Activity-Based Costing (ABC)

A costing method that assigns overhead and indirect costs to specific activities and then to products/services.

  • Why it matters: Traditional costing often distorts costs by using generic drivers (like labor hours).
  • Cost Drivers: Factors that cause the cost of an activity to increase (e.g., number of setups, machine hours).
  • Process: Identify activities Assign costs to activity pools Determine cost drivers Assign costs to products.