The activity-based costing (ABC) system is a cost allocation technique which appears to have many benefits over the traditional costing systems. However, companies that have attempted to implement ABC have encountered various difficulties. Thus, there is a need to investigate the problems faced by companies while implementing ABC. The main objective of this study was to find solutions to overcome the problems encountered by South African companies during the implementation of an activity-based costing system.

Diss. Linköping : Univ., 2002.

The value of cost allocation comes from its initial purpose; decision support. In other words, cost allocation is considered a vital part of management, as it generates valuable information concerning efficiency and profitability. By applying Time Driven Activity Based Costing (TDABC) in a financial service company, this pilot study aims to learn from the consequences of the application, and discuss the lessons learned. The application resulted in a two-step allocation using Traditional Cost Allocation in the first step and TDABC in the final step, wherethe overhead cost of four support departments were allocated down to products. To build the model, interviews were conducted with personnel and internal documents were used. The application's most important lessons are thedifficultyofidentifying and measuring activities, the model’s requirement of high-quality data and the complexity of the capacity measures.

No description available.

No description available.

<p>Bakgrund: Dagens industriföretag har ägnat mycket tid och tankeverksamhet åt att förbättra produktiviteten men i regel betydligt mindre till att beräkna enskilda produkters kostnader. Allt högre krav ställs på en kundanpassad produktion med differentierade produkter. Produkternas heterogenitet innebär även heterogen resursförbrukning och det gör det svårt att veta vilka kostnader en produkt verkligen orsakar. Inom ABC är det kostnadsdrivarens uppgift att koppla samman resursförbrukningen med produkterna. Valet av kostnadsdrivare kan ge stora effekter på produktens kostnad och visa att produkter som tidigare betraktas som lönsamma säljs med förlust.</p><p>Syfte: Syftet är att beskriva och analysera problematiken kring val av kostnadsdrivare.</p><p>Genomförande: En fallstudie har genomförts kring val av kostnadsdrivare vid Swedish Tissue.</p><p>Resultat: Det finns inga optimala kostnadsdrivare utan en komplex avvägning med kalkylens syfte i bakhuvudet krävs. Riktlinjen bör inte vara perfekt kausalitet utan minimering av totalkostnaden. Denna består av mätkostnad för kostnadsdrivaren och felkostnad orsakad av beslut baserade på kalkyler med brister i beroende på valet av kostnadsdrivare. Hänsyn måste även tas till beteendeeffekter som kostnadsdrivare medför, vilka kan vara avgörande. En avvägning måste göras mellan variablerna mätkostnad, felkostnad och beteendeeffekter men det är kontexten; företagets struktur, informationssystem och strategi, som avgör komplexiteten. I uppsatsen utvecklas en modell för att analysera totalkostnaden vid valet av kostnadsdrivare där de tre variablerna står i fokus.</p><p>Vid ledig kapacitet måste företag ha klart för sig hur de ska hantera kostnaden för denna innan valet av kostnadsdrivare sker, då valet kan påverka kalkylens lämplighet som styrningsverktyg. En analysmodell utvecklas med syftet att fungera som stöd vid beslutsfattande om hur ledig kapacitet skall hanteras.</p><p>Diskussionen kring problematiken vid ledig kapacitet bör kunna generaliseras till alla företag med ledig kapacitet allra helst företag i process- och tillverkningsindustrin. Problematiken som diskuteras med hjälp analysmodell II bör vara giltig, om än av olika vikt, för alla företag som använder sig av kostnadsdrivare men kanske även för alla som överhuvudtaget använder sig av kostnadsfördelning oavsett kalkylmetod.</p> / <p>Background: Today’s industrial concerns have devoted considerable time and attention to improve productivity, but usually significantly less to calculate individual product costs. The demand for customised production with differentiated products is continuously increasing. The product heterogeneity also leads to heterogenic resource consumption, which makes it hard to determine what costs a product causes. In ABC the cost driver’s function is to link the resource consumption with the products. The choice of cost drivers can have large effects on the product’s costs and reveal that products previously regarded profitable are sold with a loss.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose is to describe and analyse the difficulties regarding choice of cost drivers.</p><p>Completion: A case study concerning the choice of cost drivers has been carried out at Swedish Tissue.</p><p>Result: There are no optimal cost drivers. A complex assessment of the pros and cons has to be performed with the costing systems purpose taken into account. Perfect causality should not serve a guideline bur rather to minimize total cost. It includes the cost driver’s cost of measurement and cost of errors caused by decisions based on product costing systems allocating costs poorly caused by the choice of cost driver. Behavioural effects resulting from the choice must also be considered as they can be decisive. An assessment of these three variables has to be conducted, but it is the context, the company structure, the information system and the strategy that determines the complexity. A model for analysing total cost when choosing cost drivers has been developed, in which the three variables are in focus.</p><p>In case of free capacity companies must know how to handle its cost prior to choosing cost drivers. The choice can affect the appropriateness of the product costing system as a tool for management control. A model has been developed with the purpose to assist in decision making situation regarding handling of free capacity.</p><p>The discussion concerning free capacity difficulties should be possible to generalise to all companies with free capacity, but primarily to companies within the processing and manufacturing industries. The difficulties discussed by means of analysis model II should be valid, however of different importance, to all companies using cost drivers, but probably also for companies in general that practice cost allocation regardless of cost system</p>

Bakgrund: Dagens industriföretag har ägnat mycket tid och tankeverksamhet åt att förbättra produktiviteten men i regel betydligt mindre till att beräkna enskilda produkters kostnader. Allt högre krav ställs på en kundanpassad produktion med differentierade produkter. Produkternas heterogenitet innebär även heterogen resursförbrukning och det gör det svårt att veta vilka kostnader en produkt verkligen orsakar. Inom ABC är det kostnadsdrivarens uppgift att koppla samman resursförbrukningen med produkterna. Valet av kostnadsdrivare kan ge stora effekter på produktens kostnad och visa att produkter som tidigare betraktas som lönsamma säljs med förlust. Syfte: Syftet är att beskriva och analysera problematiken kring val av kostnadsdrivare. Genomförande: En fallstudie har genomförts kring val av kostnadsdrivare vid Swedish Tissue. Resultat: Det finns inga optimala kostnadsdrivare utan en komplex avvägning med kalkylens syfte i bakhuvudet krävs. Riktlinjen bör inte vara perfekt kausalitet utan minimering av totalkostnaden. Denna består av mätkostnad för kostnadsdrivaren och felkostnad orsakad av beslut baserade på kalkyler med brister i beroende på valet av kostnadsdrivare. Hänsyn måste även tas till beteendeeffekter som kostnadsdrivare medför, vilka kan vara avgörande. En avvägning måste göras mellan variablerna mätkostnad, felkostnad och beteendeeffekter men det är kontexten; företagets struktur, informationssystem och strategi, som avgör komplexiteten. I uppsatsen utvecklas en modell för att analysera totalkostnaden vid valet av kostnadsdrivare där de tre variablerna står i fokus. Vid ledig kapacitet måste företag ha klart för sig hur de ska hantera kostnaden för denna innan valet av kostnadsdrivare sker, då valet kan påverka kalkylens lämplighet som styrningsverktyg. En analysmodell utvecklas med syftet att fungera som stöd vid beslutsfattande om hur ledig kapacitet skall hanteras. Diskussionen kring problematiken vid ledig kapacitet bör kunna generaliseras till alla företag med ledig kapacitet allra helst företag i process- och tillverkningsindustrin. Problematiken som diskuteras med hjälp analysmodell II bör vara giltig, om än av olika vikt, för alla företag som använder sig av kostnadsdrivare men kanske även för alla som överhuvudtaget använder sig av kostnadsfördelning oavsett kalkylmetod. / Background: Today’s industrial concerns have devoted considerable time and attention to improve productivity, but usually significantly less to calculate individual product costs. The demand for customised production with differentiated products is continuously increasing. The product heterogeneity also leads to heterogenic resource consumption, which makes it hard to determine what costs a product causes. In ABC the cost driver’s function is to link the resource consumption with the products. The choice of cost drivers can have large effects on the product’s costs and reveal that products previously regarded profitable are sold with a loss. Purpose: The purpose is to describe and analyse the difficulties regarding choice of cost drivers. Completion: A case study concerning the choice of cost drivers has been carried out at Swedish Tissue. Result: There are no optimal cost drivers. A complex assessment of the pros and cons has to be performed with the costing systems purpose taken into account. Perfect causality should not serve a guideline bur rather to minimize total cost. It includes the cost driver’s cost of measurement and cost of errors caused by decisions based on product costing systems allocating costs poorly caused by the choice of cost driver. Behavioural effects resulting from the choice must also be considered as they can be decisive. An assessment of these three variables has to be conducted, but it is the context, the company structure, the information system and the strategy that determines the complexity. A model for analysing total cost when choosing cost drivers has been developed, in which the three variables are in focus. In case of free capacity companies must know how to handle its cost prior to choosing cost drivers. The choice can affect the appropriateness of the product costing system as a tool for management control. A model has been developed with the purpose to assist in decision making situation regarding handling of free capacity. The discussion concerning free capacity difficulties should be possible to generalise to all companies with free capacity, but primarily to companies within the processing and manufacturing industries. The difficulties discussed by means of analysis model II should be valid, however of different importance, to all companies using cost drivers, but probably also for companies in general that practice cost allocation regardless of cost system

Energy policies in favor of a larger adoption of renewable energy sources for electricity production purposes and the significant progress of several renewable technologies are among the main drivers behind an increasing integration of distributed generation (DG) in distribution networks. DG affects distribution network planning and operation and, consequently, higher or lower network costs than in a traditional passive network scenario arise. Two main complementary tools for an efficient integration of DG have been identified in this thesis: (i) a sound economic regulation of Distribution System Operators (DSOs) for taking into account DG-driven potential costs and accordingly remunerating DSOs, and (ii) network tariff design, in order to allocate network costs and re-distribute potential benefits to different grid users. Distribution economic regulations vary from country to country with grid characteristics and regulatory customs. In order for Regulators to promote the integration of DG units according to policy objectives, the potential impact of DG on the different distribution costs needs to be analyzed and quantitatively assessed: in this thesis, these objectives are achieved by using a novel model that combines the technical characteristics of distribution grids with the regulatory details specific of each regulation. Once computed, DSOs' total allowed revenue is allocated to different users' categories according to the adopted tariff structures. This thesis focuses on the challenges arising within the traditional paradigm of distribution tariff design when an increasing amount of DG is connected to the grids. In particular, the consequences of DG exemption from distribution tariffs and the application of load-tailored tariff schemes to DG are investigated, both from a qualitative and quantitative point of view; cross subsidies between consumers and DG owners are computed by applying a cost causality principle. / <p>The Doctoral Degrees issued upon completion of the programme are issued by Comillas Pontifical University, Delft University of Technology and KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The invested degrees are official in Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden, respectively. QC 20151009</p>

Samverkan mellan olika fastigheter kan vara centralt för att skapa ändamålsenliga fastigheter. Samverkan kan exempelvis ske genom bildandet av gemensamhetsanläggning bestående av väg som tillgodoser behov för flera fastigheter. När en gemensamhetsanläggning bildas ska kostnader för anläggningens utförande respektive drift fördelas genom andelstal. Ett andelstal kan avse hela gemensamhetsanläggningen eller del av gemensamhetsanläggningen. När olika andelstal avser olika delar av gemensamhetsanläggningen är gemensamhetsanläggningen sektionsindelad. Sektionsindelning är rent lagtekniskt möjligt men har lyfts fram som olämpligt i många sammanhang av flera källor, vilket gör det viktigt att studera. Syftet med denna studie var därför att beskriva användandet av sektionsindelning utifrån förrättningslantmätarens och ett rättsligt perspektiv. Studien syfte besvarades med hjälp av fyra frågeställningar. Frågeställningarna besvarades med hjälp av två metoder. För det första användes en juridisk metod där lagen, förarbeten, rättsfall och doktrin undersöktes. För det andra genomfördes en intervjustudie där sex förrättningslantmätare intervjuades. Resultatet från den juridiska metoden pekar på svårigheter i den senare förvaltningen som ett av huvudskälen till att sektionsindelning inte används i så stor utsträckning. Vägar är den typ av anläggning som sektionsindelning är mest lämplig för. Resultatet från intervjustudien visar att förrättningslantmätare i större utsträckning använder sektionsindelning för utförandeandelstalen än driftandelstalen. Samtidigt spelar ett antal faktorer in om sektionsindelning används eller inte som storleken på kostnader och relationen mellan de medverkade i gemensamhetsanläggningen. Samtidigt pekar resultat mot att sektionsindelning för olika kostnadsslag inte används i så stor utsträckning. / Collaboration between different properties can be central for creating suitable properties. Collaboration may be through the creation of joint facilities that for example meets the real estates need of roads. Once formed the costs for a joint facilities operation and execution must be divided among its members. These costs are distributed through the awarding of "shared numbers" (andelstal). Shared numbers may refer to the whole joint facility or a part of the joint facility. When shared numbers refer to a part of the joint facility the facility is divided into sections, which is called sectiondivision. Sectiondivision is made possible by the way the law is formulated but has been highlighted as inappropriate in many contexts by multiple sources, making it important to study. The purpose of this study was to describe the use of sectiondivision based on cadastral surveyor’s perspective and a legal perspective. The purpose of this study was answered with the help of four questions. The questions were answered by two methods. Firstly, a legal method was used in which the law, preliminary work of the law, legal cases and doctrine was examined. Secondly, interviews where conducted with six cadastral surveyors. The results of the legal method indicate that difficulties in the latter management of the joint facility are one of the main reasons why sectiondivision should not be used as much. Roads are the type of facility that sectiondivision is most suitable for. The results from the interviews show that cadastral surveyors are making greater use of sections of execution than sections of operation. A number of factors are central for the use of sectiondivision. The size of the joint facility is one important factor. Another is the relations between the participants in the joint facility. Sectiondivision for different types of costs are not used in a wide extent.

Several Swedish sawmill groups have recently developed product-costing systems to possibly compensate for diminishing production knowledge in recently centralized market organizations. The concept of product costs is challenging in sawmilling, since production is of a joint type – each log typically yields many products. The newly developed costing systems rely on traditional accounting-based methods and are of little use in decision-making because the resulting cost figures do not normally estimate actual cost changes. This thesis develops an alternative, theoretically defendable method based on linear programming, and tests it on a pine sawmill. Computer simulations are compared with traditional methods, and to analyze the effects of managing the salesmen by the product costs of the suggested method. The thesis relies on the joint-cost accounting discourse from the 1980s, which was abandoned before any essential application was found. This application has now been found through changes in the sawmill industry, and the discourse is here revived practically and theoretically. The sawmills are modeled with relative capacity restrictions and with constraints on the flexibility of their timber supply. Sales decisions based on product costs from the suggested method seem to successively improve company profit. To be successful, the product costs have to be recalculated regularly. Analyses indicate that with flexibility in purchasing timber and a low cost difference between buying scarce products and selling surplus products externally, the necessary length of the recalculation period and the usefulness of the suggested method both increase markedly.