yleiskustannusjakajaa

Yleiskustannusjakaja, known in English as a general cost allocator, is an accounting term referring to a method used to distribute indirect costs across different cost objects. Indirect costs, also known as overheads or common costs, are expenses that cannot be directly traced to a specific product, service, or department. Examples include rent, utilities, administrative salaries, and depreciation of shared equipment.

The purpose of a yleiskustannusjakaja is to assign a reasonable portion of these shared costs to each cost object. This allocation is crucial for accurate cost accounting, pricing decisions, performance evaluation, and profitability analysis. Without proper allocation, the true cost of producing a product or delivering a service may be underestimated, leading to incorrect pricing strategies and potentially unprofitable operations.

Various methods can be employed as a yleiskustannusjakaja. Common allocation bases include direct labor hours, machine hours, square footage, or the number of employees. The choice of allocation base significantly impacts the cost assigned to each object, making the selection process important. A well-chosen allocation base should have a clear causal relationship with the incurrence of the overhead costs. For instance, if a department uses more office space, allocating rent based on square footage would be appropriate.

The process of using a yleiskustannusjakaja typically involves first identifying and accumulating all indirect costs. Then, a suitable allocation base is chosen. Finally, the total indirect costs are divided by the total amount of the allocation base to determine an overhead rate. This rate is then applied to each cost object based on its usage of the allocation base. While necessary for accounting purposes, it's important to recognize that any allocation of indirect costs involves some degree of estimation and simplification.