Introduction to Cost Accounting

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Concept of cost accounting

There are three branches of accounting. i.e Financial Accounting, cost
accounting and management accounting. Cost accounting is one of the
branches of accounting, which has been developed due to the limitation of
financial accounting. Financial accounting communicates economic
information of an organization as a whole and that is used for external
reporting purpose. The reporting of financial accounting may not be
sufficient for internal reporting i.e for the formulation of policy and strategy,
decision making and control.
According to C.Gilespie “cost accounting is a set of producers for
determining the cost of a product and various activities involved in its
manufacture and sales and for planning and measuring performance.
FEATURES OF COST ACCOUNTING
The following are the main features of cost accounting
Nature: Cost accounting is a branch of accounting. It is concerned with
recording and reporting costs of output to the firm’s management.
Objective: Its main objectives are to accumulate costs of output, job,
process, unit and department and report them for different uses.
Status: It is complementary to financial accounting as it provides cost data
of different kinds of stock for preparing financial statements.
Basis: It is the basis for cost estimate, cost control, and price determination
of output.
Usefulness: It is useful for decision making and performance evaluation as it
uses absorption or valuation costing technique in preparing income
statements.

Objectives of cost accounting

There can be several objectives of cost accounting. However, the following
are its important objectives:
To ascertain cost:
The important objective of cost accounting is to ascertain cost of a product
or services or jobs. Ascertainment of cost is process of determining cost
after they have been incurred. Generally, there are two methods of
determining the cost i.e job costing and process costing. Due to the different
in the nature of activity of industry, different methods of cost may be applied.
To control cost:
The objectives of cost accounting is to control over the cost by using various
techniques such as standard costing, inventory control, marginal costing etc.
To provide information for decision making:
Cost accounting is the formal system of accounting and provides information
for various managerial decisions like
i. Whether to accept or reject the offer
ii.Whether to make or buy a product
iii.Whether to continue or replace the existing machine and
iv.Whether to drop or continue the product or services
To fix the selling price:
Cost accounting can beprovide the detailed information about the cost of a
product or service to determine the selling price.
To ascertain costing profit or loss:
Cost accounting ascertains total cost and total revenue of every product or
services or job and calculates profit or loss by comparing with revenue and
cost.
To provide information in preparation of financial statements:
Inventory should be valued for preparation of financial statements by
comparing cost price and market price.

Importance and advantages of cost accounting

Cost accounting provides immense advantages to a firm. It also can be
explained in terms of importance:
Helping in ascertaining of cost:
Cost accounting uses different methods of costing such as job costing,
process costing etc. applying this costing method cost of each product,
process or job is ascertained.
Helps in inventory control:
It helps in inventory control using various techniques like ABC analysis,
economic order quantity, stock level etc.
Helps in measurement of efficiency:
It helps in measurement of efficiency of operations through establishment if
standards and various analysis.
Helps in preparation of budget:
It helps in preparation of various budgets such as sales budget, production
budget, material purchase budget, flexible budget etc.

LIMITATIONS OF COST ACCOUNTING

Cost accounting also suffers from a number of limitations such as follows:
Unnecessary: It is unnecessary because it involves duplication of work,
many good enterprise are functioning without any costing system.
Expensive: It is expensive because the installation of cost accounting
system involves additional cost.
Inapplicable to many industries: It is inapplicable to many industries. A
single costing system may not be applicable to all industries because the
costing system may be specially designed to meet the need of a specific
industry.
Lack of uniform procedure: it is possible that two equally competent cost
accounts may arrive at different result from the same information.
Result shown by cost and financial accounting may not be equal to each
other: In cost accounting certain incomes such as interest, dividend, share
transfer fee etc. are not recorded and certain expenses such interest paid,
dividend, loss on sale of fixed assets are not shown but these items are
shown in financial accounting.

MEANING OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING

Business firms for earning profit perform business activities. Each business
activity involves financial transactions. Such financial transaction needs
proper recording and systematic classification and analysis to know profit or
loss and financial position usually at the end of each year. Financial
accounting is the account, which keeps records of financial transaction. It
shows profit or loss and financial position at the end of each year.
In other word, financial accounting is an art of recording, classifying and
summarizing the financial transactions of a firm in such a manner that its
profit or loss and financial position are ascertained at the end year an
communicated to the user.
OBJECTIVES OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING
The main objectives of financial accounting are;
To keep systematic record of financial transaction:
The main objective of financial accounting is to record the financial
transaction of a business in a systematically and scientific order. The need
to record due to limitated memory power of human being.
To disclose the result of operation of business organisation: Profit is the
main motive of every firm. Everyone who is related to the firm is keen to
know its profit or loss at the end of each year. It is also one of the
importance objectives of financial accounting.
To show financial position: The firm is not only keen to know its profit or
loss at the end of each year, but also its financial health on that date. The
firm’s financial health is judged on the basis of financial position.
To protect assets and properties: Financial accounting not only keeps
records of all assets and properties acquired by the firm, but also records of
their use and transfer from one place to another. Recording of the firm’s
assets and properties and their audit helps to protect from misuse and
misappropriation.

Limitations of financial accounting

Financial accounting also suffers from limitations. Some notable ones are as
follows:
No detailed cost information:
Financial accounting does not provide detailed cost information for different
department, processes, product, job, different services and functions. But,
financial accounting does not make evaluation performances of units,
departments, and processes.
No classification and analysis of cost:
Segregation of costs by nature and behaviour are essential for controlling
cost and identifying responsibilities. Financial accounting does not
segregate cost in terms of behaviour such as variable or fixed costs, nor
does it classify in terms of nature such as direct and indirect costs.
No price determination:
Every firm must determine prices of its outputs in order to sell them. But,
financial accounting does not determine the selling prices of the firms
output.
No use of standards:
It does not provide any standard costing to measure the efficiency in the use
of material, labour and expenses.
No control over cost:
No information over loss of productivity:
Historical data:

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING AND COST ACCOUNTING

COST ACCOUNTING FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING

The main objectives of financial accounting
The main objective of cost accounting is to
areto report financial results in terms of
record and report costs of output.
profit or loss and financial position of a firm.
Cost accounting segregates cost into fixed Financial accounting does not segregate
and variable portion. costs into fixed and variable portion.
Its users are owners, managers, creditors,
Its user are mainly managers who use the
employees, workers, consumers and
cost data for their decision making purpose.
government.
It is voluntarily required for the firm to keep It is legally required for the firm to maintain
cost accounts. financial accounts.
It is primarily applied in manufacturing It is generally applied in all types of business
concerns. concerns.
It values inventory based either on cost or
It values inventory on cost basis.
market price whichever is low.

METHODS OF ACCOUNTING
Methods of costing are the procedures of ascertaining costs of output,
process or operation. Since the nature of industry differs from one another,
the methods of costing also differ. Important methods of costing are as
follows:
Job order costing: Thismethods is used to gathers and accumulates costs
for each job order or work order received from customers. Since each job
order is specific and terminates after it is completed, therefore all costs that
are incurred in the job or order are accumulated after its termination.
Process costing: The costing method that ascertains the cost of each
process or stage of producing output is called process costing. Under this
method, a separate account is opened for each process to which all costs
incurred thereon are charged.
Service costing: The method of costing which is used for ascertaining the
costs of service rendered is known as service costing. Under this method,
the cost of per unit of service rendered such as cost per passenger
kilometre, cost per ton kilometre, cost per kilo-watt, or cost per patient day
is determined. Therefore, this method is popular in industries and institutions
that provide services instead of manufacturing products.
Contract costing: This costing refers to the form of specific order costing,
which applies, where work is undertaken to customer requirements and each
order is long duration as compared to job order costing. A job, which is big
and spreads over long periods of time is known as a contract. The method of
costing which is used in a contract is called contract costing. This method is
used by builders, civil engineering contractors and construction firms.
Batch costing: A batch consists of a lot of common units. Therefore, a
number of identical units/articles manufactured on lot basis is called batch.
A uniform size of product is produced in each batch. The costing method
used to determine cost of products produced on lot wise basis is called
batch costing.
Multiple costing: An ascertainment of cost of product by using more than
one costing method is defined as multiple costing. It is also called composite
costing. It is adopted in those industries where several components are used
to produce a final product.

CONCEPT OF COST
Cost is frequently used word. Since all use the word cost as per their own
need and purpose, therefore the meaning of cost differs depending upon the
need and purpose. An accountant, economist, engineer and a manager define
it according to their need. Therefore, it is not easy to define the term “cost”.
However, in simple words, cost is defined as an amount of money spent for
obtaining any thing, goods or service. Cost is a resource foregone or
sacrifice in monetary terms, to achieve particular objectives.
According to U.S.A., it is defined as an exchange price, the foregoing, a
sacrifice made to source some benefits.

CONCEPT OF COSTING
The process of fixing costs of activity is defined as costing. The activity
refers to manufacture products/articles or services rendered, or function
performed. Each activity needs cost. The procedure applied to ascertain unit
cost of product or service is costing. So, costing comprises of collection,
classification and analysis of cost for ascertaining unit cost of product and
services. Manufacturing and service industries follow costing to ascertain
cost of products or services.
According to W.H. Wheldon, costing is the classifying, recording and
appropriate allocation of expenditure for the determination of the costs of
products or services, and for the presentation of suitability arranged data for
purpose of control and guidance of management.

Classification of costs
Classification of cost refers to the division of cost on the basis of
characteristics of costs. it is concerned with dividing cost into different
types. it is fact grouping of cost according to their common characteristics.
A suitable classification of cost is important to identify cost by product,
process or operation. Cost can mainly be classified on the following bases:
1.Element/Nature
2.Functions or activities
3.Variability or behaviour
4.Controllability

Elements/ Nature
Cost of product of an industry comprises of material cost, labour cost and
expenses. Therefore, cost appears into material cost, labour cost, expenses
under the classification of costs based or physical characteristics. Cost has
three main elements such as raw materials, labour and other expenses. It
can be classified into materials, labour and expenses based on physical
characteristics.

Material cost
Material cost represents the total of costs of main raw materials,
components, consumable stores and packing materials. Materials cost also
includes import duties, dock charges, transport cost, storing cost receiving
and inspection cost, and other costs associated with the materials
purchased.

Labour cost
Labour cost is the total of wages incurred for the effort or services made by
labours in the productions of goods and services. Therefore, wages paid to
the workers are termed as labour costs.

Expenses
Expenses are the total of costs incurred for production, administration and
selling and distributing operations. Such expenses include the cost of
drawing, cost of special tools, cost of trial production, royalties, rent, lighting
and welfare expenses.
All the three elements of cost can further be divided or grouped into two
types based on their nature such as direct and indirect costs.

Direct costs
Direct costs are those materials, labour and other expenses which can easily
be attributed or identified with a unit of product, process or operation. The
cost of raw materials, productive labour, and carriage of materials paid are
the examples of direct cost. The total of direct cost is termed as prime cost.

Indirect costs
Indirect costs are those types of cost, which cannot easily be attributed to or
identified with a unit of product, process or operation. Therefore, the total of
costs of indirect materials, indirect labour and indirect expenses is referred
to as indirect costs. They are also called overhead costs. The examples of
indirect costs are repair charges, salaries, rent, telephone and water.

Direct materials cost: The cost of materials having physical identity with the
end product is defined as direct materials cost. Main raw materials and
necessary components are a few examples of direct materials.
Indirect materials cost: Materials are not used as inputs of product are
called indirect materials. Cost of materials incurred for repair of a machine
used for printing of textbook is defined as indirect materials cost.
Direct labour cost:Labour or wages incurred for the operative workers
engaged in production process are categorized as direct labour cost. Wages
paid to the workers involved in production and handling materials, workers
engaged in productive operation by way of supervision and maintenance etc
is direct labour costs.
Indirect labour cost: Smooth operation of an organization needs operation of
account department, marketing department, and internal transport also
besides production department. Indirect labour cost mean salary paid to
staff.
Direct expenses: Direct expenses are charged directly to finished product
like direct materials cost. It is also called designed chargeable expenses.
These include special layout cost, drawing and designed charges, royalties
and so on.

Indirect expenses:
The cost which is not directly connected with finished product but occur on
account of operation are termed as indirect expenses. Indirect expenses are
also more frequently called on cost or overheads and include expenses such
as canteen expenses, lighting, heating charge, rent, insurance and so on.
Components of indirect materials: Production supplies and consumable
stores, greases, waste, Non-durable tools and equipment, maintenance
material and supplies, inspection and testing materials.
Components of indirect labour: Managerial salary, supervisory salary,
foremen salary, clerical salary, general labour, unallocated times wages,
over-time wages and so on.
Components of indirect expenses: factory rent, electricity, lighting,
conveyance and travelling, postage and telegrams, insurance, depreciation
of plants and machinery.

Functions or activities
The classification of costs based on the functions like manufacturing,
administrative, selling and distribution is called functional classification.
Functional classification of cost focuses on the different activities and
segregate costs accordingly. Production (manufacturing) and non-production
(non-manufacturing) costs are the major costs division made after prime cost
under this classification.
Prime cost known as Basic, Flat or Direct cost comprises direct material,
direct labour, direct expenses. They are attributable to and are identified to
particular finished goods.

Production Cost
Production cost is the sum of the cost incurred for realizing finished goods. It
includes direct material cost and conversion cost needed to convert such
direct material into finished goods. So, it is the sum of Prime cost plus
manufacturing expenses or factory overhead or work overhead. It is also
called manufacturing cost or factory cost or work cost.
Manufacturing expenses include indirect materials, indirect labour and
indirect expenses associated with manufacturing operations. Conversion
cost includes direct labour cost and manufacturing expenses need to convert
input material into finished goods.

Process cost
Production cost depending upon the stage of production operation can be
categorized into different costs.The output of one process becomes input
cost of immediate next process. Costs of each individual process are
collected separately and are term as cleaning process cost, cooking process
cost and so on. Each process cost is divided by the number of units produced
by the same process. It goes on cumulating and total manufacturing cost
equals the sum of all cost accumulated at the final process. The cost so
accumulated is divided but the number of units produced to ascertain cost
per unit of finished goods.

Components of manufacturing overheads: Work manager’s salary, factory

supervisory salary, Foremen salary, Work Clerks’ salaries, Provident fund
contribution of factory employees, Leave and holiday wages of factory
employees, Unallocated time wages, over-time wages, Production supplies
and consumable stores, Non-durable tools and equipment, Maintenance
material and supplies, Greases, Waste, Inspection and testing materials,
Inspection and testing labour, Repairs of maintenance of factory plant and
equipment, Depreciation of factory plant and machinery, Factory rent,
Factory electricity, Factory lighting, Factory insurance.
Non-Production cost
Non-production cost refers to the expenses incurred for running
administrative and selling and distribution works. So, non-production cost is
known as operation cost or non-manufacturing cost that include
administrative overhead and selling and distribution overheads. Such costs
keep no direct link with production operation therefore defined as non-
production cost.
However, cost of production comprises manufacturing cost and
administrative expenses.

Administrative overheads
The expenses incurred for administrative work like planning, coordinating,
directing, controlling, are called administrative overheads. It is also called
office cost.

Components of administrative overheads:

Director's fees, office rent, rates and taxes, office repairs and maintenance
general and miscellaneous, executive salary, staff salary telephone charges,
postage and telegrams, printing and stationery, electricity, audit fee, office
insurance and so on.

Selling and distribution expenses

The expenses paid for selling and distribution of finished goods are called
selling and distribution overheads. It can be categorized into selling
overheads and distribution overheads.

Selling overheads
The expenses incurred for selling finished goods to customers are termed as
selling expenses.

Components of selling overheads: cost of catalogues/price lists, salaries of

sales staff, Salesman’s commission, Training of salesmen, Travelling
expenses of sales representatives, Commission, rent of sales office and
showrooms, Warehouse expenses, Provident fund, Entertainment and
treatment to customers, Samples products, Bad debts and collection
charges, Neon light posts, Customers’ service and service after sales.
DISTRIBUTION OVERHEADS: The expenses associated with transporting
finished goods from warehouse to sales depot, showroom and customers are
termed as distribution overheads.

Components of distribution overheads: Packing expenses, Freight outwards,

Loading and unloading, Depreciation of delivery vans, Insurance outward.
Total Cost includes cost of production plus a reasonable proportion of
selling and distribution expenses. It is normally called costof sales or selling
cost.

Variability or Behaviour
Knowledge of variability or behaviour of cost is essential for decision making
and forecasting of cost. This helps to study how costs react with volume
changes. Management needs to identify costs from their behaviour to
formulate forward planning and select profitable course of action.

Variable Cost
Cost which change proportionality with volume of output or services are
called variable costs. They increase or decrease in total amount with the
increase or decrease in volume of output. However, the per unit variable cost
is constant. Variable manufacturing cost are also called product cost and
include direct material, direct labour and fluctuating indirect materials,
labour and manufacturing overheads.

Fixed Cost
Cost that does not change with output is cost. It remains fixed for a
stipulated period and for a specific capacity output. Fixed cost is called
constant or capacity cost. It is also called create cost as it remains
unchanged for a stipulated period. Fixed cost in total amount remains
constant whereas fixed cost per unit changes inversely with output changes.
Therefore, increase in output decreases fixed cost per unit and decrease in
output increases fixed cost per unit. For example: depreciation, rent and
salaries.
Semi-variable cost
Those cost which do not change proportionately like variable costs but their
increase will be less than proportionate unlike the variable costs is termed
as semi-variable cost. The examples of semi-variable costs are salary of
supervisors, travelling salesman salary, repair and maintenance costs etc.
such costs contain fixed and variable portions. So, semi variable cost is also
called mixed costs.

Step-fixed costs (semi-fixed/ moving fixed costs)

Fixed costs are fixed either to a capacity volume or to a period of time.
Therefore, change in capacity volume or lapses of time create change in
fixed cost. It will changes by the original amount remaining constant for the
specific relevant range. Changes take the shape of steps at the different
levels so it is called the step fixed cost. Repairs and maintenance cost;
depreciation of additional machine purchase are some examples of step
fixed costs.

Controllability
Controllability may be defined in terms of change or alternation of costs. An
effective cost control requires knowledge of cost controllability. A sharp
division of cost into controllable and uncontrollability cost is a relative one
and is influenced by the action of a person at management hierarchy. The
term controllable cost should not be used as synonymous of variable cost
and direct costs. Knowledge of controllability of cost is important to control
cost.
Cost under controllability may be categorized into controllable and
uncontrollable costs.

Controllable cost: The cost subject to control or substantial influence of a

particular manager or individual is called controllable cost. In controllable
cost, the cost can be changed or altered by the action of a specific
managers. Example; direct materials, direct labour, other overheads such as
indirect labour, factory supplies, cutting tools, power costs, repair and
maintenance etc are controllable costs.

Uncontrollable costs: Costs that are not subject to influence by the action of
manager is called uncontrollable costs. These costs remain unchanged or
unaltered. Example: managerial salaries, staff salaries, depreciation after
purchase of equipment, rent. Some costs may be controllable in the short run
but not in the long run.

Accounting for Material

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Introduction
Commodities which are used in the production of finished product are called
materials. All those items, which are used in the process of producing goods
or rendering services, are called materials. It includes all raw materials and
supplies like lubricants, fuel and loose tools. Sometimes materials are also
denoted by the term inventory of stores.
Materials are of two types as direct and indirect materials
Direct materials:
Direct materials cost means the cost of materials that can be identified with
and allocated to cost centre or cost units. Cost of paper used to print
textbook is direct cost since it is main input of textbook. Thus, main raw
materials, and necessary components are a few examples of direct
materials.
Indirect materials:
Indirect materials cost refers to the material costs, which cannot be
allocated but can be apportioned to or absorbed by cost centres or cost
units. Cost of materials incurred for repair or a machine used for printing of
text is defined as indirect materials cost. Fuel, lubricating oil, materials used
for repair, coal, maintenance work etc. are few examples of indirect
materials.

Material control
The systematic and regular control over purchasing, storing and
consumption of materials is material control. Material control involves the
planning, operating, organizing and controlling the purchasing, storing and
using of materials so as to achieve the objectives of minimizing possible cost
of materials and uninterrupted production. In other words, it is a system,
which helps to provide the right quality of materials in the right quantity at
the right time and right place with the right amount of investment. Effective
control also requires the systematic preparation of periodic summaries and
reports. It can be defined as a systematic control over purchasing, storing
and consumption of materials. It helps to maintain a regular and timely
supply of materials by avoiding over and under stocking.

Need for materials control

Materials control is necessary for making efficient purchase, storing and
consumption of materials. Every manufacturing company requires to
maintain a materials control system that facilitates efficient purchase,
storage and use of the materials. Needs of materials control are given as
follow;
i.To ensure the availability of materials
ii. To ensure optimum investment in materials
iii. To ensure minimum wastage
iv. To provide information about the availability of materials
v. TO ensure reasonable price of material

Objective of materials control

Materials control basically aims at efficient purchase, storage and
consumption of materials. The following are the objectives of material
control;

To purchase materials at a reasonable price.

To maintain the cost of materials at the minimum level.
To protect materials against loss by fire, theft, and leakage.
To minimize the handling cost and time in storing and using the materials.
To provide information to management about raw materials, their cost and
availability.
To avoid obsolescence of materials by adopting an appropriate method of
material issue.
To ensure better quality of materials at right quantity and at right time for
efficient

Essentials of Materials Control

The main essentials of materials control are as follows;
There should be up to date record of materials
There should be centralized purchasing
There should be proper co-ordination between sales, production, purchase,
receiving, inspection and storage departments.
All items in stores should be codified, classified and standardised.
Issue of materials should be in the basis of requisition.

STORE ROUTING
The process set by a manufacturing company to control materials is called
store routing. It consists of all the processes involved in proper purchasing,
storing and issuing of materials to the concerned departments. The store
routing can be summarized as follows:
1.Purchasing and receiving of materials
Request for purchase of materials
Inquiry and tender quotation forms issued to potential suppliers
Selecting a suitable supplier
Placing the order
2.Storing of materials
Classification and codification of materials
Keeping records of the materials in Bin Cards, Store ledger and so on.
3.Issuig of materials
Requition form
Pricing of materials issued

Purchasing
Purchasing involves acquiring materials of right quality, at right quantity, at
right time from right source, and at a reasonable price. A separate purchase
department should be established to perform purchasing activities. The
department which performs purchasing activities in the manufacturing
concern in the managed way is termed as purchasing department. The
purchasing department plays a very important role in an organization
because purchasing has its effect on every vital factor concerning the
manufacture, quality, cost efficiency and prompt delivery of goods to
customers.

Purchase control
A manufacturing company is required to invest a huge amount of money in
purchasing materials. It is, therefore, essential to exercise proper materials
and purchase control. Purchase control refers to the purchase of materials of
right quality in right quantity at a reasonable price and at a right time. It
requires a good amount of attention to the purchasing procedures of
materials relating to cost, quality, volume, time and delivery of materials.
Centralized purchasing
Centralized purchasing refers to the purchase of materials by a single
purchase department. This department is headed and managed by a
purchasing manager. Under centralized purchasing, all purchase s are made
by the purchase department to avoid duplication, overlapping and the non-
uniform procurements. Under this system, the purchasing department
purchases the required materials for all the departments and branches of the
company.

Advantages
It uses the specialized knowledge and skill by appointing specialized and
expert purchasing staff.
It brings about economics of bulk purchase.
It facilitates the standardization of materials.
It facilitates effective control over purchases, by maintaining an efficient
system of ordering, receiving inspection, accounting etc.
It ensures consistent policy with regard to purchase such as terms of
payment, cost of delivery etc.
It brings about economics of centralized accounting of purchase.
a)When there is only one plant or
b)Several plants are not located far away from each other and are using
same materials.

Disadvantages
It is expensive due to increase in administration cost of a separate
purchase department.
It is not suitable when plants of departments are located far away from one
another or are using different materials.

Decentralized purchasing
Decentralized purchasing refers to purchasing materials by all departments
and branches independently to fulfil their needs. Such a purchasing occurs
when departments and branches purchase separately and individually. Under
decentralized purchasing, there is no one purchasing manager who has the
right to purchase materials for all departments and divisions. The defects of
centralized purchasing can be overcome by the decentralized purchasing
system. It helps to purchase the materials immediately in case of an urgent
situation.
Advantages:
It avoids unnecessary cost of setting up a purchasing department.
It avoids delay in purchasing because the required material can be easily
purchase as and when required.
Department can get the benefit of localized purchasing.
Due to then provision of purchase of material by the concerned department
the material may be purchased in right quantity and quality.
Disadvantages:
There is chance of overstocking and blocks the capital of the company.
The benefits of a bulk purchase cannot be obtained.
Fewer chances of effective control of materials.
Lack of proper cooperation and coordination among various departments.
There may be lack of special knowledge about the purchasing with
purchasing staff.

MATERIAL PURCHASING AND RECEIVING PROCEDURES

Purchasing of materials involves a number of steps which may be different
from one company to another. Generally, the following steps are involves in
purchasing and receiving materials:
1.Purchasing requisition
Purchasing requisition is a form used to make a formal request to purchase
department to purchase the materials specified there in. Purchase
requisition is received from the store keeper for all items in regular use,
production department for specific items not regularly used and stored,
production regular use, production department development, plant engineer
for material required for special maintenance and departmental heads for
any materials required for their department. The purpose of purchase
requisition to authorized the purchasing the materials specified there in and
provides written record of details of material required.
Purchase requisition has three purpose:
To inform the purchasing department of the need or purchase materials.
To fix the responsibility of the department making the purchase requisition.
To use for further reference.

2.Request for quotations or tenders

After receiving a purchase requisition, the next step of purchase procedure
is to find the convenient and economical sources of supply. The purchase
department must maintain a list of suppliers. Selection of a particular
supplier is usually made after inviting tenders or quotations from possible
sources of supply. Invitations for tender in a prescribed format are sent to
prospective suppliers. It contains detailed information about the availability
of goods, price of materials, and terms and conditions of purchasing.

3.Purchase order
After completion of the above procedure, the purchase department prepares
a purchases order for the supply of materials. The purchase order is a
contractual agreement with the suppliers for the supply of materials. It is
prepared in five copies, the original copy is sent to the supplier, the second
copy for receiving department, third for account department, fourth for
imitating department and the fifth one is retained in the purchasing
department for reference.

4.Receiving and inspecting materials

The receiving department should perform the unction of unloading and
receiving of material dispatched by the suppliers. The receiving department
verifies the materials with the help if delivery note and the copy of the
purchase order after receiving the delivery of goods. The suppliers sends
detailed information and an invoice of the materials supplied by it. It has to
verify and check the quantity and physical condition of materials by making a
comparison of the purchase order and the materials received in large
companies, an inspector is appointed to inspect all the materials received
and to prepare an inspection report.

5.Checking and passing of bills for payment

When the invoices are received from the supplier, they are sent to the stores
and accounting departments for the verification of the quantity and price of
materials mentioned in the invoices. After checking the required documents,
the store department requests the accounting department for making the
payment of the invoice to the suppliers.

Store-keeping
Store keeping refers to the act of storing materials for their safe custody till
these are issued to the production and other departments. It involves
receiving, storing and issuing of materials. The place where materials are
kept is known as 'store'. The term 'stores' has wide meaning and includes
raw materials used in production, consumable store such as oil, grease etc,
tools, patterns, maintenance materials etc, stock of work in progress and
stock of finished goods.

Objectives of storekeeping
All of proper place for every item of store
Keep every item of store in fixed place
Maintain proper and upto date records
Issuing materials quickly to department
Classify and codify the materials for easy identification

Types of stores
1.Centralized stores
A centralized stores is that store which receives materials for and issue
them to all departments divisions and production floors of the company. Such
a store is only one in the company which receives materials for and issues
them to all who need them. The materials required for all the departments
and branches are stored and issued by only one store.
Advantages:
Economy in cost
Better supervision of store
Better layout and control of stores
Minimum investment in store
Less space is occupied
Better safety and security of stock
Disadvantages:
Delay in sending materials to the department and branch.
increase in the material handling cost.
Greater risk of loss by fire.
Not suitable for a large company.

2.Decentralized Stores
Decentralized stores is that type of store which receives materials for and
issues them to only one department and not to the whole company. The
decentralized store may be many in the company, as each department has
its own such store. Purchasing and handling of materials are undertaken by
each and every department separately. Each and every branch has their own
store for operation of production activities.
Advantages:
Saving in material handling cost
Prompt issue of material is possible
Storing and control will be easy and effective
Smooth production will be possible
Risk of loss by fire can be minimized
Disadvantages:
Higher cost of supervision.
More space is required for individual departments.
Higher amount of investment is required.
More time for stock taking and checking.
Higher cost for staff and stationery.
Improved technique is less possible for controlling of materials.

3.Centralized stores with sub-stores

This is a mix store system, a mix of centralized and decentralized stores,
under this store system, sub-stores are established in different departments
according to the requirement of the company. Sub-store are maintained at
each department when the central store is at a distance from the production
department. Such sub-stores are managed and controlled by the central
store itself. At the beginning of a period, the central store issues a fixed
quantity of materials to the sub-stores. At the end of the period, sub-stores
send a filled requisition from to the central store to maintain the stock to a
pre-determined level.
Advantages:
Overcoming the demerits of centralized store
Offering an easier location for storing of materials.
Avoiding delay in issuing materials.
Providing services to meet the special needs of individual departments.
Reducing the internal transportation cost.
Disadvantages:
High cost for stationery and staffing.
High material handling cost.
More time in stock talking.
Extra set-up stock taking.
Complicated store control.
LOCATION OF STORES
It refers to the place where stores are situated. The location of stores should
be near to the receiving department so that the materials handling charges
are at a minimum. There should be an easy excess to all other department so
that the minimum of expenses is incurred in unloading. The stores should be
located considering the nature of materials; the bulky materials should be
stored nearer to the user's department to minimize the labour and transport,
the planned location charges. In conclusion, the planned location of the store
will avoid delay in the movement of materials to the department in which
these needed.

Storekeeper
A manufacturing company appoints a person for careful storing and
safeguarding materials in a store who is called storekeeper. A storekeeper is
a person who is the chief of the stores and who is given the responsibility of
store management. He is responsible for safeguarding the materials and
supplies in proper place until they are required for production activities. A
storekeeper should be well-experienced, well-trained, honest and familiar
with the tricks of storekeeping.
The main functions of storekeeper are as follows;
To maintain a proper record of materials relating to the receipt and issue of
materials.
Checking the physical quantity of materials and verify with a bin card.
To prevent unauthorized entrance into the storeroom.
To maintain the stock registers, entering therein all receipts, issues and
balance of materials.
To check and control losses due to evaporation, leakage, theft, and so on.
To arrange for physical verification of store items periodically.
To keep the stores always neat clean and tidy.
To supply information of materials, stock position, and so on whenever
needed.

CLASSIFICATION AND CODIFICATION OF MATERIALS

The process of grouping of materials on the basis of their nature or usage is
known as classification. The process of giving district names and symbols
for each item is called codification. A good system of store keeping requires
an appropriate classification codification. Materials are classified either on
the basis of their nature or on the basis of their consumption. On the basis
of nature is most commonly used such as materials are classified as
construction materials, consumable stores, spare parts, lubricating oils etc.
After the classification of materials, these are codified alphabetically or
numerically each item of store by giving it a separate stores code number
are used to indicate the main group and the decimals to indicate primary,
secondary and other groups. The main code consists of first two digits, sub-
code consists of the next two or three digits upon the requirement and last
one or two digits indicate to details of the size, quality etc upon the
requirements.
Advantages :
Quick and easy identification of materials.
Helps ensure a proper material control.
Secrecy of materials.
Saving of time in materials handling.
Essential for mechanized accounting system.

RECORDING OF MATERIALS RECEIVED

The following are the important store recording methods that are used for
keeping records of the various items to store:
1.BIN CARD
A document used in the stores department to show receipt, issue and
balance of each item of materials is called bin card. In the bin card, the
stock level like minimum stock level, maximum stock level, reorders level of
each items are mentioned. All the receipts and issues entries made in bin
card can supported by relevant documents such as good received note,
materials return note, stores requisition note etc. An entry is made at the
time of each receipt or issue and the balance in hand of the stock is
calculated. The bin card shows the quantity of materials but not the value of
materials.
2.Two-bin system
In some manufacturing companies, a bin is divided into two parts: a smaller
and a larger one. The smaller bin stores the quantity equal to the minimum
quantity and the larger part stores the remaining quantity. The quantity in
the smaller part is not issued so long as the quantity is available in the
large part. New supply is ordered as soon as the larger bin is empty.
3.Store Ledger
A store ledger is a record of stock, both in quantity and value and is
maintained by the store accounting section. It consists of the same columns
of a bin card, but in addition, there is an amount column in which the value
are entered. Thus, this ledger provides information for the pricing of
materials issued and the value of materials at any time of each item of
stores.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BIN CARD AND STORES LEDGERS

Bin cards Stores ledgers

It is maintained by the storekeeper.
It is a record of quantity only.
Entries are made immediately after each
transaction.
Posting are made before a transaction.
It is kept inside the store.
It is prepared by cost accounting department.
It is record of quantities and values.
Entries are made periodically.
Posting are made after a transaction
It is kept outside the store.

PERPETUAL INVENTORY SYSTEM

It is also known as Automatic inventory system. Perpetual inventory system
is a technique of controlling stock items by maintaining store records in a
manner such that stock balances at any point of time are readily available.
The terms "Perpetual inventory" refer to the system of record-keeping and a
continue physical verification of the stocks, with reference to store-records.
According to Wheldon, perpetual inventory system is a method of recording
stores balance after every receipt and issue to facilitate regular checking
and to obviate closing down for stock-taking.
The two main functions are:
Recording store receipts and issues to determine the stock in hand at any
time, in quantity or value or both without the need for physical counting of
the stock.
Continuous verification of the physical stock with reference to the balance
recorded in the store record is convenient for the management.
Advantages:
It helps in rapid stock taking which, in turn, helps in the preparation of
interim accounts.
A moral check on the store staff to maintain proper stock records.
The investment in materials and supplies may be kept at the lowest point.
It is not necessary to stop production so as to carry out a complete physical
stocktaking.
Deterioration, obsolescence etc, can be avoided.
Discrepancies and error can be quickly discovered and remedial action can
be taken.

ISSUE OF MATERIALS
Preparation and treatment of requisition form
The storekeeper receives materials and other items, stores them carefully
and finally issues them for the purpose of production. But, the storekeeper
must not issue materials unless a properly authorized materials requisition is
presented to him. Request for the issue of materials should be made to the
storekeeper in the prescribed form signed by the person demanding them.
The document, which authorizes and records the issues of materials, is
known as material requisition from.

Method of pricing material issued

There are various methods, in use, of pricing issues of materials form store.
The selection of a suitable method is significant from the viewpoint of cost
absorbed and consequently on profit.
Materials are purchased specifically for a job. The material issued is charged
to the job at its landed cost. Landed cost includes the invoice price, fright,
cartage, insurance and control charges on materials. Issue of such items
cannot be linked with a particular 'lot' and therefore, exact landed cost of
the particular unit issued cannot be identified.
Some important methods of pricing are as follows:

First-In-First-Out (FIFO) Method

The method in which materials are issued from the store on a first come first
serve basis is called FIFO. Under this method, the materials received first in
stores are issues first. Materials are issued strictly on a chronological order.
The first issue is made out of the unit of opening stock, next issue from the
first purchase and the closing stock is remained in stock always from the
latest purchase.
Advantages:
This method is easy to understand and operate.
It is used where transactions are not voluminous and prices of the materials
are falling.
This method is suitable for bulky materials with high unit prices.
Deterioration and obsolescence can be avoided.
Value of closing stock of materials will reflect the current market price.
Disadvantages:
It is improper if many lots are purchased during the period at different prices.
The objectives of matching current costs with current revenue cannot be
achieved under this method.
If the prices of materials are raising rapidly, the current production costs
may be understand.
This method overstates profit especially in inflation.

Last-In-First-Out (LIFO) Method

This method follows the principle that the last items of materials purchased
are issued at first. The valuation of the materials issued is made according to
the latest purchase price of materials. The closing stocks of the materials
are valued always on the earliest prices of the materials. In case of a rising
price, this method is suitable because material is issued at current market
prices.

Advantages
This method is appropriate for matching cost and revenue.
This method is simple to operate and easy to understand.
It facilitates complete recovery of material cost.
It is most suitable when prices are rising.
Disadvantages
Inventory valuation does not reflect the current prices and therefore are
useless in the context of current conditions.
Due to variation of prices, comparison of cost of similar job is not possible.
Calculations become complicated and cumbersome when rates of receipts
are highly fluctuating.
It involves considerable clerical work.

Simple Average Method

Under this method, issue prices of materials are fixed at average unit price.
According to CIMA,LondonA price which is calculated by dividing the total
prices of the materials in the stock from which the material to be priced
could be drawn by the number of the prices used in that total.
The simple average is an average of prices without considering the
quantities involved.
Advantage
It is very suitable when materials are received in uniform lot quantities.
This method is very easy to operate,
It reduces clerical work.
Disadvantage
If the quantity in each lot varies widely, the average price will lead to
erroneous costs.
Costs are not fully recovered.
Closing stock is not valued at the current cost.

Materials returned to the store

Defective and unused materials are returned to the store. When the materials
are returned, they should be treated as receipts and are recorded in the store
ledger like purchase of materials. After receiving the returned materials, the
storekeeper prepares a Material Return Note, which records the return of
unused materials.
Materials returned in the original condition may be based under one of the
following methods:
a)At the same price at which they were issued
b)At the current price of issue
According to the first method, the returned materials are set apart and at the
time of next issue they are priced at the original price rate. This method
treats the return as a new purchase but values it at the original price. Under
the second method, the return is priced at the rate at which any material
requisition placed on the date would have been priced.

Stock level
Inventory refers to the stock maintained by the manufacturing concern and
trading organization to meet their future requirement for smooth production
and sales. It refers to the different level of stocks, which are required for an
efficient and effective control of materials and to avoid over and under
stocking of materials. The purpose of materials control is to maintain the
stock of raw materials as low as possible and at the same time they may be
made available as and when required.
In a scientific system of inventory system of inventory control the following
levels of materials are fixed.
Re-order level
Minimum level(Safety stock)
Maximum level
Average stock level
Re-order quantity

Re-order level
It is that level of inventory which the store keeper should initiate the
purchase procedure for fresh supplies of inventory. Re-order point is the
quantity or level of the inventory on hand that triggers a new purchase order.
It is the level at which storekeeper initiates purchase requisition purchase
for fresh supplies of material. Fresh order should be placed before the actual
stock reaches the minimum level to continue the business activities
properly.
It is calculated by,
Re-order level= Minimum level (Safety stock) + (Average lead time X
average consumption)
Or,
Re-order level=Maximum consumption X Maximum re-ordering period

Minimum Level or Safety Stock

It is the level stock where new order should be placed considering daily
usage rate and lead-time. When the volume or quantity of materials in
production fall in below minimum stock level; it shows potential leading to
stock out position. Stock falls below minimum level if consumption is more
than normal consumption or re-order period is more than normal re-order
period or both of these condition appeared. Minimum stock level is
considered as buffer stock for use during emergency.
The following is the formula of it,
Minimum stock level = Re-order level - (Normal consumption X Normal lead
time)
Maximum stock level
The level of stock which is generally not allowed to be exceeded is said
maximum stock level. It represents the maximum quantity of an item of
material which can be held in stock at any time. The quantity is fixed so that
their may be no over stocking
It is calculated by,
Maximum stock level = Re-order level +Re-order quantity- (Min. consumption
X Min. lead time)

Re-order quantity
First of all company determines the quantity or size to be ordered at a time.
Thereafter, it places the order for purchasing materials by the same size or
quantity, which is known as re-order quantity. In other words, the quantity of
single purchase order while purchasing any materials is called re-order
quantity.
It is calculated by,
Re-order quantity= (Max stock level - ROL) + (Min. consumption X Min. period)

Average stock level

Average stock level denotes the normal/moderate/average stock maintained
by the firm. This level, which indicated the average stock to be held by the
firm is known as average stock level. It is ascertained by using the following
formula:
Average stock level =(Max stock level + Mini stock level)/2
Average stock level = mini stock level + (1/2 + re-order quantity)

Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)

Economic order quantity is also known as re-order quantity. It is that level of
inventory where the total cost of holding inventory is at minimum. It is the
level of quantity at which the cost of ordering will be equal with the storage
cost of materials. In other words, the quantity of materials, which is
economical to be ordered at one time, is known as economic order quantity.
The total cost of materials consists of the ordering cost and carrying cost.
While determining the economic order quantity, the ordering cost and
carrying cost should be considered.
Carrying cost
This refers to the cost of keeping items in stock for a certain period of time.
Carrying cost is concerned with the storing of materials. It suggests
purchasing in small quantities. If small quantities of materials are purchased,
the storing cost will be low. The following costs are included in the carrying
cost.
Storage cost
Insurance of material
Obsolescence loss due to a change in process or product
Internet on capital blocked on materials
Maintaining cost of material to avoid deterioration.

Ordering cost
All the cost, which is related with placing an order and secure the supplied
are called ordering cost .in others it refers to the cost related to the
purchase related activities. The ordering cost is the repurchase cost and is
repeated in nature. Purchasing of large quantities of materials helps reduce
the ordering cost. The following costs are included in the ordering cost.
Cost of staff appointed in the purchasing, inspection and payment
departments.
Cost of stationary purchases, telephone charge, email charge, faxes charge
etc.
Formula of EOQ,

EOQ =
A= Annual requirement
O = Ordering cost
C = Carrying cost

PreviousNext

Accounting for Labour

Share

Labour is also one of the prime inputs of production system. All

manufacturing concerns require the labour for carrying out their production
activities. The labour consists of workers who are essential to convert
materials into finished products. The labour can be either direct or indirect.
First and foremost thing is to pay the demanded amount by labours.
Dissatisfaction and discontented labour always results in high labour cost
and low quality outputs.

MEANING AND DEFINITION OF LABOUR COST

Labour is human resources and participates in the process of production. It
is an essential factor of production. The amount, which is paid to the labour,
is known as labour cost and it is a significant element of cost of a product.
Labour cost includes monetary benefit e.g basic wages and fringe benefit
such as fooding, housing, education to the children of workers, holiday pay,
medical facilities etc.
In other words, labour cost is the amount of remuneration paid to a worker or
an employee for his work or service in producing goods and services.

Types of labour cost

Direct cost
The cost that is easily identified and vary with level of production.Direct cost
is that labours, which can be easily, identified with specified product, job or
work order. It includes all labour engaged in converting raw materials into
finished goods or in altering two form of labour which is incurred wholly or
specifically for any particular job or work order. For example: carpenter in
furniture house, tailors in garments industry,washer in dry clinic etc.
Remuneration paid to direct labour is termed as direct labour cost. It is
treated as part of prime cost.

Indirect cost
The cost, which is not easily identified and not vary with level of
production.It is that labour which cannot be easily identified with a specific
product or job. It includes all labour indirectly involved in converting raw
materials into finished goods or in altering the construction, consumption or
condition of the product. For example: labour employed in repair and
maintenance, time keeping, cost accounting, store department etc.
Remuneration paid to indirect labour is termed as indirect labour cost and it
treated as part of overheads. Payments made to the sweepers, watchmen,
cleaners, supervisors and accounting personnel are the examples of indirect
cost.

Importance of labour cost

Labour cost is a main element of cost, which covers one of the major
portions of the total cost of a product or job.
It is more difficult to control as compared to material cost due to the
involvement of human element.
It is affected due to a change in government policy and requirement of trade
union.
It is adversely affected due to dissatisfaction, irregularity, inefficiency, idle
time, and high labour of the workers.
It is important from the fact that the direct labour cost is taken as the basis
for estimating the amount of factory overheads while determining the
product cost.

Labour cost control

Labour cost is an element of cost of production. It may be excessive due to
the various reasons such as lack of supervision on the labours, high labour
turnover, inefficiency of labour etc. Reducing the cost of production, an
optimum utilization of labours is needed for each and individual firm.
Therefore, labour cost control refers to the system that ensures effective
employment and proper utilization of labours.
Management is concerned with controlling labour cost. Labour cost control
involves such systems, procedures, techniques and tools used by the
management in order to keep the labour cost of the product or job as
minimum as possible.

The need of labour cost control arises to fulfil the following purposes:
To obtain better quality output with the least effort and time of the workers.
To reduce the cost of production of the products manufactures or services
rendered.
To ensure the satisfaction of the workers by creating a good working
environment in the factory.
To adopt a fair system of wage payment and to minimize labour turnover.
To minimize wastage of materials by workers, idle time and unusual overtime
work.
To maintain safe environment.
To increase the profitability and competitiveness of the organization.
Departments involved in controlling labour cost
In a large manufacturing concern, the following department are set up for
proper accounting and controlling of labour cost:
Personnel department
The personnel department concerned with the recruiting, training, placing
and promoting the workers for the jobs to which they are best suited. It
executes the employees policies laid down by the board of directors of the
company. It keeps complete records of the employees and reports to the
management regarding labourutilisation, labour efficiency, labour turnover
and absenteeism.
Personnel department starts the recruitment of workers immediately after
receiving the labour requisition from the concerned departments. The labour
requisition is also known as employee requisition or employee placement
requisition. Personnel department keeps complete records of each
employees working in the organisation in a card known as employee's history
card.

The main functions of personnel department are as follows:

Selection and recruitment of required labour.
Conduct the training program to employees.
Maintaining services and leave record to employees.
Preparation and submission of various reports to concerned authorities.

Engineering department
The engineering department involves in preparing plans and specifications
for each job. This department is established with the view of determining the
production procedure and working technique and creating sound working
condition for each workers. It inspects the jobs being done at different
production stages to ensure that they are being done as per plans and
specification.
Its main functions are as follows:
Making job analysis.
Setting piece rate.
Preparing the performance evaluation.
Creation of safe environment to minimize the risk of accident.
Preparing of plans.
Time and motion study department
This department works properly coordinating with personnel, engineering
and cost department. This department performs the following functions of
making of time and motion studies of labour.
Motion study
A worker or a machine makes various moments of the part of his body while
performing a job or a work. It is a study of moments of workers in performing
a job or work for the propose of eliminating useless, ill directed and
inefficient motions to improve the productivity. It is conducted while the
worker in the job. Motion study is also known as methods study because its
main objectives are to find out the best method of completing the job.

Time study
It is conducted after the motion study. The main objectives of the time study
is to determine the required time for performing the job or work. Various
methods are used for the determination of basic time. Standard or basic time
is fixed for a job or operation providing allowances to worker for drinking
water, smoking and other so on selecting an average workers as model
rather than exceptionally fast or slow workers.

Main functions of time and motion study department are ;

To divide a given job into detailed elements or parts.
To make a study of the movements of a worker while performing each
element of job.
To determine and eliminate unnecessary or wasteful motions or movements.
To observe and record the time required for each necessary movement and
to fix standard time required to complete a given job.
To set reasonable piece rate for different job.

Time-keeping department
This department is related with the recording of time of each worker
engaged in the factory to know the attendance and ascertainment of wages.
The main objective of this department is to prepare pay roll, meeting the
statutory requirements, maintaining discipline in attendance, recording of
each worker's time 'in' and 'out' of the factory making distinction between
normal time. Over time, late attendance and early leaving and to provide
basis for the distribution of overheads when overheads are absorbed on the
basis of labour hours.
To record the time of each worker properly, either an attendance register or
time card can be used.

Time booking
It is concerned with recording the time spent by each worker in the factory
on different jobs is work orders. It determines the exact time spent by the
worker in different departments or processes or products or jobs for the
purpose of calculating the correct amount of labour cost. When the workers
spends his time on several jobs or work orders then the need of time
booking arises for the purpose of cost analysis and apportionment.

The following forms are used for time booking:

Daily time sheet: it is given for each worker to record the details of time
spent daily on different jobs.
Weekly time sheet: It is similar to the daily time sheet which records the
details of time sent by a worker in a week on different jobs or work orders. It
is an improvement over the daily time sheet because each worker is given a
single sheet for a week to record his time.
Job card: It is used to keep the correct record of the time spent by each
worker on each job. It helps to calculate the labour cost of a job accurately
ad conveniently. The card can be used for each worker or for each job as per
the need of the factory.
Piece work card: It is used to record the quantity of output produced by a
worker along with the time spent by him. It is issued to each worker when
the wages is payable on piece rate basis.
Idle time card: It records the time wasted by each worker. It is the difference
between the time booked to different jobs and the gate time. It shows the
reasons of not doing a work while the workers remains present in the
factory.

The main functions of time keeping department are:

To keep attendance record of each worker showing arrival time, departure
time and overtime.
To keep an accurate record of time spent by each worker in the factory for
calculating wages.
To maintain discipline to ensure a regular attendance of the workers.
To record and determine the exact time spent by the workers on different
jobs or work orders for calculating the correct amount of labour cost,
To ascertain the unproductive or idle time of each worker and to minimise it.

Pay-roll department
The pay-roll department involves in verifying the time of the workers,
calculating wages due to each worker and preparing the pay roll or wage
sheet. It prepares the pay roll or wage sheet for each department separately
and distributed wages and salaries to the workers.

Pay slip
It is prepared for each worker showing the net payable amount of wages. Pay
roll is prepared for each department but pay slip is prepared for each worker.
Pay slips of a worker, in fact, is the copy of the pay roll.

The main functions of the pay-roll department are as follows:

To keep the records of the workers, departments, jobs and wages rate of
each worker.
To verify and summarise the time of each worker as shown on the Time Card.
It should provide more wages to efficient and skilled workers.
It should follow the government policy and trade unions' norms.
It should be simple and understandable to all the workers.
It should help in improving performance and productivity of the workers.
It should be flexible enough to suit the needs of an organization.

Cost accounting department

The cost accounting department involves in determining the labour cost of
each product, process and job. It collects, records, classifies and analyses
the labor cost.

The functions of a accounting department are;

To collect, record and classify the labour cost.
To analyse, allocate and apportion the labour costs of different products or
jobs.
To determine the correct amount of labour cost, process, job.
To supply information regarding labour cost through cost reports to the
management when required.

System of wage payment

System of wages payment is the method adopted by manufacturing concerns
to remunerate workers. It is the way of giving financial compensation to the
workers for the time and efforts invested by them in converting materials
into finished product.
It is important because of following reasons;
It facilitates the preparation of a wage plan for future.
It helps to determine the cost of production and the profitability of the
organisations.
It determines the amount of earning of the workers and their living
standards.
It affects the interest and attitude of the workers.

Essential criteria of a good wage system

It should be fair and justifiable to the workers and organisation.
It should help in maximising workers satisfaction and minimising labour
turnover.
It should assure minimum guaranteed wages to all workers.
It should assure equal pay for equal work.

Piece rate system of wage payment

Meaning
The piece is that system of wages payment in which the workers are paid on
the basis of the units of output produced. It does not consider the time spent
by the workers. It is a method of remunerating the workers according to the
number of units produced or job completed. It is also known as payment by
result or output. It pays wages at a fixed piece rate for each unit of output
produced.
It is calculated by,
Total wages earned = output * Piece rate
Advantage
It pays wages according to the output produced by the workers.
It helps to reduce idle time.
It gives incentive to the workers to adopt a better method of production for
increasing their production and earning.
It helps the management to determine the exact labour cost per unit for
submitting quotation.
It reduces per unit cost of production due to increased volume if production.
It requires less supervision cost.
Disadvantages
It does not help in producing quality output as the workers are concentrates
more on quantity instead of quality.
It does not help for a uniform flow of production and makes difficult to
regulate the production schedule.
It is very difficult to fix an acceptable and reasonable piece rate for each
item of output or job.
It creates greater chances of ineffective use of materials, tools and
equipment due to more concentration on increasing output.
It may adversely affect the workers health as well.
It requires extra supervision cost for quality output and effective use of
materials, tools and equipment.

TIME RATE SYSTEM OF WAGE PAYMENT

Meaning
The time rate is that system of wages payment in which the workers are paid
on the basis of time spent by them in the factory. Under this system, the
workers and employees are paid wages on the basis of the time they have
worked rather than the volume of output they have produced. Hence,
according to this system, wages are paid on hourly, weekly or monthly basis.
Under it, the wages earned by a worker is determined by using the following
formula;
Wages earned = hours spent * wages rate per hour
Advantages:
It is simple to understand and easy to calculate.
It is quite useful for organisations that use costly inputs for quality outputs.
It is beneficial for average and below average workers.
It assures regular income and creates the feeling of economic security
among the workers.
It does not discriminate the workers and is preferred by trade unions.
Disadvantages:
It does not help in increasing output and improving as there is no correlation
between effort and reward.
It is not justifiable to differentiate between efficient and inefficient workers
and skilled and unskilled workers.
It pays for idle time, which increase the cost of production.
It encourages a go-slow tendency among workers during working hours and
encourages them to work for overtime.
It is difficult to estimate exact labour cost in advance.

Differences between piece rate and time rate system

Piece rate system Time rate system

Piece rate system is a method of wage Time rate system is a method of wage
payment to workers based in the quantity of payment to workers based on time spent by
output they have produced them for the production of output.
It pays the workers according to the units of It pays the work according to the time spent
output produced. in the factory.
It does not pay for idle time. It pays for idle time.
It requires strict supervision to get the It requires strict supervision to get the
required quality output. required quantity of output.
It does not fix labour cost per unit in
It helps to fix per unit labour cost in advance.
advance.
It does not bring uniformity in the flow of It helps maintain a uniform flow of
production and causes an excessive wastage production and ensures an efficient use of
of inputs. materials, tools and equipment.

INTERNAL CONTROL OF WAGE PAYMENT

Wages are one of the major portions in the total cost of production. There is
always a chance of fraud in wage payment. Therefore, an effective
administrative and accounting control system must be implemented by the
management to minimise fraud and to keep the labour cost minim in. The
management should evaluate and revise its controlling system to find out
leakage and to stop leakages in time.
The following are the steps to minimise fraud in wage payment:
The time of job card and idle card should be compared with the time shown
by the time card.
The wages sheet should be prepared by involving two or more than two
responsible employees.
The organisation should issue identify cards to all the workers for their
identification.
The pay roll or wage sheet should be prepared for each department
separately and wages should be distributed in the presence of the concerned
authority of the department.
The cashier should not be allowed to involve in the preparation of wage
sheet.
The cashier should be allowed to draw only the net amount of wages as per
wage sheet from the bank in required denominations of notes

Accounting for Overheads

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Introduction
A manufacturing concern incurs different items of costs while converting raw
materials into finished outputs. Such costs can be classified on different
bases. One such basis is the directness of the costs to the product unit or
identification of costs with a particular product unit. The direct portion of the
total costs is called known as prime cost and the indirect portion is called
overheads.

MEANING AND DEFINITION

The cost that can be easily defined with and directly allocated to a particular
cost centre or cost is known as direct cost. The cost is divided into direct
and indirect cost. Direct materials, direct labours, and direct expenses are
some examples of direct costs and the total of these costs is known as
prime cost.

CLASSIFICATION OF OVERHEADS BASED ON FUNCTIONS

A manufacturing concern carries out mainly two types of functions. These
are manufacturing and non-manufacturing functions. Manufacturing functions
are concerned with converting raw materials into finished goods while non-
manufacturing functions are concerned with general administration, selling
and distribution of goods. The organisation incurs several indirect expenses
while performing such manufacturing and non-manufacturing activities.
The major types of overheads are;
1.Manufacturing overheads: They are also known as production overheads or
works or factory overheads. These are indirect expenses that are incurred in
carrying out manufacturing activities of the concern. Manufacturing
overheads include all the indirect expenses incurred in converting raw
materials into finished goods. Power, factory rent, factory insurance, indirect
materials, indirect wages depreciation and repair and maintenance are the
example of manufacturing overhead.
2.Non-manufacturing overheads: The non-manufacturing overheads include
the following two overheads:
3. Administrative overheads:
These are indirect expenses that are incurred in connection with the general
administration of the whole concern. These overheads incur while carrying
out office and administrative activities. Example: office salaries, rent,
printing and stationary, telephone and electricity, depreciation and repair
and maintenance of office building, furniture and other office expenses.
4. Selling and distribution overheads:
All the indirect expenses incurred for selling and distribution of finished
goods are known as selling and distribution overheads. Selling overheads are
incurred for creating demand, attracting present and potential customers
and retaining old customers. Examples: free gift, advertisement, showroom
expenses, and so on.
Distribution overheads are incurred in maintaining stocks and carrying the
goods to customer destinations. Examples: packing charges, carriage and
freight out, warehouse expenses, depreciation and others.

Classification of overheads based on behaviour

This classification is based on the behaviour or variability of overheads. Such
a classification of overheads is based on change in the amount of overheads
with the change in output. There are four types of overheads;
1.Fixed overheads: These overheads are also called period costs or capacity
costs. They are incurred for creating an output capacity of the concern for a
fixed period of time, say, month or a year. They are the costs, which remain
fixed or constant in total despite changes in the volumes of production or
sale. Examples: rent, salaries, depreciation, interest and legal expenses.
2.Variable overheads: These are the overheads which vary positively with
the production and sales volume. Hence, they vary directly in proportion to
the volume. They increase in total with the increase in volume and vice
versa. Examples; indirect materials, indirect wages, indirect expenses.
3.Semi-variable overheads: These variables are neither completely fixed nor
variable. Therefore, they are also called semi-fixed costs. These overheads
comprise the quality of both the fixed and variable costs. They vary
disproportionately with the change in the volume of output. Examples;
salesman remuneration, heating, lighting, supervision etc.
4.Step fixed: These overhead remain fixed within a certain range of output
level and jump up once the range of output level exceeds. They remain
constant for a given volume, but increase by another fixed amount the
moment there is addition of volume, and keep on focusing by a fixed amount
with the addition of volume.

Classification of overhead based on elements

Based on the components or elements, overheads can be classified as
indirect materials, indirect labour and other indirect expenses. This
classification is also known as classification of overheads according to their
nature of sources.

Each element of such overheads is described below;

1.Indirect materials: All materials other than direct ones are indirect
materials. They do not form the part of the finished product. They cannot be
identified with or traceable to a particular cost unit or cost centre. They
cannot be allocated but can be apportioned to a number of cost units or
centres. Examples: cost of lubricants, cotton waste, grease and others.
2.Indirectlabour: The labour that is not directly involved in production
process is called indirect labour and wages paid to such labour are called
indirect wages. Indirect labour, however, assists in the production process.
Examples; watchmen, sweepers, worker in department services, supervisors
and so on.
3.Other indirect expenses: The indirect expenses other than indirect
materials and indirect labour are called other indirect expenses. These
expenses also cannot be directly traced to any product unit or cost centre.
Examples: rent, insurance, telephone, charges, lighting, office salaries and
depreciation.
Classification of overheads based on control
Control of costs is one of the prime concerns of management. There are
some expenses that can easily be controlled by the management while some
other cannot be. From the point of view of cost control, therefore, overheads
can be divided into two types;
1.Controllable overhead: These are the indirect expenses that the
management of a manufacturing concern can keep under its control, as they
are influenced by its decisions. Therefore, those overheads that vary due to
the management decisions are called controllable overheads. Examples:
indirect materials, power expenses and lighting expenses.
2.Uncontrollable overhead: On the other hand, those indirect expenses that
are beyond the control of the management are known as uncontrollable
overheads. Examples; factory rent, office salaries, depreciation and legal
expenses.

Allocation of overheads
Meaning
Allocation of overheads is the process of charging overhead costs to a
particular department or cost centre. It is the allotment or assignment of an
overhead cost to a particular cost unit. If the overhead cost is associated
with a single department or cost centre, the whole amount is charged or
distributed among the units of output of that particular department. For
example, the whole amount of repair and maintenance expenses for a
machine is charged pr allocated to that department where the machine has
been installed.

Apportionment of overhead
Distribution of an overhead cost to several department or cost centre is
known as apportionment of overheads. It is the process of charging or
apportioning costs to a number of cost centres or cost units. If a given cost
is common to two or more departments or cost centres, such cost should be
apportioned or divided among theses departments on an equitable basis. For
examples, the amount of factory rent should be apportioned to all the
departments. Similarly, the amount of remuneration to the general manager
should be distributed to the production, administration and marketing
departments, as the general manager is associated with all these
departments.
Differences between allocation and apportionment of overheads

Allocation
It involves a particular department or cost
centre.
The process of charging the costs to a
particular department or cost centre is
allocation of overheads.
It is based on direct distribution.
It is applicable when the overhead cost is
associated with a single department or cost
centre.
Allocation of overhead is done when the
most centre uses while of the benefits of the cost centres use only a portion of the benefits
expenses.
Apportionment
It involves two or more department of=r cost
centres.
The process of charging the costs to a
number of departments or cost centres is
apportionment of overheads.
It is distributed on some equitable bases like
direct labour hours, number of workers,
machine hours and space and area occupied.
It is applicable when the overhead cost is
associated with two or more departments or
cost centres.
Apportionment of overhead is done when the
of the whole expenses.

Absorption of overhead
The absorption of overheads is also called the recovery of the overhead
costs. It is the process of sharing the overhead costs by all products of a
particular department. It is the application of overheads to each unit of
output. In other words, the process of ascertaining the total overhead costs
if each unit of output or job by using overhead rate is known as the
absorption of overhead. Thus, the distribution of the overhead expenses
allotted to a department over the units produced in that department is
absorption of overheads.
Unit or Output Costing
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Introduction
A manufacturing concern converts raw materials into finished products and
sells them at a certain price. In the manufacturing process, it incurs different
types of expenses such as manufacturing, administrative and selling and
distribution expenses.

Concept and meaning

Output or unit costing is one of the important methods of costing under
which cost of production and in turn the selling price unit are determined.
This costing method is used by the manufacturing concern which produces
homogeneous products such as sugar, cloth, cement and so on. A costing
method used to ascertain unit cost output is called output-costing method.

Importance of output costing

A cost sheet is used to determine total and unit cost of a product under the
unit cost method. The followings are the importance;
Simple: This method is very simple and easy to understand.
Determination of cost: It helps to determine the total and unit cost if
production for a given period of time.
Fixation of selling price: It helps to determine the selling price of the
product.
Elements of cost: It provides the detail information of the cost under
different heading incorporating step-wise cost as well as total cost.
Comparison: It facilitates to compare the current cost with the previous
period.
Corrective measures: It enables to find out the causes of variation if any and
take corrective measures.
Tender sheet: It helps in the preparation of tender sheet for submitting
tender price with fair degree of accuracy and reliability.
Decision making: It facilitates for making different types of decisions and
formulation policy of the manufacturing concern.
Limitation of unit costing
Cost sheet is very importance method for determining the unit cost or total
cost of production.
Not applicable for heterogeneous products: manufacturing concerns
engaged in manufacturing different types of product cannot apply this
method.
Not applicable for service sector: Services oriented concern like school,
college, and hospital cannot apply this method.
Cost sheet or statement of cost
A cost sheet is a periodical statement, which is designed to show in detail all
the elements of cost of good manufactured. The elements of costs are prime
cost, factory cost, cost of production and total cost. In simple words, a
statement which is designed to show the total cost as well as cost per unit
of output for the given period of time is called cost sheet.
Components of cost sheet
Cost sheet is a statement, which collects the detail information about the
cost of different cost centre for determining the total cost and unit cost of
production. It is prepared for the specific period of time.
The main components of statement of cost are as follows;

Prime cost
Prime costs of product are the sum of direct costs, which varies in proportion
to volume of production. Prime cost includes direct expenses like cost of
materials, direct labour and direct expenses. These costs are directly
identifiable with the product and constitute the major part of total cost of the
product.

Factory cost
Factory cost are the total of prime costs and factory expenses. Factory
expenses are also as factory, manufacturing or works overheads. They
includes indirect expenses which are incurred inside the work place where
manufacturing takes place.
Factory cost= prime cost + factory overhead

Cost of production
Cost of production includes factory costs and office and administrative
overheads. Office overheads include all expenses incurred in performing
administrative activities like planning, coordinating, staffing and controlling.
Cost of production = Factory cost +Office overheads

Total costs
Total costs are the sum of costs of production and selling and distribution
overheads. Selling and distribution overheads are necessary for the
promotion of sales.

Treatment or adjustment of stock

There are three types of stock, which are adjusted in the process of
preparing statement of cost. They are as follows;
Stock of raw materials
Stock of work-in-progress or partly finished goods
Stock of finished goods

Stock of raw materials

Opening stock of raw materials value is added to the raw materials
purchased and closing stock of raw materials value is subtracted therefrom
in order to calculate cost of raw materials consumed. Cost of materials
consumed is then considered as direct material cost.

Stock of work-in-progress
The stocks of work-in-progress are those units of commodities on which
some work has been done but are in process of completion. These units can
neither be treated as raw materials nor finished product, because such units
requires further process to be completely finished products. Stock of work-in-
progress may be both opening and closing.

Stock of finished goods

All types of overhead other than selling and distribution overhead are
absorbed by finished goods. Therefore, stock of finished goods is adjusted
after calculating cost of production.

Tender or quotation price

It is the price to be quoted for the supply of the particular product or for
executing the work order as quotation invited. The manufacturer has to
quote price of its product in advance. In the preparation of tender sheet,
direct materials, direct wages and overhead are predetermined on the basis
of the costs of the proceeding period. It takes into account the possible
changes in price in future.
The overhead costs can be estimated by taking labour hour or machine hour
basis. The basis of machine hour rate or labour rate is used for the
absorption the overheads. In the preparation of tender sheet, the following
steps can be taken:
The direct materials direct wages, and overheads should be added along
with any changes if any, to determine prime cost.
The other overhead should be absorbed on the basis of percentage of various
years’ cost.
1.Absorption of factory overhead:
The factory overhead may be absorbed as a percentage on direct materials,
direct wages and chargeable expenses.

% of factory overhead on direct wages =

2.Absorption of office and administrative overhead:

The office and administrative overhead is absorbed as the same percentage
of office and administrative overhead on factory cost

% of office and administrative overhead=

3.Absorption of selling and distribution overhead

% of selling and distribution overhead

Manufacturing account
Manufacturing account is the alternative method of determination of total
cost and fixation of selling price. The manufacturing needs to ascertain the
cost of goods manufactured and manufacturing profit or loss during the year.
Therefore, an account is prepared for the purpose, which is known as
manufacturing account. Generally, it is prepared by such concerns which do
not have cost office and maintain any cost account.

Features of manufacturing account

The opening and closing stock of finished goods are not recorded because
the purpose of preparation of the account is, to determined cost of goods
manufactured and manufacturing profit during the specified period. This
represent ledger account consisting of debit and credit side.
the difference between two sides will be cost of goods manufactured or
manufacturing profit/loss based on the type of manufacturing account.

Importance of manufacturing account

Cost of goods manufactured and manufacturing profit/loss can be
determined.
it helps to fix the selling price .
It assists to reduce and control the cost on manufacturing process.
Performance of manufacturing department can be evaluated by comparing
profit/loss of current year.

Preparation of manufacturing account

Preparation of manufacturing account would depend upon the purpose that is
sought to be obtained information therefrom. The purpose may be either to
ascertain cost of manufactured or manufacturing profit or loss. However it is
prepared in two different formats:
For showing cost of production
For showing manufacturing profit of loss