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Traditional Cost Accounting

It arbitrarily allocates overheads to the cost objects. Total Company’s overhead is allocated based on volume
based measure e.g. labour hours, machine hours. Here the main assumption is that there is a relationship
between overhead & volume based measure.

Activity Based Costing

ABC is not a method of costing, but a technique for managing the organization better. It is a one-off exercise
which measures the cost and performance of activities, resources and the objects which consume them in
order to generate more accurate and meaningful information for decision-making. ABM draws on ABC to
provide management reporting and decision making.

It is more accurate cost management methodology. It focuses on indirect costs (overhead). It traces rather
than allocates each expense category to the particular cost object. It “indirect” expenses to “direct”. Further,
Instead of using the term ‘allocation bases’ or ‘overhead allocation rates’ the term cost driver is used in ABC
system.

ABC Basic Premise

o Cost objects consume activities.
o Activities consume resources.
o This consumption of resources is what derives costs.
o Understanding this relationship is critical to successfully managing overhead.

A comparison of traditional & ABC systems

In the traditional system of assigning manufacturing overheads, overheads are first allocated and apportioned
to cost centres/pools (production and support service cost centres) and then costs from cost centers (i.e. cost
pools) are absorbed to cost objects (e.g. products). Under ABC, overheads are first assigned to activities or
activity pools (group of activities) rather than departments and then they are assigned to cost objects. Thus,
ABC is a refinement over the traditional costing system. Usually cost centres include a series of different
activities. If different products create different demands on those activities, the traditional costing system fails
to determine the product cost accurately. In that situation, it becomes necessary to use different rates for
different activities or activity pools. Direct labour & machine hours are the allocation bases that are normally
used by traditional costing systems. In contrast, ABC systems use many different types of second stage cost
drivers, including non-volume-based drivers
Cost Drivers

Volume Based Non-Volume Based

They assume that a product’s They are in contrast of volume based
consumption of overhead is directly cost drivers. Non-volume based activities
related to units produced. are not performed each time a unit of the
E.g. Direct Machine hours, If volume product or service is produced. E.g.
is increased by 10%, machine house number of production runs for production
will increase by 10% hence energy scheduling & the number of purchase
cost will increase by 10%. orders for the purchasing activity.

Remember, Using only volume-based cost drivers to assign non-volume related overhead costs can result in
the reporting of distorted product costs.

Product Diversity - Difference in product size, product complexity, size of batches and set-up times cause
product diversity.

Product cost distortion occurs when both of these conditions occur:

a) Non-Volume based overhead costs are a large proportion of total overhead costs.
b) Product diversity applies.

When & Why to use ABC

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o Overhead is high-New production techniques have resulted in the increase of the proportion of
support service costs in the total cost of delivering value to customers. ABC improves the accuracy of
accounting for support service costs.
o Products are diverse-There is product and customer proliferation. Demand on resources by products /
customers differ among product / customers. Therefore, product / customer profitability can be
measured reasonably accurately, only if consumption of resources can be traced to each individual
product / customer
o Costs of errors are high-The costs associated with bad decisions have increased substantially.
o Competition is stiff- Fierce competitive pressure has resulted in shrinking profit margin. ABC helps to
estimate cost of individual product or service more accurately. This helps to formulate appropriate
marketing / corporate strategy.
ABC Steps
o Identify Activities
o Determine cost of each activity.
o Determine cost drivers.
o Collect activity data.
o Calculate product cost.

Activity Cost Drivers – In order to assign the costs attached to each activity cost centre to products, a cost
driver must be selected for each activity centre. Cost drivers used at this stage are called activity cost drivers.
Activity cost drivers can be transaction drivers (e.g. No. of purchase orders processed, no. of customer orders
processed, etc.) as well as duration drivers (it represent amount of time required to perform an activity e.g.
Setup hours, inspection hours, etc.).

Activity Hierarchies:
(i) Unit level activities (a.k.a. Volume related activities)
E.g. Use of indirect materials, Inspection or testing of every item produced or say every 100th item produced,
Indirect consumables, etc.

(ii) Batch level activities

E.g. Production scheduling, Material movement, Machine set up costs, Inspection of products – like first item
of every batch, etc.

(iii) Product-sustaining activities or service sustaining activities.

E.g. Designing the product, Producing parts to a certain specification, Advertising costs, if advertisement is for
individual products, etc.

(iv) Facility-sustaining or business-sustaining activities

E.g. Maintenance of buildings, Plant security, Production manager’s salaries, Advertising, etc.

Activity Based Management

ABM supports business excellence by providing information to facilitate long-term strategic decisions about
such things as product mix and sourcing. It allows product designers to understand the impact of different
designs on cost and flexibility and then to modify their designs accordingly. ABM also supports the quest for
continuous improvement by allowing management to gain new insights into activity performance by focusing
attention on the sources of demand for activities and by permitting management to create behavioral
incentives to improve one or more aspects of the business.

Question 1: What is the fundamental difference between Activity Based Costing System (ABC) and
Traditional Costing System? Why more and more organizations in both the manufacturing and non-
manufacturing industries are adopting ABC? (10 Marks) Nov/07
Question 2: Give two examples for each of the following categories in activity based costing:
(i) Unit Level activities
(ii) Batch Level activities
(iii) Product Level activities
(iv) Facility Level activities (4 Marks) Nov/06

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 -3-

Question 3: “Cost can be managed only at the point of commitment and not at the point of incidence.
Therefore it is necessary to manage cost drivers to manage cost.” Explain the statement with reference to
structural and executional cost drivers. (5 Marks) Nov/07
Question 4: Why are conventional product costing systems more likely to distort product costs in highly
automated plants? How do activity based costing deal with such a situation? (4 Marks) May/06
Question 5: A company manufactures three types of products namely P, Q & R. The data relating to a period
are as under:
P Q R
Machine hour per unit 10 18 14
Direct labour hour per unit @ Rs. 20 4 12 8
Direct material per unit Rs. 90 80 120
Production (units) 3000 5000 20000
Currently the company uses traditional costing method and absorbs all production overheads on the basis of
machine hours. The machine hour rate of overhead is Rs. 6 per hour.
The company proposes to use activity based costing system and the activity analysis is as under:
P Q R
Batch size (units) 150 500 1000
Number of purchase orders per batch 3 10 8
Number of inspections per batch 5 4 3
The total production overheads are analyzed as under:
Machine set up costs 20%
Machine operation costs 30%
Inspection costs 40%
Material procurement related costs 10%
Required:
(i) Calculate the cost per unit of each product using traditional method of absorbing all production
overheads on the basis of machine hours.
(ii) Calculate the cost per unit of product using activity based costing principles.
[Ans.: (i) 230, 428, 364 (ii) 427, 425, 335.20] (7 Marks) Nov./08-Old Course
Question 6: Biscuit Ltd. Manufactures 3 types of biscuits, A, B and C, in a fully mechanised factory. The
company has been following conventional method of costing and wishes to shift to Activity Based Costing
System and therefore wishes to have the following data presented under both the systems for the month.
Inspection cost Rs. p.m. 73,000
Machine – Repairs & Maintenance Rs. p.m. 1,42,000
Dye cost Rs. p.m. 10,250
Selling overheads Rs. p.m. 1,62,000
Product A B C
Prime cost (Rs. per unit) 12 9 8
Selling price (Rs. Per unit) 18 14 12
Gross production (units/production run) 2,520 2,810 3,010
No. of defective units / production run 20 10 10
Inspection: C
No. of hours / production run 3 4 4
Dye cost / production run (Rs.) 200 300 250
No. of machine hours / production run 20 12 30
Sales – No. of units / month 25,000 56,000 27,000
The following additional information is given:
(i) No accumulation of inventory is considered. All good units produced are sold.
(ii) All manufacturing and selling overheads are conventionally allocated on the basis of units sold.
(iii) Product A needs no advertisement. Due to its nutritive value, it is readily consumed by diabetic patients of
a hospital. Advertisement costs included in the total selling overhead is Rs. 83,000.
(iv) Product B needs to be specially packed before being sold, so that it meets competition. Rs. 54,000 was
the amount spent for the month in specially packing B, and this has been included in the total selling overhead
cost given.
You are required to present productwise profitability of statements under the conventional system and the
ABC system and accordingly rank the products. (11 Marks) May/08
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 -4-

[Ans.: Conventional : Net profit(Rank) is A-57959(II), B- 77403(I) & C- 10467(III), ABC : Net profit(Rank) is A-
84813 (I), B-61237 (II) & C- (220)(III)]
Question 7: Bombay steel Ltd. manufacture four products, namely A,B,C and D, using the same plant and
process. The following information relates to a production period:
Product Volume Material cost Direct labour Machine time Labour cost
per unit (Rs.) per unit per unit per unit
A 500 5 ½hours ¼hours 3
B 5,000 5 ½hours ¼hours 3
C 600 16 2 hours 1hours 12
D 7,000 17 1-1/2hours 1-1/2hours 9
Total production overhead recovered by the cost accounting system is analysed under the following heading:
Factory overhead applicable to machine-oriented activity 37,424
Set-up costs are 4,355
Cost of ordering materials 1,920
Handling materials 7,580
Administration for spare parts 8,600
These overhead costs are absorbed products on a machine hour rate of Rs. 4.80 per hour giving an overhead
cost per product of:
A=Rs. 1.20 B=Rs. 1.20 C=Rs. 4.80 D=Rs. 7.20
However, investigation into the production overhead activities for the period reveals the following totals:
Product Number of set- Number of Number of times Number of spare
ups material orders material was handled parts
A 1 1 2 2
B 6 4 10 5
C 2 1 3 1
D 8 4 12 4
You are required:
(I) to compute an overhead cost per product using activity based costing, tracing overheads to
production units by means of cost drive.
(II) to compute briefly on the difference disclosed between overheads traced by the present system
and those traced by activity based costing.
[Ans.: Value of overhead in Traditional: 1.2, 1.2, 4.8, 7.2; Value of overhead in ABC: 5.63, 2.49, 6.76, 5.79]
Question 8: Having attached a CIMA course on activity based costing (ABC) you decide to experiment by
applying the principles of ABC to the four products currently made and sold by your company. Details of the
four products and relevant information are giving below for one period:
Product A B C D
Output in units 120 100 80 120
Cost per unit: Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs.
Directs material 40 50 30 60
Direct labour 28 21 14 21
Machine hours (per unit) 4 3 2 3
The four products are similar and are usually produced in production runs of 20 units and sold in batches of
10 units. The production overhead is currently absorbed by using a machine hour rate, and the production
overhead for the period has been analysed as follows:
(Rs.)
Machine department costs(rent, business, rates, depreciation and supervision) 10,430
Set-up costs 5,250
Stores receiving 3,600
Inspection / Quality control 2,100
Materials handling and dispatch 4,620
You have ascertained that the” cost drivers” to be used are as listed below for overhead drivers” to costs
Shown:
Cost Cost Driver
Set-up costs Number of production runs
Store receiving Requisitions raised
Inspection / quality control Number of production runs
Materials handling and dispatch Orders executed
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 -5-

The number of requisitions raised on the stores was 20 for each product and the number of orders executed
was 42, each order being for a batch of 10 of a product.
You are required:
(a) to calculate the total cost for product if all overhead costs are a machine hour basis;
(b) to calculate the total costs for product, using activity based costing ;
(c) to calculate and list the unit product costs from your figures in (a) and (b) above, to show the
differences and to comment briefly on any conclusions which may be drawn which could have
pricing and profit implications.
[Ans.: Machine hour basis: 148, 131, 84, 141; ABC:136.09, 132.57, 99.80,141.07]
Question 9: Relevant data relating to a company are:
Products
Particulars P Q R Total
Production and sales (units) 60,000 40,000 16,000
Raw material usage in units 10 10 22
Raw material costs Rs.50 40 22 24,76,000
Directs labour hours 2.5 4 2 3,42,000
Machine hours 2.5 2 4 2,94,000
Direct labour costs Rs.16 24 12
No. of production runs 6 14 40 60
No. of. Deliveries 18 6 40 64
No. of receipts 60 140 880 1080
No. of production orders 30 20 50 1000
Overheads: (Rs.)
Set up 60,000
Machines 15,20,000
Receiving 8,70,000
Packing 5,00,000
Engineering 7,46,000
The company operates a JIT inventory policy and receives each component once per production run.
Required:
(i) Compute the product cost based on direct labour-hour recovery rate of overheads.
(ii) Compute the product costs using activity based costing.
[Ans.: Direct labour-hour recovery rate: 93.03, 107.24, 55.62; ABC: 85.91, 82.41, 144.32]
Question 10: Computo Ltd. manufactures two parts ‘P’ and ‘Q’ for Computer Industry.
P : annual production and sales of 1, 00,000 units at a selling price of Rs. 100.05 per unit.
Q : annual production and sales of 50,000 units at a selling price of Rs. 150 per unit.
Direct and Indirect costs incurred on these two parts are as follows:
(Rs. in thousand)
P Q Total
Direct Material cost (variable) 4,200 3,000 7,200
Labour cost (variable) 1,500 1,000 2,500
Direct Machining cost (See Note)* 700 550 1,250
Indirect Costs:
Machine set up cost 462
Testing cost 2,375
Engineering cost 2,250
16,037
Note: Direct machining costs represent the cost of machine capacity dedicated to the production of each
product. These costs are fixed and are not expected to vary over the long-run horizon.
Additional information is as follows:
P Q
Production Batch Size 1,000 units 500 units
Set up time per batch 30 hours 36 hours
Testing time per unit 5 hours 9 hours
Engineering cost incurred on each product 8.40 lacs 14.10 lacs

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 -6-

A foreign competitor has introduced product very similar to ‘P’. To maintain the company’s share and profit,
Computo Ltd. has to reduce the price to Rs. 86.25. The company calls for a meeting and comes up with a
proposal to change design of product ‘P’. The expected effect of new design is as follows:
· Direct Material cost is expected to decrease by Rs. 5 per unit.
· Labour cost is expected to decrease by Rs. 2 per unit.
· Machine time is expected to decrease by 15 minutes; previously it took 3 hours to produce 1 unit of ‘P’. The
machine will be dedicated to the production of new design.
· Set up time will be 28 hours for each set up.
· Time required for testing each unit will be reduced by 1 hour.
· Engineering cost and batch size will be unchanged.
Required:
(a) Company management identifies that cost driver for Machine set-up costs is ‘set up hours used in batch
setting’ and for testing costs is ‘testing time’. Engineering costs are assigned to products by special study.
Calculate the full cost per unit for ‘P’ and ‘Q’ using Activity-based costing.
(b) What is the Mark-up on full cost per unit of P?
(c) What is the Target cost per unit for new design to maintain the same mark up percentage on full cost per
unit as it had earlier? Assume cost per unit of cost drivers for the new design remains unchanged.
(d) Will the new design achieve the cost reduction target?
(e) List four possible management actions that the Computo Ltd. should take regarding new design.
[Ans.: (a) P –Rs. 87, Q- Rs. 146.74; (b) 15%; (c) Rs. 75; (d) No, as the cost of new design is Rs. 77.36 per
unit.] (16 Marks) May/06
Question 11: During the last 20 years, KL Ltd’s manufacturing operation has become increasingly automated
with Computer-controlled robots replacing operators. KL currently manufactures over 100 products of varying
levels of design complexity. A single plant wise overhead absorption rate, based on direct labour hours, is
used to absorb overhead costs.
In the quarter ended March, KL’s manufacturing overhead costs were:
(Rs. ‘000)
Equipment operation expenses 125
Equipment maintenance expense 25
Wages paid to technicians 85
Wages paid to Store men 35
Wages paid to despatch staff 40
310
During the quarter, the company reviewed the Cost Accounting System and concluded that absorbing
overhead costs to individual products on a labour hour absorption basis is meaningless. Overhead costs
should be attributed to products using an Activity Based Costing (ABC) system and the following was
identified as the most significant activities:
(i) Receiving component consignments from suppliers
(ii) Setting up equipment for production runs
(iii) Quality inspections
(iv) Despatching goods as per customer’s orders.
It was further observed that in the short-term KL’s overheads are 40% fixed and 60% variable. Approximately,
half the variable overheads vary in relating to direct labour hours worked and half vary in relation to the
number of quality inspections.
Equipment operation and maintenance expenses are apportioned as:
Component stores 15% , manufacturing 70% and goods dispatch 15%
Technician’s wages are apportioned as :
Equipment maintenance 30% , set up equipment for production runs 40% and quality inspections 30%
During the quarter :
(i) a total of 2000 direct labour hours were worked (paid at Rs. 12 per hr.)
(ii) 980 components consignments were received from suppliers
(iii) 1020 production runs were set up
(iv) 640 quality inspections were carried out
(v) 420 orders were dispatched to customers.
KL’s production during the quarter included components R, S and T. The following information is available:
Component Component Component
R S T
Direct labour Hrs worked 25 480 50
Direct Material Rs. 1,200 Rs. 2,900 Rs. 1,800
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 -7-

Component Consignments Recd. 42 24 28

Production runs 16 18 12
Quality Inspections 10 8 18
Orders (goods) despatched 22 85 46
Quantity produced 560 12,800 2,400
Required:
(1) Calculate the unit cost of R, S and T components, using KL’s existing cost accounting system.
(2) Explain how an ABC system would be developed using the information given. Calculate the unit cost
of components R, S and T using ABC system. (11 Marks) May/05
[Ans.: (1) Cost per unit (Under existing cost system)
R S T
9.60 6.49 4.23

(2) Cost per unit (Under ABC cost system)

R S T
18.682 2.08 5.82]
Question 12: XYZ Ltd. manufactures four products, namely A, B, C and D using the same plant and process.
The following information relates to a production period:
Product A B C D
Output in units 720 600 480 504
Cost per unit: Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs.
Direct Material 42 45 40 48
Direct labour 10 9 7 8
Machine hours per unit 4 hrs. 3 hrs. 2 hrs. 1 hr
The four products are similar and are usually produced in production runs of 24 units and sold in batches of
12 units. Using machine hour rate currently absorbs the production overheads. The total overheads incurred
by the company for the period is as follows:
Rs.
Machine operation and Maintenance cost 63,000
Setup costs 20,000
Store receiving 15,000
Inspection 10,000
Material handling and dispatch 2,592
During the period the following cost drivers are to be used for the overhead cost:
Cost Cost driver
Setup cost No. of production runs
Store receiving Requisition raised
Inspection No. of production runs
Material handling and dispatch Orders executed
It is also determined that:
· Machine operation and maintenance cost should be apportioned between setup cost, store receiving and
inspection activity in 4:3:2.
· Number of requisition raised on store is 50 for each product and the no. of order executed is 192, each order
being for a batch of 12 of a product.
Required:
(i) Calculate the total cost of each product, if all overhead costs are absorbed on machine hour rate basis.
(ii) Calculate the total cost of each product using activity base costing.
(iii) Comment briefly on differences disclosed between overheads traced by present system and those traced
by activity base costing. (11 Marks) Nov/04
[Ans.: (a) A – Rs. 89280, B – Rs. 64800, C – Rs. 39840, D – Rs. 37296, (b) A – Rs. 69825, B – 47100, D –
Rs. 53541]

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