budgeted or planned amount. For example, if a company had actual repairs...
Should a manufacturer's selling prices be based on costs? A manufacturer’s selling prices should not be based on costs alone. One reason is that the actual cost of each product is not known with precision. At...
Featured Review
"I love, love, love your website, it has helped me to succeed in all the bookkeeping I have done off and on throughout the years. Whenever I had doubts I could easily access the website and find my answers quick and I love the videos. Very educational, accurate and reliable. The lifetime unlimited access was one of the best investments I have ever made a few years ago! Makes learning fun and I would suggest this to others in a heartbeat, business owners, employees won't be disappointed. Even those who do occasional bookkeeping will definitely be satisfied with any membership purchase. Thank you AccountingCoach for all that you have helped me with!!! Amazing site!!" - Brenda L.
Join PRO or PRO Plus and Get Lifetime Access to Our Premium Materials
Read all 2,645 reviewsWe now offer 10 Certificates of Achievement for Introductory Accounting and Bookkeeping: