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Cost Accounting · Lessons

Cost Accounting lessons

11 sections · 98 skills · work through the full outline skill by skill — read the long-form lesson or flip through the slide-style version.
Long-form lessonsSlide-style lessons

Cost Accounting

Practice 98 skills across this outline.

Recommended next
Return on Investment (ROI)
Performance Measurement and Control · Investment Center Metrics
Long-form lesson
Weighting distribution
25 categories
Professional Judgment and Ethics
9%
Performance Measurement and Control · Investment Center Metrics
7%
Decision Making Using Cost Information · Relevant Costs for Short-Term Decisions
6%
Foundations of Cost Accounting · Cost Concepts and Terminology
6%
Budgeting and Planning · Flexible Budgets and Performance Reports
6%
Cost Behavior and Cost-Volume-Profit · CVP Analysis
6%

Skills

The comprehensive taxonomy of cost accounting — drill into a card to work its skills.

Performance Measurement and Control · Investment Center Metrics

3 core skills7% total weight
0/3 completed
3 skills to mastery
1
Return on Investment (ROI)Recommended
Long-form
2
Economic Value Added (EVA)Available
Long-form
3
Residual Income (RI)Available
Long-form

Performance Measurement and Control · Responsibility Accounting

3 core skills2% total weight
0/3 completed
3 skills to mastery
1
Controllable vs. Noncontrollable CostsAvailable
Long-form
2
Responsibility CentersAvailable
Long-form
3
Responsibility Center ReportsAvailable
Long-form

Overhead Allocation and Activity-Based Costing · Service Department Cost Allocation

3 core skills2% total weight
0/3 completed
3 skills to mastery
1
Step-Down Method AllocationAvailable
Long-form
2
Direct Method AllocationAvailable
Long-form
3
Reciprocal MethodAvailable
Long-form

Overhead Allocation and Activity-Based Costing · Activity-Based Costing (ABC)

4 core skills4% total weight
0/4 completed
4 skills to mastery
1
Interpreting ABC ResultsAvailable
Long-form
2
ABC Activities & DriversAvailable
Long-form
3
ABC Activity Rates & AssignmentAvailable
Long-form
4
Traditional vs. ABC CostingAvailable
Long-form

Overhead Allocation and Activity-Based Costing · Traditional Overhead Allocation

3 core skills3% total weight
0/3 completed
3 skills to mastery
1
Departmental Overhead RatesAvailable
Long-form
2
Plantwide Overhead RateAvailable
Long-form
3
Allocation Base ConsequencesAvailable
Long-form

Decision Making Using Cost Information · Relevant Costs for Short-Term Decisions

6 core skills6% total weight
0/6 completed
6 skills to mastery
1
Further Processing DecisionsAvailable
Long-form
2
Drop/Keep DecisionsAvailable
Long-form
3
Qualitative Factors in DecisionsAvailable
Long-form
4
Relevant vs. Irrelevant CostsAvailable
Long-form
5
Special Order DecisionsAvailable
Long-form
6
Make-or-Buy DecisionsAvailable
Long-form

Decision Making Using Cost Information · Constraints and Optimization

3 core skills3% total weight
0/3 completed
3 skills to mastery
1
CM Per Constraint UnitAvailable
Long-form
2
Throughput & Bottleneck DecisionsAvailable
Long-form
3
Identifying ConstraintsAvailable
Long-form

Foundations of Cost Accounting · Cost Concepts and Terminology

7 core skills6% total weight
0/7 completed
7 skills to mastery
1
Cost Categories for DecisionsAvailable
Long-form
2
Cost Classification by FunctionAvailable
Long-form
3
Manufacturing vs. NonmanufacturingAvailable
Long-form
4
Cost Objects, Pools & DriversAvailable
Long-form
5
Direct vs. Indirect CostsAvailable
Long-form
6
Product vs. Period CostsAvailable
Long-form
7
Cost Behavior ClassificationAvailable
Long-form

Foundations of Cost Accounting · Cost Flows and Inventory Accounts

4 core skills3% total weight
0/4 completed
4 skills to mastery
1
Manufacturing Cost Flow EntriesAvailable
Long-form
2
Schedule of COGSAvailable
Long-form
3
Schedule of COGMAvailable
Long-form
4
Tracing Cost FlowsAvailable
Long-form

Budgeting and Planning · Flexible Budgets and Performance Reports

4 core skills6% total weight
0/4 completed
4 skills to mastery
1
Performance ReportsAvailable
Long-form
2
Preparing Flexible BudgetsAvailable
Long-form
3
Budget Variances with Flexible BudgetsAvailable
Long-form
4
Static vs. Flexible BudgetsAvailable
Long-form

Budgeting and Planning · Master Budget Components

5 core skills4% total weight
0/5 completed
5 skills to mastery
1
Sales & Production BudgetsAvailable
Long-form
2
Operating BudgetsAvailable
Long-form
3
Cash BudgetsAvailable
Long-form
4
Budgeted Financial StatementsAvailable
Long-form
5
Selling & Administrative BudgetsAvailable
Long-form

Cost Accumulation Systems · Job-Order Costing

5 core skills3% total weight
0/5 completed
5 skills to mastery
1
Assigning Costs to JobsAvailable
Long-form
2
Under/Overapplied OverheadAvailable
Long-form
3
Job Cost ComputationAvailable
Long-form
4
Predetermined Overhead Rate (POR)Available
Long-form
5
Job-Order Costing EntriesAvailable
Long-form

Cost Accumulation Systems · Process Costing

6 core skills4% total weight
0/6 completed
6 skills to mastery
1
Equivalent Units (Weighted-Average)Available
Long-form
2
Process Costing: Cost AssignmentAvailable
Long-form
3
Process Costing OverviewAvailable
Long-form
4
FIFO vs. Weighted-AverageAvailable
Long-form
5
Cost Per Equivalent UnitAvailable
Long-form
6
Process Costing Production ReportAvailable
Long-form

Cost Accumulation Systems · Hybrid and Contemporary Costing Approaches

3 core skills2% total weight
0/3 completed
3 skills to mastery
1
Throughput CostingAvailable
Long-form
2
Backflush Costing & JITAvailable
Long-form
3
Operation CostingAvailable
Long-form

Cost Behavior and Cost-Volume-Profit · CVP Analysis

7 core skills6% total weight
0/7 completed
7 skills to mastery
1
Break-Even PointAvailable
Long-form
2
Contribution MarginAvailable
Long-form
3
Operating LeverageAvailable
Long-form
4
Margin of SafetyAvailable
Long-form
5
CVP Sensitivity AnalysisAvailable
Long-form
6
Target ProfitAvailable
Long-form
7
CVP with Sales MixAvailable
Long-form

Cost Behavior and Cost-Volume-Profit · Cost Behavior and Estimation

4 core skills3% total weight
0/4 completed
4 skills to mastery
1
Separating Mixed CostsAvailable
Long-form
2
Cost Functions & DriversAvailable
Long-form
3
High-Low MethodAvailable
Long-form
4
Cost Behavior & Relevant RangeAvailable
Long-form

Professional Judgment and Ethics

3 core skills9% total weight
0/3 completed
3 skills to mastery
1
Professional Skepticism & DocumentationAvailable
Long-form
2
Ethical Issues in CostingAvailable
Long-form
3
Budget Gaming & Cost DistortionAvailable
Long-form

Pricing and Profitability · Cost-Based Pricing

3 core skills5% total weight
0/3 completed
3 skills to mastery
1
Cost-Plus PricingAvailable
Long-form
2
Target Costing & Value EngineeringAvailable
Long-form
3
Life-Cycle CostingAvailable
Long-form

Pricing and Profitability · Customer and Product Profitability

3 core skills4% total weight
0/3 completed
3 skills to mastery
1
Customer Profitability AnalysisAvailable
Long-form
2
Cross-Subsidization RiskAvailable
Long-form
3
Product-Line ProfitabilityAvailable
Long-form

Special Topics · Service and Not-for-Profit Costing

3 core skills3% total weight
0/3 completed
3 skills to mastery
1
Service Cost AllocationAvailable
Long-form
2
Service Pricing & CapacityAvailable
Long-form
3
Service Cost StructuresAvailable
Long-form

Special Topics · Joint Products and Byproducts

4 core skills6% total weight
0/4 completed
4 skills to mastery
1
Joint Costs: Physical UnitsAvailable
Long-form
2
Joint Costs vs. Further ProcessingAvailable
Long-form
3
Joint Costs: Sales ValueAvailable
Long-form
4
Net Realizable Value MethodAvailable
Long-form

Standard Costing and Variance Analysis · Direct Labor Variances

3 core skills2% total weight
0/3 completed
3 skills to mastery
1
Direct Labor Efficiency VarianceAvailable
Long-form
2
Interpreting DL VariancesAvailable
Long-form
3
Direct Labor Rate VarianceAvailable
Long-form

Standard Costing and Variance Analysis · Overhead Variances

3 core skills3% total weight
0/3 completed
3 skills to mastery
1
Interpreting Overhead VariancesAvailable
Long-form
2
Variable Overhead VariancesAvailable
Long-form
3
Fixed Overhead VariancesAvailable
Long-form

Standard Costing and Variance Analysis · Direct Materials Variances

3 core skills2% total weight
0/3 completed
3 skills to mastery
1
Interpreting DM VariancesAvailable
Long-form
2
Direct Materials Quantity VarianceAvailable
Long-form
3
Direct Materials Price VarianceAvailable
Long-form

Standard Costing and Variance Analysis · Standards and Standard Costs

3 core skills3% total weight
0/3 completed
3 skills to mastery
1
Standard Cost Per UnitAvailable
Long-form
2
Standard Quantities & PricesAvailable
Long-form
3
Practical vs. Ideal StandardsAvailable
Long-form