Posts

Generally cost of material or labour is taken as the basis to allocate indirect expenses in process costing but sometimes a more appropriate method can also be used. Total cost of each process during a period is divided by the number of units produced during that period to get the average cost per unit. Ronald W. Hilton opined, process costing is used in production process where relatively large number of nearly identical products are manufactured. To accumulate costs and assign them to units of product. Process costing is the most common cost accounting method applied within manufacturing companies that produce large volumes of similar products. It helps us assign accurate costs to our products and ensures we have the right input information for our pricing and cost analysis.

The method is suitable in industries like brick making, collieries, flour mills, paper mills,cement manufacturing etc. In this type of situation, it is necessary to apply the principle of equivalent production for material, labour and overhead expenses separately and this is called elemental equivalent production. This statement aims at finding out the equivalent production.

Unit or Single Costing

It can be estimated in advance on the basis of past experience and its cost is added to good units of production. In some cases, the entire output of a process may not be transferred to the subsequent process and a part of it may be held in the processing department in its finished form. Such stock of finished goods is valued on the basis of the cost per unit as shown by the concerned process account for the relevant periods. Normal production is represented by input minus normal loss relating the performance. For this reason value of units representing abnormal gain is debited to process account and credited to abnormal gain account.

If https://1investing.in/ good production is more than the expected good production, it will result into abnormal gain. Since normal loss can be ascertained in advance therefore, the expected output (i.e., total input-Normal loss) can also be ascertained. It should be observed here that though there is physical wastage of 50 units as normal loss but as it cannot be sold in the market thus entire process cost of Rs. 6000 will be borne by good production. It is the usual wastage of material resulting because of nature of material or process. Such losses may result from the factors like chemical reaction, dust, evaporation etc.

Further, the method of valuing the transfers should also be considered. Sometimes, a manufacturer may transfer a part of production of a process to the next process for further processing while the remaining part may be transferred to warehouse for sale. Overhead expenses are normally recovered on the basis of the Predetermined Overhead Absorption Rates.

Learn How NetSuite Can Streamline Your Business

It will be the problem when it comes to different products type, as the accountant still allocates the same cost to all products. Any error in estimation will impact the entire cost of inventory in that assembly line. In process costing, the emphasis is on accumulation of costs for a process during a given period of time and the number of units produced in the process during that period. To determine the unit cost of output of each process, the total production cost of the process is divided by the total quantity of the output of the process during a given period.

• The finished product is the result of two or more processes.
• It is hard to identify the star performers and poor performers.Difficult for more than one type of productProcess costing is more suitable for a similar product.
• Process costing is suitable for some businesses, which produces similar products, such as a footwear manufacturing.
• For example, in the case of a bus company, operating costing indicates the cost of carrying a passenger per kilometer.
• If there is any by-product in any process and the by-product has any sale price or market price then it is shown on the credit of the process concerned.
• This method is used in readymade garments, shoes, tyres and tubes etc.

Under Batch Costing, costs are collected, analysed, accumulated and ascertained for each batch separately. It refers to a combination of two or more of the above methods of costing. It is adopted in industries where several parts are produced separately and assembled to a single product. The purpose of contract costing is to ascertain the cost incurred on each contract separately. This method is used by firms engaged in ship building, construction of buildings, bridges, dams and roads. For every job a job card is maintained, recording all expenses regarding materials labour and overheads from cost records.

Company ABC is manufacturing which specializes in shoe production, they mainly focus on the local market. The production needs to go through multiple processes which they called the departments. Total the direct materials and conversion costs for each stage in the process. Potential disadvantages of process costing include inaccuracy. Process costing is widely used in industries such as oil refining, food production, chemical processing, textiles, glass, cement and paint manufacture. Process Costing is that form of operating costing which applies where standardised goods are produced”.

Each contract is considered as a separate cost unit for the purpose of ascertaining the cost. It is most suited to construction work, ship building, etc. In this, product cost can be ascertained even before all the costs have been incurred. This is done by using historical costs of material and labour and predetermined rates for overhead costs. Each process is treated as a cost centre and a separate account is opened for it. All costs relating to each process are debited to the respective process account.

For example, if total cost of material labour and overhead are Rs. 9000, 5000 and 2000 Rs. respectively. In this statement, equivalent production units for each element of cost like labour, material and overhead will be ascertained. But actual output may not always match with expected output.

Average Cost Method

The material, labour and overhead costs accumulated for each operation are transferred to the next operation as in the case of process costing. When a product is manufactured through various processes, the output of each process is transferred to the subsequent process and that of last process is transferred to the finished stock. When a product is manufactured through various processes, the output of each process is transferred to the subsequent process and that of the last process is transferred to the finished stock. Process costing is a costing method of the goods which are produced through the repetitive procedure, method or processes.

The opening process cost method is especially suitable for is shown on the debit side of the account prepared for the process concerned while the closing stock is shown on its credit side. For this reason, the amount standing at the credit of abnormal gain account will not be transferred to profit and loss account as it is. Amount of scrap value relating to five units will be debited to abnormal gain account and the balance thus arrived at will be transferred to profit and loss account for the year. This adjustment is always carried out when there is abnormal gain and units lost fetch some scrap value. When there is abnormal gain, value of units representing abnormal gain should be debited to process account.

Direct expenses are also called ________.

Process costing can be time consuming, and it can be difficult to accurately assign product costs to each manufacturing stage and to work-in-progress items. Raw materials move through the production cycle in a continuous flow, ending with the production of identical packages of paper. Conversion costs are $100,000, or $.67 per package, comprising $70,000 in direct labor and $30,000 for overhead, including maintenance expenses, insurance costs and electricity.

The calculation for the equivalent units of the production is an estimate which is not fully accurate. The inaccuracy of the work in process may result in the misstatement of the financial reporting. The purpose of the calculation is to come up with the units that have been complete during the period under consideration.

The products produced must be identical and standardized. The cost incurred in this process during the period is Rs.25,000. The cost incurred in the process during the period is Rs.60,000.

In an Oil refinery, petrol is the main product, while sulphur, chemical fertilisers, bitumen are the by-products. To analyse the efficiency or the inefficiency of each department or process involved the production. Calculate the process cost according to the elements of cost. For simplicity let us suppose on January 1, 2019 the work was started on 3000 units. For the purpose of simplicity say on which work started but not completed. To convert the work in progress or partly completed units into fully complete units is known as Equivalent Production.

Every customer has special taste, design, quality of work and spending power. Costs available at the end of the accounting period have only historical importance and hence are not of much use for managerial control. Price quotations may be submitted without difficulty with the standardization of process. Standard costing system can be easily established in process industries. Average costs are easily computed, provided the product is homogeneous.

The method in this type is mainly used for these which have various stages and processing ways and here each process has its separate center of the cost. This method is mainly used for producing gas, cement, sugar, textile, etc. Batch costing is the last method of costing under specific order costing. It is used in a group of the same or similar products which are made and passed through a factor at a specified time and number. Every batch is a unit and their cost is fixed separately.

For example, a paper company might track the cost of each stage in the process of turning wood pulp into reams of paper, then divide the total cost by the number of reams to get the cost per ream. Process costing is an accounting method typically used by companies that mass produce very similar or identical products or units of output. For example, process costing is used by oil companies that produce millions of gallons of fuel and by processed food companies that make millions of identical packages of snacks. In process costing system the units produced in each process are also recorded and hence there is a separate column for units introduced and units produced in every process.

The factory is divided into departments / processes. Each department / process performs specific job regularly.

Those costs are then rolled up to determine an overall dollar figure and used to find the price-per-unit. All departments must use uniform reporting and not double count efforts. Enterprise resource planning software can help with this process. It brings data from various business software modules from around your company — such as supply chain management, financial management and payroll management — into one digital space. ERP platforms with integrated financial management software also help you more expertly, easily and accurately perform process costing.