Is Your Costing System in Code?

Apr 06, 2015

I was looking around LinkedIn this morning to see what topics were popular and to get some ideas about what to write. Today is my birthday, but I figured you didn’t want to hear my life story. Instead, I am sure many of you ate one too many marshmallow peeps, or chocolate bunnies and are still trying to wake up from your food coma and basketball watching weekend. Therefore, I promise not get too technical for you this morning. I stumbled across a strategic math problem that I found quite interesting. As the graphic states, 99.9% get this incorrect. Leave your “guess” in a comment to me. Who knows maybe you’ll win a prize if you get the correct answer!

If you have read my blogs before, you know I can relate just about anything to your costing system. Maybe you think it’s a big stretch to always do so, but I actually think it’s because a costing system is so valuable and plays such an integral role in your business that it is easily relatable.

Is your costing system a puzzle? Do you have to attempt to decode it like the problem above to get the answers and the data that you need? Do multiple people get multiple answers, feeling confident theirs is right until they see the other answers? Your costing system should not be a puzzle. It should be something that is transparent. It should be easy to determine the correct information for everyone involved. Although these puzzles can be fun at times, it is scary if it’s your cost system.

Stop trying to decipher your system! It’s time the establish transparency once and for all.

Categories: Cost Accounting