Costing Methods Essays (Examples)

Even the lowest-level managers and employees are empowered to make decisions and have that valued democratic voice.
ADVANTAGES:

An advantage of this form of measurement is that it tends to be more encompassing, since it accounts for all uses of capital. It is susceptible to manipulation by managers with a short-term focus, or by manipulating the hurdle rate used to evaluate divisions. The frequently occurring problem, in concern to a lack of coordination among autonomous managers, can be quickly reduced by clearly redefining the company's strategy and communicating it effectively throughout the organization; accordingly, problems will occur, but Investment Centre Management has discovered a quicker means to establish resolution.

An investment center is a classification used for business units within an enterprise. The essential element of an investment center is that it is treated as a unit which is measured against its use of capital, as opposed to a cost or profit…

ABC Cost Method
Activity-Based Costing (ABC) method is a calculation technique that was initially developed to enhance the profitability of products and selection of manufactured products optimal mix. This costing method can be defined as a technique that entails allocating manufacturing overhead costs to goods using a more logical approach. In this case, the technique first allocates costs to activities that are the actual causes of overhead. Once this is carried out, the activity-based costing then allocates the cost of those activities only to products that require the activities. The method involves cost allocation and decision making since it was developed to incorporate long-term planning components and forecasts (Dorin & Diaconescu, 2014, p.111).

Activity-Based Costing differs from traditional costing methods because cost allocation involves the use of a more logical approach. In essence, ABC cost entails a more logical means of assigning costs unlike traditional costing methods where costs are assigned depending…

absorption costing method, and why?
In this case, the absorption method would be the best choice due to the way the method incorporates only the overhead. The overhead is allocated to the 80,000 units sold. The variable method normally counts fixed overhead as a period expense. This means that the fixed overhead during this period is calculated on the basis of the 95,000 units made. This calcuation method would be used if the absorption method is chosen. The absorption method is only utilized to calculate fixed overhead on the basis of the 80,000 units sold. The method also provides management a more precise picture of the profitability of the fishing lures. Therefore, making the absorption costing method optimal.

• What are the benefits of the two methods?

Under absorption costing system, the product cost consists of all variable including fixed manufacturing costs. When variable costing system is utilized, the fixed cost, including…

Absorption costing is a costing method which treats all costs of production as product costs without considering whether these costs are variable or fixed (AccountingforManagement, 2013). Under the absorption costing method the cost of a unit product comprises direct materials, direct labor, and both variable and fixed overhead. This costing method allocates a portion of fixed manufacturing cost to each unit of a product along with the variable manufacturing cost (AccountingforManagement, 2013). It includes all costs of production as product cost. That is why it is often called a full costing method.
Under variable costing costs of production varying with output are treated as product costs. Product costs under this costing method therefore include costs of direct material, direct labor, and variable portion of manufacturing overhead. Fixed manufacturing cost does not therefore fall under product costs (AccountingforManagement, 2013). It is nevertheless, treated as period cost and just like selling and administrative…

Another example of pure job costing is web development, where the processes themselves vary hugely from project to project, meaning the cost and time involved also varies.
esponse

Dosch & Wilson (2010) do seem to do a good job of defining job and process costing, and the person who posted this seems to have understood these definitions fairly well in the abstract -- that is, the definitions provided seem reasonable and the application of these definitions to businesses chosen by the poster are explained in a way that clearly links them to these definition. At the same, the poster seems to have had some trouble accurately identifying companies where job costing might be employed, despite grasping the abstract technicalities of the definition of job costing. While it is likely that an individual laborer might be able to identify that they worked on a particular section of an airplane or wall of…

Managerial Accounting for Sleepease Ltd.
"Identify, discuss and critically evaluate the advantages and problems of using the following costing methods for internal reporting purposes":

absorption costing; marginal costing.

"Refer to the Sleepease case as and when necessary"

absorption costing

The absorption costing is the type of managerial costing where both the variable and fixed costs are charged to process or product. Thus, "absorption costing is a method for appraising or valuing a firm's total inventory by including all manufacturing costs as product costs, regardless of whether they are variable or fixed and therefore it is frequently referred as the full cost method." (Nawaz, 2013 p 50).

Accordingly, the company will be able to determine costs of a product after determining both the variable costs and fixed costs. Sleepease will derive several benefits from using the absorption costing for the production of their product.

First, the absorption costing will assist the company to take the account of all…

Stadium Jumps" the writers discuss the cost of building a baseball stadium and renovating obert F. Kennedy memorial stadium in Washington, D.C. The cost analysts note that the original cost estimate for the project was too low, and that the actual costs of completing the project could be as much as $91 million dollars more than originally anticipated. D.C. councilmen overseeing the project expect that the total costs for the project could climb as high as $486 million dollars, a problem as the original cost estimate was less than $400 million.
The cost estimate is off because it did not account for additional costs with regard to improvements for roads surrounding the stadium, addition of sewers and Metro routes, the money necessary to completely renovate the stadium and more than $30 million dollars in contingency funds for "the likely cost of overruns."

The problems associated with the poor cost estimate are…

Joint costing systems should bear in mind the legal constraints on the use of such systems, and should provide accurate information to managers in order to be most useful in the managerial accounting context.
Firms need to remain competitive, which indicates that the market will set prices to some degree. This implies that firms can make better decisions with respect to what projects/products they wish to pursue by understanding the cost structure of the product. If the product is not viable at the cost at which it can be produced, then the firm can improve profitability by dumping the product.

orks Cited:

Banham, R. (2000). Off target? CFO Magazine. Retrieved April 5, 2011 from http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/2990860/c_3046531?f=magazine_alsoinside

Frederick, S. (2011).

The persuasive power of opportunity costs. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved April 5, 2011 from http://hbr.org/2011/01/column-the-persuasive-power-of-opportunity-costs/ar/1

Katz, D. (2002). Activity-based costing (ABC). CFO Magazine. Retrieved April 5, 2011 from http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/3007694

McKinsey & Co. (2004). Pricing new products. CFO Magazine.…

Dibsa should turn towards the market-based pricing strategy, which sees the implementation of competitive prices for the 3-in-1 Lawnmower. The selection of this combination of strategies would generate several impacts upon the company, but most of them would be obvious at product lifecycle level. In this order of ideas:
The sales revenues would be significantly high throughout the first six months and they would allow the company to cover for the large costs incurred in the manufacturing of the product as well as register profits; they would however decrease with the implementation of the market pricing strategy and the 3-in-1 Lawnmower would metamorphose from a star product into a cash cow

The costs incurred in the manufacturing of the new lawnmower have already begun to decrease and will continue to do so; the actual impact of the pricing strategy is limited, with the specification however that these costs will not be…

CVP is very useful for small business also because the analysis takes
into consideration variables like eturn on Investment, or Customer
Acquisition Cost. This analysis allows the company to determine what the
maximum profit volume can be, and how the above mentioned variables can be
changed in order to become successful.
CVP analysis is also able to determine the results of media campaigns,
especially for small business, where results are more visible and can be
observed after a shorter period of time. Furthermore, these results can be
translated into a successful company strategy, given the fact that the
strategy would be based on verified results. In relation to this, market
share can increase due to such a strategy.
For small business, CVP analysis is also used in establishing the
company's budget for certain activities. The analysis is able to provide a
flexible budget variant, which is exactly what a small company needs, given
the fact that environmental changes affect small companies more than they
affect…

The work and materials required to make and serve regular coffee is considerably different than the work involved in making and serving a venti half-caf mocha-vanilla soy frappucino, for instance, and though some long-term regularity would be expected in the number of each drain that is ordered estimating costs based on a time scale for this area of operations would be cumbersome and inaccurate. Using the job order costing method and determining how much the materials and labor cost for each type of drink (or, in the case of coffee, the cost for making a single batch of the drink), and thus more accurate prices can be set that reflect the company's costs and allow it to continue making a profit (and frappucinos). By utilizing both costing methods as appropriate, then, Starbucks can place itself in a more advantageous position regarding cash flow in and out of the business.
Benefits…

Product Costing systems (ABC, job costing, put costing, .) advanced topic managerial accounting the thesis statemenit a position body paper show evidence support position. The paper discuss opposite point view discuss position valid.
Product costing systems

Product costing system is a management tool which identifies the actual cost of producing each product. It identifies the profits and loss which can be gained or incurred on each product, hence giving companies the opportunity of identifying and promoting of profitable product while dropping, re-pricing or redesigning of unprofitable products Brierley, 2008.

Product costing is a highly sensitive area for managerial accountants, recently, most of them have changed their focus such that they give their attention to appropriate treatment costs which are directly associated with resources that are committed to support activities, which within the company do not vary proportionally to production once the initial capacities have been set. In such as an event, it is…

Many managers who already are involved with competition in time-based industries realize that manufacturing strategy is often influenced by the traditional cost management system and this proves to be a mistake as time management system might have worked better (Hutchinson, 2007, p. 31). In the manufacturing sector, the traditional managerial cost accounting reporting system is still used but as many managers are ready to adopt the advanced manufacturing strategies and technologies, the managers object to the inclusion of cost accounting system as the only decision criterion in manufacturing (Hutchinson, 2007, p. 32).
The managerial cost accounting reporting system should also involve the activity of performance measurement that provide an impressive influence on the performance and motivation of the workers. Furthermore, it also provides extra information for the managers to take proper decisions that may help in achieving the pre-determined organizational goals to achieve future prospects and profits (Maskell, Baggaley, 2001,…

Managerial accounting, there are different types of costing that can be used. Each method of costing has its advantages and disadvantages in different situations. It must be remembered, when determining what the best type of costing method is, that the objective of managerial accounting is to deliver useful information that can assist in managerial decision-making. Thus, managerial accounting matters to the extent that it can help to deliver on overall organizational objectives by providing strategic or tactical insights (Investopedia, 2016).
There are two major costing methods -- absorption costing and marginal costing. Absorption costing is a system of cost accounting that seeks to accumulate the different costs associated with the production process, and portion these out to different products. So the costs would be broken out into direct materials, direct labor, variable overhead and fixed overhead, rather than the convention categories in financial accounting. Using absorption costing has a few benefits.…

Activity-Based Costing and AIS
Activity-Based Costing (ABC) is an accounting method that identifies the activities a company carries out and then assigns indirect costs (overhead) to products.

Activity-based costing shows the relationships between the activities, the costs, and the products, and correctly associates the lion's share of the resources used with the actual production or provision of services.

The recognition of these relationships enables the indirect costs to be assigned to products in a more rational, less arbitrary manner than traditional methods that would allocate a broad percentage of costs to products without any true measure of the accuracy of the approach.

By using activity-based costing, a company can treat more indirect costs as direct costs. This is important because some products or services consume more indirect costs than do other products or services.

In effect, the activity-based costing enables an accountant to trace the resource consumption and costs, which are mapped to the final…

Activity-based Costing is a potent tool for an organization and assists in obtaining accurate and efficacious cost for precluding cost misrepresentation that may give rise to sustainable development and growth. Activity-based costing (ABC) was established and has been promoted as an approach of overcoming the systematic falsifications of traditional cost accounting and bringing significance back to managerial accounting. In particular, a traditional costing system reports the amount of money that is spent and by who, but its shortcomings lie in the fact that it does not report the cost of activities and processes (Mahal and Hossain, 2015). ABC systems attain product costs that are more precise in comparison to those reported through the use of multiple cost drivers to follow the costs of activities of a manufacturing procedure of the products that consume the resources utilized in those activities. The ABC system is purposed to offer the most conceivable benefit…

Economics
Coca Cola uses the equity method of accounting and, inherent in that and similar to it the SABC (activity-based costing) method.

There are three cost accounting techniques:

The Cost method -- the company records all income as received and gains or losses are only realized when the item is actually sold or destructed. When a company owns 20% or less of another company, the Cost method is the preferred method.

Consolidation -- here financial statements of the parents and its subsidiaries are combined so that the net assets of both are reported together.

The Equity Method -- used when a company owns more than 20% but less than 50% of another company. The income from these products is recorded as a single line item on the financial statements. Coca-Cola owns less than 50% of its bottlers so it uses the Equity method. This method of accounting is usually applied when the company in question…

STANDARD-ASED COSTING AND PERFORMANCE MEASURES FOR TODAY'S MANUFACTURING ENVIRONMENT
This paper outlines the various defect of the standard-based costing method and how they do not effectively measure manufacturing environment of today. It has 8 sources in Turabian style.

Cost control is needed by businesses to plan the actual cost it might incur on the production of certain commodities. The budget is an overall costing system but sub-division is needed if and when the company requires detailed cost structure of the department. This is necessary for achieving the overall goals of the organization.

In production organizations, such as manufacturing companies, the basic concern of the management is to have smooth operations with the least cost possible. There the existence of cost is measured by the tangible output each component of the department produces. Income is compared to the cost incurred. A system that is set for measuring the performance level of the tangible assets…

Business 315 and Analyzing Direct Costs
Analyzing Costs

It is crucial for an organization to properly calculate semi-variable costs in order to allocate indirect and direct costs. These costs govern over direct materials, which are "materials that physically become part of a product or service and therefore are clearly indentified with specific outputs or service" (Thompson 2011). Semi-variable costs change often, depending on the volume of the output. These mixed costs are associated with both fixed and variable elements to production. These costs are often broken up using the cost-volume formula which takes into account activity measures like labor as well as the fixed costs and variable unit rate. This helps an organization then outline indirect costs, which are those costs that are unable to be specifically outlined or traced according to a corresponding cost object (Thompson 2011). Essentially, indirect costs are associated with activities of an organization or enterprise business which…

Thus, if the asset's usefulness will decline consistently after the first year of usage, it is best to use one of the accelerated depreciation methodologies, which will calculate a higher depreciation rate in the first year of usage (when the asset is producing most for the company) and a lower one in the subsequent years, when the asset is less useful for the company. Accelerated methods include the declining balance method and the sum-of-the-years-digits methods.
3. Answering this question first requires a differentiation between accounting (and accounting related activities) and physical reality. For example, cost flow assumption may not always reflect physical flow. In accounting, inventory errors generally correct themselves in the following years, mainly because the accounting methodologies can regulate the values in the following years. But physically, of course, is something different.

4. Basically, GAAP allows various methods of inventory valuation because it seems appropriate for the company to…

HR Case Study
The author of this report has been asked to read and review the You Manage It case study on page 286 of the assigned text. The text speaks about training and how it is assessed on a cost versus benefit basis. Indeed, training can be beneficial but it can also be a waste of time and money. Even if there are technically benefits to a training even without proven cost/benefit ratios, it is wise to make a business case that proves that there is a benefit. Such was the case in the example given in the case study. The author will answer to all of the critical thinking questions in the case as well as at least two of the key learnings to be had as well. While training is not a panacea, it is a needed and necessary part of making sure that service quality is where…

Society
Externalities

Indirect Costs Imposed on the Future of Humanity

Environmental Externalities

Corporate Responsibility

The days in which institutions could ethically overlook the negative externalities they inflict on society have long since vanished with the introduction of a scientific consensus on anthropogenic influences and the effects they have on the health of the planet. The principle-agent argument, such as what Milton Freedman and others have proposed, is not able address the exponentially growing complexities that arise when trying to steer humanity towards a path to a sustainable future.

Before embarking on a discussion of the state of corporate leadership in regards to their considerations of externalities, it is prudent to be clear about what the concept of externality actually entails. One definition of externality is as follows:

Externalities are indirect effects of consumption or production activity, that is, effects on agents other than the originator of such activity which do not work through the price system.…

Refrigeration in American Craft rewing Industry
The purpose of this study is to examine the use and operation of various refrigeration systems used in the American Craft rewing industry. This includes such as glycol chillers, walk-in evaporative coolers and refrigerated dispensing systems including how the systems work and their function in the brewing process.

Condenser Cooling

Condenser cooling uses air or water and it is reported that each of the methods are characterized by both strengths as well as weaknesses. Air-cooled compressors are reported to potentially "lose significant cooling capacity on a hot day" and this is when the capacity for cooling is most needed. The water-cooled systems are reported to be more efficient in their operation but at the same time to make a requirement of "more maintenance and investment cost." (Prochiller, nd, p.8) Cold box refrigeration systems make provision of cooling for "a small direct-draw box cooler or a large walk-in."…

Justice
The objective of this study to is examine the expenditures on corrections at the state and federal level and perform a cost benefit analysis of the modern American conception of justice.

Justice -- What Is It?

Justice is many things to many people. To some individuals justice is viewed as a form of punishment and to other justice is equity. roadly defined, justice can be viewed as a means to exact equality from an inequitable relationship between two individuals or entities. Justice, according to the ible, in terms of punishment is "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." (Exodus 21:22) What the ible speaks of in this instance is that transgressions shall be rewarded with appropriate punishment.

American Justice

The American justice system is one characterized by punishment that is oftentimes inequitable and in appropriate in the sentencing of offenders. Dr. Matthew Robinson notes that essential issues in American…

Controlling Costs
The question does offer some good ideas and thoughts to keep in mind when it comes to controlling costs. Indeed, having internal employees as opposed to external employees like contractors and the like that cannot be directly controlled in all aspects by the project management team is usually advantageous. However, these exterior employees and their associated costs can be controlled via an agreed price in advance that will not vary based on the acumen (or lack thereof) of the people working on the project unless something unforeseeable changes or is revealed. In that case, the costs are going to go up regardless of whether the costs are internal or external.

As it relates to electricity being a "hidden cost," it has to be expected that a construction project that uses any electricity from the site/client itself is going to cost money. As such, there should be an expected blip when…

moves any sort of raw material, products or shipments in general, the subject of logistics is a very important one. Whether one is speaking of forward logistics or reverse logistics, there should be a fairly constant amount of cost/benefit analysis used and harnessed so as to maximize profit and logistical capacity. Indeed, there is almost always more than one way to do something form a logistical standpoint but the benefits of each method as well as the costs should always be assessed to make sure the proper method is used. Both cost and benefits need to be taken into full account because both matter a great deal.
Logistics Cost/Benefit

Some people might be confused by forward logistics as compared to reverse logistics. However, the subjects are actually fairly easy to absorb and interpret with the proper definition. Products and materials, even if slightly compromised, typically retain their value even if they…

Manufacturing
A remediation study is conducted in order to determine what remediation will need to be done in order to bring a site up to standard. The history of the site is the first step in this -- the history actually should guide the process. In this case, we have no idea what the history of the site is, so we probably have to test for everything. The remedial investigation therefore will begin by determining the nature of the contamination at the site, and then proceed to identify the risk to human health and the risk to the environment. Further, the study will need to include treatability testing to estimate the types of treatment options, their performance levels and applicability, in order to get a sense of what it might cost to remediate the site in question (EPA.gov, 2016).

The EPA outlines several different types of site contamination. There are different rules…

Nu Star Energy L.P. is a limited partnership that is publicly traded and headquartered in San Antonio. It has 9,063 miles of pipeline, eighty-six terminal facilities, four storage facilities for crude oil and two refineries for asphalt. It is the second in size among independent liquid terminal operators in the United States. It operates in the U.S., Netherlands, Canada, United Kingdom, Antilles and Mexico. The entire system of the partnership can hold up to 86 million barrels in its storage infrastructure. It has refineries for asphalt, crude oil and has pipelines for refined products. Also present are terminals for refined products, a storage facility for petroleum, a terminal operation as well as storage facilities for crude oil. NuStar strives to protect the environment and continually works to improve its programs and processes so as to meet even the most stringent of environmental practices. This has resulted in better environmental performance.…

Financial Concepts
Your calculated WACC. ( Market value of equity and debt are given in thousands)

isk-Free ate

Beta

Expected return on the market

Credit Spread

Market value of equity

Market value of debt

Marginal Tax ate

Percentage of Debt

in capital structure

Percentage of Equity

in capital structure

Cost of Equity = 8.80%

Capital Asset Pricing Model Formula (Cost of Equity)

F + Beta (Market isk Premium)

Cost of Debt Formula

isk Free ate + Credit Spread

Cost of Debt= 5.0%

Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC)

Cost of debt (1- tax rate) * Percentage of debt + Cost of Equity* Percentage of equity

How data was used to calculate WACC. This would be the formula and the formula with your values substituted.

WACC = (E/E+D) rE + D/(E+D) rD (1-TC)

(5% * (1- .4)) * 14.29% + (8.80%* 85.71%) = 7.971%

Sources for your data

Sources of the WACC are found in annual reports and other sec filings. The WACC is used as a mechanism to discount free cash flows or to derive…

Organizaion Behavior
Organization Behavior

Organization Behavior / Army Morale

Organization Behavior / Army Morale

Performance among military personnel is always based on their commitment and morale towards the achievemnt of organizational goals. The outcomes are not necessarily based on the quality of skills of the employees. Scores of top military managers with an understanding of human resource motivation models identify the workplace motivators as accustomed to specific employees. The consequence is that there are elements of sound motivation systems that encourage supportive supervision.

According to Fennell (2011), the diffusion and displacement of responsibility mechanisms continue to obscure morale agencies in terms of the potential actors. esponsibility of displacement refers to responsibility attribution for an individual's actions and authority figures with tacit condoning or explicit directed behaviors. Diffusion of responsibility is applicable in similar ways while referring to ways of dispersing responsibility among people's actions for group members. Distortion of dehumanization, consequences, and the blame attribution…

Profit Analysis and Costing for the 21st Century
Value costing is about looking at the different aspects of a business paying particular attention to the opportunity cost they represent, how much they are likely to financially benefit a firm, and how much they are likely to cost it. Through this analysis, it is possible to determine the parts of the business that function the most efficiently and locate the parts that do not.

It is thought that value costing is no longer relevant because business has become far more complex than the traditional format, and with the rise of the internet and the increase in ebusiness, more and more factors must be added to the equation. It is also though that this form of costing is not only too simplistic, but takes too long to put into practice, and harder still to gain any meaningful results from. Value costing tries to…

Economic Analysis
Application of Cost Benefit Analysis

EU Proposed Project Overview

Traffic Forecast

Investment Costs

Positive Impact of the Project

Economic Net Present Value (ENPV)

Cost benefit analysis (CBA) is a systematic process of comparing and calculating the cost benefit of a project. Recent business uncertainties within business environment make increasing number of businesses to implement cost benefit analysis to make a sound investment decision. Cost-benefit analysis is also an explicit or implicit method to assess the benefits and costs of a project. Typically, an organization is likely to go ahead with a project if the Benefits (B) > Costs (C). Cost-benefit analysis is often used by private organizations or government to evaluate the desirability of a project. (Anthony, David, Aidan.). The CBA is used to analyze the expected benefits and costs. However, cost effectiveness analysis is closely related to cost benefit analysis. Although both concepts attempt to achieve the same objectives, however, cost-benefit analysis is…

Capital-Intensive Manufacturing Method
In order to properly calculate the estimated break-even point in annual unit sales of the new product if Martinez Company uses the capital-intensive manufacturing method, the first step is to add the manufacturing cost of this methodology. On a per unit basis, those costs are $5 +$6+$3 for a total of $14 per unit. Therefore, for every unit sold the company will profit $16, which is that $14 minus the $30 unit sales price. While the company is profiting $16 for each unit sold, it has a fixed manufacturing cost of $2,508,000 for choosing this particular methodology. Additionally, the company must compensate for an annual incremental selling expense of $502,000 as well as $2 for each unit sold. It has been noted that, "the incremental cost of selling an additional item is the difference between the cost of selling with the item included and the cost of selling…

I vs. MI Valuation Methods
The process of capital budgeting in corporations involves selecting projects that add value to the organization. Capital budgeting can involve nearly everything like buying a new truck, replacing old machinery, and acquiring some land. In most cases, businesses, especially corporations, are required to conduct these projects in order to improve profitability and enhance the wealth of shareholders. The process of undertaking a capital budgeting decision requires the company to first determine whether the project will be profitable. The determination of the profitability of a project is accomplished through the use of several valuation methods like the Internal ate of eturn, Net Value Present, and Modified Internal ate of eturn. These approaches usually produce different results though the ideal capital budgeting solution should result in the indication of the same decision by the three metrics. Organizations tend to place more emphasis on one valuation method than others…

Management
ationale for the use of life cycle Management at Glazers

LCM (Life Cycle Management) is a framework which manages and scrutinises the performance and sustainability of services and goods. This framework aims to achieve the long-term objectives of the business, and gives less stress on the short-term objectives. For getting a more sustainable value chain, organizations are making use of this framework, which would in turn improve their economic and social performance. Businesses throughout the world are making use of this framework for many purposes, like to improve their standing within the market, to strengthen the relationships with the stakeholders and to produce more environment friendly goods.

LCM urges the companies to look away from their own processes, and focus on activities which are not under the direct control of the company. Such activities include the upstream and the downstream operations that become a part of value chain. In previous days,…

overhead costs and various methods in which the overhead costs are classified.
Ehrhard righam, a renowned author, states that a business cannot consider all kind of money that it earns as profits. The reason for not calling the entire amount "profit" is that the business has to pay expenses for carrying out business activities and processes. These expenses are regarded as the operating costs. (rirgham, 2008) International Accounting Standards oard states that the most common type of overhead costs includes maintenance, production expenses and salaries. It is a common practice of businesses to track their gross income and net incomes. The two figures represent different values. Gross income is usually of a larger amount and consists of all the money a particular business takes in. (International Accounting Standards oard, 2008)

The nature of business decides the type of overhead costs that a business will have to pay. Some businesses have many…

SCM as a Method of Inventory Control
SCM and Inventory Control

This paper examines the use of supply chain management (SCM) as a tool for inventory control. SCM, which coordinates and integrates the activities of supply chain members, plays an increasingly important role in companies' reducing their costs and making better informed decisions. Companies benefit from SCM and inventory control by better meeting customer demands for product availability and pricing, and by competing more effectively and efficiently through more profitable operations.

Inventory is important to profitability. The faster a company turns its inventory, the greater the company's profitability. Inventory is a significant component of SCM success. Customers demand that their orders be completed on time and accurately, which requires that companies have the right inventory at the right price at the right time. Therein lies the challenge for SCM, being able to successfully manage inventory. These challenges apply to all types of inventories,…

Total Compensation Methods
Compensation is widely considered as a primary source of motivation for the employees within an organization.in most scenarios people look for jobs which not only suite their creativity and talents but those which compensate them in terms of salary and benefits. Compensation is one of the fastest changing fields when it comes to Human esource as companies are going ahead with investigations of various ways that can be used for rewarding employees commensurate to their performance. Within any organization there is need to ensuring that the turnover ratio is well maintained while at the same time retaining the best employees. Compensation and benefits are two sure ways that a company can use to achieve such things. This paper therefore looks at some of the common compensation strategies that are found within organizations, analyses the impact of various compensation methods used and also highlight how the salaries and benefit…

Quantitative research uses survey, and questionnaires to collect data. Through quantitative analysis, a researcher is able to correlate mass data to the research findings. Despite the benefits identified in both quantitative and qualitative research, the paper identifies some shortcomings in both research methods. To address these shortcomings, the paper proposes mixed methods that involve combining both quantitative and qualitative research.
eferences

Bryman, A. (1984). The Debate about Quantitative and Qualitative esearch: A Question of Method or Epistemology? The British Journal of Sociology, 35,(1): 75-92.

Burney, S.M.A (2008). Inductive and Deductive esearch Approach. Department of Computer Science. University of Karachi.

Hanson, J.L. (2011). Qualitative esearch Methods for Medical Educators. Academic Pediatric Association.11(5):375 -- 38.

Henderson, J. (2011). Primary and secondary sources, IthaCha College Library.

Firestone, W.A. (1987).Meaning in Method: The hetoric Quantitative and Qualitative esearch. Educational esearcher.19(7):16-21.

Goodwin, W.L. Goodwin, L.D. (1996). Understanding qualitative & quantitative research in early childhood education. Teachers College Press, USA.

Ostlund, U. Kidd,…

Descrptive Design
esearch Method and Design Proposal

A research design is the approach utilized for a study used as a guide in gathering and analyzing data. There are two popular methods of research; qualitative and quantitative research methods. Qualitative research is an inductive, holistic, subjective, and process-oriented method technique employed to understand, interpret, describe, and establish a theory on a given topic, phenomena, or setting. Investigators employ this technique when their studies attempt to describe life experiences and give them meaning. In most cases, the method has associations with words, language and experiences, rather than measurements, statistics and numerical figures. When the investigators use this method, they adapt a person centered, and holistic view to comprehend the given phenomenal without focusing on particular concepts. In addition, this method is dynamic and developmental, and it does not employ the use of formal structured instruments (Hodkinson, 2009).

Most importantly, qualitative data methods are flexible and…

Total Compensation Methods
Impact of various compensation methods and benefit programs on employees and organizations.

The compensation term is used for the combination of salaries, benefits and wages for the employee. It also includes hourly or annual salary, bonuses, benefits and incentives like short-term disability insurance, retirement plan and health coverage. Thus, a comprehensive package includes a combination of different components. The collection of all components is relevant to "Employee Compensation Plan" along with the way of payment and the reasons individuals collect salary increases, incentives and bonuses (Milkovich and Newman, 2005).

Hourly Wage

Employees who are not exempted, receives hourly wages with an addition of overtime payment for working more than 40 hours in a week. The rate of overtime to hourly wages is one and half. Employees having a bargaining and collective contract with the management have already set wages according to the contract for certain period and this known as "Labour…

Allocation
Keeping track of the costs is a crucial part of running a business. Cost allocation is assigning common costs to several cost objects. Cost allocation methods are used as a management accounting tool that helps in getting an accurate idea of costs that are associated with various departments in an organization. Proper cost allocation is an important element in making sure that any organization is run efficiently and cost effectively. There are different cost allocation methods that can be used in an organization. The common cost allocation methods are direct allocation method and the step-down method (Monico, & Fiertz, 2002).

Direct allocation method

This is the most popular method that is used for cost allocation. It involves the allocation of all service departments cost to the production department and does not factor in the fact that the service department offers services to other departments. The costs of manufacturing service department are…

2.) Qualitative evaluation endeavors to ascertain quality, as the name suggests, and in this particular case, how well the course did in achieving its goals, which are presumably how effective its pedagogy was. This is juxtaposed to qualitative evaluation which measures how much the course did.

Here the measure is quality and relevance of a particular program.

In an interview, a qualitative evaluator could use open-ended questions rather than a scale to perhaps learn more about such issues as whether or not the course encouraged the development of critical thinking skills. Toward that end, a qualitative evaluator might ask, "What intellectual skills did the course help you develop?" Or "What critical thinking or problem-solving skills did the course help you develop?"

Conversely, a simple yes/no answer is appropriate for some questions, as in #1. The question might become, "Were the goals of the course clearly expressed at the beginning?" The answers could then…

Training Methods
In the ever-changing environment that is the business world today, most employers understand the critical success factor inherent in good workplace training. Indeed, according to Danziger and Dunkle (n.d., p. 1), American organizations spend more than $62 billion per year to ensure formal training for their employees. Increasingly, American organizations are also beginning to realize the importance of effective training methods, created to meet the needs not only of the organization, but also of its employees. Via training, employees can become experts in their fields and obtain work satisfaction by fully utilizing their knowledge and skills for the benefit of the company they work for. There are several training methods, of which the formal, instructor-led model is probably the most traditional. Other training methods include e-learning, which can be either formal or informal, and peer training, which tends to be the most informal of the three training methods to…

The employer, according to the rules laid out by the IMSS, is expected to contribute at least a minimum amount according to the risk factors involved in the job into the fund, that is, a sum of 17.42% of each worker's wage. Basic health care, medical facilities, accident care, as well as care for illnesses are all taken care of under the social security fund. In addition, the employer is expected to pay about 5% of a fixed payroll tax into a fund that will help the employee find a home of his own easily. This fund is known as the 'National Fund for Employee Housing' or INFONAVIT. "The goal of this federal program is to provide benefits allowing employees to more easily acquire a home"

2% or 25 times the minimum wage, of a worker's salary must also be paid into the SA or the etirement Savings System under which…

Classic Airlines
A Nine Step Cost Reduction Plan

Describe the Situation

Identifying the Potential Cause of the Problem

Verifying the Likely Causes by Gathering Data

Identifying Possible Solutions

Evaluating Alternative Solutions

Determining the Best Solution

Identifying and Assessing the Risks

Implementing the Solution

Evaluate the Results

Classic Airlines is currently the world's fifth largest airline which is operating a remarkable 2,300 flights daily to over 240 cities. In the previous period, net profits were roughly $10 million on $8.7 billion in revenues. However, Classic is experiencing negative publicity, declining stock prices, as well as the rising costs of fuel and labor over the past year. Furthermore the destructive reports coupled with low employee morale resulted in Classic's Board of Directors requiring a 15% cost reduction over the next 18 months. Management must quickly act to implement a nine-step problem solving method to overcome the obstacles and provide solutions to meet the cost cutting measures.

The nine-step problem solving method is defined as:…

Activity-based costing (ABC) employs numerous cost groups, organized by activity, in the allocation of overhead costs. The conception is that activities are necessitated to generate products, basically activities, such as procuring materials, setting up machinery, assembling products, and scrutinizing finished products. It is imperative to note that these activities can be expenses and therefore the cost of activities ought to be apportioned to products on the basis of how the products use the activities. The costs are placed on the products on the basis of the use of individual products for every activity (Hansen et al., 2007). In the traditional product costing system, to begin with, costs are not linked or mapped out to activities but they are rather traced to a unit within the organization, for instance a department or a division, and thereafter to products. This implies that in the traditional and ABC costing systems, the second as…

Price Analysis
A Sustainable Method of Price Analysis

As a person involved in business at the leadership level, at the acquisition level or somewhere in the supply chain requiring procurement decisions, pricing will be an issue of the utmost concern. Indeed, it is particularly useful for one in this position to possess a default strategy for price analysis that can be used to navigate a wide variance of business and acquisition scenarios. For this reason, the discussion here offers a price analysis methodology with the appropriate versatility to serve in this capacity and, consequently, provides a rationale for this discussion. Accordingly, we propose that the Comparison of Competitive Bids is sufficiently effective and universal as a standard for price analysis that if one were confined strictly to its usage through the duration of one's career, one might still be sufficiently served.

The method of Comparison and Competitive Bids holds perhaps more than other…

Project Management
The objective of the study is to carry out the analysis on chapter 8 and 9 of the book titled "Project Management, the Managerial Process." (Larson, & Gray, 2010 p.iv). The chapter 8 of the book discusses the strategy the project manager could schedule resources and costs. On the other hand, the chapter 9 carries out analysis on the strategy to reduce project duration.

Larson, & Gray, (2010) discusses in their book that the project manager often faces challenges in developing an appropriate project scheduling and the chapter discusses the strategy that the project manager could employ to develop a project's resource schedule. Within an organization, there are often more projects than available resources, thus, the priority is to select projects that could contribute to organizational efficiencies. Faced with the project's constraints, it is critical to schedule resources to make a realistic judgment from the available resources and tight project…

In practice, a monthly or a quaterly weighted average may be computed.
But for expenses that are related to nonmonetary assets such as depreciation, amortization (of intangible assets and deferred charges except for deferred income taxes) and cost of goods sold are translated at appropriate historical rates.

This method will result in a net exchange gain or loss, which should be recognized in the income statement for the current period.

To determine whether a specific foreign operations is integral or not with the operation of the parent company, the concept of functional currency may be used as guidance. Functional currency is defined as the primary currency of the foreign entity's operating environment, it could either be the parent's currency or a foreign currency. Foreign operations are considered as integral to the operations of the parent if its functional currency is the same with its parent's.

Below is a list of indicators in determining…

The notes in the around the Activity box are actions needing fixed at the present time such as detecting allocation and costs and most importantly the priorities of the hospital's maintenance.
The diagram then has a box drawn below labeled objects in both methods, yet these objects are defined to ABC by tracing activity drivers because it represents products/services and customers while the current method looks at only products and services of pharmacy maintenance repairs which is derived from the custom way where allocations such as the direct cost of supplies, labor, administration on the basis of square footage. The focus is on costs vs. Activity-Based Costing and cost cannot control expenditures, yet it in comparison to cost accounting current at Jumper Hospital, it will permit the facility to see the what they do have control of, what has been done including the management that provided regularly or on a…

Economics Discussions
Production Costs

Postal Service (USPS) operates at a loss but its closest competitors -- UPS and FedEx -- both operate at a profit. Suggest how fixed costs have contributed to the situation of the USPS. Provide support for your response.

I would suspect that the fixed costs of contributing to employee's retirement funds (Risk Analysis Research Center, 2009, p. 4) and also their restriction from closing local offices (Slentz and McCann, 2009, p. 12) contributes to higher fixed cost at USPS than FedEx because FedEx is not unionized and while UPS is unionized, and thus experiences a fixed cost that is incurred to the level of union contracts, those contracts are more negotiable for UPS than USPS, and nonexistent or fluid for FedEx. Furthermore while union contracts probably affect the rate of closure for physical facilities for UPS, this would probably be more negotiable than for USPS and FedEx especially if…

Pricing Method
In any market, there is bound to be a strategy that is used to decide on the prices that the commodities or the services that the potential clients will be in need of. Since the goods or the services availed are always targeted at making a profit at the end o the day, pricing is one of the most fundamental focuses that the entrepreneurs have to keenly look at in order to strike a balance between making profit and retaining clients for the item offered.

In the case scenario below, the pricing methods that should b used in determining the prices of canned vegetables and Aspirin are looked at, the various methods that can be used and how different the pricing methods are as well discussed.

Pricing method for canned vegetables

Taking into account that almost each food outlet has canned vegetables, with several alternatives floated by each outlet, it is important…

For example, should the training be online or in person? Should it be a one day workshop or an ongoing seminar. Should the content and the instruction method be geared toward visual learners or auditory learners? Or both? Should the training be conducted by in-house managers or outside training professionals? There are a host of details to consider when creating the actual training program and making decisions on content and strategies. Pat will need to make these decisions based on her detailed company analyses along with any outside research she can find to help guide her toward the decisions that will have the optimum results for the company.
eferences

Beebe, S.A., Mottet, T.P., and oach, K.D. (2004). Training and development: Enhancing communication and leadership skills. Boston: Pearson.

Brown, J. (2002). Training Needs Assessment: A Must for Developing an Effective Training Program. Public Personnel Management, 31(4), 569.

Christen, M., Iyer, G., & Soberman, D.…

Total Compensation Methods and Benefits Programs
Impact on employees and organizations

Salary and benefit administration strategies

elationship with organizational culture and performance

Total compensation methods used by the organizations are different in terms of their design and approach. The main objective of the compensation programs developed in organizations is to facilitate employee motivation and provide a cost effective reward system that is beneficial for both employees as well as the business. The business objectives, values, and goals are the basic element of compensation methods adopted in an organization. The total compensation strategy adopted by a business also elaborates the approach adopted by the business to offer benefits for its employees in return to their services. The following sections provide a detailed understanding of total compensation methods and benefits programs and their impacts on employees and organizations. The second most important element addressed in the research is concerning the administration of the programs and its…

One of the challenges in determining A solutions for Amos is the lack of resources, both human and material, in the poor, rural district where he attends school.
Before Amos entered kindergarten in the fall, a team of educators met with Amos's parents to begin putting together an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). In attendance at the meeting were the kindergarten teacher, special education teacher, the school principal, the speech-language pathologist, and the school psychologist. he occupational therapist was unavailable for meeting. here are two grade schools and a middle school in the district; the three schools share the services of the O, speech-language pathologist and school psychologist (who is responsible for testing).

Amos is perhaps the most severely autistic student ever to attend his school. he speech-language pathologist, a recent hire, has considerable experience with children with autism because of previous work experience in a larger district. he rest of the…

Weaknesses of the IRR Method:
The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is considered as the discount rate that makes a cash flow's net value equal zero and it's the most useful means of project evaluations. Actually, the IRR method is one of the most widely used methods of measuring project worth as well as economic and financial analysis by many institutions like the World Bank. This is because this method represents the average earning power of monies used in a project over the entire life of the project making it to be referred to as yield of the investment in certain situations. In most cases, the computation of the internal rate of return method for project evaluation incorporates a trial and error method. The main rule when evaluating a project using this method is to acknowledge all investments in cases where the internal rate of return is higher than the opportunity…

For example, offenders without job skills can receive job training, while offenders with emotional problems can be ordered to attend the appropriate counseling. (Native American and Alaskan Technical Assistance Program, 2005). Because such a huge proportion of crimes are drug-related or committed by addicts, completion of in-patient or out-patient substance abuse programs is often an integral part of an offender's alternative sentencing program. Furthermore, alternative sentencing strives to make an offender personally responsible for their crime. Therefore, mediation and restitution play an important part in alternative sentencing, because mediation gives the victim a voice, while restitution can require an offender to repay his victim. (Native American and Alaskan Technical Assistance Program, 2005).
After one has an understanding of the different sentencing alternatives available, the logical step is to question whether alternative sentencing is effective. In order to answer that question, many criminal justice professionals look to recidivism rates. "However, limited…

Production, Costs, And Profits
Business is booming at a local fast food restaurant. It is contemplating adding a new grill and French fry machine, but the day supervisor suggests simply adding more workers. How should the manager decide which alternative to pursue? What would happen if too much labor is hired without an addition to capital? Explain using economic terms.

It is difficult to answer this question without understanding the current capacity of the restaurant. In order to truly answer this question, one would have to understand if there are already workers dedicated to running the grill and French fry machines in a way that they already operating at or near full capacity. If the answer to that question is no, then increasing production may be a simple matter of increasing the number of employees, so that an employee could be dedicated to running the food preparation equipment, thus maximizing potential output.…

By focusing measurement on cycle time, productivity, quality and profitability, Guillermo will have better information that can help guide his decision-making with respect to the different strategic choices with which he is faced. If he chooses to continue making furniture, he will be better equipped to improve his processes in the future as this information forms the basis of a much stronger control system than is currently utilized at Guillermo.

Break-Even Analysis

The markets for the retardant and the coating have not yet been established. Guillermo has cost figures but has little idea of how much he can sell these products for on the market. A conservative assumption is a 50% markup but still a conservative figure. Sales figures are also going to be based on the annual production capacity. The market is assumed to be much greater than capacity, as the capacity is underdeveloped at Guillermo currently. Sales figures for the…