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Glite Dictionary
cost accounting

cost accounting

1 5.1
A way for a company to record and study how much money it spends to make and sell products
  • noun
  • /kɔst əˈkaʊntɪŋ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : contabilidad de costos
  • Cost accounting helps businesses understand the true costs of their products and services.
  • full cost accounting
  • cost accounting system

In business, they call this full cost accounting, but let's call it what it really is.

Examples

  • In particular, professional managers are known to prefer cost accounting techniques such as activity-based costing (McCue, 2001; Purtell & Fossett, 2010).

    Academic text (2017)

  • Many municipalities, however, have underpriced waste disposal services by performing incomplete cost accounting and using average rather than marginal cost prices.

    Academic text (1992)

  • In business, they call this full cost accounting, but let's call it what it really is.

    The Minimalists

  • For example, you may be familiar with Full Cost Accounting, the Human Development Index, and many others.

  • Cost accounting can be integrated with the budget through the use of internal service funds.

    Academic text (2017)

  • Existing cost accounting methods fail to account for any growth or downsizing options.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Programs like the North Carolina Benchmarking program focus on developing uniform cost accounting to compare programs.

    Academic text (2017)

  • Cost accounting fills an important gap in the development of costs beyond just basic budgets or financial records.

    Academic text (2017)

  • By implementing effective cost accounting, companies can better control their expenses and improve profitability.

  • Many organizations rely on cost accounting to make informed financial decisions regarding pricing and budgeting.

Synonyms

cost analysis
vscost accounting
  • Specialized
2 3.7

A careful study of the separate costs of a project to find savings

is the broader ongoing process of recording, analyzing, and reporting expenses organization-wide
costing
vscost accounting
  • Specialized
1 3.8

A process to find out how much money is needed for something

is the wider professional system that records and reports those expenses across an organization

How Detailed

cost accounting
  • Specialized
1 5.1
cost analysis
  • Specialized
2 3.7
costing
  • Specialized
1 3.8
estimate
133 2.8

Surface Forms

cost accounting singular
cost accountings plural

Morphology

cost + accounting

The meaning 'the accounting of costs' follows directly from combining 'cost' (monetary amount) with 'accounting' (recording and reporting financial records); the compound denotes the specific subset of accounting concerned with costs. This is a regular noun–noun compositional pattern found across languages and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Cost accounting comes from the simple idea of keeping a special book for the cost of making something and doing the accounting for it. Imagine a maker writing down every amount of money spent so they can see the real price; that habit of 'recording' and 'checking' costs is why today cost accounting means keeping track of the costs of making goods or providing services.