外文翻译第三方物流企业的作业成本法.docx

外文翻译第三方物流企业的作业成本法.docx

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外文翻译第三方物流企业的作业成本法

本科毕业论文（设计）

外文翻译

外文出处InternationalAdvancesinEconomicResearch,2001,7

（1）:

133-146.

外文作者CarlesGríful-Miquela

原文：

Activity-BasedCostingMethodologyforThird-PartyLogisticsCompanies

Thispaperwillanalyzethemaincoststhatthird-partylogisticscompaniesarefacinganddevelopsanactivity-basedcostingmethodologyusefulforthiskindofcompany.Itwillexaminethemostimportantactivitiescarriedoutbythird-partydistributorsinbothwarehousingandtransportingactivities.However,thefocusismainlyontheactivityofdistributingtheproducttothefinalreceiverwhenthisfinalreceiverisnotthecustomerofthethird-partylogisticscompany.

Introduction

Inthelastdecade,developmentofthird-partylogisticscompanieshasbeenveryimportant.Thereareseveralreasonsforsuchdevelopment,themostimportantbeingthetrendtoconcentrateinthecorebusinessbymanufacturingcompaniesandnewtechnologicaladvances,Inthiscontext,conventionalapproachestocostingmightgeneratedistortedinformation,Thiscanresultinmakingwrongdecisions.Whencompaniesrealizethispotentialdanger,theuseofactivity-basedcosting（ABC）methodologiesincreaseswithinthird-partylogistics.

CostingMethodology:

DefinitionoftheCostModelandCritiqueoftheConventionalApproach

DefinitionoftheCostModel

Itisfirstnecessarytodefinewhatacostmodelis.Thiscanbedonethroughanalysisofthemainfunctionsthatanycostmodelshouldperform[KaplanandCooper,1998]:

1）valuationofinventoryandmeasurementofthecostofgoodsandservicessoldforfinancialpurposes;

2）estimationofthecostofactivities,products,services,andcustomers;and

3）provideeconomicfeedbacktomanagersandstaffingeneralaboutprocessefficiency.

Fromthisdefinition,acostmodelmightbeanalyzedasthetoolthatcompaniesuseinordertohaveaproperunderstandingaboutthecosttoruntheirbusinesses.Oneofthepurposesofacostmodelistogatherandanalyzedatageneratedinthecompanyinordertogainusefulinformationformakingdecisions.Therefore,theusefulnessofacostmodelmaybeevaluateddependingonitscapacitytogeneratetherightinformationtomaketherightmanagerialdecisions.

EvolutionofCostModels

Theevolutionofcostsystemshasnotbeenalinearandcontinuousprocess[JohnsonandKaplan,1987].Indeed,bythe1920s,companieshaddevelopedalmostallthemanagementaccountingproceduresthathavebeenuseduptothepresentday.Furthermore,between1925and1980,virtuallynonewideashaveaffectedthedesignanduseofcostmanagementsystems.Thesameconceptsalwaysappear:

break-evenanalysis,cost-volume-profitanalysis,directcosting,andfixedandvariablecostestimates.Theideathatconventionalaccountsareonlyfinanceorientedandsimplydescribehistoricalinputsissharedamongotherauthorsofcostingmethodology[Bellis-JonesandDevelin,1995].

ProblemswithConventionalApproaches

Asaresultofthedescribedevolutionofcostmodels,thesituationatthebeginningofthe1980swasthattheactualmanagementaccountingsystemsprovidedfewbenefitstoorganizations.Normally,thereportedinformationnotonlyinhibitedgooddecisionmakingbymanagers,butactuallyencouragedbaddecisions[JohnsonandKaplan,1987].Themainreasonwastheuseofanobsoletetoolinanextremelydifferentandmorecomplexandcompetitiveenvironment.

Themainproblemthatconventionalcostmodelsfacedwastheallocationofoverheadbyproductsonthebasisofeitherdirectlaborormachinehourcontentinthemanufacturingenvironment.Thisproblemwasgrowingatthesametimethatdirectlaborandmachinehourcontentsofmanyproductsandservicesfell,whileoverheadcostsincreased.Conventionalcostingignoresimportantdifferencesbetweenproductsandservices,marketsandcustomers,whichincurdifferentoverheadcosts.Thiswasthestartingpointincarefullyanalyzingtheconventionalcostmodelsandincriticizingthembecauseoftheiruselessnessinaccuratelyexplainingthecostofproducts.Lately,thefactthatthesameissuesapplytotheservicesectorhasbeennoticed.

Traditionalmethodsofcostaccountingshowedsomeotherweaknesses[Bellis-JonesandDevelin,1995].Thatis,companiesdonotknowwhethertheirproductsorservicesareprofitableandtheycannotdistinguishprofitablefromunprofitablecustomers.Inaddition,traditionalmethodsfocusontheshorttermattheexpenseofthelongterm.

ADescriptionofABCMethodology

Theproblemsthatconventionalcostingmethodologiesraisedwerethemainreasonfordevelopinganewtheoreticalapproachtothissubject.JohnsonandKaplanareconsideredtheinventorsofABC,althoughtheydonotusethisterminologyatthebeginningoftheirstudies[JohnsonandKaplan,1987].ThefirsttimetheconceptofABCappearsisinalaterarticle[CooperandKaplan,1988].Theanalysisofcostandprofitabilityofindividualproducts,services,andcustomersrepresentsacriticalissuethatcompanieswereconcernedwithandonewhereABCtriestohelp.Theprimaryfocuswastoaskwhatisimportantfortheorganization,andwhatinformationisneededformanagementplanningandcontrolfunctions.Finally,usefulinformationformanagerialpurposesshouldnotbeextractedonlyfromasystemdesignedprimarilytosatisfyexternalreportingandauditingrequirements（financialinformation）.Itisnecessarytodesignsystemsconsistentwiththetechnologyoftheorganization,itsproductstrategy,anditsorganizationalstructure.

DefinitionofABC

InliteraturethereareseveraldefinitionsofABC.ThedefinitionhereshowstheABCphilosophy[Hicks,1992]brieflyandclearly:

"Activity-basedcostingisacostaccountingconceptbasedonthepremisethatproducts（and/orservices）requireanorganizationtoperformactivitiesandthatthoseactivitiesrequireanorganizationtoincurcosts.Inactivity-basedcosting,systemsaredesignedsothatanycoststhatcannotbeattributeddirectlytoaproduct,flowintotheactivitiesthatmakethemnecessary.Thecostofeachactivitythenflowstotheproduct（s）thatmaketheactivitynecessarybasedontheirrespectiveconsumptionofthatactivity."

MainDifferencesBetweenConventionalCostModelsandABC

ThemostimportantdifferencebetweenconventionalcostmodelsandABCisthetreatmentofnon-volume-relatedoverheadcosts.Theuseofdirectlabor-basedoverheadallocationmethodswereappropriateinthepastwhendirectlaborwastheprincipalcomponentofmanufacturingcost,butnottoday.IntheABCapproach,manyoverheadsarerelatedtospecificactivitiestoavoiddistortionsinproductandservicecosts.

Anotherdifferenceisthetreatmentofunusedcapacity.ABCdescribesresourcesthatareusedbyactivities,butconventionalaccountsdescriberesourcesthataresupplied.Thedifferencebetweenthetwoisexcesscapacity.Ifexcesscapacityisallocatedtoproducts,services,orcustomers,thereisriskofa"deadspiral,"asdefinedbyBellis-JonesandDevelin[1995].Thismeansthatthecompanyshouldbeawareofwhichcoststheircustomersreallygenerateandnotallocatetheexcessofcapacitytoavoidtheriskofoverpricingitsproductsorservices.

AdvantagesandBenefitsoftheABCApproach

SeveralauthorshavedescribedthemainadvantagesandbenefitsofusingABC[InnesandMitchell,1990;Bellis-JonesandDevelin,1995;Malmi,1997].Themostimportantareasfollows:

1）ABCprovidesmoreaccurateproductandservicecosting,particularlywherenon-volume-relatedoverheadsaresignificant.

2）ByusingABC,itispossibletoanalyzecostsbyareasofmanagerialresponsibilityandcustomers.ABChelpstorecognizethewayinwhichcustomersdirectlyaffectthecoststructureofthebusinessandthereforehelpstoanalyzecustomerprofitability.

3）ABCprovidesabetterunderstandingofcostbehavioraswellasidentifyingthecostsofcomplexity,variety,andchangeinherentinboththekindofserviceofferedandcustomer-specificrequirements.

4）ABCfocusesontheactivitiesthataddvalue,whicharethoseactivitiesthatcreatevaluefromthecustomer'spointofview.Ontheotherhand,thecompanyshouldfocusonthosenon-value-addedactivitiesandtrytoeliminatethem,althoughsomeofthenon-value-addedactivitiesarenecessarytoenablevalue-addingactivitiestooccur.

5）ABCisusefulinperformingcapacityanalysis.ABCmeasuresthecostsofresourcesusedratherthanthecostsofresourcessupplied,thedifferencebeingexcesscapacity.Itwouldbewrongtoallocateunusedcapacitytothecustomers.Toperformthisanalysis,theuseofpracticalcapacityissuggested,whichmeansthecapacityreflectingthemaximumlevelatwhichtheorganizationcanoperateefficiently.

6）ABCreducesuncertaintyandprovidesamoresolidbasisforstrategicdecisions.Therefore,thesuccessofABCmightnotdependonlyontheresultsoftheanalysis,butonitsabilitytoprovideacorrectdiagnosisofthecompany'ssituation.

DisadvantagesandProblemsoftheABCApproach

ThedisadvantagesextractedfromastudybasedontheanswersofseveralcompaniesafteroneyearofusingABC[Cobbetal.,1992]regardedtheamountofworkinvolved,difficultiesincollectingaccuratedata,andthefactthatcostmanagementwasdifficultbecauseseveralactivitiescrossdepartmentboundaries.Additionally,implementationisverytimeconsuming,requiringnotonlygatheringandprocessingofdata,butalsointerpretingtheresults.EventhoughalloftheformerproblemshavebeenovercomewiththedevelopmentofABCmethodologyandtheincreaseinusingABCmodelsbycompaniesindifferentmanufacturingandserviceindustrie