Activity Cost Pools and Cost Drivers: 동영상 및 연습문제

Activity cost pools are groups of overhead costs that are linked to specific activities within the production process. Instead of assigning overhead costs by department, activity-based costing organizes these costs based on activities such as setups, sewing, packaging machine usage, and quality inspections. Each cost pool represents the total overhead associated with a particular activity. This method allows for more precise allocation of overhead because it traces costs to the actual activities that cause them, rather than broadly spreading costs across departments. For example, if the setup activity requires \$180,000 in overhead, that amount is placed in the setup cost pool. This helps managers understand which activities consume resources and how costs behave in relation to those activities.

Activity cost drivers are factors that cause the cost of an activity to increase or decrease. They are used to allocate overhead costs more accurately by linking the cost pools to measurable activities. For example, the number of setups can be a cost driver for the setup activity, while direct labor hours might drive sewing costs. If the number of setups decreases, the overhead allocated to the setup cost pool should also decrease. Conversely, if direct labor hours increase, the sewing cost pool overhead might increase. By using cost drivers, companies can better understand the relationship between activities and costs, leading to more precise cost allocation and improved managerial decision-making.

Activity-based costing (ABC) is more precise because it allocates overhead costs based on actual activities that cause those costs, rather than broadly spreading costs across the entire plant or departments. Plant-wide overhead rates apply a single rate to all products, ignoring differences in how products consume resources. Departmental rates improve precision by allocating costs by department but still assume uniformity within departments. ABC breaks down overhead into multiple activity cost pools and uses specific cost drivers to assign costs, reflecting the true consumption of resources. This detailed approach helps managers identify costly activities and make better decisions to control overhead and improve profitability.

Activities included in activity cost pools are procedures or tasks that a company performs during production that consume overhead resources. Common examples include setups (preparing machines or processes), sewing (direct labor-related activities), packaging machine usage, and quality inspections. Additionally, building-related overhead such as rent, insurance, repairs, and security can be grouped into an occupancy cost pool. The key is that each activity represents a distinct process that drives overhead costs, allowing companies to assign costs more accurately based on the actual work performed.

Companies determine the amounts assigned to each activity cost pool by analyzing their total manufacturing overhead and then grouping these costs based on the activities that cause them. This involves identifying the overhead costs related to each activity and using activity cost drivers to allocate costs accordingly. For example, if the total overhead is \$600,000, a company might assign \$180,000 to setups, \$360,000 to sewing, \$20,000 to packaging machine usage, and \$40,000 to quality inspections. These amounts are not arbitrary; they are based on data such as the frequency of setups, labor hours, machine usage, or inspection counts, which reflect how resources are consumed by each activity.