Cost Accounting — Core Concepts
Ten topics covering cost classification through budgeting. Click any card to expand.
Financial Accounting
- External reporting (investors, creditors, regulators)
- GAAP-required — mandatory format and disclosure
- Historical focus — what happened
- Quarterly and annual reports
- Income statement, balance sheet, cash flows
Cost Accounting
- Internal management use — no mandatory format
- Forward-looking — decision support
- Daily, weekly, monthly data as needed
- Product costs, budgets, variance reports
- Supports planning and control decisions
Key Questions Cost Accounting Answers
- What did it cost to make this product?
- Which products are most profitable?
- Where can we cut costs without sacrificing quality?
- How many units must we sell to break even?
- Should we make or buy this component?
Key tools: cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis, budgeting, variance analysis, job costing, process costing.
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