Omkostnadssats

Omkostnadssats, often translated as overhead rate or indirect cost rate, is a crucial concept in cost accounting. It represents the amount of indirect costs allocated to a cost object, such as a product, service, or project. Indirect costs, unlike direct costs, cannot be easily traced back to a specific cost object. Examples include factory rent, utilities, administrative salaries, and depreciation of equipment.

The purpose of an omkostnadssats is to distribute these common, shared costs across the various activities or products that benefit from them. This is typically done using a predetermined rate. The calculation of this rate usually involves dividing the total estimated indirect costs for a period by an estimate of the total volume of the allocation base for that same period. Common allocation bases include direct labor hours, machine hours, or direct material costs.

Once the omkostnadssats is determined, it is applied to the actual usage of the allocation base by each cost object. For instance, if the omkostnadssats is $10 per direct labor hour, and a product requires 5 direct labor hours, then $50 of indirect costs will be allocated to that product. This allocation helps in determining the full cost of a product or service, which is essential for pricing decisions, profitability analysis, and inventory valuation. Variations in actual indirect costs or the allocation base compared to estimates can lead to over- or under-allocation, which may require adjustments at the end of an accounting period.