Battles in the costing war: UK debates, 1950-75

In the UK, 1950-75 was a lively period in the long-running debates between proponents of absorption and marginal costing. In the nexus of competing interests, management accountants advocated and defended rival costing systems with much vigour and passion. Expressed in the language of the times, these debates were 'battles' in the costing 'war'. We focus on these battles, analysing the various forces that operated upon the combatants, and locate them in the wider costing war. We conclude that no final resolution of the conflict was achieved in the twentieth century, nor is one likely in the foreseeable future.     

Data Fixation and the Use of Traditional Versus Activity-Based Costing Systems

An important debate in the contemporary accounting literature relates to the relative merits of activity-based versus volume-based product costing methodologies. Traditional volume-based costing systems are said to be flawed and may seriously mislead strategic decision making. Such arguments assume that decision makers use such information in an unproblematic way. This article reports on an experiment designed to investigate whether decision makers are able to overcome data fixation in a setting involving the use of product cost information. In response to criticisms of previous accounting studies of data fixation, subjects received some feedback after each decision, and were rewarded based on performance. The experiment involved subjects making a series of production output decisions based on detailed case information of a hypothetical firm facing different market conditions for each decision. A between-subjects design was utilized with two cost system treatments: activity-based costing (ABC) and traditional costing (TC). It was hypothesized that the group provided with ABC cost data would make 'optimal' decisions and the group provided with TC cost data would overcome fixation. The results of the experiment indicated that there was, in general, evidence of data fixation among TC subjects, but a small number of subjects did adjust to ABC costs. These results are discussed in the light of previous research and some future directions are outlined.     

关于建立物流管理会计理论体系的思考

本文认为,制造业企业物流管理会计的建立可以通过大量的走访式调查,形成分类型的制造业企业的物流系统作业项目库、作业资源库、作业成本动因库,制作出分类型的制造业企业物流系统作业问卷调查表寄送各调查单位,通过数据处理得出初步的分类型的制造业企业物流系统作业项目体系,最后经过纠偏得出较理想的分类型的制造业企业物流系统作业项目体系,再根据此作业项目体系,按作业成本法的思想,对传统管理会计中的4大部份内容进行适当修改,形成物流管理会计内容。物流管理会计的研究可通过统计调查法、正交实验法、专家共构法、统计加工法、软系统综合集成法、SWOT矩阵分析法、作业成本法等。     

基于时间与作业成本的物流成本核算模型与方法

在物流作业成本法的基础上,加进了基于物流时间的物流成本核算方法,构建了物流成本核算的T-A模型。试图通过基于时间与作业相结合的物流成本核算模型与方法,对企业物流成本进行管理,以进一步挖掘物流隐性成本,为企业降低成本提高利润提供新的途径和思路。     

客户作业成本法在客户关系管理中的运用

不同客户给企业带来的利润不同 ,客户间存在的明显差异 ,传统的成本核算方法以产品为导向设计 ,不能识别这种差异 ,不适用于客户关系管理。客户作业成本法以客户为导向 ,采用作业成本法核算客户成本 ,有助于更好的进行客户关系管理 ,帮助企业牢牢抓住最主要的客户。     

试论现代市场经济条件下的企业成本管理

成本管理在企业管理中一直备受重视，在现代市场经济条件下，企业的外部和内部环境都发生了较大变化，成本管理又面临新的挑战。在这种形势下，本文提出企业应墨迹成本管理观念，完善成本管理方法，以适应时代的发展。     

作业成本法在化工企业的实际应用

随着制造费用越来越复杂,其在产品中的比重也在不断增加。传统成本核算,采用按生产工时统一标准分摊制造费用的方法也逐渐显示出不足。而作业成本法以其自身的优势,解决了传统成本核算方法的不足。通过确定作业中心,分析各项费用发生的成本动因,建立作业成本库,计算产品的作业成本,明确地进行制造费用的分配,也更加准确地确定了产品的作业成本。     

试论战略性作业成本管理的应用

战略性作业成本管理,是以作业为基础与企业战略相结合的一种全新的成本管理领域,战略性作业成本管理在产品结构和定价、客户关系管理、供应商的选择和供应商关系管理、产品设计和开发方面的应用对企业制定正确的战略决策具有极大价值,是企业获取有利的竞争优势的有效工具。     

基于价值链思想的作业成本法研究

首先,论述了基于价值链思想的成本管理方法如何弥补传统成本管理方法存在的诸多局限性;而后,对基于价值链思想成本管理的具体应用——作业成本法(ABC)进行研究,对其传统模型加以改进;同时,对存在的主要问题构建简单数学模型加以解决。