Kostenträger

Kostenträger is a term used in cost accounting to denote the object for which costs are accumulated and attributed. A Kostenträger represents the unit that bears the costs of a company’s activities. Typical Kostenträger are products, services, orders, projects, customers or internal organizational units such as departments. The choice of Kostenträger depends on the company’s reporting needs and pricing approach.

In a costing system, costs flow from cost types (Kostenarten) into cost centers (Kostenstellen) and are then allocated to Kostenträger through the Kostenträgerrechnung. Allocation uses cost drivers (Kostenverursachungsgroßen) such as material consumption, direct labor hours, machine hours, or other activity measures. The Kostenträger therefore determines where the costs end up and which object will appear with its total and unit costs.

There are different forms of Kostenträger, depending on the purpose. In manufacturing, the Kostenträger is often a product or product variant. In a service environment, it can be a customer order, a service contract, or a project. The costs allocated to a Kostenträger can be summarized as Kostenträgerstückrechnung (costing per unit) and Kostenträgerzeitrechnung (costing over a period) to support pricing, budgeting and profitability analysis.

Importance: Kostenträgerrechnung enables the assessment of profitability by object, supports pricing decisions, and helps identify high-cost products or services. It provides a basis for decision-making, cost control, and strategic planning by showing where resources are consumed and where improvements yield the most effect.