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Exercises · Q6

Q.What are the limitations of cost accounting?

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Cost accounting, despite its advantages, has genuine limitations.

  1. It is expensive. Installing and running a costing system means extra records, extra staff and extra expenditure — a cost that a very small business may find hard to justify against the benefit it gives.
  2. It is not an exact science. Cost accounting relies on estimates and judgements — for example in apportioning overheads and in valuing stock — so the cost it produces is accurate only within limits, not to the last rupee.
  3. It can become complicated. An over-elaborate system, with too many forms and returns, can become an end in itself and consume effort out of all proportion to the benefit it yields.
  4. It is not sufficient by itself. Cost figures must be interpreted with judgement; the same data can support different decisions in different circumstances, so the system supports but does not replace managerial judgement.
  5. Its results differ from the financial accounts. Because cost and financial accounts are kept on somewhat different bases, their profit figures usually differ and must be reconciled — which some regard as a drawback. …

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