What is Process Costing?

Process costing is the only reasonable approach to determining product costs in many industries. It uses most of the same journal entries found in a job costing environment, so there is no need to restructure the chart of accounts to any significant degree. This makes it easy to switch over to a job costing system from a process costing one if the need arises, or to adopt a hybrid approach that uses portions of both systems. Process costing deals with the flow of units and costs through several stages or operations. As such, when the homogeneous products are produced through continuous process, a process costing system is usually appropriate. All the input units cannot be converted into finished products in all the processes for a specified period.

It is a crucial tool for manufacturers to calculate costs accurately and make informed pricing, inventory management, and profitability decisions. Process costing is an essential tool for businesses that operate in the manufacturing industry. It provides a comprehensive way to determine the cost of producing goods by calculating the expenses incurred in every step of the production process. Process costing is an accounting method deployed when there is mass production of similar products by collecting and assigning manufacturing costs to the units produced.

Process Costing in Manufacturing: Definition, Types, and Example

In the previous page, we discussed the physical flow of units (step 1) and how to calculate equivalent units of production (step 2) under the weighted average method. We will continue the discussion under the weighted average method and calculate a cost per equivalent unit. These costs (both direct and indirect) include the cost of the WIP inventory at the beginning of the period and the period’s costs. We apply these over the inventory produced in the period and the equivalent units of the WIP at the end of the period.

In these situations, process costing can provide an accurate calculation of the cost of production per unit. Costing is an important process that many companies engage in to keep track of where their money is being spent in the production and distribution processes. Understanding these costs is the first step in being able to control them. It is very important that a company chooses the appropriate type of costing system for their product type and industry.

Process Costing in Manufacturing: Definition, Types, and Examples – Conclusion

Rock City Percussion makes 8,000 hickory sticks per day, four days each week. The sticks made of maple and birch are manufactured on the fifth day of the week. It is difficult to tell the first drumstick made on Monday from the 32,000th one made on Thursday, so a computer matches the sticks in pairs based on the tone produced.

Knowing your cost of goods manufactured is vital for a good overview of production costs and how they relate to the bottom line. COGM also allows management to identify cash drains, adjust prices, and track the development of the business. Thus, in the process cost accounting system, the cost is determined for completed production and work-in-progress also. Hence, process costing is termed as operations costing, which applies where standardized goods are produced in large volume with continuous flow of production. The Equivalent Unit concept has to do with costs incurred, in the form of materials, labor and overhead.

Departmental Accounting – Definition, Objectives, Methods, and Advantages

The widgets then move to the trimming department for further work, and these per-unit costs will be carried along with the widgets into that department, where additional costs will be added. At many companies, a different department handles each stage in the production process. Each department prepares a report that details its direct materials, direct labor and manufacturing overhead costs. The company then aggregates these reports to analyze total product cost. Each department performs a different function and can be considered its own little business or mini-factory. As such, each department adds its own direct materials, direct labor, and factory overhead costs.

• Process costing requires significant time and resources to implement and maintain.
• Management accountants may also leave out production costs and create under-costed products.
• In job order cost production, the costs can be directly traced to the job, and the job cost sheet contains the total expenses for that job.
• The expenses of every department’s direct material, production overhead, and manufacturing overhead are included in a report that is created.
• Add up all production-related expenses, including those for direct materials and conversion.
• We can use several methods to calculate the total incurred costs and produced units during the period.

This becomes the raw material of the subsequent stage until the final stage of completion. To allocate the accumulated materials, labour and factory overhead costs to process cost centers. All the items of process costing i.e. materials, labour and overheads are collected in process wise. This step shows that 3,000 units were in WIP inventory on May 1 and 6,000 units were started during May.

Better Inventory Management

Contrarily, job costing keeps track of every item’s or project’s total direct and indirect expenses. This is most frequently utilized by businesses that offer customized goods or services and charge separately for each of them. Companies that mass produce a product allocate the costs to each department and use process costing. For example, General Mills uses process costing for its cereal, pasta, baking products, and pet foods. Job order systems are custom orders because the cost of the direct material and direct labor are traced directly to the job being produced. Manufacturing departments are often organized by the various stages of the production process.

Additionally, it helps businesses to focus on the price of every stage of the production process and, if required, seek methods to cut costs. Process costing may take a lot of time, and it can be challenging to precisely allocate manufacturing costs to each production stage and to products that are still being worked on. Process costing and job costing are the two primary ways to calculate the price of every product. Process costing is especially helpful in companies that create similar goods in large quantities and find it difficult to track the expenses of every individual product throughout the manufacturing process.