Читать книгу Cost Accounting For Dummies - Kenneth W. Boyd - Страница 103

Prestige IT has a big variable cost, which is the hours that Julie and her IT staff spend on the project. To compute costs, Julie simply multiplies a billable hourly rate for each staffer, multiplied by the expected hours worked. However, it’s not possible to forecast the exact number of hours of labor required.

If you work in a consultant role, provide a range of hours required for the job, based on your best estimate. In this example, Julie forecasts 800 to 1,000 total hours, and hours greater than 1,000 require prior approval from Everest. This approach prevents any client surprises, if more hours are needed to complete the work. As long as you document how the hours were used and what work remains, you can justify the extra hours needed to complete the project.

Prestige will have other variable costs, including travel, office supplies, and possible subscription fees for specialized software used for the project.

There may also be a small amount of fixed costs related to the project. For example, Prestige may purchase a commercial liability insurance policy, to protect the firm against a client lawsuit. While many firms have these policies in place, Prestige may need to pay an additional premium for the Everest project risk exposure.