How to determine indirect costs. Recognition of direct and indirect expenses in tax accounting. What are indirect costs

Direct costs of the enterprise

The classification of direct costs of an enterprise includes those costs that can be easily attributed to a specific cost object (service, product, project). Such costs include materials, raw materials that are directly used in the production of products, the cost of remuneration of personnel directly related to the production of products.

For example, for a company engaged in the development and maintenance of software, the cost of wages for enterprise programmers is direct. Another example of direct costs can be piecework wages for workers.

Remark 1

It must be remembered that in most cases in the enterprise, direct costs are variable, but there are exceptions. Typically, variable costs rise in proportion to the increase in output. This statement is true, for example, in relation to raw materials and materials. However, the remuneration of the supervisor, who exercises direct control over production, will already relate to the fixed costs of the enterprise.

Indirect costs of the enterprise

Definition 1

Indirect costs of the organization include those that cannot be attributed directly to any particular cost object, while they are associated with supporting the activities of the organization as a whole. An example of such costs is the overhead costs of the enterprise, which remained after being excluded from the total amount of direct costs.

As an example of indirect costs of an enterprise, administrative expenses can be used, for example, office equipment rental, utilities, communication services, and others. While these cost elements make a direct contribution to the activity of the enterprise as a whole, they cannot be attributed to the production of any particular product. Also examples of this type of costs are commercial expenses for marketing and advertising, legal and consulting services, etc.

Indirect costs for the remuneration of employees of the enterprise make it possible to carry out the production of a cost object, but at the same time they cannot be directly attributed to any specific product. For example, labor costs for executives, accounting, and human resources are necessary to keep the organization running, but are not related to the production of a particular type of product.

Indirect costs, like direct costs, can be both variable and fixed in nature. For example, fixed costs include rent for the company's office space, and variable costs for electricity and gas for auxiliary equipment.

Classification of indirect and direct costs

It is important to understand, when classifying costs, that in each specific case, the division of costs into direct and indirect is an individual approach, because these cost items can be seriously different even for enterprises that belong to the same industry.

In general, the classification of direct expenses of the enterprise is as follows:

Direct material costs:

• materials and raw materials;
• semi-finished products and components;
• energy for the needs of the main production equipment.

Direct labor costs: production staff wages.

Other direct costs:

• fare;
• depreciation of equipment (participating in the main production process);
• advertising costs for a particular product;
• packaging costs.

The classification of indirect costs of the enterprise in an aggregated form is as follows.

Indirect material costs: heat and electricity for the needs of auxiliary equipment.

Indirect labor costs:

• support staff salaries;
• wages of administrative and managerial personnel.

Other indirect costs:

• depreciation of auxiliary equipment;
• Administrative expenses;
• general running costs;
• advertising expenses of the organization in general;
• other expenses.

The figure shows an example of the classification of enterprise costs into direct and indirect.

However, the tax authorities insist that the organization does not have the right to arbitrarily attribute expenses to indirect ones and is obliged to justify why they cannot be considered direct.

In the tax accounting of organizations using the accrual method, all costs associated with production and sales are divided into direct and indirect (clause 1, article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Sooner or later, the company will take into account both direct and indirect costs when calculating income tax. The only difference is when exactly she can do it. After all, the entire amount of indirect expenses incurred during the reporting or tax period reduces the taxable profit of this period. Direct expenses are recognized in tax accounting as products, works, services are sold, in the cost of which they are taken into account, that is, the write-off of these expenses can stretch over several quarters or even years (paragraph and clause 2 of article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The undoubted advantage is that, according to the Tax Code, each organization has the right to independently establish in its accounting policy for tax purposes which expenses it classifies as direct and which as indirect (paragraph 5, clause 1, article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The only exceptions are trade organizations. For them, the list of direct costs is strictly regulated directly by Article 320 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (see the sidebar "Pay attention").

However, judging by the letters of the tax authorities, despite the seemingly given freedom to manufacturing companies, even they actually do not have real independence in the distribution of costs between direct and indirect.

According to the Federal Tax Service of Russia, a manufacturing company can consider costs indirect only if they really cannot be attributed to direct costs.

Directly in the Tax Code, there is only an approximate list of expenses that a production or performing work or providing services organization can attribute to direct costs. It includes the following types of expenses (paragraph 3, clause 1, article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

For the purchase of raw materials or materials that are used in the production of goods, performance of work, provision of services and form their basis or are a necessary component for the production of goods, performance of work, provision of services;
- purchase of component parts to be installed and semi-finished products subjected to additional processing from a manufacturing company;
- remuneration of labor of personnel involved in the process of production of goods, performance of work, provision of services;
- payment of insurance premiums to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, FFOMS and FSS of the Russian Federation, accrued on the amount of expenses for the payment of labor of the specified production personnel, including contributions for insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases;
- the amount of accrued depreciation on fixed assets directly used in the production of goods, performance of work, provision of services.

Tax authorities of different levels recognize that Chapter 25 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not contain direct provisions restricting the taxpayer in attributing certain expenses to direct or indirect

All other types of expenses, with the exception of non-operating expenses, are considered indirect (paragraph 4, clause 1, article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The Federal Tax Service of Russia recognizes that Chapter 25 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not contain direct provisions restricting the taxpayer in classifying certain expenses as direct or indirect (letters No. KE-4-3/2952@ of February 24, 2011 and No. ShS-37 of December 28, -3/18723@ 1). Moscow inspectors are of the same opinion (letters of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated July 26, 2012 No. 16-15 / 067379@, dated January 26, 2011 No. 16-15 / 006871 and dated January 24, 2011 No. 16-03 / 005790 @) .

At the same time, tax officials of different levels note that the organization is obliged to justify the mechanism for dividing costs into direct and indirect. Thus, the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow additionally indicated the following (letters dated January 26, 2011 No. 16-15/006871 and dated January 24, 2011 No. 16-03/005790@):

«<…>The right to independently determine the list of expenses requires the taxpayer to justify the decision. This authority has been transferred to organizations so that they can take into account the peculiarities characteristic of different industries.

The absence in the accounting policy of justifying the distribution of expenses into direct and indirect may lead to the fact that the tax authorities in their own way determine the list of direct expenses for a particular type of activity and recalculate the company's income tax

In addition, the Federal Tax Service of Russia emphasized that Article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation reflects the rule providing for the inclusion in direct costs of precisely those costs that are directly related to the production of goods, the performance of work or the provision of services (letter dated February 24, 2011 No. KE-4-3 /2952@). From this, the department has drawn the following conclusions:

«<…>This means that the mechanism for distributing production and sales costs must contain economically justified indicators due to the technological process. At the same time, the taxpayer has the right, for the purposes of taxation, to attribute certain costs associated with the production of goods (works, services) to indirect costs only if there is no real opportunity to attribute these costs to direct costs, while applying economically justified indicators.

Thus, organizations engaged in the production of products, the performance of work or the provision of services, when deciding whether to classify specific costs as direct or indirect, it is necessary to take into account the specifics of production, the features of the technological process, the types of raw materials and materials that form the basis of manufactured products, as well as other significant factors. (See the sidebar “Point of view of the Russian Ministry of Finance”). Moreover, it is advisable to justify the choice made directly in the accounting policy for tax purposes or to have prepared arguments, preferably with references to the features of the technological process, in case of disagreements with inspectors during an on-site inspection.

The lack of clear justification may well lead to the fact that the tax authorities in their own way determine the list of direct costs for a particular type of activity, recalculate the company's tax base and charge additional income tax, penalties, and possibly a fine.

note

In trade, direct costs include the cost of goods and the cost of their delivery to the warehouse of the organization.

Companies engaged in wholesale, small wholesale or retail trade determine the costs of trading operations, taking into account the specifics established by Article 320 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Unlike production organizations, they cannot independently establish a list of direct and indirect costs in the accounting policy. The fact is that the costs that are considered direct for trading companies are listed in paragraph 3 of Article 320 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. This list includes:

The cost of acquiring goods sold by a trade organization during the reporting or tax period;
- expenses for the delivery of purchased goods to the warehouse of the trade organization. Please note that these transportation costs are considered direct only if they are not included in the purchase price of the goods.

All other expenses of the trading company for the current month, with the exception of non-sales expenses, are indirect. Indirect, in particular, include all other types of transportation costs (in addition to the costs of delivering purchased goods to the warehouse of the trading organization), for example, the costs of delivering them to the warehouses or stores of buyers, transporting goods between the warehouses of the trading organization itself after they are credited.

The entire amount of indirect expenses reduces the sales income received by the trade organization in this month (paragraph 3 of article 320 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). A trading company will be able to recognize direct expenses in tax accounting only in the reporting or tax period in which the purchased goods will be sold. At the same time, she will include the cost of acquiring goods in expenses in the month of their sale to buyers, and she will distribute the costs of their delivery to her warehouse according to a special algorithm established by paragraph 3 of Article 320 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. This algorithm involves calculating the average percentage for the current month (the ratio of the amount of transport costs to the cost of purchasing goods), taking into account the carry-over balance of transport costs at the beginning of the month

Organizations engaged in the provision of services have the right to recognize in tax accounting the entire amount of both indirect and direct expenses of the current period

Companies whose activities are directly related to the provision of services are given the opportunity not to allocate direct costs to the balance of work in progress and write off their entire amount as a reduction in income from production and sales (paragraph 3, clause 2, article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In other words, such organizations are entitled to recognize direct costs in the same way as indirect ones. That is, they can take into account the entire amount of direct and indirect expenses incurred during the current reporting or tax period when calculating income tax for this period. The Moscow tax authorities do not object to this either (letters of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated 02.12.09 No. 16-15 / 127111, dated 11.01.09 No. 19-12 / 000086 and dated 07.07.08 No. 20-12 / 064119).

Despite this, service providers are still required to divide all costs incurred into direct and indirect. The fact is that the Tax Code refers specifically to a special procedure for recognizing direct costs in the provision of services, and not to the fact that all costs of such organizations can be considered indirect. However, no separate explanations of the tax authorities on this matter could be found.

In addition, if a company engaged in the provision of services decides to recognize direct costs without distributing them to the balances of services not accepted by customers, it is advisable for it to register this accounting option in its accounting policy for tax purposes. After all, in principle, such organizations have the right not to use the simplified procedure for recognizing direct costs and can distribute direct costs between the services sold and the balance of services not accepted by customers.

We also note that the simplified procedure for accounting for direct costs can be applied only by those organizations that provide services (see the "Reference" box). For companies involved in the execution of works, a similar opportunity is not provided.

The simplified procedure for recognizing direct costs can only be applied by those organizations that provide services. For companies engaged in the execution of works, a similar opportunity is not provided.

Unfortunately, the tax authorities themselves often get confused when qualifying specific types of activities. So, in January 2009, the Moscow tax authorities came to the conclusion that the repair of audio and video equipment is an activity for the performance of work (letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated 11.01.09 No. 19-12 / 000086). However, already in December of the same year, they also indicated that this activity can be considered the provision of services (letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated 02.12.09 No. 16-15 / 127111). True, in the December letter, the tax authorities referred to the explanations of the Russian Ministry of Finance, which, in particular, stated the following (letter dated February 11, 2009 No. 03-03-06 / 1/50):

«<…>An organization providing services for the repair of radio and television equipment and other audio and video equipment may attribute direct costs to the costs of the current period at a time and in full.

At the same time, the repair of road-building machines, according to the Federal Tax Service of Russia, is the performance of work (paragraph 2 of the letter dated 12.04.13 No. ED-4-3 / 6811). The fact is that after the repair, the guaranteed performance of road-building machines is usually provided for a certain period of time (during the warranty period for repair work).

The point of view of the Ministry of Finance of Russia

The organization can expand the list of direct costs, but does not have the right to consider all costs as indirect

According to the Ministry of Finance of Russia, companies involved in the production of products, performance of work or provision of services have the right to expand the list of expenses that they attribute to direct (letters No. -03-04/1/53, dated 16.01.06 No. 03-03-04/4/5 and dated 12.28.05 No. 03-03-04/1/464). That is, in the accounting policy for tax purposes, such taxpayers can establish a list of direct costs that is different from the one proposed by Article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In particular, they can consider as direct those expenses that, according to Article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, are indirect.

Moreover, the Ministry of Finance of Russia does not consider it a mistake if a production organization writes in the accounting policy that all costs associated with the production of goods are direct (letter dated 11.01.08 No. 03-05-05-01 / 3).

At the same time, companies involved in the production of products, performance of work or provision of services are not entitled to consider all costs indirect, that is, they cannot completely refuse to reflect direct costs in tax accounting (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 01.26.06 No. 03-03-04 / 1/60). After all, paragraph 1 of Article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation establishes that when calculating income tax, production and sales costs incurred during the reporting or tax period are divided into direct and indirect. There are no exceptions to this rule in the Tax Code.

Consequently, the results of equipment repair will actually be consumed not in the process of repair, but over a certain period of time limited by this warranty period. Therefore, the repair of road-building machines is qualified by the tax authorities as work, and not as a service. This means that an organization engaged in such repairs must allocate direct costs to the remains of work in progress and cannot be written off at a time.

Tax authorities believe that the costs of paying for the services of subcontractors are direct

According to the inspectors, if an organization hires a subcontractor to perform certain works, the costs of paying for them are directly related to the production process and, therefore, are direct

The costs of paying for work performed by subcontractors are not mentioned in the approximate list of direct costs given in Article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. It turns out that the costs of attracting subcontractors can be classified as indirect (paragraph and clause 1 of article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Despite this, the tax authorities have repeatedly pointed out that the taxpayer's expenses for paying for work performed by third-party subcontractors should be qualified as direct (letters of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated December 28, 2010 No. ShS-37-3 / 18723@ 2, the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated 03.09.12 No. 16-15/082396@ , dated 01.26.11 No. 16-15/006871 and dated 01.24.11 No. 16-03/005790@).

The tax authorities argued their point of view by the fact that the Tax Code classifies as direct costs costs that are directly related to the production of goods, the performance of work, the provision of services (paragraph 5, clause 1, article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). At the same time, a clear list of direct costs is not established by law. According to the inspectors, in a situation where an organization hires a subcontractor to perform certain works, the costs of paying for them are directly related to the production process or to the performance of work for the customer and, therefore, are direct.

In the opinion of the inspectors, in the reporting period in which the organization did not receive income from sales, it is not entitled to take into account either direct or indirect costs

Direct costs. When calculating income tax, the company recognizes direct expenses as they sell products, works, services, in the cost of which they are taken into account (paragraph 2, clause 2, article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). This means that it can attribute to the current period's expenses only that part of direct expenses that falls on products, works, and services sold in this period.

The Federal Tax Service of Russia believes that if in a particular reporting period an organization did not receive income from the sale of goods, works, services, it is not entitled to recognize direct expenses in this period (letters No. KE-4-3/2952@ dated 24.02.11 and .10 No. ShS-37-3/18723@):

«<…>If the organization has direct costs related to work in progress, finished product residues and shipped but not sold goods, then until the sale of products and these goods occurs, these direct costs are not taken into account in the tax base for income tax.

Reference

How is service different from work?

For the purposes of taxation, a service is recognized as an activity, the results of which do not have a material expression, are realized and consumed in the process of carrying out this activity (clause 5, article 38 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Services, in particular, include the provision of real estate and other property for rent, the provision of security services, and the provision of communication services.

In contrast to the provision of a service, the results of the performance of work have a material expression and can be implemented to meet the needs of organizations or individuals (clause 4, article 38 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Examples of such results are a written consultation (a written answer to a question), technical or design and estimate documentation. Therefore, the provision of written advice, the development of various documentation is considered work. At the same time, oral counseling is a service, not a job, since the results of this type of activity do not have a material expression.

A similar opinion is shared by the Moscow tax authorities (letters of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated May 18, 2010 No. 16-15 / 051839@, dated November 12, 2007 No. 20-12 / 107022 and dated December 26, 06 No. 20-12 / 115144). They note that in the absence of income from sales, such direct costs are not taken into account, such as, for example, the salary of production personnel, the amount of depreciation of fixed assets used in the production of products:

«<…>Direct expenses can be included in expenses only in the reporting (tax) period in which goods (works, services), in connection with the production of which direct expenses are incurred, will be sold, and only in the part attributable to those sold in this particular period. goods (works, services).

Even if the organization is engaged in the provision of services and therefore reflects direct costs without distributing them to the balance of work in progress, it is not entitled to recognize direct costs in those reporting periods in which it did not receive income from the sale of these services

Even if the organization is engaged in the provision of services and therefore reflects direct costs without distributing them to the balance of work in progress, it, according to the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow, is not entitled to recognize direct costs in those reporting periods in which it did not receive income from the sale of these services ( letter dated December 26, 2006 No. 20-12/115144):

«<…>The amount of direct expenses is taken into account when calculating the tax base for income tax by an organization providing services, only when receiving income from the production and sale of services of this reporting (tax) period.

indirect costs. The tax authorities believe that in the absence of income from the sale of goods, works, services, the company cannot take into account indirect expenses incurred during the current reporting or tax period (letters of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated November 12, 07 No. 20-12 / 107022 and dated 26.12.06 No. 20-12/115144). Indeed, according to the general rule applied in tax accounting, any expenses, including indirect ones, must comply with the criteria established in paragraph 1 of Article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. One of these criteria is the existence of a connection between the expenses incurred and the activities of the organization aimed at generating income.

Thus, if in a particular reporting or tax period the company does not conduct activities aimed at generating income, then the tax authorities argue that it cannot recognize indirect expenses incurred during this period (letters of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated 12.11.07 No. 20-12/107022 and dated 12/26/06 No. 20-12/115144).

1 Both of these letters are mandatory for use by the tax authorities and are posted on the website of the Federal Tax Service of Russia in the appropriate section.

2 This letter is included in the list of clarifications required for application by the tax authorities and posted on the website of the Federal Tax Service of Russia in the relevant section.

Estimate:

23 1

Under the classification of direct costs are those that can be easily attributed to a specific cost object (product, service or project). These include raw materials and materials that are directly used to manufacture products, or the cost of labor directly associated with its production.

For example, if a company develops software, the costs of paying programmers are direct. Another example of such costs is the piecework wages of workers.

It should be remembered that in most cases direct costs are variable, but this is not always the case. As a rule, variable costs increase in proportion to the volume of products produced, which will be true in relation to the raw materials and materials used. However, the salary of a supervisor who directly controls production is already a fixed cost.

Indirect costs

Indirect costs include those that cannot be attributed directly to a specific cost object, but they are associated with maintaining the activities of the company as a whole. Overhead costs that remain after subtracting direct costs are an example of such costs.

An example of indirect costs are administrative costs such as cleaning supplies, utilities, office equipment rental, computers, communication services, etc. While these elements contribute to the performance of the company as a whole, they cannot be attributed to the creation of any particular product. Also examples of this type of costs are advertising and marketing costs, consulting and legal services, call center costs, etc.

Indirect labor costs make it possible to produce a cost object, but cannot be attributed to a specific product. For example, the labor costs of the accounting and finance departments are necessary to keep the company running, but cannot be directly attributed to a particular product.

Just like direct costs, indirect costs can be either fixed or variable in nature. For example, fixed costs include the rent for a company's office space, and variable costs for electricity and natural gas for ancillary equipment.

It should be understood that in each individual case, the classification of costs into direct and indirect requires an individual approach, since cost items can differ significantly even for companies operating in the same industry.

In general, the classification of direct costs can be represented as follows.

1. Direct material costs:

• raw materials and materials;
• components and semi-finished products;
• energy for the main production equipment.

• wages of the main production personnel.

• depreciation of the main production equipment;
• advertising costs for a specific product;
• fare;
• packaging costs;
• sales agent commissions.

The classification of indirect costs in an aggregated form is as follows.

1. Indirect material costs:

• energy for auxiliary production equipment.

• wages of auxiliary production personnel;
• salaries of administrative and managerial personnel.

• depreciation of auxiliary production equipment;
• advertising expenses of the company as a whole;
• administrative and general business expenses;
• professional service costs;
• other expenses.

The figure below shows an example of the classification of direct and indirect costs.

Calculation examples

The following is an example of a direct labor cost budget.

For example, the direct labor cost for the first quarter is $5,425.

1240×0.35×12.5=5425 c.u.

The following is an example of a direct materials budget.

For example, the direct cost of materials for the third quarter is $348,160.

To correctly form the cost, the accountant allocates costs to direct and indirect costs. What concerns them, we will understand in detail. This will help you record all transactions without errors and correctly calculate income tax.

In the current accounting legislation, the exact list of expenses related to direct expenses is not established. According to the Instructions for the Application of the Chart of Accounts for Accounting for the Financial and Economic Activities of Organizations (order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated October 31, 2000 No. 94n), the cost of inventories and expenses directly related to the production of products are written off directly to account 20 “Main production”.

Thus, the organization in its accounting policy for accounting purposes independently determines which costs are direct. look,

Direct and indirect costs

You can group costs according to different criteria: by type of expenses, by place of occurrence, by economic role in the production process, etc.

Consider the classification of costs according to the way they are included in the cost of products (works, services). On this basis, the costs are divided into direct and indirect costs.

Direct costs

Direct costs are the costs associated with the production of a particular type of product (performance of certain works, provision of certain services), which can be directly included in the cost of these products (works, services).

These include, in particular, the costs of:

• for raw materials and basic materials;
• purchased products and semi-finished products;
• fuel and electricity;
• wages of the main production workers (with deductions);
• depreciation of production equipment.

Indirect costs of the company: what applies to them

Indirect costs are costs that are associated with the production of several types of products (works, services). They cannot be directly attributed to a specific type of product. Therefore, they are distributed by product types indirectly (conditionally) according to the indicators provided for in the accounting policy of the organization, using pre-calculated coefficients. That's where the name comes from indirect costs. What applies to them: overhead and general business expenses.

Direct and indirect costs: distribution by type of product

Recall that cost sharing direct and indirect costs depends on industry specifics, the organization of production and the accepted method of cost accounting (costing).

At first glance, it may seem that allocating direct costs by type of product is not difficult at all. The main thing is to establish a correspondence between the products produced and the direct costs incurred. However, if several types of products are produced in the same workshop on the same equipment using the same materials, it is not so easy to allocate direct costs. In this case, direct costs are distributed in proportion to the norms developed by the employees of the technological and planning departments.

The process of distribution of indirect costs in production can occur in two stages. At the first stage indirect costs are distributed according to the place of their occurrence, in particular between workshops, divisions or departments. At the second stage, they are redistributed by types of products. An important point in this process is the definition of the base (indicator) of distribution. For example, for the distribution of administration salaries, the number of employees can be used as such a base, for heating and electricity - the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe premises, for water supply - the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe premises or the number of employees, for sales and marketing costs - direct costs. In any case, the distribution of indirect costs should not require much effort and calculation.

Distribution method indirect costs between types of products, works and services should be fixed in the accounting policy of the organization.

We will show how different ways of allocating indirect costs can affect the financial result and its reflection in the financial statements.

Example 1

In September 2014, Uyut LLC manufactured 300 type A chairs and 250 type B chairs. Direct costs for the production of chairs A amounted to 225,000 rubles, and for the production of chairs B - 425,000 rubles. The amount of indirect costs - 120,000 rubles. In the same month, Uyut LLC sold 200 A chairs and 100 B chairs.

Let's allocate indirect costs in two ways. In the first case, we will take direct costs as the distribution base. In the second case, we distribute indirect costs evenly per unit of output.

First way

Amount of indirect costs:

• for chairs A - 41,538 rubles. ;
• for chairs B - 78,462 rubles. .

• chair A - 888 rubles. [(225,000 rubles + 41,538 rubles) : 300 pieces)];
• chair B - 2014 rub. [(425,000 rubles + 78,462 rubles) : 250 pieces)].

Cost of sales:

• chairs A - 177,600 rubles. (888 rubles x 200 pieces);
• chairs B - 201,400 rubles. (2014 rubles x 100 pcs.).

Total cost of sales - 379,000 rubles.

Second way

Amount of indirect costs:

• for chairs A - 65,455 rubles. ;
• for chairs B - 54 545 rubles. .

Unit cost of manufactured products:

• chair A - 968 rubles. [(225,000 rubles + 65,455 rubles): 300 pieces];
• chair B - 1998 rubles. [(445,000 rubles + 54,545 rubles) : 250 pieces].

Cost of sales:

• chairs A - 193,600 rubles. (968 rubles x 200 pieces);
• chairs B - 199 800 rubles. (1998 rubles x 100 pieces).

Total cost of sales - 393,400 rubles.

Thus, the cost of sales in the first and second cases differs by 14,400 rubles. (393,400 rubles - 379,000 rubles). Consequently, the financial result reflected in the financial statements will also be different. In this example, when distributing indirect costs in proportion to direct costs, the proceeds (profit) from sales will be greater than when distributing indirect costs evenly per unit of output.

Cost Accounting and Costing Methods

The main methods of cost accounting and cost calculation are order-by-order, per-process (per-process) and normative. The choice of costing method depends on the type of production, its organization, the technology used and the characteristics of products (works, services).

The custom method is used if the unit of production (work, services) has characteristic properties, and the products are produced in separate batches, the number of which can be determined. The object of cost accounting (calculation) in this method are separate orders for one product or a series of products.

For each order, a registration card is opened, which reflects the direct and indirect costs incurred during the execution of the order (contract). The cost of a unit of production is calculated by dividing the amount of costs accumulated under a separate order by the quantity of products (works, services) in physical terms.

Some organizations are large technological industries (for example, mining and ferrous metallurgy enterprises), consisting of a number of structural units. The latter produce products completed by this technology (semi-finished products), but are interconnected by a single production process. Moreover, each of these divisions is a separate cycle (repartition, process). The method of cost accounting, built on the basis of the calculation of these individual stages (processes), was called the per-process one. First, the cost of a unit of production of each redistribution is determined. Then, summing up the cost of units of production for each process, you can calculate the cost of the final finished product.

With the normative method, the organization creates and approves a system of standards and norms, according to which they make calculations of the normative (standard) cost of products (works, services), and also identify and take into account the costs associated with deviations from existing standards and norms. The actual cost of production is determined by adjusting the standard cost for deviations from the norms for each cost item.

Direct costs: postings in accounting

In accounting, the direct costs of production organizations are reflected in the debit of accounts 20 "Main production" and 23 "Auxiliary production":

DEBIT 20 (23) CREDIT 02, 04, 05, 10, 60, 68, 69, 70

Write off direct production costs.

Direct costs include losses from marriage. The write-off of the amount of marriage to production costs is reflected as follows:

DEBIT 20 CREDIT 28

Written off losses from marriage to the main production.

Indirect costs: postings in accounting

To reflect indirect expenses in organizations, accounts 25 “General production expenses”, 26 “General expenses” and 44 “Sales expenses” are used.

overhead costs. The debit of account 25 accumulates such indirect costs as:

• expenses for the maintenance and operation of machinery and equipment;
• depreciation deductions and expenses for the repair of fixed assets and other property used in production;
• expenses for heating, lighting and maintenance of premises;
• rent for premises, as well as for machinery and equipment used in production;
• wages of workers engaged in maintenance of production.

In accounting, this is reflected as follows:

DEBIT 25 CREDIT 02, 04, 05, 10, 60, 69, 70

Accrued expenses for servicing the main and auxiliary industries.

At the end of the month, when distributing overhead costs, they are written off:

• in the debit of account 20 - in terms of costs included in the cost of production of the main production;
• to the debit of account 23 - in terms of costs related to the cost of production of auxiliary industries.

Recall that the basis for the distribution of such costs (fixed in the accounting policy) can be: the salary of production workers who produce products of a particular type; the cost of raw materials released for the production of this type of product; the amount of direct costs related to the product of this type.

General running costs. The following indirect expenses are collected on account 26:

• administrative and management expenses;
• expenses for the maintenance of general economic personnel;
• depreciation deductions and expenses for the repair of fixed assets for management and general business purposes;
• rent for general purpose premises;
• expenses for payment of information, audit, consulting services.

This is reflected as follows:

DEBIT 26 CREDIT 02, 04, 05, 10, 60, 68, 69, 70, 76

General expenses charged.

The organization also establishes the procedure for writing off general business expenses on its own and fixes it in the accounting policy. There are two ways to write off such expenses.

In the first case, they are written off to the main production. That is, they are distributed by types of products (works, services) and are included in their cost as well as overhead costs. As a result, the debit of account 20 reflects the full production cost of products (works, services).

In the second case, the organization can attribute the entire amount of general business expenses incurred during the reporting period to products sold (to account 90). This is stated in paragraph 9 of PBU 10/99. Then account 20 reflects the reduced cost of production.

The total production cost consists of the partial production cost and general business expenses.

The method of writing off general business expenses affects the financial result of the organization. If general business expenses are distributed between sold and unsold products, then not all general business expenses incurred are written off, but only those that are included in the cost of goods sold. When using the second method, general business expenses are written off completely on sold products.

Example 2

LLC "Start" produces two types of products: tables and chairs. In September 2014, the total amount of general business expenses of the organization amounted to 600,000 rubles. LLC "Start" forms the full cost of production. According to the accounting policy of the company, the basis for the distribution of such expenses is the salary of workers involved in the production of each type of product. In September 2014, the wages of workers involved in the production of tables and chairs amounted to 400,000 and 160,000 rubles, respectively.

At the end of the month, the accountant of Start LLC distributed general business expenses as follows.

The share of the production of tables accounts for the amount of general business expenses, which is equal to 428,571 rubles. .

The production of chairs accounts for the amount of general business expenses in the amount of 171,429 rubles. .

In accounting, these transactions are reflected as follows:

DEBIT 20-1 CREDIT 26

RUB 428,571 - written off general business expenses related to the production of tables;

DEBIT 20-2 CREDIT 26

RUB 171,429 - written off general business expenses related to the production of chairs.

If Start LLC calculates the reduced cost, then on September 30, 2005, the accountant must write off the entire amount of general business expenses to account 90:

DEBIT 90-2 CREDIT 26

600 000 rub. - general business expenses are written off to the cost of sales.

Selling expenses. Industrial enterprises use account 44 to reflect on it indirect costs associated with the sale of products, works, services:

DEBIT 44 CREDIT 10, 68, 69, 70, 76

Business expenses charged.

At the end of the month, these expenses are written off in the part attributable to sold products to the debit of account 90 (cost of sales). Certain types of selling expenses (for example, packaging and transportation costs) are allocated to certain types of shipped products based on their weight, volume, production cost or other relevant indicators.

Accounting for finished products

The amount of actual costs (direct and indirect) associated with the production of products (performance of work, provision of services) incurred by the organization in the current month, reduced by the amount of costs attributed to work in progress, is the production cost of products (works, services).

The full or incomplete production cost formed on account 20 is written off to the debit of accounts 43 “Finished products”, 40 “Products, works, services” and 90 “Sales”.

Finished products are reflected in accounting at the actual or standard (planned) production cost. The selected option for accounting for finished products is fixed in the accounting policy of the organization for accounting purposes.

If the organization reflects finished products at actual cost, then the costs of its manufacture are reflected in account 43:

DEBIT 43 CREDIT 20

The actual production cost of finished products is reflected.

When accounting for finished products at standard cost, the actual costs collected on account 20 related to finished products are written off to the debit of account 40:

DEBIT 40 CREDIT 20

The actual production cost of products released from production, works delivered and services rendered is reflected.

The cost of finished products at the standard cost is reflected in the credit of account 40 in correspondence with account 43. By comparing the debit and credit turnover on account 40 on the last day of the month, the deviation of the actual production cost from the standard is determined. The amount of excess of the actual cost over the standard cost is debited from account 40 to the debit of account 90. Savings - the excess of the standard cost over the actual one - is reflected in the reverse entry in the debit of account 90 and the credit of account 40.

On a monthly basis, to determine the financial result, the cost of goods sold (works, services), as well as commercial expenses, are written off to the debit of account 90.

When generating the Profit and Loss Statement (Profit and Loss Statement), approved, the line "Cost of sales" reflects all costs included in the cost of sold products (works, services).

If, according to the organization's accounting policy, general business expenses from the credit of account 26 are fully debited to the debit of account 90, that is, for products sold, then they are reflected in the line "Administrative expenses".

Expenses written off from the credit of account 44 to the debit of account 90 are reflected in the line "Commercial expenses".

Direct expenses of the trade organization

Goods purchased by a trade organization are accounted for at the cost of purchase on account 41 "Goods". These costs are direct.

In accordance with paragraph 13, trade organizations may include transportation costs in the composition of sales expenses and reflect on account 44 “Sale expenses”. In this case, the transport costs accumulated on account 44 are monthly distributed between the sold goods and the rest of the goods in the warehouse. The amount of direct costs related to the balance of goods in the warehouse is set based on the average percentage for the current month, taking into account the carry-over balance at the beginning of the month.

The procedure for calculating this amount is as follows.

The amount of direct expenses attributable to the balance of goods in the warehouse at the beginning of the month and carried out in the current month is determined.

The cost of goods sold in the current month and the cost of the remaining goods in stock at the end of the month are set.

The average percentage is calculated as the ratio of the amount of direct costs (data of paragraph 1) to the cost of goods (data of paragraph 2).

The amount of direct costs related to the balance of goods in the warehouse is determined. It is equal to the product of the average percentage by the value of the balance of goods at the end of the month.

The amount of direct transportation costs attributable to the goods sold is debited from account 44 to the debit of account 90.

The procedure for recording transportation costs for the delivery of goods to the warehouse of a trading organization must be approved in the accounting policy.

Let's look at an example of how to distribute transportation costs in accordance with the algorithm described above.

Indirect costs of the trade organization

In addition to direct transportation costs, trade organizations in the debit of account 44 “Sales costs” reflect indirect costs:

• for wages;
• rent;
• maintenance of buildings and structures, premises and inventory;
• advertising;
• delivery of goods to the buyer;
• associated with the storage and processing of goods;
• entertainment expenses, etc.

The expenses accumulated on account 44 are written off to the debit of account 90.

As a reminder, in the Statement of Financial Results, the purchase price of goods sold is reflected in the line “Cost of sales”. The line "Business expenses" reflects business expenses debited from the credit of account 44 to the debit of account 90, including direct transportation costs allocated to sold products.

One of the important points in calculating income tax is the division of costs incurred into direct and indirect. The analysis of direct material costs is especially relevant for institutions that use the accrual method of accounting. For other organizations that have preferred the cash method, there is no need to subdivide expenses according to their characteristics into indirect and direct ones and reflect the available data on production and sales costs in the income tax return.

It is allowed to group costs based on several characteristics: by type, by place of occurrence, and taking into account their role in the production process. The distribution of costs into direct and indirect is important in determining the final cost of production.

When classifying direct and indirect costs, they are guided by the need to attribute direct costs directly to the production cycle. If resources cannot be classified as an integral part of production, then such costs can be classified as indirect.

All the nuances of accounting for direct costs in relation to production institutions and organizations operating in the service sector are reflected in Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Set out in Art. 320 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the conditions are intended for commercial enterprises.

What items are included in direct costs

Based on the provisions of Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, direct costs include the following items:

• purchase of raw materials/materials;
• remuneration to staff and contributions to off-budget funds;
• accrued depreciation in relation to fixed assets used in production processes or in the provision of services;
• purchase of other components.

The listed type of expenses is considered basic. However, Russian legislation lacks a clear definition of direct costs. Therefore, organizations have the right to adjust the composition of these costs, taking into account the peculiarities of their own activities. The actions taken should be reflected in the accounting policy with a list of direct costs attached, which will act as such in accounting for more than 2 tax periods. According to the recommendations of the Ministry of Finance, the list of direct costs used should bring tax and accounting records as close as possible.

Officials of the Federal Tax Service remind that the attribution of expenses received in the course of activities to a certain type of cost must have a reasonable economic justification. Indirect costs can be considered only those costs that cannot be attributed to direct costs.

Direct Cost Accounting

There is a certain rule according to which the accounting of direct production costs is carried out: when calculating income tax, production direct expenses are taken into account in the part that directly relates to goods sold or services rendered. The remaining amounts of direct costs can be attributed both to work in progress, and take them into account during the subsequent shipment of products from the warehouse. Thus, there is no write-off of direct costs that are not related to the shipped products of the tax (reporting) period, which affects the final amount of the resulting tax.

When compiling a book. Posting direct costs are taken into account on the account. 20, as well as c. 23. The formation of these costs is reflected in the following entries:

Dt 20 (23) - Kt 02, 10, 60, 68, 69, 70.

The credit takes into account the sources of direct costs.

In organizations operating in the field of trade, direct costs are reflected in account 41 "Finished products" and are included in the cost. Direct costs include purchased goods intended for resale, as well as transportation costs. Transportation costs in this case are taken into account as part of the cost of delivering the goods to the buyer's warehouse. Other transportation costs can be classified as indirect.

Composition of indirect costs

Other costs arising in the course of economic activities of the entity and not related to direct costs are classified as indirect. Their total amount is included in the cost of the current period. The exception is non-operating expenses, which are accounted for in a separate line.

Indirect costs may be associated with the production of products (provision of services), but it is not possible to specifically attribute their entire amount to costs for a certain type of goods (services). For this reason, indirect costs are distributed proportionally. General and other general production expenses are taken into account here.

When determining indirect costs, organizations are guided by the list of direct costs fixed in the accounting policy. All others, except for non-operating ones, can be attributed to indirect ones.

It is more beneficial for taxpayers to include as many indirect costs as possible, since their full write-off in the tax (reporting) period is allowed. While direct costs can be taken into account only partially, depending on the goods sold (services rendered), the balance of products in stock and work in progress. Increasing costs towards indirect allows them to be fully taken into account, saving on tax payments.

For organizations providing services, it is possible to attribute all costs incurred to indirect ones. But they should also enshrine this right in the accounting policy of the enterprise. According to the Ministry of Finance, enterprises engaged in the performance of certain types of work are not entitled to fully qualify their expenses as indirect.

Not all indirect costs when writing off are subject to the general rule:

1. R&D expenses are recognized in the period in which they are completed.
2. Expenses for voluntary insurance are taken into account in the period when there was a fact of transferring funds to the funds.

Indirect costs in trade organizations are the maintenance of premises (including utility bills), entertainment expenses, wages, and the cost of other taxes and fees. This includes transportation costs, if they are not directly related to the delivery of goods to customers.

Reflection of indirect costs

In boo. accounting for the formation of indirect costs, the following accounts are used depending on the type of activity of the company:

• sch. 25 "Auxiliary production";
• sch. 26 "Main production";
• sch. 44 Selling costs.

The accounting entries look like this:

Dt 25 (26, 44) - Kt 02, 10, 60, 68, 69, 70, 76,

where Кт is the source of cost formation.