kulut

Kulut is a Finnish noun in the plural form meaning costs or expenses. It is the plural of kulu and is used mainly in economic, accounting, and budgeting contexts. The term is distinct from kulutus, which refers to consumption or the act of consuming goods and services.

In financial language kulut denotes monetary outlays incurred by an entity, such as a household or a company. It is commonly qualified with specific types of costs, for example käyttökulut (operating costs), materiaalikulut (material costs), or hallintokulut (administrative costs). At the level of a household budget, kulut appears as total monthly expenses or as category-specific costs such as asumiskulut (housing costs) or ruokakulut (food costs).

In corporate accounting, kulut are reported as part of the income statement or cost records and are often analyzed to manage profitability. They are usually contrasted with investments or depreciation, which have different tax and accounting treatments. The concept of kulut is widely used in Finnish financial writing, budgeting discussions, and policy reports.

Etymologically, kulut derives from the Finnish root kulu, meaning expense or outlay, and forms part of many compound words describing different kinds of costs. The term is generally understood in formal and semi-formal Finnish financial language, whereas kulutus remains the broader concept of consumption in economic discussions.