Activity-based costing –ABC: literature review

Abstract

In the 1980, management accounting experience the emergence of a new system: activity-based costing and with it a change of emphasis, the record of information for the valuation of inventories and reporting financial; control of resources, activities and generating information for decision-making. This article presents an overview of the background, rationale, potential, limitations and applications in specific sectors of activity-based costing, based on the literature review of articles published in academic journals during the 2007-2014 period. The review shows that despite the potential of ABC systems for more accurate cost allocation, resource control and management of the available capacity; the complexity and high cost of its implementation constitute limitations. Likewise, a wide application in private health organizations and manufacturing sector is evident while it is less obvious regarding its application in public organizations.

Keywords

• activity-based costing
• cost systems
• ABC