Kustannusajuri

Kustannusajuri, or cost driver, is a factor that causes costs to arise within an organization. In management accounting, kustannusajuri refers to a measurable variable that influences the level of costs incurred by activities, processes, or products.

Cost drivers enable cost allocation to cost objects such as products, customers, or functions. By linking costs to activities and drivers, managers can analyze cost behavior and identify areas for efficiency improvements.

Common cost drivers include volume-based drivers (production units, hours of operation), activity-based drivers (number of setups, inspections, changeovers, batches), and non-volume drivers (product complexity, mix, customer requirements, quality defects).

Examples: machine hours drive depreciation and maintenance; number of orders drives order processing and procurement costs; setup time drives manufacturing overhead; direct labor hours can be a driver for overhead.

Applications: budgeting, pricing decisions, process improvement, benchmarking, and activity-based costing.

Limitations: drivers must have a causal relationship with costs; incorrect or oversimplified drivers can distort cost information; data collection costs; drivers may change with production changes.

In Finland, kustannusajuri is a standard term in management accounting and is used in academic literature and corporate reporting to analyze and manage costs.