Companies choose their costing method based on their business activities and processes, as well as the
products and services they offer. A company can be a manufacturing, merchandising, or service organization;
this also impacts which costing method will be most useful for its purposes. As a part of costing, the company
also needs to decide how to classify overhead costs using either traditional or activity-based costing (ABC).
In this written assignment, you will choose a company, consider its business and costing requirements, and
recommend a costing system that will work best for the business.
Prompt
Think about a company you know. This could be a current or past employer or a company you admire.
Consider its business activities and the type of products and services offered. Based on what you have learned
so far, write a short paper that reflects on the different costing methods and speculates on how they might
apply to your selected company.
Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:
Company Overview: Identify the company you selected and provide a brief overview of its business.
Is it a manufacturing, merchandising, or service organization?
Costing Methods: Compare the job order and process costing methods, and explain how each of these can be
applied to the company.
How could the costs differ if one method is chosen over the other?
Factory Overhead: Outline possible indirect or overhead costs the company may need to account for, and
identify the type of costing the company might use for these costs.
If the company decides to use activity-based costing (ABC), what are some activity bases (cost drivers) it might
use to allocate these costs?
Recommendation: Based on your analysis, recommend a costing method for the company, and explain why
you think this method will work best for the business.
Sample Solution