Both job-order costing and process costing systems utilize averaging concepts in computing unit cost

Chapter 1TRUE-FALSE QUESTIONS1.Reports prepared in financial accounting are general-purpose reports, whereas reports

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2.Managerial accounting internal reports are prepared more frequently than are classified

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3.Determining the unit cost of manufacturing product is an output of financial accounting.

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6.Managerial accounting information generally pertains to an entity as a whole and is

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7.Job order costing system is for allocating costs to group of unique product and isapplicable to the production of customer specified products such as the manufacturing

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8.Process costing is used by companies making one-of-a-kind products.

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9.Operation costing is a hybrid costing system often used in repetitive manufacturing

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10. Cost accounting.procedures help management in gathering the data needed todetermine product costs and thus generate meaningful financial statements and other

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Chapter 21.The materials, labor, and overhead costs incurred to produce a product are called period

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2.Marketing, Selling, administrative costs are the three broad classifications of costs

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3.Lumber can be both a finished product and a material.

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5.Total fixed costs decrease with increase in the number of units produced and increase

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7.The three cost elements of manufactured goods are direct materials, direct labor, andmarketing costs.

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8.A cost that is present under one alternative but absent in whole or part under anotheralternative is known as a differential cost.

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9.Like product costs, period costs are not necessarily treated as expenses in the period in

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Nature of a process cost system

Many businesses produce large quantities of a single product or similar products. Pepsi-Cola makes soft drinks, Exxon Mobil produces oil, and Kellogg Company produces breakfast cereals on a continuous basis over long periods. For these kinds of products, companies do not have separate jobs. Instead, production is an ongoing process.


 Job costing and process costing have important similarities:

  • Both job and process cost systems have the same goal: to determine the cost of products.
  • Both job and process cost systems have the same cost flows. Accountants record production in separate accounts for materials inventory, labor, and overhead. Then, they transfer the costs to a Work in Process Inventory account.
  • Both job and process cost systems use predetermined overhead rates to apply overhead.

Job costing and process costing systems also have their significant differences:

  • Types of products produced. Companies that use job costing work on many different jobs with different production requirements during each period. Companies that use process costing produce a single product, either on a continuous basis or for long periods. All the products that the company produces under process costing are the same.
  • Cost accumulation procedures. Job costing accumulates costs by individual jobs. Process costing accumulates costs by process or department.
  • Work in Process Inventory accounts. Job cost systems have one Work in Process Inventory account for each job. Process cost systems have a Work in Process Inventory account for each department or process.

A process cost system (process costing) accumulates costs incurred to produce a product according to the processes or departments a product goes through on its way to completion. Companies making paint, gasoline, steel, rubber, plastic, and similar products using process costing. In these types of operations, accountants must accumulate costs for each process or department involved in making the product.   As an example, view this How's It Made video.


Can you imagine having to determine the cost of making just ONE lego when we can make 1.7 million legos per hour?  Cost accountants have to do this.  They will use process costing!  Accountants compute the cost per unit by first accumulating costs for the entire period (usually a month) for each process or department. Second, they divide the accumulated costs by the number of units produced (tons, pounds, gallons, or feet) in that process or department.

The next picture shows the cost flows in a process cost system that processes the products in a specified sequential order. That is, the production and processing of products begin in Department A. From Department A, products go to Department B. Department B inputs direct materials and further processes the products. Then Department B transfers the products to Finished Goods Inventory.

Both job-order costing and process costing systems utilize averaging concepts in computing unit cost

There are two methods for using process costs:  Weighted Average and FIFO (First In First Out).  Each method uses equivalent units and cost per equivalent units but calculates them just a little differently.

Under which of the following costing methods an averaging process is used to compute unit product costs?

Option b is the correct answer. The job order costing calculates the unit cost of production in one job by averaging the total cost of the job, and process costing also calculates it by using the average computed by dividing the total cost of production in one process with the total units produced by the process.

How does a job costing system differ from a process costing system?

Assignment- In process costing, you first determine the cost of each process, add them up and calculate based on the number of units. On the other hand, job costing calculations are done based on each job. Production- Production is standardized with process costing, while for job costing it's customized.

In what ways are job order and process costing similar quizlet?

In what ways are job-order and process costing similar? Job-order costing and process costing have the same basic purpose--assign materials, labor, and overhead cost to products and to provide a mechanism for computing unit product costs. Both systems use the same basic manufacturing accounts.

What is the difference between job costing and process costing quizlet?

Process costing is used when a single product is produced on a continuing basis or for a long period of time. Job-order costing is used when many different jobs having different production requirements are worked on each period. Process costing systems accumulate costs by department.