Activity-Based Costing Making It Work for Small and Mid-Sized Companies

The hype and benefits of Activity-Based Costing have been difficult and expensive for small and medium-sized businesses to realize. This practical, do-it-yourself guide shows how both manufacturing and service companies can implement ABC without the expense of an outside consultant and without dismantling their current cost information systems.

Practical, easy-to-follow ABC guidelines for small and mid-sized businesses

Incorporating activity-based costing (ABC) concepts into your business without relying on the usual complex ABC jargon can be a daunting task-even for the most experienced accountant. In Activity-Based Costing: Making It Work for Small and Mid-Sized Companies, professional accountant Douglas Hicks shows you how to sharpen your competitive edge while bringing you the "total package" of cost information-not just the computational elements. Using an approach developed while solving problems for small and mid-sized companies, Hicks has created a reader-friendly, comprehensive narrative covering every aspect of the ABC industry, including step-by-step instructions for building a cost accumulation and distribution model for any size business. With examples taken from Fortune 1000 companies, readers will find a wealth of information on ABC features, including:
* The logic behind ABC and its cost flow-down steps
* How to get the maximum benefits from ABC for your small or mid-sized business
* Case studies on emerging cost flow-down structures
* The most appropriate ways to change to multiple costing rates and bases
* Using ABC to perform "what if" analyses
* The danger of measuring costs using generally accepted accounting principles
* Applying decision costing and long-term contracts to your business

If your company is looking to dramatically improve its current cost information systems, this book is a must-read. You can have that crucial competitive edge. Activity-Based Costing: Making It Work for Small and Mid-Sized Companies will show you how.

* A practical, cost-effective guide to ABC for small to medium companies.
* Identifies the key cost related issues in organizations and shows how to develop a cost-flow structure that reflects the organization's cost behavior.
* Feature an ongoing case study throughout the book documents the model-building process.
* Provides a spreadsheet model blueprint that details data flows.
* Shows how a cost model of an organization can be developed using basic spreadsheet software on a PC.