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The Activity-Based Costing Method: Development and Applications

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 THE ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING METHOD :
DEVELOPMENTS AND APPLICATIONS
The IUP Journal of Accounting Research and Audit Practices, Vol. VIII, n° 1, p. 7-22.

Gregory Wegmann,
Associate Professor
Department of Business Administration, University of Burgundy (France)
LEG, UMR CNRS 5118

Correspondance:
Gregory Wegmann
University of Burgundy, UMR CNRS 5118,
Pôle d’Economie et de Gestion,
2, bd Gabriel, 21 680 Dijon Cedex, BP 26611,
France
Tel: +33 (0)3 80 39 52 77
Fax: +33 (0)3 80 39 54 88
E-mail: [Link]@[Link]

Abstract:
This paper analyses the management accounting applications which try to improve the
Activity-based Costing method. In the first part, we describe them using the Strategic
Management Accounting stream. Then, we present the main features of these applications. In
the second part, we examine in details two of these features: The widening of the analysis
perimeter and the relevant level of details to analyse the costs. Then, we analyse several
proposals: Customer Profitability Analysis (CPA), Interorganizational Cost Management
(IOCM), Resource Consumption Accounting (RCA) and Time-driven ABC (TDABC).
Finally, we describe an experience observed in the IT supply European division of an
international group. This group experiments what we call at the end a supply chain ABC tool
to manage its interorganizational relations.

Key words:
Activity-based Costing, Strategic Management Accounting, Time-driven ABC, Case study.

Electronic copy available at: [Link]

The Activity-based Costing (now ABC) method is the most well known management
accounting innovation of the last twenty years. Since the early stages of the method, the
Anglo-Saxon scholars have tried to develop specific applications and extensions. In France,
the ABC method and its main managerial development, Activity-based Management (ABM)
are quite famous1. But the numerous developments based on the ABC method are not very
well known and nor discussed. This is our research project.

The ABC method was designed in the United-States during the 80’s (Cooper and Kaplan,
1988)2. It is a refined cost system which enables classifying more costs as direct, to expend
the number of indirect-cost pools and to identify cost drivers. ABC favours better cost
allocation using smaller cost pools called activities. Using cost drivers, the costs of these
activities are the basis for assigning costs to other cost objects such as products or services.
Since the work of Johnson and Kaplan (1987) on the “Relevance Lost” of Management
Accounting, the Anglo-Saxon scholars have been very dynamic. The majority of
management accounting developments are based on the Strategic Management Accounting
stream3. With the historical research of Johnson and Kaplan, we understand the context from
which ABC arose. Looking for management accounting methods which could clarify the
decision making process, Johnson and Kaplan suggest: First, to analyse more deeply the
organization activities and processes and second, to link together the strategic and the
operational management. These proposals announce the development of the Balanced
Scorecard (Kaplan and Norton, 1996) and of a strategically oriented ABC.

In the first section, we present the ABC method showing that since its early stages, it belongs
to the Strategic Management Accounting (now SMA) movement. Then, we describe a global
panorama of the ABC applications. In the second section we shall examine more closely
several ABC developments which emphasize two questions: The widening of the analysis
perimeter and the relevant level of details to analyse the costs.

1. Strategic Management Accounting stream and panorama of the ABC applications

1.1 The Strategic Management Accounting approach: A theoretical foundation for the
ABC method

In this paragraph, we want to show that the ABC developments are founded on the strategic
management accounting stream.

The conventional approach to management accounting (Johnson & Kaplan 1987) discloses an
opposition among the processes of strategic management, management control and
operational control. There has been a growing interest in SMA4 since the early 80’s
(Simmonds, 1981). In a firm, a SMA instrument exists when it can connect strategic and
marketing decisions to operational ones. Under the SMA concept, we put together work
insisting on marketing aspects (Roslender and Hart, 2003) and work insisting on strategic
1
Even if a recent study (Bhimani et al., 2007) shows that the lowest rate of ABC implementation is in France
(10.8 percent) and that “…the French responding organizations revealed the highest rate of perceived
usefulness.” (p. 16, 2007)
2
According to Bouquin (p. 85-86, 2006), General Electric experimented with a kind of ABC during the 60’s.
3
Organizations like the Cam-i (Consortium of Advanced Management, International: [Link]
and the IMA (Institute of Management Accountants: [Link] support these investigations.
4
In our meaning, SMA refers to various other expressions like Strategic Costing, Strategic Control (Bromwich,
1990) and Strategic Cost Management (Shank and Govindarajan, 1989).
2

Electronic copy available at: [Link]

dimensions (Shank and Govindarajan, 1989). For instance, Simmonds (1981) & Bromwich
(1990) suggest using qualitative and external measures with three dimensions of analysis: the
products & customers dimension, the competitive and the environmental one.
The main reasons for implementing a SMA tool, according to the academic literature, lie in
the evolution of the environment. This is described in successive stages: stable and
predictable, unstable and difficult to anticipate and finally turbulent and unpredictable. As a
consequence, scholars explain that management accounting tools like ABC must take into
account strategic aspects and integrate them into the company’s drive. In order to be an
efficient decision tool, a SMA system must closely follow each step of the implementation of
the strategy and the achievement of pre-defined objectives. Tomkins and Carr (p. 165, 1996)
explain that “…there is still no agreed comprehensive conceptual framework for what SMA
is…, and it is still the case”. Despite these limitations, the SMA is a good way to analyse the
ABC developments.

We specify that SMA is based on a process approach of management accounting. In this

context, the company is described as a network of horizontal, flat and transverse structures
where the activities are organized according to market imperatives. The development at the
bottom of the process constitutes a fundamental driver to integration. In this context, the ABC
method represents a competencies-based tool. There is a significant relationship between the
processes and the competencies of an organization. The vast majority of new management
accounting tools has gained strategic and marketing dimensions so that they are in
accordance with the SMA frame.
So, the SMA Theory leads us to focus on knowledge-based aspects of management
accounting. Historically, Contractual Theories constitute the reference. They suggest a
disciplinary approach to manage a firm (Agency and Transaction Costs Theories). Brickley et
al. (1997) and Zimmerman (1997) for instance use the Contractual Theories when developing
a management accounting theory. From a contractual point of view (Jensen and Meckling,
1992), the objectives of the management accounting are:
- To reduce conflicts and provide control,
- To tie the strategy to resources allocation,
- And to facilitate the firm’s internal coherence.
But some authors have proposed significant research using heterodox approaches that we call
the Knowledge–based Theories: Organizational Learning Theory (Argyris and Schön, 1978),
Resource-based View (Penrose, 1959) and Core-Competencies (Hamel and Prahalad, 1990)
approaches. In this context, the value creation is the result of an increase of knowledge and
competencies. The SMA approach fits in with both the Contractual and the Knowledge
Theories. It aims to tie the strategy to resources allocation and also to facilitate the creation of
knowledge.

The ABC method was conceived in the mid-80’s (Cooper and Kaplan, 1988) mainly to
correct misleading overhead allocations. At first, It was a response to the inaccurate standard
costing American methods. But several scholars, like Lebas (1991) in France, explain that
rapidly, the ABC method has gained managerial (ABM) and strategic dimensions. For
example, Shank & Govindarajan (1989) have developed an operational model with the
definition of Key Success Factors, determined in using a competitive analysis of the
environment and an analysis of the internal processes of the company, with the help of the
ABC method. It is integrated in a SMA system with Life-Cycle and Value Chain analyses
processes. So the ABC applications clearly belong to the SMA stream.

3
1.2 The ABC developments: A synthesis

Many scholars and practitioners admit that ABC has several pitfalls (Anderson and Young,
1999; Datar and Gupta, 1994; Foster and Swenson, 1997; Malmi, 1997). We can make a list
of the major criticisms as follow:
- A lot of practitioners explain that ABC systems are expensive to implement, time
consuming and hard to adjust.
For instance, Kaplan and Anderson (p. 5, 2007) describe the ABC system of Hendee
Enterprises, a Houston-based manufacturer of awnings. They explain that the ABC software
took three days to calculate costs for the company’s 150 activities, 10 000 orders and 45 000
line items.
- A lot of failures have been compiled, especially in the service industries.
- Finally, a lot of people think that the ABC method is too complex. As a consequence, it
sometimes fails to clarify the decision making process and the strategy of the firm.

This is why since its early stages, several specific applications based on the ABC method
have been suggested. Table 1 shows a synthesis of these applications. Their objectives are:
-To diversify the costs objects (products, services, processes, customers, markets, …),
-To widen the analysis perimeter (spatial and temporal widening),
-And to determine the relevant level of details to analyse the costs.
These purposes display a common objective: to direct the costs calculations towards the key
value factors of the firm.

4
 Table 1. SYNTHESIS OF THE ABC DEVELOPMENTS

Techniques Main features

First group:
Customers-driven ABC, Spatial widening of the costs perimeter:
Markets-driven, …
Benchmarking-driven ABC Customers, markets, consumers, society, …
Environmental-driven ABC, …
Interorganizational Cost Management
Second group:
ABB Temporal widening of the costs perimeter:
ABC & Life Cycle Costing analyse of future costs
Target ABC (one or several years, a life cycle, …)
Feature Costing
Third group: Determination of the relevant level of
details to analyse the costs
RCA: Resource Consumption Relevant level: The ressources pools
Accounting
Process Costing & Lean Accounting Relevant level: The processes
Time-driven ABC and other Simplification of the resources
equivalence methods allocation process
The level of analysis depends on the
cases (department, activities or tasks)

In this table, we distinguish three groups of techniques.

- The first one gathers those which enable a spatial widening of the costs perimeter.
Some of them suggest to broaden the costs analysis to the customers (Customer Profitability
Analysis), others to the competitors (Benchmarking-driven ABC), to the environment
(Environmental-driven ABC), or to the suppliers and partners (Interorganizational Cost
Management and Open-book Accounting). This list of solutions is not exhaustive.
- The second one brings together those which allow an analyse of future costs (ABB,
Activity-based Budgeting, Antos and Brimson, 1999) and a temporal widening of the costs
perimeter. These solutions consist in combining the ABC method to the Life-Cycle Costing
or to the Target Costing (Horvath et al., 1998). We can also associate the Target Costing to a
specific version of ABC called Feature Costing (Cokins, 2002). The Feature Costing
(Brimson, 1998) introduces another level of analysis in the ABC method: the products’
features.
Several researchers have identified the links between the ABC and the Target Costing
methods. Lebas (p. 506-507, 1999) explains that ABC implies taking into account the value
that the customers attribute to the products. This is a principle of the Target Costing method
and this has a strong impact on the firm’s costs analytic structure.
- With the third one, we put together techniques which propose to determine the relevant
level to analyse the costs, depending on the features (strategic and organizational) of a firm.
In some cases, the processes and strategy complexity is great. The ABC method is
insufficient so we need another approach to allocate the resources. The Resource
Consumption Accounting method (now RCA, Keys and van der Merwe, 2002) complete the
ABC with a deeper analysis of resources. In other situations, the processes complexity is low
and the ABC method is too detailed. So, we can bring together several activities to set up a
5
“meta-activity” or a process with a single cost driver. This is the assumption of the Process
Costing (Horngren et al., p. 594 s., 2005) and the Lean Accounting methods5.
We also analyse the Time-driven ABC (Anderson and Kaplan, 2007) which is an
“equivalence method”. It is the most recent ABC development. It is clearly a simplification of
the ABC. With this technique, the activity cutting can be more simple (like with the Process
Costing and Lean Accounting). But it can also be more refined (like with RCA).

Now, we conduct a more precise analysis on several of these applications.

II Analysis of two types of the ABC applications

II.1 Spatial widening: from the Customer Profitability Analysis to the
Interorganizational Cost Management

We have noticed that since the first proposals, the ABC has aimed to allow managers to make
better decisions about customer relationships. Lebas (1991) has explained that it is a suitable
method to deal with marketing questions. More recently, he described (1999) the way to
organize an ABC structure starting from the customers’ features. Other French specialists
insist on this ABC approach. Mevellec for instance (2005) describes different versions of
ABC relevant to organize the costs analysis around customers’ questions (ABC011 p. 228-
239, ABC101 p. 250-259 and ABC111 p. 270-279).
But the original ABC has been designed for manufacturing companies. The activities
describe the production processes (supply chain, manufacturing, adjustments, …) and the cost
drivers express mainly production concerns (labour and engine hours, batches and numbers
of fabrication orders, adjustment minutes number, …) In a lot of cases, the value creation is
made outside the production process and sometimes, the customer relations is the key value
factor. This can explain the development of several Customer Profitability Analysis (CPA)
models.

The CPA consists in reporting and analysing the revenues earned from customers and the
costs incurred to earn those revenues. With the CPA, we can describe customer-profitability
profiles. The purpose for managers is to ensure that customers making large contributions to
the operating income of a company receive a level of attention from the company matching
their contribution to the company’s profitability.
The principle of the CPA is to reorganize the ABC architecture so that it deals with the
commercial and marketing aspects of management. Kuchta and Troska (2007) explain that
the ABC is a good method for profiling customer profitability. They believe that a Customer-
driven ABC “…can help determine which products and customers are the most profitable,
which activities are customer-focused, whether processes are customer value-added or not,
and where efforts toward customer-related improvements should be made” (p. 18).

Table 2 presents a CPA and Distribution Network-driven ABC illustration (Cooper and
Kaplan, p. 352-353, 1999).

Table 2 – A CPA AND DISTRIBUTION NETWORK-DRIVEN ABC EXAMPLE

(Adapted from Cooper and Kaplan, p. 352-353, 1999)
Customers … Customers Distribution …
type A type N Network 1

5
Cf. [Link]
6
 Turnover 500000 … 200000 1500000 …
Costs linked to The customers relation The distribution networks relation
(key processes)
Customer output unit-level 200000 … 80000 750000 …
costs …
Customer batch-level costs 5000 … 30000 60000 …
Customer-sustaining costs 10000 … 50000 80000 …
Contribution 285000 … 40000 610000
Marketing costs 15000 … 35000 110000 …
Customers/distribution …
networks margins 270000 … 5000 500000
Distribution-channel costs 150000 …
Distribution margin 350000 …
Overhead costs
Corporate sustaining costs
Results

We can extend the cost analysis perimeter to suppliers and even to partners (in this case, we
need an Open-book Accounting approach). Cooper and Slagmulder (2004) describe a
methodology called Interorganizational Cost Management (IOCM) which originates from the
observation of Japanese case studies. The costs analysis and reduction processes include at
least two firms. The ABC method helps to describe the value chain between them. With
Target Costing, a first firm can identify an estimated price customers are willing to pay and
then, with a second firm, it computes a target cost to earn the desired profit. One important
question is: what costs to include in the target-cost calculations? Frequently, cost-reduction
efforts need to extend to all parts of the value chain, from R&D to customer service,
including seeking lower prices from suppliers for materials and components. The relevant
costs are all future costs because in the long run, a company’s prices and revenues must
recover all its costs.
Then, the ABC helps to determine which activities and costs fall into value-added or non-
value-added categories. It helps to identify costs throughout the value chain and to summarize
the effects that design changes will have on those costs. Cooper and Slagmulder call this
process the “Interorganizational Costs Investigation”.

7
II.2 What is the relevant level of details to analyse the costs?

The first figure describes the different levels to analyse the costs.

Figure 1. DIFFERENT LEVELS TO ANALYSE THE COSTS

Tasks
Resources

Activities

Macro-activities

Processes

Products/
Customers, … Which is the relevant level of analysis?

RCA ABC ABC Process

TDABC simplified Costing, Lean
TDABC Accounting

The specialists of the techniques concerned explain that the resources allocation question
represents a problem with the ABC method and must be examined strategically. In some
circumstances, the activity is an excessive level of detail (standard processes, just-in-time
approaches, specific sectors like the chemical industry,…) and the ABC can lead to a useless
and non relevant analysis. It is why the Process Costing and the Lean Accounting supporters
suggest bringing together the activities in processes, value chains or “value streams”.

Conversely, with the RCA systems, we try to provide decision makers with more granular
information about the operations. Figure 2 compares the ABC, RCA and Process Costing
methods.

8
 Figure 2. COMPARISON ABC/RCA/PROCESS COSTING COMPARISON

ABC method RCA method Process costing approach

Resources Resources Resources

Resources Pools

Activities Processes

Activities

Products Products Products

Figure 3 describes the ABC allocation process. Two steps can be distinguished. The second
step is not difficult to achieve but the first step is quite tricky. Within complex organizations,
the variety of resources is great so that we need to multiply the number of resources drivers
and allocations. Thanks to the RCA method, resources originated from different departments
of an organization are classified in several resources pools (see figure 4). In this way, it
becomes easier to allocate the resources to the activities.

Figure 3. THE ABC ALLOCATION PROCESS AND ITS WEAK POINT

Resources

Which resource Resources

drivers? allocation First step: difficult to control

Activities

Activities
Activity costs
drivers allocation

Second step: quite well controlled

with the ABC method

Costs
objects

9
 Figure 4. THE RCA PROCESS: AN ILLUSTRATION

Resources Labour purchase manufacturing Building: Machine 1: Labour hours (…)

(quantities) hours orders nbr orders nbr Square metres working hours on machine 1

Management
Resources Supply chain Organization machine (…)
pools worforce planning n° 1

Resources time consumed time consumed to time to produce

drivers to treat an order launch a production a unit

Activities Standard orders Production Manufacturing (…)

management launch
Activities number of purchase number of number of
drivers orders launchings machine hours

Costs
objects Product A Product B Customer X Service Y (…)

The more recent technique was designed by Kaplan and Anderson (2004 and 2007). It is an
equivalence approach which consists in using equivalent-time cost drivers6. The principle of
the Time-driven ABC (now TDABC) is to translate the costs drivers in time-equivalents
(standards of working hours). The standards can be revised when the production conditions
change. The TDABC is a way to re-introduce the standard costing approach into the ABC
methodology. With the TDABC, we can highlight sub-activity costs.
According to Kaplan and Anderson, the TDABC simplifies the ABC method for three
reasons:
-The number of activities is reduced and the analysis is made at the level of the departments
or of the processes. Kaplan and Anderson (2004) present a case study where some 1200
activities have been reduced in 200 processes.
-The need to collect information from different services is limited because of the use of
standards.
-The different types of drivers are expressed in only one equivalent-time driver.

Let’s take the example of a sales department where three activities are performed: the
management of sales orders, complaints and payment. Instead of cutting the department into
three distinct activities and allocating their costs with relevant costs drivers, we construct a
time equation based on standards.

T = 8 mn x X1 + 44 mn x X2 + 2mn x X3
With:
Mn = minutes,
X1 = number of orders to manage,
X2 = number of complaints,

6
For a presentation of a French equivalence method called (GP), read La Villarmois (de) and Levant (2004).
10
X3 = number of invoices.

But if we go deeper into the analysis, a second version of the TDABC method has to be
mentioned. It refines the ABC method in analysing the tasks. Using equivalent-time
measures, the activities are divided into tasks so that the method gains accuracy. Bruggeman
et al. (in Kaplan and Anderson, p. 165-178, 2007) describe a TDABC experiment in an
European company where the value chain management is a key value factor. In this case, the
activities are divided into tasks and expressed with a time equation. For example, they
decompose the activity “administration of the customers’ orders” into three tasks: the input;
of an order line, of a new customer and of an express order. They formulate the time equation
in this way:

T = 3mn + 2mn x X1 + 15 mn x X2 + 10 mn x X3
With:
X1 = number of orders lines,
X2 = number of new customers,
X3 = number of express orders.

The TDABC is founded on a strong hypothesis. The cost generation is based on the time
consumption. This is the case only in certain circumstances. It is the case for supply chain
management, some standardised production processes, call centres, hospitals, some
consulting activities, … But it is not the case for the research and development process, the
marketing one, some complex productions, … In addition, some mistakes are possible when
establishing the standards. Moreover, the TDABC depends on internal time consumption
measures. It deals with an internal constraints approach. Maybe it would be useful to extend
the TDABC methodology to some customer variables (spending time when phoning for a
request, distance to the first shop, …)

III. Case study: ABC in IT supply services as a tool of supply chain management

The different types of ABC described fit according to the kinds of firms observed, their
competitive environment and their organizational structure. For instance, industrial firms with
complex technologies and processes need to clearly analyse their resources. A refined ABC
(like the RCA method) with a strong level of details of the analytical framework could be
useful (see figure 1). Differently, services could use a more simplified framework and Time-
driven ABC and Process costing approaches could be relevant. Moreover, the customer could
be a more relevant cost object than the product (see table 2). It is the case in the hospitality
management field where we observe a lot of CPA applications (Noone and Griffin, 1999;
Krakhmal, 2006). Now, we examine those premises with a case study that takes place in a
computing services context. We insist on the interorganizational dimension of the ABC
method in a supply chain management context.

III.1 General presentation

We have deeply studied the ABC implementation in an IT supply division of an international

and diversified industrial group. We call this division INFOTECH. The figure 5 presents the
links between INFOTECH and the other divisions of the group. INFOTECH is a profit center
and sell computing services into and outside the group. So, inside the group, we have a
11
supply chain process concerning the different kinds of computing activities: hardware,
software and services (hotline, ...) So that the supply chain process would be more relevant,
the staff decided to implement an ABC system dedicated to this process.

Figure 5. INFOTECH ORGANIZATION

Europe Stainless Corporate Asia

industrial division industrial
division division
Demand Demand Demand Demand

INFOTECH IT Supply
New
Customer
Customer Care Care
custo-
mers
External Application
Application Infrastructure
Partners management
management & Operations
(offshore,
outsourcing,
Transformation program Services devpment
outasking, ..)
Support functions & Integration

The old analytic model was based on cost centers P&L (profit and loss) reporting of costs,
that means:
- It did not easily report global INFOTECH figures for the same activity,
- It did not explain relationship between costs and activities,
- Projects reporting were not managed.
So, in order to make the links between costs of resources given by the SAP system and
services defined by the commercial teams, a new tool is required.
Two years ago, the financial controller of INFOTECH decided to develop the ABC method
to calculate more accurately the costs of the different activities of his division. The objective
is to define relevant prices depending on the computing services asked.

III.2 The ABC project

The ABC project lasted 1 year with six steps:

1. At the beginning: diagnostic, planning, and project team constitution,
2. Activities identification with interviews of managers,
3. Calculation of the activities costs with the elaboration of a Timesheet,
4. Definition and collection of the activity drivers and calculation of the full costing,
5. Calculation of the profitability,
6. Validation, corrections and results analysis.

This methodology allows:

- The allocation of dedicated and shared resources to activities,
- To manage activities as basic components of processes,
- To track costs of services which are aggregation of all components of the nomenclature of
activities,
- To be definitively focused on process improvements rather than structure improvements,
- To facilitate benchmarking,
12
- To monitor the performance of partnership by improvements in processes.

The figure 6 shows an extraction of some analytic accounts, site costs centers, activities
proposal and catalog services. In fact, around fifty activities were designed.

Figure 6. EXTRACTION OF ANALYTIC ACCOUNTS, SITE COST CENTERS,

ACTIVITIES PROPOSAL AND CATALOG SERVICES

The figure 7 describes some resource drivers and the activities reassignment logic.

13
 Figure 7. RESSOURCE DRIVERS AND ACTIVITIES REASSIGNMENT

To implement the ABC system, INFOTECH chose ALG software and an instrument called
EPO (Enterprise Performance Optimization). The figure 8 presents the EPO synthetic
dashboard.

Table 8. THE EPO DASHBOARD

With the EPO, the financial controller extracts P&L statements by customer, by region, by
type of service, ...

Conclusion

In this paper, we have analysed several ABC applications. These developments reveal the
research of multidimensional accounting systems. Today, managers want specific
14
applications with a high degree of modularity: a process costing system for a standard
production, eventually combined with a CPA and a TDABC for very complex activities, ... A
modern software makes it possible.
Moreover, the type of ABC used depends on firms’ specificities. With the case study, we
explain the interest for an IT supply division to favour an ABC which combines four features:
- A CPA one that is to say that the “customers” (internal and external) are the more important
cost objects,
- A TDABC logic with the build of a timesheet used to define a great part of resource
drivers,
- A simplified ABC with a number of activities around fifty,
- An IOCM dimension with the integration of the internal customers in a supply chain ABC
so that the IT services could be more efficient.
For a futur research, we would like to develop several case studies that put in evidence the
supply chain ABC dimension. A futur research could also be more quantitative with a
typology analysis (contingency theory) that puts in evidence the relations between the
different types of ABC described in the paper and firms' features.

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