Job Order Costing
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Process costing is used for homogenous products (continuous flow processes such as producing cans of soda).
Job-order costing is used in situations where the organization offers many different products or services, such as in furniture manufacturing, hospitals, and legal firms. Process costing is used where units of product are homogeneous, such as in flour milling or cement production.
The purpose of a job order cost
accounting system is to assign and accumulate
costs for each job, i.e., an order, a contract, a unit
of production, or a batch. Job order costing
should be used if the production or service is
being performed to meet customer specifications
or requirements, if different components are
made for inventory, or projects are undertaken to
construct real property. Job order costing allows
more control, less estimation, and more direct
and reliable allocation of costs.
. Differences between job-order and process costing. The differences between job-order and process costing occur because the flow of units in a process costing system is more or less continuous and the units are essentially indistinguishable from one another. Under process costing:
a. A single homogenous product is produced on a continuous basis over a long period of time. This differs from job-order costing in which many different products may be produced in a single period.
b. Total costs are accumulated by department, rather than by individual job.