Dr.

Rana Singh
www.ranasingh.org
1. BY NATURE OR ELEMENT
MATERIAL COST
Cost of materials used for the manufacture of a product,
a particular work order, or provision of a service.
Example: Cloth for making a dress, stores used for
maintaining machines and buildings such as lubricants,
cotton waste, bricks etc.
LABOUR COST
Labour cost is defined as the total expenditure
borne by employers in order to employ workers.
Labour costs include the direct costs linked to
remuneration for work carried out such as direct
remuneration, bonuses and ex gratia payments not paid
at each pay period, payments for days not worked,
severance pay, benefits in kind. They also include
indirect costs linked to employees, independently of the
remuneration paid by the employer, such as direct
social benefits, vocational training costs and so on.
EXPENSES
Expense is defined as money expended or cost incurred
in a firm's efforts to generate revenue, representing cost
of doing business. They may be in the form of actual
cash payments (such as wages and salaries), a computed
'expired' portion (depreciation) of an asset, or an
amount taken out of the firm's earnings (such as bad
debts).
Whereas all expenses are costs, not all costs (such as
those incurred in acquisition of income generating
assets) are expenses.
2. BY FUNCTIONS
PRODUCTION COST
The cost of the sequence of operations which begins
with supplying materials, labour and services and ends
with primary packing of the product. Thus it includes
the cost of direct materials, direct labour, direct
expenses and factory overheads.
SELLING COST
The cost seeking to create and stimulate demand
(sometimes termed ‘marketing’) and of securing orders.
DISTRIBUTION COST
The cost of the sequence of operations which begins
with making the packed product available for dispatch
and ends with making the reconditioned returned
empty package, if any available for re-use.
It also includes expenditure incurred in transporting
articles to central or local storage as well as in moving
articles to and from prospective customers as in case of
goods on sale or return basis. In gas, electricity and
water industry distribution means pipes, mains and
services which may be regarded as the equivalent of
packing and transportation.
ADMINISTRATIVE COST
The cost of formulating the policy, directing the
organization and controlling the operations of an
undertaking which is not related directly to a
production, selling & distribution, research or
development activity or function.
RESEARCH COST
The cost of researching for new or improved products,
new applications of materials, or improved methods.
DEVELOPMENT COST
The cost of the process which begins with the
implementation of a decision to produce a new or
improved product or to employ a new or improved
method and ends with commencement of formal
production of that product or by that method.
PRE-PRODUCTION COST
The part of development cost incurred in making a trial
production run preliminary to formal product.
This term is sometimes used to cover all activities prior
to production including Research & Development, but
in such cases the usage should be made clear in the
context
CONVERSION COST
The sum of direct wages, direct expenses and overhead
cost of converting raw materials to the finished stage or
converting a material from one stage of production to
the next.
In some cases this also includes any excess material cost
or loss of material incurred at the particular stage of
production.
PRODUCT COST
These are inventoriable cost. These are the costs which
are assigned to the product. Under marginal costing
variable manufacturing cost and under absorption
costing, total manufacturing cost constitutes product
cost.
3. BY IDENTIFIABLY
DIRECT COST
The expenses on material and labour economically and
easily traceable to a product, service or job are
considered as direct costs. In the process of
manufacture or production of articles, materials are
purchased, labourers are employed and the wages are
paid to them, certain other expenses are also incurred
directly. Since all these take an active and direct part in
the manufacture of a particular commodity, hence are
called direct costs.
Example: Cost of meat in a burger
INDIRECT COST
The expenses incurred on those items which are not
directly chargeable to production are known as indirect
costs. Example: In production, salaries of timekeepers,
storekeepers, foremen are paid, certain expenses for
running the administration are incurred. All of these
cannot be conveniently allocated to production and
hence are called indirect costs.
4. BY VARIABILITY
FIXED COST
The cost which does not vary but remains constant
within a given period of time and range of activity in
spite of the fluctuations in production, is known as
fixed cost. Example: rent, insurance of factory buildings
etc. remain the same for different levels of production.
VARIABLE COST
These costs tend to vary with the volume of output.
Any increase in the volume of production results in an
increase in the variable cost and vice versa.
Example: cost of material, cost of labour etc.
Semi-variable Cost
The cost which does not vary proportionately but
simultaneously cannot remain stationery at all times is
known as semi variable cost. It can also be called as
semi-fixed cost.
Example: Depreciation, repairs etc.
STEP COSTS
Fixed cost can be further classified into committed fixed
costs and discretionary fixed costs.
 Committed fixed costs are unavoidable in the short
term if the organization has to function. Examples are
depreciation, rent, pay etc,
 Discretionary fixed costs are those which are set at a
fixed amount for specific time periods by management .
Examples are research and development costs,
advertisement and market research expenses
STEP COSTS
Certain costs remain fixed over a range of activity and
then jump to a new level as activity changes. Such costs
are treated as “Step Costs”.
Example: A foreman is in a position to supervise a given
number of employees. Beyond this number it will be
necessary to hire a second then a third and so on.
5. BY CONTROLLABILITY
CONTROLLABLE COSTS
These are the costs which can be influenced by the
action of a specified member of an undertaking. A
business organization is usually divided into a number
of responsibility centres and each centre is headed by
an executive. The executive can thus control the costs
incurred in that particular responsibility centre.
UNCONTROLLABLE COSTS
Costs which cannot be influenced by the action of a
specified member of an undertaking.
Example: Expenditure incurred by the tool room is
controllable by the foreman in charge of that section
but the share of the tool room expenditure which is
apportioned to a machine shop is not to be controlled
by the machine shop foreman.
6. BY NORMALITY
NORMAL COSTS
It is the cost which is normally incurred at a given level
of output under the conditions in which that level of
output is normally attained.

ABNORMAL COSTS
It is the cost which is not normally incurred at a given
level of output in the conditions in which that level of
output is normally attained. This is charged to Costing
P&L A/c
7. OTHER COSTS
 Product Costs and Period Costs
Decision making Costs and Accounting Costs
Relevant and Irrelevant Costs
Shutdown and Sunk Costs
Avoidable / Escapable and Unavoidable / Inescapable
Imputed or Hypothetical Costs
Differential, Incremental or Decremental Cost
Out of Pocket Costs
Opportunity Cost
Traceable, Untraceable Costs
Joint Costs and Common Costs
PRODUCT COSTS
Costs which become part of the cost of the product
rather than an expense of the period in which they are
incurred are called as “Product Costs”. In financial
statements such costs are treated as assets until the
goods they are assigned to are sold. They become an
expense at that time. These costs may be fixed as well as
variable.
Example: Cost of raw materials and direct wages,
depreciation on plant & equipment etc.
PERIOD COSTS
Costs which are not associated with production are
called “Period Costs”. They are treated as an expense of
the period in which they are incurred. They may also be
fixed as well as variable. Such costs include General
Administration costs, Salesman salaries and
commission, depreciation on office facilities etc. They
are charged against the revenue of the relevant period.
DECISION MAKING COSTS
These are special purpose costs that are applicable only
in the situation in which they are compiled. They have
no universal application. They need not tie into routine
financial accounts. They do not and should not conform
to the accounting rules.
ACCOUNTING COSTS
These costs are compiled primarily from financial
statements. They have to be altered before they can be
used for decision making. Moreover they are historical
costs and show what has happened under an existing
set of circumstances, while decision making costs are
future costs.
Example: Accounting costs may show the cost of the
product when the operations are manual, while
decision making costs might be calculated to show the
costs when the operations are mechanised.
RELEVANT & IRRELEVANT COST
Relevant costs are those costs which would be changed
by the managerial decision, while irrelevant costs are
those which would not be affected by the decision.
Example: If a manufacturer is considering closing down
of an unprofitable retail sales shop, wages payable to
the workers of the shop are relevant in this connection
since they will disappear on closing down of the shop.
But prepaid rent for the shop or unrecovered costs of
any equipment which will have to be scrapped, will be
irrelevant costs which must be ignored.
SHUTDOWN COSTS
A manufacturer or an organization rendering service
may have to suspend its operations for a period on
account of some temporary difficulties such as shortage
of raw materials, non availability of labour etc. During
this period though no work is done yet certain fixed
costs such as rent and insurance of buildings,
depreciation etc. for the entire plant will have to be
incurred. Such costs of the idle plant are known as shut
down costs.
SUNK COSTS
These are costs which have been created by a decision
that was made in the past that cannot be changed by
any decision that will be made in the future. Investment
in plant & machinery are prime examples of such costs.
Since sunk costs cannot be altered by later decisions,
they are irrelevant for decision making.
EXAMPLE 1
ABC Ltd. Purchased a machine for Rs. 30,000 with an
operating life of 5 years and no scrap value. Soon after
making the purchase the management of ABC Ltd.
Feels that the machine should not have been purchased
since it cannot yield the operating advantage originally
contemplated. It is expected to result in saving in
operating costs of Rs. 18,000 over a period of 5 years.
The machine can be sold immediately for a sum of Rs.
22,000.
SOLUTION 1
In taking the decision whether the machine should be
sold or be used, the relevant amounts to be compared
are Rs. 18,000 in cost savings over 5 years and Rs. 22,000
that can be realized in case it is immediately disposed
off. Rs. 30,000 invested in the asset is not relevant since
it is the same in both the cases. The amount is the sunk
cost. ABC Ltd. Should therefore sell the machinery for
Rs. 22,000 since it will result in an extra profit of
Rs.4,000 as compared to keeping and using it.
AVOIDABLE AND
UNAVOIDABLE
Avoidable costs are those which will be eliminated if a
segment of the business with which they are directly
related is discontinued. Unavoidable costs are those
which will not be eliminated with the segment. Such
costs are merely reallocated if the segment is
discontinued.
Example: In case a product is discontinued, salary of the
factory manager or factory rent cannot be eliminated. It
will simply mean that certain other products will have
to absorb a higher amount of such overheads. However
salary of clerks or bad debts traceable to the product
would be eliminated.
IMPUTED OR HYPOTHETICAL COSTS
These are costs which do not involve any cash outlay.
They are not included in cost accounts but are
important for taking into consideration while making
management decisions.
Examples: Interest on internally generated funds,
salaries of the proprietor or partner of a partnership
firm, rented value of company’s own property etc.
When two projects require unequal outlays of cash, the
management must take into consideration interest on
capital for judging the relative profitability of the
projects though the company may use internally
generated funds for the purpose.
DIFFERENTIAL COSTS
The difference in total costs between two alternatives is
termed as ‘differential costs’. In case the choice of an
alternative results in increase in total costs, such
increase in costs is known as ‘incremental costs.’ In
case the choice results in decrease in total costs, such
decrease in total costs is termed as ‘decremental costs’.
While assessing the profitability of a proposed change
the incremental costs are matched with incremental
revenue and vice versa. The proposed change is taken
only when it is profitable.
OUT-OF-POCKET COST
This means the present or future cash expenditure
regarding a certain decision which varies depending
upon the nature of decision made.
Example: A company has its own trucks for transporting
raw materials and finished products from one place to
another. It seeks to replace these trucks by employment
of public carrier of goods. In making this decision of
course , the depreciation of the trucks is not to be
considered, but the management must take into
account the present expenditure on fuel, salary to
drivers and maintenance. Such costs are termed as out-
of-pocket expenses.
OPPORTUNITY COST
This cost refers to the advantage, in measurable terms,
which has been foregone on account of not using the
facilities in the manner originally planned.
Example: If an owned building is proposed to be
utilized for housing a new project plant, the likely
revenue which the building could fetch if rented out is
the opportunity cost which should be taken into
account while evaluating the profitability of the project.
TRACEABLE OR UNTRACEABLE COSTS
Costs which can be easily identified with a department,
process or product are termed as traceable costs.
Example: the cost of direct material, direct labour etc.
Costs which cannot be so identified are termed as
untraceable or common costs.
In other words common costs are costs incurred
collectively for a number of cost centres and are to be
suitably apportioned for determining the cost of
individual cost centres. Example: overheads incurred
for a factory as a whole etc.
JOINT COSTS
These are a sort of common costs. When two or more
products are produced out of one and the same material
or process, the costs of such material or process are
called joint costs.
Example: When cotton seeds and cotton fibre are
produced from the same raw materials, the cost
incurred till split off or separation point will be joint
costs.
COMMON COSTS
Common costs are those which are incurred for more
than one product, job, territory or any other specific
costing unit. They are not capable of being identified
with individual product, and are therefore apportioned
on a suitable basis.
Example: Rent, lighting and supervision costs are
common costs to all departments located in the factory.