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Take control of overhead, budgeting, and profitability with cost accounting
Cost accounting is one of the most important skills in business, and its popularity as a course in undergraduate and graduate business and management programs speaks to its usefulness. But if you've ever felt intimidated by the subject's jargon or concepts, you can stop worrying. Cost accounting is for everyone!
In Cost Accounting For Dummies, you'll be taken step-by-step through the basic and advanced topics found in a typical cost accounting class, from how to define costs and how to allocate them to products or services. You'll learn how to determine if a capital expenditure is worth it and how to design a budget model that forecasts changes in costs based on activity levels.
Whether you're a student in your first cost accounting course or a professional trying to get a grip on your books, you'll benefit from:
* Simple methods to evaluate business risks and rewards
* Explanations of how to manage and control costs during periods of business change and pivots
* Descriptions of how to use cost accounting to price IT projects
Cost Accounting For Dummies is the gold standard in getting a firm grasp on the challenging and rewarding world of cost accounting.
List of contents
Introduction 1
Part 1: Understanding the Fundamentals of Costs 5
Chapter 1: So You Want to Know about Cost Accounting 7
Chapter 2: Brushing Up on Cost Accounting Basics 17
Chapter 3: Using Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis to Plan Your Business Results 31
Chapter 4: Estimating Costs with Job Costing 53
Chapter 5: More Activity, More Cost: Activity-Based Costing 75
Part 2: Planning and Control 99
Chapter 6: What's the Plan, Stan? Budgeting for a Better Bottom Line 101
Chapter 7: Constant Change: Variance Analysis 125
Chapter 8: Focusing on Overhead Costs 149
Chapter 9: What's on the Shelf? Inventory Costing 163
Part 3: Making Decisions 185
Chapter 10: Cost Drivers and Cost Estimation Methods 187
Chapter 11: Making Smart Business Decisions with Relevant Information 203
Chapter 12: Making Smart Pricing Decisions: Figuring Total Costs 227
Part 4: Allocating Costs and Resources 249
Chapter 13: Analysis Methods to Improve Profitability 251
Chapter 14: Behind the Scenes: Accounting for Support Costs and Common Costs 271
Chapter 15: Joint Costs, Separable Costs, and Using Up the Leftovers 295
Chapter 16: Tracing Similar Products with Process Costing 313
Part 5: Considering Quality Issues 335
Chapter 17: What a Waste! Getting the Most from Spoilage, Scrap, and Reworked Products 337
Chapter 18: Making Smart Ordering Decisions 359
Chapter 19: Quality: Building a Better Mousetrap 381
Part 6: The Part of Tens 401
Chapter 20: Ten Common Costing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them 403
Chapter 21: Ten Ways to Increase Profits Using Costing 409
Index 415
About the author
Ken Boyd is Co-Founder of Accountinged.com and owns St. Louis Test Preparation. He tutors and coaches people on the principles of accounting and prepares them for challenging accounting licensing exams by making accounting interesting and fun.
Summary
Take control of overhead, budgeting, and profitability with cost accounting
Cost accounting is one of the most important skills in business, and its popularity as a course in undergraduate and graduate business and management programs speaks to its usefulness. But if you've ever felt intimidated by the subject's jargon or concepts, you can stop worrying. Cost accounting is for everyone!
In Cost Accounting For Dummies, you'll be taken step-by-step through the basic and advanced topics found in a typical cost accounting class, from how to define costs and how to allocate them to products or services. You'll learn how to determine if a capital expenditure is worth it and how to design a budget model that forecasts changes in costs based on activity levels.
Whether you're a student in your first cost accounting course or a professional trying to get a grip on your books, you'll benefit from:
* Simple methods to evaluate business risks and rewards
* Explanations of how to manage and control costs during periods of business change and pivots
* Descriptions of how to use cost accounting to price IT projects
Cost Accounting For Dummies is the gold standard in getting a firm grasp on the challenging and rewarding world of cost accounting.
