To differentiate the main product from by-product and joint product. Main product may not require any further processing. But, by-products may require further processing before they can be sold. The transfer price is compared with market price to know the level of efficiency or losses occurring in a particular process. Since cost data is available for each process, operation and department, good managerial control is possible. The articles and research support materials available on this site are educational and are not intended to be investment or tax advice.

• Process costing is suitable for some businesses, which produces similar products, such as a footwear manufacturing.
• The abnormal losses are not included in the process costs but are removed from the appropriate Process Account and reported separately as an abnormal loss.
• Process costing is not the same as specific order costing.
• If the equivalent of 100,000 units were processed in June, the per unit costs will be $1.50 for direct materials and $2.25 for conversion costs.
• Where several dissimilar products are produced in the same process, a close study of production and costs of each variety of products is essential.

In process costing, the emphasis is on accumulation of costs for a process during a given period of time and the number of units produced in the process during that period. To determine the unit cost of output of each process, the total production cost of the process is divided by the total quantity of the output of the process during a given period. Process costs are generally calculated at the end of the period, on completion of manufacture. In simple words, process costing is a cost accounting technique, in which the costs incurred during production are charged to processes and averaged over the total units manufactured.

Process Costing – Meaning of Operation Costing

When prices are declining, the FIFO indicates lower profits as older or higher prices are applied to units completed and sold. The average method tends to narrow the wide fluctuations in prices. The equivalent units for the period will be 7,200 units, i.e., 6,000 + 40% of 3,000. If the costs incurred during the period is Rs. 14,400, the process costing cost per equivalent unit will be Rs. 2, i.e., Rs. (14,400/7,200). Stock of raw materials represents the stock of unused materials in various processes. Stock of raw material in the first process of a product in a manufacturing concern, if any, shall represent the basic raw material of that concern to be returned to the Stores Department.

Process costing is a type of operation costing which is used to ascertain the cost of a product at each process or stage of manufacture. Process costing is suitable for industries producing homogeneous products and where production is a continuous flow. A process can be referred to as the sub-unit of an organization https://www.bookstime.com/ specifically defined for cost collection purpose. As a process costing example, ABC International produces purple widgets, which require processing through multiple production departments. The first department in the process is the casting department, where the widgets are initially created.

Disadvantage: Cost Errors

Such costs can be determined by identifying the expenditure on cost objects. If the loss is less than the normal expected loss, the difference is considered as abnormal gain. Abnormal gain is accounted similar to that abnormal loss. Abnormal losses are those losses above the level deemed to be the normal loss rate for the process.

• So, chemical industry, oil refineries, cement industries, textile industries, soap manufacturing industries, paper manufacturing industries use this method.
• At the end of the costing period, costs are charged to different processes.
• For example, assume a not-for-profit pet adoption organization has an annual budget of $180,000 and typically matches 900 shelter animals with new owners each year.
• Job order costing and process costing are two different systems.