Ken Garrett explains target costing and
lifecycle costing, and gives examples as to how and when you would use
these costing techniques
Target costing and lifecycle costing can be regarded as relatively modern advances in management accounting, so it is worth first looking at the approach taken by conventional costing.
Typically, conventional costing attempts to work out the cost of producing an item incorporating the costs of resources that are currently used or consumed. Therefore, for each unit made the classical variable costs of material, direct labour and variable overheads are included (the total of these is the marginal cost of production), together with a share of the fixed production costs. The fixed production costs can be included using a conventional overhead absorption rate or they can be accounted for using activity-based costing (ABC). ABC is more complex but almost certainly more accurate. However, whether conventional overhead treatment or ABC is used the overheads incorporated are usually based on the budgeted overheads for the current period.
Once the total absorption cost of units has been calculated, a mark-up (or gross profit percentage) is used to determine the selling price and the profit per unit. The mark-up is chosen so that if the budgeted sales are achieved, the organisation should make a profit.
There are two flaws in this approach:
‘The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.’
In marketing, customers rule, and marketing departments attempt to find answers to the following questions:
Note that marketing is not a passive approach, and management cannot simply rely on customers volunteering their ideas. Management should anticipate customer requirements, perhaps by developing prototypes and using other market research techniques.
This really important information relating to a new product is:
Target costing and lifecycle costing can be regarded as relatively modern advances in management accounting, so it is worth first looking at the approach taken by conventional costing.
Typically, conventional costing attempts to work out the cost of producing an item incorporating the costs of resources that are currently used or consumed. Therefore, for each unit made the classical variable costs of material, direct labour and variable overheads are included (the total of these is the marginal cost of production), together with a share of the fixed production costs. The fixed production costs can be included using a conventional overhead absorption rate or they can be accounted for using activity-based costing (ABC). ABC is more complex but almost certainly more accurate. However, whether conventional overhead treatment or ABC is used the overheads incorporated are usually based on the budgeted overheads for the current period.
Once the total absorption cost of units has been calculated, a mark-up (or gross profit percentage) is used to determine the selling price and the profit per unit. The mark-up is chosen so that if the budgeted sales are achieved, the organisation should make a profit.
There are two flaws in this approach:
- The product’s price is based on its cost, but no‑one might want to buy at that price. The product might incorporate features which customers do not value and therefore do not want to pay for, and competitors’ products might be cheaper, or at least offer better value for money. This flaw is addressed by target costing.
- The costs incorporated are the current costs only. They are the marginal costs plus a share of the fixed costs for the current accounting period. There may be other important costs which are not part of these categories, but without which the goods could not have been made. Examples include the research and development costs and any close down costs incurred at the end of the product’s life. Why have these costs been excluded, particularly when selling prices have to be high enough to ensure that the product makes a profit. To make a profit, total revenue must exceed total costs in the long term. This flaw is addressed by lifecycle costing.
Target costing
Target costing is very much a marketing approach to costing. The Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as:‘The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.’
In marketing, customers rule, and marketing departments attempt to find answers to the following questions:
- Are customers homogeneous or can we identify different segments within the market?
- What features does each market segment want in the product?
- What price are customers willing to pay?
- To what competitor products or services are customers comparing ours?
- How will we advertise and distribute our products? (There are costs associated with those activities too.)
Note that marketing is not a passive approach, and management cannot simply rely on customers volunteering their ideas. Management should anticipate customer requirements, perhaps by developing prototypes and using other market research techniques.
This really important information relating to a new product is:
Of course, there will probably be a range of
products and prices, but the company cannot dictate to the market,
customers or competitors. There are powerful constraints on the product
and its price and the company has to make the required product, sell it
at an acceptable and competitive price and, at the same time, make a
profit. If the profit is going to be adequate, the costs have to be
sufficiently low. Therefore, instead of starting with the cost and
working to the selling price by adding on the expected margin, target
costing will start with the selling price of a particular product and
work back to the cost by removing the profit element. This means that
the company has to find ways of not exceeding that cost.
For example, if a company normally expects a mark-up on cost of 50% and estimates that a new product will sell successfully at a price of $12, then the maximum cost of production should be $8:
Cost + Mark-up = Selling price
100% 50% 150%
$8 $4 $12
This is a powerful discipline imposed on the company. The main results are:
For example, if a company normally expects a mark-up on cost of 50% and estimates that a new product will sell successfully at a price of $12, then the maximum cost of production should be $8:
Cost + Mark-up = Selling price
100% 50% 150%
$8 $4 $12
This is a powerful discipline imposed on the company. The main results are:
- The establishment of multifunctional teams consisting of marketing people, cost accountants, production managers, quality control professionals and others. These teams are vital to the design and manufacturing decisions required to determine the price and feature combinations that are most likely to appeal to potential buyers of products.
- An emphasis on the planning and design stage. This becomes very important to the cost of the product because if something is designed such that it is needlessly expensive to make, it does not matter how efficient the production process is, it will always be a struggle to make satisfactory profits.
- the features of the product
- how to avoid ‘over design’
- the number of components needed
- whether the components are standard or specialised
- the complexity of machining and construction
- where the product can be made
- what to make in-house and what to sub-contract
- the quality of the product
- the batch size in which the product can be made
- use value (the ability of the product or service to do what it sets out to do – its function) and
- esteem value (the status that ownership or use confers).
Lifecycle costing
As mentioned above, target costing places great emphasis on controlling costs by good product design and production planning, but those up‑front activities also cause costs. There might be other costs incurred after a product is sold such as warranty costs and plant decommissioning. When seeking to make a profit on a product it is essential that the total revenue arising from the product exceeds total costs, whether these costs are incurred before, during or after the product is produced. This is the concept of life cycle costing, and it is important to realise that target costs can be driven down by attacking any of the costs that relate to any part of a product’s life. The cost phases of a product can be identified as:Phase | Examples of types of cost |
---|---|
Design | Research, development, design and tooling |
Manufacture | Material, labour, overheads, machine set up, inventory, training, production machine maintenance and depreciation |
Operation | Distribution, advertising and warranty claims |
End of life | Environmental clean-up, disposal and decommissioning |
There are four principal lessons to be learned from lifecycle costing:
- All costs should be taken into account when working out the cost of a unit and its profitability.
- Attention to all costs will help to reduce the cost per unit and will help an organisation achieve its target cost.
- Many costs will be linked. For example, more attention to design can reduce manufacturing and warranty costs. More attention to training can machine maintenance costs. More attention to waste disposal during manufacturing can reduce end-of life costs.
- Costs are committed and incurred at very different times. A committed cost is a cost that will be incurred in the future because of decisions that have already been made. Costs are incurred only when a resource is used.
The diagram shows that by the end of the design
phase approximately 80% of costs are committed. For example, the design
will largely dictate material, labour and machine costs. The company can
try to haggle with suppliers over the cost of components but if, for
example, the design specifies 10 units of a certain component,
negotiating with suppliers is likely to have only a small overall effect
on costs. A bigger cost decrease would be obtained if the design had
specified only eight units of the component. The design phase locks the
company in to most future costs and it this phase which gives the
company its greatest opportunities to reduce those costs.
Conventional costing records costs only as they are incurred, but recording those costs is different to controlling those costs and performance management depends on cost control, not cost measurement.
Required
(a) What is the target cost of the product?
(b) What is the original lifecycle cost per unit and is the product worth making on that basis?
(c) If the additional amount were spent on design, what is the maximum manufacturing cost per unit that could be tolerated if the company is to earn its required mark-up?
100% 40% 140%
$15 $6 $21
(b) The original life cycle cost per unit = ($50,000 + (10,000 x $10) + $20,000)/10,000 = $17
This cost/unit is above the target cost per unit, so the product is not worth making.
(c) Maximum total cost per unit = $15. Some of this will be caused by the design and end of life costs:
($50,000 + $15,000 + $20,000)/10,000 = $8.50
Conventional costing records costs only as they are incurred, but recording those costs is different to controlling those costs and performance management depends on cost control, not cost measurement.
A numerical example of target and lifecycle costing
A company is planning a new product. Market research information suggests that the product should sell 10,000 units at $21.00/unit. The company seeks to make a mark-up of 40% product cost. It is estimated that the lifetime costs of the product will be as follows:- Design and development costs $50,000
- Manufacturing costs $10/unit
- End of life costs $20,000
Required
(a) What is the target cost of the product?
(b) What is the original lifecycle cost per unit and is the product worth making on that basis?
(c) If the additional amount were spent on design, what is the maximum manufacturing cost per unit that could be tolerated if the company is to earn its required mark-up?
Solution
The target cost of the product can be calculated as follows:
(a) Cost + Mark-up = Selling priceThe target cost of the product can be calculated as follows:
100% 40% 140%
$15 $6 $21
(b) The original life cycle cost per unit = ($50,000 + (10,000 x $10) + $20,000)/10,000 = $17
This cost/unit is above the target cost per unit, so the product is not worth making.
(c) Maximum total cost per unit = $15. Some of this will be caused by the design and end of life costs:
($50,000 + $15,000 + $20,000)/10,000 = $8.50
Therefore, the maximum manufacturing cost per unit would have to fall from $10 to
($15 – $8.50) = $6.50.
Ken Garrett is a freelance lecturer and author($15 – $8.50) = $6.50.
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