Activity-based costing on the example of prune-drying company

Abstract

This paper examines the possibility of application of the activity-based costing in a company engaged in drying fruit. Activity Based Costing (ABC) was developed due to the shortcomings of traditional cost accounting systems, which was shown to have serious limitations, on one hand, and due to the need for more accurate cost price, on the other. This is of great importance for business decision making, which requires quality data and information, because the intense technical and technological progress has significantly altered the environment companies operate in. Along with this fact, major changes in cost structure occurred, which reflected through the increase of the indirect cost portion, and decrease of direct labor and material costs. Traditional cost accounting methods allocate indirect production costs using keys which are no longer appropriate for the new circumstances, and therefore typically allocate unreasonably high amount of indirect costs to those products which are produced in larger series. ABC cost accounting system firstly allocates indirect costs to pre-defined activities, and afterwards carries them to cost and profit drivers. The application of ABC costing in Serbia is at the very beginning. Having in mind that the privatization and the restructuring phase in the economy is followed by the establishment of a new management with fresh ideas, this can be a good timing for companies to introduce modern approach and modern methods of cost accounting. ABC method is very convenient for application in service companies, food processing industry, confectionery companies, driers, sugar refineries, breweries, dairies, mills etc.