Cost Wikipedia

Doug is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst who spent more than 20 years as a derivatives market maker and asset manager before “reincarnating” as a financial media professional a decade ago. Another 42 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cost Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cost research. The price or cost of something is the amount of money you must pay to buy it. Pay too dearly for one’s whistle To pay more for some desired object than it is worth; to expend a great deal of time, effort, or money for something which does not come up to one’s expectations; to indulge a whim. This expression is based on Benjamin Franklin’s The Whistle (1799), which tells of his nephew’s wanting a certain whistle so much that he paid its owner four times its value.

For this reason, companies sometimes choose accounting methods that will produce a lower COGS figure, in an attempt to boost their reported profitability. Cost of revenue is different from cost of goods sold (COGS) because the former also includes costs outside of production, such as distribution and marketing. The cost of revenue takes into account the cost of goods sold (COGS) or cost of services provided plus any additional costs incurred to generate a sale. Some companies will list the total cost to make a product under cost of goods sold (COGS) on their financial statements. These costs might include direct materials, such as raw materials, and direct labor for the manufacturing plant.

This acquisition cost may be the sum of the cost of production as incurred by the original producer, and further costs of transaction as incurred by the acquirer over and above the price paid to the producer. Usually, the price also includes a mark-up for profit over the cost of production. There are many different costs, including fixed and variable, but they are all accounted for in the same way. Costs are recorded as expenses on the income statement during and accounting period and cleared out in a closing entry at the end of the period. For example, airlines and hotels are primarily providers of services such as transport and lodging, respectively, yet they also sell gifts, food, beverages, and other items.

Another important aspect of calculating cost of revenue is determine what the beginning inventory was at the beginning of the period. This figure is required because it is an integral part of calculating the cost of goods sold. When inventory is artificially inflated, COGS will be under-reported which, in turn, will lead to a higher-than-actual gross profit margin, and hence, an inflated net income. The appropriate price of a product or service is based on supply and demand. The two opposing forces are always trying to achieve equilibrium, whereby the quantity of goods or services provided matches the market demand and its ability to acquire the goods or service.

Cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something or deliver a service, and hence is not available for use anymore. In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in which case the amount of money expended to acquire it is counted as cost. In this case, money is the input that is gone in order to acquire the thing.

• This phrase is most frequently used in the negative expression not for love or money to imply that someone or something is unobtainable at any price—either financial or emotional.
• Note that external costs are often both non-monetary and problematic to quantify for comparison with monetary values.
• The allusion is to highwaymen, the holdup men of yesteryear who roamed the public roads robbing travelers.
• These costs might include direct materials, such as raw materials, and direct labor for the manufacturing plant.
• First recorded between 1200–50, cost is derived from the Latin word constāre (“to stand together, be settled, cost”).

Here’s a hypothetical example of how the concept of cost of revenue works. Let’s assume XYZ Inc. sells electronics products and offers services to repair electronic equipment. The company reports total revenue of $100 million, COGS of $15 million, and cost of services sold of $7 million. The company has direct labor costs of $5 million, marketing expenses of $1 million, and direct overhead costs of $3 million. XYZ also pays $10 million to its management and records rental costs of $8 million. Costs of revenue exist for ongoing contract services that can include raw materials, direct labor, shipping costs, and commissions paid to sales employees.

Anagrams for cost »

As soon as the whistle had been acquired, however, it lost its appeal of the unattainable, leaving the boy disappointed with his purchase. The allusion is to highwaymen, the holdup men of yesteryear who roamed the public roads robbing travelers. The expression has been in figurative use since at least 1920.

• If rising prices all around tend to make you anxious, take a deep breath.
• Each piece of equipment is recorded this way on the balance sheet.
• As soon as the whistle had been acquired, however, it lost its appeal of the unattainable, leaving the boy disappointed with his purchase.
• Costs of revenue exist for ongoing contract services that can include raw materials, direct labor, shipping costs, and commissions paid to sales employees.

Though similar in everyday language, cost and price are two different but related terms. The cost of a product or service is the monetary outlay incurred to create a product or service. Whereas the price, determined by supply and demand in a free market, is what an individual is willing to pay and a seller is willing to sell for a product or service. Cost and price are often used interchangeably, however, the two words mean something different when it comes to accounting and financial statements. When conducting financial analysis or making investment decisions, it’s important to understand the difference between cost and price and how they impact a company’s financial profile. In accounting, costs are the monetary value of expenditures for supplies, services, labor, products, equipment and other items purchased for use by a business or other accounting entity.

It excludes indirect expenses, such as distribution costs and sales force costs. Some costs—like the cost of rent or heavy machinery—don’t change based on how many bicycles are produced. Other costs, like labor and raw materials, can increase or decrease depending on how much is produced. Cost of goods sold is the direct cost of producing a good, which includes the cost of the materials and labor used to create the good. COGS directly impacts a company’s profits as COGS is subtracted from revenue.

What is Cost?

Though companies can choose to not distribute to these regions, these costs are often avoidable once a company commits to distributing to a region. COGS only applies to those costs directly related to producing goods intended for sale. You use the plural noun costs when you are referring to the total amount of money needed to run something such as a business. When a transaction takes place, it typically involves both private costs and external costs.

How costs are measured

Cost is typically the expense incurred for creating a product or service a company sells. The cost to manufacture a product might include the cost of raw materials used. The amount of cost that goes into producing a product can directly impact its price and profit earned from each sale. Direct labor is the costs of wages, salaries, and benefits paid to employees directly involved in the production or delivery of the product or service.

These two examples consist of cash outlays relating to purchase and selling inventory, but some businesses make their own inventory. Manufacturers invest large amounts of money in equipment and machines needed to produce and assemble products. Suppose, on a given day, the cost of all the bike components, the use of the tools and machinery, the lease on its buildings, and all the labor used to produce bicycles, totals $12,900. Though the term ends with the word “revenue”, cost of revenue is not a type of income.

Translations for cost

Each piece of equipment is recorded this way on the balance sheet. For example, if you were to splurge on a Mediterranean cruise, the opportunity cost might be a new car that you were saving up to buy. If you buy shares of stock, your opportunity cost might be the guaranteed interest you’d receive on a certificate of deposit.

The concept allows for price adjustments as market conditions change. When developing a business plan for a new or existing company, product or project, planners typically make cost estimates in order to assess whether revenues/benefits will cover costs (see cost-benefit analysis). Costs are often underestimated, resulting in cost overrun during execution.

Companies may directly trace the payroll costs of specific employees to product lines, though this often entails an allocation process (especially for those employees who may work on different product lines). Direct labor is also included in the cost of goods sold component of cost of revenue. Cost of goods sold (COGS) refers to the direct costs of producing the goods sold by a company. This amount includes the cost of the materials and labor directly used to create the good.

It also includes costs not included in production but needed to deliver or market a product. All of this information is used by a company to better understand the true profit margin of a product. In theory, COGS should include the cost of all inventory that was sold during the accounting period. In practice, however, companies often don’t know exactly apps for accountants which units of inventory were sold. Instead, they rely on accounting methods such as the first in, first out (FIFO) and last in, first out (LIFO) rules to estimate what value of inventory was actually sold in the period. If the inventory value included in COGS is relatively high, then this will place downward pressure on the company’s gross profit.

For example, the telephone cost tends to vary with the number of employees. A cost can instead be designated as a fixed cost, which means that it does not vary with changes in the level of activity. For example, the lease of a building will not vary, irrespective of the revenues of a business housed within that facility. Supply is the number of products or services the market can provide, including tangible goods (such as automobiles) or intangible goods (such as the ability to make an appointment with a skilled service provider). In each example, supply is finite—there are only a certain number of automobiles and appointments available at any given time.