In an administratively regulated economy, one of the main tasks of accountants was to compile information on production costs and identify the cost of products as a basis for establishing their prices. In cost planning, the principle of accounting for the total cost was used, which was reflected in the preparation of planned estimates in the context of cost items. Currently, demand, supply and price are the main factors in regulating market relations. This fact cannot be ignored, since it is on it that profit-making by business entities and their further economic development depend. In this regard, it seems appropriate to use the calculation of profitability of products, which is used in countries with developed markets.
In the cost structure of modern industrial enterprises, overhead costs - from 30 to 40% of all material and labor costs, acquire an increasing share. With the growth of the technical equipment of enterprises, the automation of the production and management process, the introduction of advanced technologies, as well as the development of international relations, overheads have undergone significant structural changes. New analytical cost items appeared, their cost potential increased, with a tendency to further increase. All this significantly changes the methods governing the calculation of profitability in accounting.
In accordance with the Methodological recommendations in industrial organizations, general business expenses are recommended to be attributed to the cost of certain types of products in direct proportion to:
- salary expenses;
- marginal income;
- direct costs;
- the sum of the basic salary and general production expenses;
- the volume of planned production in actual prices;
- estimated rates.
Enterprises can apply other methods, taking into account the specifics of their production and differences in structure, with their showing in the accounting policies of the organization. Currently, most industrial organizations use such a calculation of return on assets in which one of the two most economically sound distribution methods is used to distribute variable (overhead) expenses:
- in proportion to the sum of the basic salary and general production expenses;
- in proportion to salary expenses.
Recently, the methodology for their distribution in proportion to direct costs has also been used. In the conditions of the normative method , normative (estimated) rates are widely used. All of these techniques, which are used to calculate profitability, depend on the type of expenses and distribution goals. For example, overhead costs (ODA) are distributed according to one methodology, general expenses (OXR) - according to others.
Cost sharing helps to solve at least three problems:
- stimulate the need for reimbursement of indirect costs;
- to intensify the use of financial and economic reserves and savings;
- stimulate the managers of profit centers to strengthen control over the costs of services.
The decision criterion in this case is the achieved profitability result; justice; profitability.
In each individual case, for example, where it is necessary to calculate the profitability of a project for a specific economic undertaking, it is advisable to distinguish the following stages of the distribution of x costs:
- selection of objects for which costs are related;
- determination and summation of costs attributable to facilities.
- determination of the distribution base for the ratio of all collected costs with accounting objects.
- determination of overhead ratios by dividing the dependent variable by an independent one.
- allocation of expenses to a specific object.
At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the imperfection of the coefficients of the distribution of costs are manifested in the following:
- monthly expense ratios may be distorted in individual months;
- individual indirect costs change monthly;
- output is subject to monthly fluctuations.
Therefore, at present, in the accounting of many organizations in forecasted calculations, where the main content is the calculation of profitability and costing of production costs , a new (market) indicator has appeared - marginal income. In the conditions of the development of a market economy, when economists should clearly control the profitability of each product, the most economically competent method of cost allocation is precisely this - marginal.
In foreign accounting, such a technique is recommended by standards and is widely used in practice. In particular, when using marginal costing in the organization of cost accounting, the classification of costs into variables and fixed is used. In this case, the actual production cost and profitability are determined only by variable costs, and therefore they are presented in truncated form, and fixed costs in the total amount are charged to sales accounts and participate in determining the cost of sales. The difference between variable cost revenue and cost is marginal revenue. Subtracting fixed costs from marginal income determines the profit from sales and profitability.