1. Operating costing is used to calculate the cost of providing services rather than producing goods. It is used by transportation, utility, and hospitality industries like hotels and hospitals. 2. The document provides examples of cost units used in different service industries like per passenger-kilometer for transportation, per kilowatt-hour for electricity, and per room-day for hotels. It also outlines the classification of costs and cost sheet formats. 3. Transportation costing is discussed in detail including operating, ownership, and estimation of changes in costs from projects. Hotel costing is also summarized including cost centers like restaurant and laundry, and key cost elements like provisions, labor, and overheads.

1. INTRODUCTION TO OPERATING COSTING
Operating costing is a method of costing applied by undertakings
which provide service rather than production of commodities. Like unit
costing and process costing, operating costing is thus a form of operation
costing.
The emphasis under operating costing is on the ascertainment of cost
of rendering services rather than on the cost of manufacturing a product. It is
applied by transport companies, gas and water works, electricity supply
companies, canteens, hospitals, theatres, school etc. Within an organization
itself certain departments too are known as service departments which
provide ancillary services to the production departments. For example:
maintenance department; power house; boiler house; canteen; hospital;
internal transport.
Operation costing offers better scope for control. It facilitates the
computation of unit operation cost at the end of each operation by dividing
the total operation cost by total input units. It is the category of the basic
costing method, applicable, where standardized goods or services result from
a sequence of repetitive and more or less continuous operations, or processes
to which costs are charged before being averaged over the units produced
during the period. The two costing methods included under this head are
process costing and service costing.
CIMA has defined ‘Operating Costing’ “As that form of operation
costing which applies when standardized services are provided either by an
undertaking or by a service cost center within an undertaking”.

2. Cost Accounting Standard – 1 by ICWA defines ‘Operating Cost’ “As
the cost incurred in conducting a business activity. Operating costs refer to
the cost of undertakings, which do not manufacture any product but which
provide services”.
Because of the varied nature of activities carried out by the service
undertaking, the cost system used is obviously different from that followed
in manufacturing concerns.
The essential features of operating costs are as follows:
1. The operating costs can be classified under three categories. For
example in the case of transport undertaking these three categories are
as follows:
• Operating and running charges: It includes expenses of variable
nature. For example expenses on petrol, diesel, lubricating oil, and
grease etc.
• Maintenance charges: These expenses are of semi-variable nature
and include the cost of tyres and tubes, repairs and maintenance,
spares and accessories, overhaul, etc.
• Fixed or standing charges: These includes garage rent, insurance,
road license, depreciation, interest on capital, salary of operating
manager, etc.
2. The cost unit used is a double unit like passenger-mile; Kilowatt-hour,
etc. It can be implemented in all firms of transport, airlines, bus-service, etc.,
and by all firms of Distribution Undertakings.

3. APPLICATION OF OPERATING
COSTING
1. Transport Service: Under this method of costing, the operating cost
of each vehicle is determined. The common unit of service is tonne
kilometer in case of goods transport, and passenger kilometer in case
of passenger transport. Examples of transport service are Truck
operators, road transport, Railways, Airlines, etc.
2. Supply service: It includes services like electricity, steam, gas, water,
etc. where steam is used for the purpose of generating electricity, it is
possible to compute the cost of electricity generated by aggregating
the steam production costs with other related cost of electricity
generation. A cost unit is generally in terms of kilograms.
3. Welfare Services: It includes services like canteen, hospital, library,
etc. Hotels, restaurants employ operating costing. The total operation
of a hotel can be divided into number of cost centers like Restaurant,
Housekeeping, Laundry, etc. The cost unit is generally in terms of per
meal/ dish.

4. COST UNIT:
For ascertaining costs, it is necessary to decide suitable cost units for each
type of service industry. Basically, Operating Costing is a type of Process
Costing. Thus it uses the methods of Process Costing when ascertaining the
cost of supply of electricity, steam etc. However, sometimes Operating
Costing may adopt a particular Job as a unit of costs as for example when
costing a particular trip by a bus so as to quote the charges. In such cases
Operating Costing uses the methods of Job Costing by treating a specific trip
as a separate job. A cost unit under operating costing may be of two types –
a. Simple cost unit; or
b. Composite cost unit.
Following is the list of different cost units used in different types of service
enterprises –
Service Industries Simple Cost Unit
Passenger Transport Per Kilometer
Goods Transport Per Kilometer
Road Maintenance Per K.M. of Road maintained
Water Supply Per Kilo Liter of Water Supplied
Canteen Per Meal / Dish
Service Industries Composite Cost Unit

5. Passenger Transport Per Passenger - K.M.
Goods Transport Per Ton - K.M.
Electricity Per Kilowatt – Hour
Steam, Gas Per K.G. / Cubic Ft.
Hospital Per Patient – Day
Library Per Member – Book
Thus, it can be seen that in Operating Costing, in most cases the cost unit is
a compound unit. It refers to both the Quantum of Service and Period of
Service. Thus a transporter charges for carrying so much weight (tons) for so
much distance (Km); an electricity company charges one for use of both the
Quantum (Kilowatt) and the Period (Hours); and so on.
TRANSPORT COSTING:
Transport operating costs refer to costs that vary with vehicle usage,
including fuel, tires, maintenance, repairs, and mileage-dependent
depreciation costs (Booz Allen & Hamilton, 1999). Projects that alter

6. vehicle miles traveled, traffic speed and delay, roadway surfaces, or roadway
geometry may affect travelers' vehicle operating costs, which should be
considered in a benefit-cost analysis.
Vehicle ownership costs refer to fixed costs that are not directly affected by
vehicle mileage, including time-dependent depreciation, insurance and
registration fees, financing, and residential parking.
Projects that change per capita vehicle ownership rates, such as significant
changes in the quality of alternative modes and land use accessibility, may
affect vehicle ownership costs, which should be considered in benefit-cost
analysis.
• Estimate changes in total vehicle miles traveled along a corridor.
• Estimate changes in vehicle travel speeds and delay due to road and
traffic conditions.
• Estimate fuel consumption rates, fuel prices, and non-fuel-related
operating costs.
• Calculate total changes in vehicle operating costs.
• For improvements to ride quality, such as pothole repairs and curve or
grade reductions, estimate effects on vehicle wear.
• Estimate changes in per capita vehicle ownership in an area.
• Estimate average vehicle ownership costs.
• Calculate total changes in vehicle ownership costs.

7. COST SHEET for (Month/Year)
STEP COSTS Rs. Rs.
A.
B
C.
D.
E.
FIXED COST
Insurance ………….
License fee, Permit fee and Taxes ……….....
Depreciation ………….
Other Fixed costs (specify) …………
VARIABLE COST
Salaries and Wages of Drivers, Cleaners & other
Operating Staff …………
Fuel and Lubricants ………..
Consumables …………
Amortization Cost of Tyre ,Tube & Battery
Laundry …………
Spares ………...
Repairs & Maintainable …………
Other Variable Cost (specify) ………...
TOTAL OPERATING COST[A+B]
PROFIT/LOSS
REVENUE [TAKINGS]
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX

8. VEHICAL NO XXX
CARRAIGE CAPACITY [Seats or Tonnes] XXX
DAYS OPERATED XXX
Illustrations 1:
1. From the following information calculate total kms and total
passengers Kms
No. of Buses=6
Days Operated in the month=25
Trips mage by each bus = 4
Distance of route 20 Kms (one way)
Capacity of Bus = 40 passengers
Normal passenger travelling 90% of capacity.

9. SOLUTION:
Total Kms covered = Run
Distance * Two ways * No. of trips * No. of days * No. of buses
20 Kms * 2 * 4 *25 * 6 = 24000 Kms
Total passenger-Kms. Covered = Run * Load
Load = Maximum capacity* Used capacity
= 40 * 90% = 36
Total Passenger Kms Covered = 24000*36
= 864000
Illustrations 2:
A mineral is transported from two mines – A and B and uploaded at plots in
a Railway station. Mine A is at a distance of 10kms, and B is at a distance of
15kms. From railhead plots. A fleet of lorries of 5 tonne carrying capacity is
used for the transport of mineral from the mines. Records reveal that the
lorries average a speed of 30kms per hour , when running and regularly take
10 minutes to unload at the railhead. At mine “A” loading time averages 30
minutes per load while at mine “B” loading time averages 20 minutes per
load.
Drivers’ wages, depreciation, insurance and taxes are found to coat Rs9 per
hour operated. Fuel, oil, tyres, repairs and maintainance cost Rs 1.20 per
Km.

10. Draw up a statement, showing the cost per tone- kilometer of carrying
mineral from each mine.
Assuming the quality and other aspects pertaining to material is same in both
the mines, where should the material be purchased?
Solution
1. Operating analysis
Particulars A B
I. Total kms operated
II. Total operating time
a. Time from plot to mine
(10*60/30) , (15*60/30)
b. Loading time
b. Time from mine to plot
(10*60/30) , (15*60/30)
d. Unloading time
III. Effective tone kilometer
(5*10km) , (5*15km)
20km
20mins
30mins
20mins
10mins
80mins
50tonn-km
30km
30mins
20mins
30mins
10mins
90mins
75tonn-km

11. 2. Statement showing the cost per tone –kilometer of carrying
Mineral from each mine
Costs Mine A Mine B
(Drivers wages , depreciation , insurance &
taxes)
A: 1hour 20minutes @ Rs9 per hour
B: 1hour 30minutes @ Rs9 per hour
(refer to working note 1)
(Fuel, oil , tyres , repairs and maintainance)
A: 20kms @ Rs1.20 per km
B: 30kms @ Rs1.20 per km
Total cost per trip
12
24
36
13.50
36.00
49.50
Cost per ton-km
= Total cost / Total ton-km
A = 36/50 = Rs 0.72
B = 49.5/ 75 = Rs 0.66
cost per tone
= Total cost Total tones
A= 36/5 = Rs 7.2
B = 49.5/5 = Rs 9.9

12. Since the cost per tone is the lowest in case material is procure from mine A
it will be considered
Illustrations3:
A truck starts with a load of 10 tonnes of goods from station P. It unloads 4
tonnes at station Q and rest of the goods at station R. It reaches back directly
to station P after getting reloaded with 8 tonnes of goods at station R. The
distance between P to Q to R and then R to P is 40 Kms, 60 Kms and 80
Kms respectively. Compute
1. Absolute Tonnes-Kilometers
2. Commercial Tonnes-Kilometers
Solution:
Absolute Tonnes- Kilometer
Q
40km 60km
P R
80km
= (10 tonnes*40km) + (6 tonnes*60km)
+ (8 tonnes*80 kms)

13. = 1400
Commercial Tonnes Kilometer
= Average Load * Kilometers Travelled
= 10 + 6 + 8/3 Tonnes * 180 km
= 1440 Tonnes – Kms

14. HOTEL COSTING:
Hotel and lodges, providing daily accommodation facility to general public,
have mushroomed all over the country due to the impetus provide by
modern civilization to ‘travel’ both on personal and commercial work.
The Operating Costing is applied in lodging houses in order to find out the
cost of accommodation provided.
The convenient form measuring the accommodation facility is in terms of
‘Room day’.
Cost per room day means the cost of maintaining one room in usable
condition for one day when occupied.
When different classes of rooms are provided, they can be expressed in term
of a single class with the help of weights based on appropriate width.
While determining the cost per room day, factors such as room
accommodation available, whether cubicles or dormitories, number of
persons lodging, facilities provided to the lodgers, etc. are to be taken into
account.
Most of the costs in the lodging houses are fixed in nature like depreciation,
staff salaries, maintenance, etc.
Hence, the distinctions between fixed and operating charges are rarely
observed. In case the customers are provided food and drinks along with
accommodation facility, a separate charge may be levied from them.
The cost per room day is arrived at by dividing the total cost with the
number of room day.
Some amount of profit is added to the cost per room per day to determine
charge per room day.

15. Once the charge per room day is determined, the same is to be multiplied
with the assigned weights to arrive at the rate to be charged for different
classes of room per day.
Hotels, restaurants employ operating costing. The total operation of a hotel
is divided into number of cost centers.
Restaurant-cost unit is number of meals served
Housekeeping-cost unit is no. of rooms cleaned
Laundry-cost unit is number of clothes washed.
The important heads of expenditure is:
Provisions: Vegetables, fruits, meat. Flour, milk, oil, sugar
Labor: Salary of cooks, kitchen assistance, supervisors
Service: steam, gas, electricity, power and light
Consumable stores: crockery, glassware
Misc. overheads: Rent, rates, depreciation, insurance
Credit: Charges of meals. Tea and other sales.

16. COST SHEET FOR THE YEAR/MONTH
Step Costs Rs Rs
Salaries to staff
Room attendant wages
Repairs and renovation
Lighting and heating
Power
Linen
Interior decoration
Sundries
Depreciation
-Buildings
-Furniture & fixtures
-Air-conditioners
Premises rent
Other Administration Expenses
Interest on investment
total operating cost (1)
no. of room days(2)
cost per room day (1+2)
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
Illustration1:

17. A hotel has a capacity of 100 single rooms and 20 double rooms. The
average occupancy of both single and double rooms is expected to be 80%
throughout the year of 365 days. The rent for double room has been fixed at
125% of the rent of a single room. The costs are as under:
Variable costs: single room Rs 220 each per day
Double rooms Rs 350 each per day
Fixed costs : single rooms Rs 120 each per day
: Double rooms Rs 250 each per day
Calculate the rent chargeable for single and double rooms per day in such a
way that the hotel earns a profit of 20% on hire charges of rooms.
Solution:

18. Single rooms = 100 * 365 * 80/100 = 28200 Room days
Double rooms = 20 * 365 * 80/100 = 5840 Room days
a. Computation of Total Cost
Steps Costs Amt Amt
A
B
C
D
E
Variable Costs
Single Rooms ( 29200 room days * rs 220)
Double Rooms ( 5840 room days * rs 350 )
Fixed Costs
Single Rooms ( 29200 room days * rs 120)
Double Rooms ( 5840 room days * rs 250 )
Total Costs
Profit of 20% on Revenue
(i.e. of 25% on Costs 13432000 * 25% )
Total Revenue
6424000
2044000
3504000
1460000
3358000
8468000
4964000
13432000
16790000
b. Room wise Rent

19. Single Rooms (29200*1) 29200
Double Rooms (5840*1.25) 7300
Notional Single Rooms/day 36500
Rent per day per single room = 16790000/ 36500 = Rs 460
Rent per day per double room = Rs 460 * 1.25 = Rs 575
Illustration 2:
From the following information relating to a hotel, calculate the room rent
to be charged to give a profit of 25% on cost excluding interest charged
on loan for the year ended 31st
March, 2008:
1. Salaries of office staff Rs 50,000 per month.
2. Wages of the room attendant: Rs 20 per day per room when the
room is occupied.
3. Light, heating and power:
a. The normal lighting expenses for a room for the full month is Rs
500, when occupied.
b. Power is used only in winter and charges are Rs 200 for a room,
when occupied.
4. Repair to bed and other furniture: Rs 30,000 per annum.
4. Repair to Hotel building: Rs 50,000 per annum.
4. License fees: Rs 12,400 per annum.
4. Sundries: Rs 10,000 per annum.
4. Interior decoration and furniture: Rs 1, 00,000 per annum.

20. 4. Depreciation @ 5% p.a. is to be charged on building costing Rs
20,000 and @ 10% p.a. on equipments.
4. There are 200 rooms in the Hotel, 80% of the rooms are generally
occupied in summer, 60% in winter, 30% in rainy season.
The period of summer, winter and rainy season may be considered to be
of 4 months in each case. A month may be assumed as 30 days of an
average.
SOLUTION:

21. Operating Cost Statement
Particular Rs p.a. Rs p.a.
Office staff salaries (50,000 × 12)
Room attendant wages (WN – 1)
Lighting and Heating (WN – 2)
Power (WN – 3)
Repair to bed and other furniture
Repair to building
License fee
Sundries (10,000 × 12)
Interior decoration and furnishing
Depreciation:
Building @ 5%
Equipment @10%
Total Cost
Add: Profit 25% of Cost (Excluding interest on
loan)
Total Earnings
1,00,000
5,00,000
6,00,000
8,16,000
6,80,000
96,000
30,000
50,000
12,400
1,20,000
1,00,000
1,50,000
26,54,400
6,63,600
33,18,000

22. HOSPITAL COSTING:
A concern of most countries is health sector resources: the sources of
finance for health services, the ability to maintain past funding levels,
resource allocation patterns, and the efficiency of health services delivery.
The hospitals of these countries are an important element of the concern
about health resources because they are the largest and most costly
operational unit of these health systems and account for a large portion of
the health sector's financial, human, and capital resources. In aggregate
terms,
• hospitals utilize nearly half of the total national expenditure for the
health sector;
• hospitals commonly account for 50 to 80 percent of government
recurrent health sector expenditure:
• hospitals use a large proportion of the most highly trained health
personnel
A hospital is engaged in providing various types of medical services to the
patients.
Hospital costing is applied to decide the cost of these services. A hospital
may have following departments for providing various types of services:
1. Outdoor Patient Department. (O.P.D)

23. 2. Indoor Patient Department (Medical Wards).
3. Medical Services Department:
• X – Ray Department,
• Scanning Centre,
• Pathology Laboratory,
• Sonography Department.
4. General Services Departments:
• Bolier House,
• Power House,
• Catering department,
• Laundry Room,
• Administrative Department,
5. Miscellaneous Services Departments:
• Transport Department,
• Dispensary Department,
• General Porting Department.
UNIT OF COST:
The common units of costs of various departments in a hospital are as
follows:
Department Unit of Cost

24. 1. Outdoor Patient Department Per out-patient
2. Indoor Patient Department per Room-day
3. X – Ray Department Per 100 units
4. Scanning centre per case
5. Pathology Laboratory per 100 Requests
6. Laundry Department Per 100 items laundered
7. Catering Department Per Patient per week
The cost of hospital is divided into fixed and variable costs. Fixed costs
include staff salaries, depreciations of building, rent of building whereas
variable cost include light and power, water, laundry charges, food
supplied to patients etc.
Why are hospital costs important?
Hospital cost information is derived by relating the inputs of resources in
monetary terms to the outputs of services provided by the hospital. Cost
information is part of the basic information needed by managers and policy
makers for making decisions about how to improve the performance of a
hospital, where to allocate the resources within or among hospitals, or to
compare the performance of different hospitals to one another. Some of the
Basic reasons for wanting cost information are to improve efficiency,
increase effectiveness, enhance sustainability, and improve quality.

25. How does one do a hospital costing exercise?
The process of determining the costs of a hospital involves six steps:
1. Defining the major and relevant activity areas of the hospital.
2. Gathering information on the services provided or the output of the
hospital.
3. Determining the labor and other recurrent costs.
4. Ascertaining the capital costs of the hospital.
5. Allocating indirect costs.
6. Reviewing and using the hospital cost summary.

26. COST SHEET FOR MONTH/YEAR
A.
B
C.
D.
E.
FIXED STANDING COSTS
Salaries to staff ………….
Premises Rent ………….
Repairs and maintenance ………….
General administration Expenses .…………
Cost of Oxygen, X-Ray, etc. .…………
Depreciation .………..
RUNNING OR VARIABLE COSTS
Doctor’s fees …………
Food …………
Medicines …………
Diagnostic Services …………
Laundry .………..
Hire charges for Extra Beds .……….
TOTAL OPERATING COST
NO. OF PATIENTS DAYS
COST PER PATIENT DAY (C)+(D)
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX

27. Illustration 1:
Apollo Hospital runs an Intensive Care Unit in a hired building at a rent of
Rs. 7500 p.m. The Hospital has undertaken to bear the cost of repairs and
maintenance.
The Intensive Care Unit consists of 35 beds and 5 more beds can be
conveniently accommodated whenever required. The permanent staff
attached to the unit is as follows:
2 Supervisors, each at a salary of Rs. 2500 p.m., 4 Nurses each at a salary of
Rs. 2000 p.m., 4 Ward boys each at a salary of Rs.500 p.m.
Though the unit was open for the patients all the 365 days in a year but it
was found that only 150 days in a year, the unit has the full capacity of 35
patients per day and for another 80 days it had on an average 25 beds only
occupied per day. But there were occasions when the beds were full, extra
beds were hired from outside at a charge of Rs. 10 per bed per day. This did
not come to more than 5 beds extra above the normal capacity any one day.
The total hire charges for the extra beds incurred for the whole year
amounted to Rs. 7500.
The unit engaged expert doctors from outside to attend on the patients and
fees were paid on the basis of the number of patients attended and time spent
by them on an average worked out to Rs.25000 per month in the year 2003.

28. The other expenses for the year were as under:
Repairs and Maintenance (Fixed) Rs. 8100
Food supplied to patients (Variable) Rs. 88000
Janitor and Others Services for patients (Variable) Rs. 30000
Laundry Charges for their bed linen (Variable) Rs.60000
Medicines supplied (Variable) Rs. 75000
Cost Oxygen, X – Ray, etc., other
Than directly borne for treatment of patients (Fixed) Rs.
108000
General Administration Charges allocated
To the unit (Fixed) Rs.
100000
1. Calculate the profit per patient day made by the unit in the year 2003
if the unit recovered on the overall amount of Rs. 200 per day on an average
from each patient.
2. The unit wants to work on a budget for the year 2004, but the number
of patients requiring intensive care is a very uncertain factory.

29. Assuming that same revenue and expenses prevail in 2004 in the first
instance, work out the number of patient’s days required by the unit to
break-even.
SOLUTIONS:
Calculation of No. of Patients days:
35 beds * 150 days = 5250
25 beds * 80 days = 2000
Extra bed days 7500 / 10 = 750
8000
STATEMENT OF COST
Particulars Rs Rs
1. Income Received (Rs. 200 * 8000 Patient days) 1600000
2. Variable Costs (Marginal Costs) Per Annum:
Food 88000
Janitor charges 30000
Laundry Charges 60000
Medicines supplied 75000
Doctors Fees (25000 *12) 300000
Hire Charges for extra beds 7500 560500
Contribution 1039500
3. Fixed costs
a. Salaries:
Supervisors (2 * 2500 * 12) 60000

30. Nurses (4 * 2000 *12)
Ward Boys (4 * 500 * 12)
96000
24000
b. Rent (7500 *12) 90000
c. Repairs and Maintenance 8100
d. Cost and oxygen etc. 108000
e. General Administration 100000 486100
553400
Profit per Patient-day = 553400 / 8000 patients’ days
= Rs. 69.175
Break – even Point =
Fixed Cost / Contribution * Income
486100 / 1039500 * 1600000
= Rs. 748206
Break-even Point for Patient-days = 782206 / 200
= 3741 patients-days.
Illustration 2:
Care Hospital operates a fitness center to provide counseling on nutrition,
exercise and health care for major surgery patients after their release from

31. the hospital. Average patient will make three visits to the center. Each visit
lasts 40 minutes.
The hospital has estimated the following costs of operating the center:
Particulars Amt
Occupancy costs per month
Clerical costs per month
Other costs per month
Medication charges per patient
Records charge per patient
Staffing cost per visit
Computer record update per visit
18000
12000
4000
44
16
9
3
Hospital expects to have an average of 500 visits per month. What should be
the amount charged to each patient in order to cover the above costs?
Solution:
Particulars Amt

32. Indirect cost per month
Occupancy
Clerical
Other costs
A. Indirect costs per visit
( 34000/500)
Staffing cost per visit
Computer record update per visit
Total costs per visit
Visits per patient
B. Total cost per patient
Records charge per patient
Medication change per patient
C. Total average cost per patient
C. Or per patient (60+80) per visit
18000
12000
4000
3400
68
9
3____
80
3____
240
16
44____
300
CONCLUSION
Operating costs are expenses that relate to a buisness’ operations. It can also
refer to the costs of operating a specific device or branch of a corporation.

33. These costs usually fall into two categories, called fixed costs and variable
costs, and a business may have more of one type than the other.
Fixed operating costs are expenses that tend to remain the same whether the
business or device is inactive or operating at full capacity. Examples of such
expenses include employee salaries and machinery leasing fees. Salaries
must be differentiated from hourly wages in this regard.
Flexible expenditures are known as variable operating costs. These expenses
fluctuate based on a variety of factors. Money dispensed on hourly wages,
for example, can be adjusted by varying the amount of time recipients are
engaged in labor.
Operating costs are not unique to any country, although actual expenses may
vary from one country to another or even from one location to another.
Within an industry, it is very possible for expenses to vary. It is, however,
difficult to find a business that does not have any of these costs. Even
Internet businesses, in which the costs of operations can often be reduced, it
is almost impossible to completely eliminate them.
Process costing method is applicable where goods or services result from a
sequence of continuous or repetitive operations or processes and products
are identical and cannot be segregated. Costs are charged to processes and
averaged over the units produced during the period.
Single or output costing is used when the production is uniform and identical
and a single article is produced. The total production cost is divided by the
number of units produced to get unit or output cost. Examples are mining,
breweries, brick making, etc.
Operation costing refers to the methods where each operation in each stage
of production or process is separately costed. Thereafter, the cost of finished

34. unit is determined. This is suitable to industries dealing with mass
production of repetitive nature for example, motor cars, cycles, toys, etc.
Expenses associated with administering a business on a day to day basis.
Operating costs include both fixed costs and variable costs. Fixed costs, such
as overhead, remain the same regardless of the number of products
produced; variable costs, such as materials, can vary according to how much
product is produced.
Businesses have to keep track of both operating costs and costs associated
with non-operating activities, such as interest expenses on a loan. Both costs
are accounted for differently in a company's books, allowing analysts to see
how costs are associated with revenue-generating activities and whether or
not the business can be run more efficiently.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

35. • Advanced Cost Accounting – Manan Prakashan
• http://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/operating-cost.asp
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_cost
• http://www.accountingtools.com/questions-and-answers/what-is-
operation-costing.html
• http://www.icaiknowledgegateway.org/littledms/folder1/chapter-8-
operating-costing.pdf
• http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/operating-cost.html