Budgeting and standard costing practices in New Zealand and the United Kingdom

The findings of a survey of budgeting and standard costing practices in New Zealand (NZ) and United Kingdom (UK) manufacturers are reported. The results suggest that some commentators' predictions of a demise in standard costing and variance analysis are overstated. It has been found that standard costing systems continue to be popular and that the majority of accountants surveyed do not envisage abandonment of standard costing and variance analysis in advanced manufacturing technology environments. Comparisons between budgeting and standard costing practices used in NZ and the UK reveal a high degree of consistency. In the case of the few differences that have been observed, it appears that there is a greater lag behind prescribed practice amongst NZ manufacturers. The main differences noted are: a greater proportion of performance reports used in NZ budget centers fail to distinguish between controllable and non-controllable costs; NZ manufacturers are more reliant on historic data when setting standard costs; when distinguishing between variable and fixed costs, there is a greater tendency in NZ to simply treat direct costs as variable and overhead costs as fixed.