Procedure of Job Order Costing

Before the Job

The first four stages are done before the job is being performed. The final purpose of this is to give a quotation to the clients. The calculation is done based on very little information. However, it needs to be precise. Here is the procedure:

At the first stage, organizations need to identify all the possible cost objects that will be affected by taking this job. The idea is to get as close as possible to the perfect estimate

At the second stage, cost objects are segregated into direct and indirect costs. Direct costs are easy to estimate. The company needs to be aware of the amount of material and labour that the job will consume. Once these facts are known, it is easy to determine the amount of direct costs that will go into a job. These estimates are very accurate and seldom need to be revised.

In the third stage, companies estimate the amount of overheads that will be incurred in the particular job. This estimate is done based on the information that is empirical. This can be contrasted with the direct costs which are estimated based on prevailing market rates. Hence these overhead estimates are almost never accurate. They need to be adjusted at later stages. However, companies try to make the estimates as accurate as possible. This helps them in the next stage.

The direct and indirect cost estimates are collated. Companies then bid for the job with their quotation. The costs need to be accurate to ensure that the contract is won and also that the company makes a decent profit out of doing so.

During the Job

When the job is being performed, companies maintain job sheets. They track whether the actual material and labour used as per the quotation. If they are not as per the quotation, then it is an anomaly. Companies can easily trace out the cause. It is either incorrect implementation or incorrect estimation.

After the Job

After the job is completed, companies check the actual overheads with the estimated overheads. They, then remove the effect of over and under applied overheads to arrive at the final cost of performing the job.

This is quite a lengthy procedure. However, it creates control within the organization and helps ensure that resources are not wasted.

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