4.1 Distinguish between Job Order Costing and Process Costing
2 min read•june 18, 2024
and are two key approaches to tracking production costs. is used for unique, customized products, accumulating costs for each job separately. is used for standardized products made in continuous processes, accumulating costs by department or process.
These costing methods differ in how they track and assign costs. Job order costing uses and traces costs directly to specific jobs. Process costing averages costs over total units produced in each process. Understanding these approaches helps managers choose the right method for their production environment.
Job Order Costing vs Process Costing
Characteristics of costing systems
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Job order costing
Tracks costs for unique, customized products or services (, )
Accumulates costs separately for each individual job or
Fits companies with diverse product lines or customer-specific orders (, )
Process costing
Tracks costs for homogeneous, standardized products manufactured in a continuous process (, )
Accumulates costs for each process or department over a specific time period
Fits companies with mass production of similar products (, )
Cost tracking in costing methods
Job order costing
Uses job cost sheets to accumulate and assign costs to specific jobs
Traces and costs directly to individual jobs ()
Allocates to jobs using a
Maintains inventory for each job until completion
Process costing
Accumulates and assigns costs to departments or processes for a specific time period
Averages costs over the total units produced in each process
Employs to allocate costs to partially completed units
Transfers costs from one process to another until the products are completed
Applications of costing approaches
Job order costing suits situations with
Unique, customized, or made-to-order products or services (, )
Intermittent or non-continuous production
Examples: ,
Process costing suits situations with
Homogeneous products produced in large quantities (, )
Continuous production following a standardized process ()
Examples: ,
Cost Accumulation and Assignment
: The process of collecting cost data in an organized way
: The process of attributing costs to cost objects
: Groups of individual cost items that are allocated together (e.g., manufacturing )
: The process of assigning indirect costs to cost objects using
Cost drivers: Factors that cause a change in the cost of an activity (e.g., machine hours, hours)