How to Derive a Product Cost
Product cost refers to all the expenses incurred to produce a product, from direct costs like materials and labor to indirect costs such as overhead. Understanding the full cost of a product is important for pricing, profitability analysis, and strategic decision-making.
Here is a general way to derive a product cost:
- Direct Material Costs: Start with the cost of raw materials used to create the product. This includes everything from the base material to small parts and components.
- Direct Labor Costs: Calculate the labor costs directly associated with the manufacturing process. This includes the wages of workers actually making the product. The cost is usually determined by multiplying the hourly wage rate by the number of hours required to complete the product.
- Manufacturing Overhead Costs: Overhead costs can be a bit more difficult to calculate, as they include indirect costs that cannot be easily attributed to individual units of product. Overhead costs can include utilities, equipment maintenance, rent for the manufacturing facility, and depreciation of machinery. Some methods allocate overhead based on direct labor hours or machine hours.To allocate the manufacturing overhead costs, you’ll need to calculate the overhead rate. The overhead rate is calculated by dividing total overhead costs by the total quantity of the allocation base (e.g., labor hours or machine hours).
- Add the three components : To get the total product cost per unit, you would add up the direct material cost, direct labor cost, and manufacturing overhead cost allocated to each product.
The formula is as follows:
Product cost = Direct Material + Direct Labor + Allocated Overhead
Remember, this is a very basic form of product cost calculation. In reality, there may be other factors to consider depending on the nature of your product and business. For example, you might also need to consider costs like shipping, design and development costs, or various administrative expenses.
Also, the method of cost accounting you use (job costing, process costing, activity-based costing) can affect how you calculate costs. Different businesses and different situations may require different methods, so it’s important to choose the method that provides the most accurate cost information for your particular circumstances.
Example of How to Derive a Product Cost
Let’s imagine a fictional company called “Crafted Tables Co.” that makes handmade wooden tables.
- Direct Material Costs: The materials used for each table include the wood, varnish, screws, and glue. Each table uses $50 worth of wood, $10 worth of varnish, $5 worth of screws, and $2 worth of glue.Direct Material Cost = $50 (wood) + $10 (varnish) + $5 (screws) + $2 (glue) = $67
- Direct Labor Costs: Each table takes 5 hours to make, and Crafted Tables Co. pays its employees $20 per hour.Direct Labor Cost = 5 hours * $20/hour = $100
- Manufacturing Overhead Costs: The company has $120,000 per year in overhead costs, which include utilities, rent, and equipment maintenance. The company produces 2,000 tables each year. To calculate the overhead cost per table, you would divide the total overhead by the total number of units produced.Overhead Cost per Unit = $120,000 / 2,000 tables = $60 per table
- Total Product Cost: Add up the three components to get the total cost per table.Total Product Cost = $67 (materials) + $100 (labor) + $60 (overhead) = $227
So, according to these calculations, each table costs $227 to produce.
Keep in mind, this is a simplified example. In a real business setting, each of these cost categories could include a wide variety of specific costs, and the process of allocating overhead can become much more complex. But this example should give you a good basic understanding of how product cost is calculated.
