kustannusjaot

Kustannusjaot, or cost allocation, is the process of distributing indirect or shared costs to cost objects such as products, services, departments, or projects. The aim is to assign a reasonable portion of overhead expenses to objects that consume resources, enabling more accurate costing, pricing, and performance measurement. In Finnish accounting and public administration, kustannusjaot help reveal true costs and support budgeting, funding allocation, and accountability.

Key methods rely on cost drivers—factors that reflect usage, capacity, or benefit. Common approaches include direct allocation of identifiable costs to cost objects; step-down (cascaded) methods that first allocate to service departments and then to cost objects; and reciprocal methods that account for mutual services among departments. Activity-based costing (ABC) is a more detailed approach that groups costs into activity cost pools and assigns them using activity drivers. Base examples include square meters of floor space, machine hours, number of transactions, headcount, or revenue.

Process steps typically involve identifying shared costs, classifying them into cost pools, choosing appropriate drivers, computing a rate per unit of driver, applying rates to objects, and reviewing results for reasonableness. Applications include internal management reporting, product pricing, project evaluation, and public sector budgeting. Drivers should reflect consumption to avoid distorted results. Data quality and auditability are important; there is potential for misallocation or gaming if drivers are poorly chosen.

Relation to related concepts includes overhead allocation, cost center accounting, budgeting, and activity-based costing. Limitations include potential complexity and the need to balance accuracy with practicality, often requiring iterative refinement.