Application of Activity-Based Costing in a manufacturing company: A comparison with traditional costing

Abstract

Activity-Based Costing (ABC) represents an alternative paradigm to traditional cost accounting system and has received extensive attention during the past decade. Rather than distorting the cost information by using traditional overhead allocation methods, it traces the cost via activities performed on the cost objects (production or service activities) giving more accurate and traceable cost information. In this paper, the implementation of ABC in a manufacturing system is presented, and a comparison with the traditional cost based system in terms of the effects on the product costs is carried out to highlight the difference between two costing methodologies. The results of the application reveal the weak points of traditional costing methods and an S-Curve which exposes the undercosted and overcosted products is used to improve the product pricing policy of the firm. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.