We will talk about direct and indirect production costs in this material.

Production costs: direct and indirect

To determine the complete actual cost products, works or services, it is necessary to add up all the costs associated with its production (performance of work or provision of services). Depending on the method of including certain costs in the cost price, direct and indirect costs are distinguished.

Direct costs are costs that are directly related to production individual species products and which can be directly included in their cost. Such costs, for example, may be the cost of raw materials and supplies, wages of key production workers, etc.

Indirect costs are those costs that are associated with the production of several types of products and which, accordingly, cannot be directly included in the cost of specific types of products. Such expenses are subject to distribution between types of products in proportion to the selected base. Examples of indirect costs are general shop costs, general business expenses, etc.

Accounting for direct production costs

Direct production costs are reflected primarily in account 20 “Main production” (Order of the Ministry of Finance dated October 31, 2000 No. 94n). The debit of this account collects direct expenses directly related to the production of products, performance of work or provision of services from the credit of the following accounts:

02 “Depreciation of fixed assets”;
10 "Materials";
23 “Auxiliary production”;
26 “General business expenses”;
60 “Settlements with suppliers and contractors”;
69 “Calculations for social insurance and security”;
70 “Settlements with personnel for wages”, etc.

Analytical accounting on account 20 is carried out by types of costs and types of products, which makes it possible to calculate the cost of each specific type of product on this account.

Direct costs for production of products can also be taken into account on account 23 “Auxiliary production” and then debited to account 20.

Indirect costs

Indirect costs associated with the management and maintenance of production are recorded in the following accounts:

25 “General production expenses”;
26 “General business expenses”.

Accounting entries on the debit of these accounts can be made from the credit of the same accounting accounts that were used when accounting for the costs of the main production. However, given the nature of indirect costs, it is not supposed to be possible to directly attribute their value to the cost of a particular product. Such expenses must be allocated taking into account one or another justified allocation basis. Its choice depends on the specifics of each specific organization, its industry, type of production and other factors. This choice should be fixed in.

Here is an example of the distribution of indirect costs

The organization produces two types of products: product A and product B. Direct costs for the production of products are collected on the corresponding sub-accounts to account 20. General shop costs for March 2019, collected on the debit of account 25, amount to 120,000.00 rubles.

In accordance with the accounting policy of the organization, general shop expenses for the month are distributed in proportion to the direct wages of the main production workers for this month.

Information on the amount of direct wages of main production workers for March 2019 is reflected in the table:

Step 1: Find the distribution coefficient of general shop expenses. It shows how many rubles of general production costs are per 1 ruble of the salary of the main workers (for greater accuracy, it is advisable to round the coefficient to the maximum possible decimal place):

K = 120,000.00 / 950,000.00 = 0.1263…

Step 2: Find the part of overhead costs (OPR) related to product A (OPR A) and product B (OPR B):

ODA A = 560,000.00 * 0.1263... = 70,736.84 rubles

OPR B = 390,000.00 * 0.1263... = 49,263.16 rubles.

Step 3: We write off the general production costs attributable to product A and product B:

Debit account 20, subaccount “Product A” - Credit account 25 70 736,84

Debit account 20, subaccount “Product B” - Credit account 25 49 263,16

The role of cost accounting in the daily activities of an enterprise should be given great attention. After all, it is the costs that form the final financial result. Analysis of the cost structure itself, including taking into account direct production costs, allows us to determine the cost of the goods produced and assess the validity of costs.

Types of expenses

Accounting for existing expenses gives an idea of the cost of manufactured products (work performed). In this case, all costs that arise during both production and sales are taken into account. In this case, organizations must be guided by PBU 10/99 “Expenses of the organization”, the norms of which take into account the following as expenses:

material costs;
wages, transfer of social security contributions;
other expenses.

The list of costs can be established by organizations independently; the main criterion here is the specifics of work and economic activity.

Most of the expenses are production costs. Based on the nature of their occurrence, direct and indirect production costs are distinguished. Their main difference is as follows: direct costs are directly involved in the manufacture of goods and provision of services, while indirect costs are of a more general nature.

What do direct and indirect production costs include?

A significant share of the cost of products is, as a rule, formed by direct costs. These usually include expenses that are directly used in the production of products. This is the acquisition of raw materials, wage personnel producing the product, materials used.

Other expenses ensure the continuous operation of the enterprise as a whole. Often they cannot be directly attributed to the creation of a specific product group. Here you can highlight such expense items as maintenance and repair of equipment, electricity.

Indirect costs may not be directly related to the production process, but their presence is necessary for the needs of the enterprise. An example of such expenses is salaries of management personnel, rental payments, licensing costs and others.

These types of expenses are divided into general and general production expenses. The organization independently distributes them according to the types of products produced.

Accounting for direct production costs

In accounting, information about production costs is generated on 20 accounts. Account 20 “Main production” includes information on direct and indirect costs, expenses of auxiliary production, losses from defects. Direct expenses from cost accounts are written off to the debit of account 20 using the following entries as an example:

DT 20 - KT 10 - raw materials are taken into account in the production of products;
DT 20 - KT 70 - wages accrued to employees manufacturing products.

To debit 20 accounts can be written off and indirect costs auxiliary production, as well as general economic:

DT 20 - KT 26 - previously incurred material costs are taken into account when determining the cost of production;
DT 20 - KT 23 - release of products for the needs of the main production.

Direct production costs are directly involved in the creation of a product, while other costs can be involved in other processes, for example, when performing work for other entities:

DT 90 - KT 23 - provision of services to third parties.

Credit 20 of the account reflects the total cost of manufactured products. Written off to the debit of accounts 43, 90 and others.

Analytics 20 of the account reflects the total amounts of direct and indirect costs for each type of product (work). The total cost is a combination of direct costs directly related to production and other costs.

In modern conditions economic situation careful control over cost accounting issues that are directly related to tax optimization and the efficiency of organizations is simply necessary. Accounting procedure and rules for submitting information on expenses commercial companies, except for insurance and credit, and the classification of costs is described in the Regulations on accounting PBU 10/99 “Expenses of an organization” and Instructions for the Chart of Accounts for accounting of financial and economic activities of organizations. They are designed to bring two types of accounting as close as possible - tax and accounting, although this is not always beneficial for organizations.

In the regulations that regulate the accounting of government organizations, the concepts of “income” and “expenses” are not clearly disclosed. Expense reporting is prepared based on the Orders of the Ministry of Finance and federal standard"A Conceptual Framework for Accounting and Reporting for Public Sector Organizations." Failure to understand the differences between indirect and direct expenses and erroneous reporting can sharply limit the circle of sponsors and creditors, become a significant obstacle to the development of the organization’s activities, increase the tax burden and distort data. tax accounting.

Direct expenses - what are they?

Effective cost management is a strategic task for any enterprise. Proper use of accounting and cost formation rules will allow you to optimize them and reduce them tax payments. The expenses of a commercial enterprise, according to Accounting Regulation 10/99, are the reduction of economic benefits after the disposal of any assets, for example, money, property, and the formation of liabilities leading to a decrease in capital (with the exception of if the decrease in contributions is due to the decision of participants, property owners). Expenses are often identified with costs and expenses. Under expenses in government organizations understand a decrease in the useful potential of assets, a decrease in economic benefits for the reporting period as a result of the occurrence of liabilities, consumption of assets, but without taking into account the decrease in capital due to the seizure of property by the founder or owner.

The classification of income and expenses of commercial enterprises is set out in PBU 10/99, and in budgetary organizations regulated by the Budget Code of the Russian Federation. The concept of direct and indirect expenses in tax accounting is slightly different. Here they are recognized as justified and documented, economically justified costs for carrying out the activities of the taxpayer. In order for an expense to be recognized in tax accounting, it is necessary to fulfill 3 conditions: justification of costs, documentary evidence, target direction - for carrying out activities aimed at generating income. But accounting has its own requirements in this regard:

incurring expenses in accordance with the contract, the requirements of legal acts, and business principles;
the amount can be determined;
confidence that a certain transaction will result in a reduction in the economic benefits of the enterprise.

That is, expenses in accounting and tax accounting differ. For example, tax accounting does not take into account all the expenses that accounting recognizes.

Direct costs include costs that can be attributed to a specific tax object, those that affect the cost and are fixed as they are sold finished goods directly related to the production of products or the performance of work or provision of services. They must be written off in the period when the products are sold, even if the money was received in the next tax period. In accounting, a clear division of expenses into direct and indirect is not provided for by law, although in practice this classification is often used.

Advice: When preparing reports, it is important to remember that after the changes to Ch. 25 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation by Law No. 58-FZ, the composition of direct and indirect expenses is determined equally for the purposes of accounting and tax accounting. But in some cases, indirect costs may still differ (for example, the cost of work in progress, shipped goods, finished products).

Indirect costs - what are they?

Indirect costs include documented costs that cannot be directly attributed to a specific operation or tied to any one type of product. They are distributed by type of goods and work performed indirectly (conditionally) or written off as in full on financial results at the end of the reporting period.

On the one hand, they are necessary for the development of organization and normal production, and on the other hand, they represent an important reserve for reducing production costs. Indirect costs require distribution among several income tax bases. They are written off as a reduction in profits immediately. In accounting, indirect costs are divided into general production (related to maintenance and production management), general economic (management of the company as a whole) or expenses for common types activities and other expenses.

Why is it necessary to separate direct and indirect costs?

According to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, taxpayers who determine expenses and income using the accrual method must classify costs into direct and indirect. Their composition largely depends on the characteristics, specifics of production and technological processes. Correct division into different types is one of the measures tax optimization, because indirect expenses in tax accounting are recognized as expenses of the reporting period and do not affect the assessment of work in progress. Direct costs often remain unaccounted for in the process of work in progress and among the balances of unsold goods. Consequently, the amount of indirect income tax expenses increases.

Therefore, it is more profitable to classify as many expenses as possible as indirect, but this division must be economically justified. At the same time, if during the reporting period the company receives little or no income, a large number of indirect expenses will lead to a loss, and the positive economic effect from the distribution of expenses among different types will not be achieved. Also, classification of costs is necessary for their optimal distribution, reduction tax burden and creation of competent and correct reporting. According to paragraph 1 of Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, a company can independently determine which expenses are recognized as direct (all others will be classified as indirect). It is very important to make the correct classification and consolidate the selected rule in accounting policy organizations.

What are direct costs?

Previously in ch. 25 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation contained strict regulation of direct and indirect costs. Direct expenses were considered to be material costs for remuneration of employees involved in the production or performance of work, depreciation on funds used in production, and the amount of the single social tax. But since January 1, 2005, the Federal Law “On Amendments to Chapters 23 and 25 of Part Two” has been in force Tax Code Russian Federation and some other legislative acts on taxes and fees." According to it, each enterprise receives the right to independently determine direct expenses, fixing their list in the accounting policy for tax purposes. That is, a list of direct expenses in legislative acts is advisory in nature. They are included in the costs of the current reporting period as services and products are sold:

Material costs for the purchase of raw materials, materials for production, provision of services, if they are a necessary component, as well as the purchase of components, semi-finished products that undergo additional processing.
Salaries of employees who participate in the production process and execution of work, costs of pension insurance, mandatory social insurance in connection with maternity, due to temporary disability, etc.
Amounts of gradual transfer of the cost of fixed assets to the cost of products and services (depreciation), which are used in the production of goods or provision of services.

Advice: Companies that have a long production cycle and large balances of work in progress need to pay particular attention to the classification of expenses as a method of tax optimization.

What are indirect costs?

Before changes are made to Ch. 25 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, indirect costs were not distributed among manufactured products, services already provided or work performed, but were written off as expenses in the reporting period when they were incurred. Following amendments in January 2005 tax law, including for the purpose of optimizing the calculation of costs, indirect costs are considered to be resources spent for the purpose of manufacturing certain types of products. They are distributed according to place of origin and type of product.

The entire volume of expenses, except for direct and non-operating ones, that the taxpayer incurs during the reporting period is classified as indirect expenses. The manager can approve the list himself and enshrine this in the accounting policies of the organization. They will apply in full to the current reporting period. To reduce the tax burden, indirect expenses often include:

the salary of shop managers (if the employee’s salary is not related to the sale of goods and production);
vacation pay for workers engaged in production (if provided for) accounting policy);
salary during the repair period (subject to performing an auxiliary function, for example, during renovation work, modernization of production);
workers’ salaries when providing services to a third-party company (after all, their activities are not related to production).

Are transport costs direct or indirect costs?

Transportation costs for delivery of purchased goods to the warehouse trade organization, as well as raw materials and materials are considered direct only if they are not included in the price of the goods and are accounted for separately. If the company produces or sells goods different types with varying shipping costs, you need to consider whether to include shipping costs in the price. Other types of transport costs are considered indirect - delivery to the warehouse, store where the buyer will purchase them, transportation of goods between the warehouses of the trading organization itself after they are posted. If a company fully recognizes the transportation costs for delivering goods from the first supplier’s warehouse to the buyer’s warehouse as indirect, it may have conflicts with tax service, therefore, in this case, it is more expedient to recognize the entire amount of transportation costs as direct.

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The activities of any organization that operates within the framework market economy, regardless of its form and scope, provides for the receipt of income and the implementation of direct and indirect costs. They are one of the basic values for calculating indicators financial results company work. The correct distribution of expenses into direct and indirect will make it possible not only to correctly maintain reports, reduce income tax, but also to optimize the work of the organization as a whole.

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Tell me, please. Is it possible for the accounting policy to provide for all expenses of an enterprise for profit tax purposes to be classified as direct, without indirect ones?

An enterprise’s costs cannot be attributed only to direct ones, without indirect ones. In tax accounting, an organization's expenses for production and sales are divided into two groups: direct and indirect. This procedure is established by paragraph 1 of Article 318 and the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The rationale for this position is given below in the materials of the Glavbukh System

In tax accounting, an organization’s expenses for production and sales are divided into two groups:

straight;
indirect.

The organization must establish the exact list of direct costs associated with production and sales independently (clause 1 of Article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Develop such a list and consolidate it in your accounting policies for tax purposes. The formation of a list of direct costs must be economically justified. Costs need to be allocated taking into account the specifics technological process and industry specifics. At the same time, only those expenses that cannot be classified as direct for objective reasons can be recognized as indirect. For example, the costs of raw materials and materials that are included in the unit cost of production are always direct and cannot be classified as indirect costs. Similar clarifications are contained in the letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated February 24, 2011 No. KE-4-3/2952. The validity of this conclusion is confirmed by arbitration practice (see, for example, the ruling of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated May 13, 2010 No. VAS-5306/10, the resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Ural District dated February 25, 2010 No. F09-799/10-S3).

When determining the list of direct expenses for tax accounting, an organization can use a similar list that it uses in accounting (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 30, 2012 No. 03-03-06/1/283).

Costs that are classified as direct expenses should be included in tax base as products are sold (work is performed), in the cost of which they are taken into account (paragraph 2, paragraph 2, article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Indirect costs should be taken into account in the costs of the period when they were incurred (clause 2 of Article 318, clause 1 of Article 272 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The organization provides services

Organizations that provide services can distribute expenses into direct and indirect in the same order as production ones.* They should also create a list of direct expenses and consolidate it in their accounting policies. However, between the rules for recognizing expenses production organizations and organizations that specialize in providing services have a significant difference.

For tax purposes, a service is recognized as an activity whose results do not have material expression and are sold and consumed in the process of its implementation (clause 5 of Article 38 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In this regard, organizations providing services (for example, audit companies) are not required to distribute direct costs between the costs of the current tax (reporting) period and the cost of services not accepted by customers at the end of this period (paragraph 3, paragraph 2, article 318 of the Tax Code RF, letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated June 15, 2011 No. 03-03-06/1/348). They have the right to recognize all expenses incurred (both direct and indirect) in the current tax (reporting) period. In this case, such a procedure for accounting for direct costs must be established in the accounting policy (

In the process of conducting any entrepreneurial activity Two large categories of costs arise. These are direct and indirect costs. They have different effects on the cost of the final product, and their analysis allows us to judge the effectiveness of the actions taken. Let's look into this difficult issue.

Direct costs

When calculating the cost of products, any accountant will separate the costs that the company required to manufacture the goods from those that were not in demand. For example, the cost of wood for a sofa will be decisive in determining the final price, but the amount of rent for the premises cannot be transferred entirely to it alone. In this way, direct and indirect costs are determined.

Direct costs are those on which the cost of the final product completely depends. They cannot be carried forward or split into parts. If flour, water, sugar, cottage cheese and eggs are needed to make a cottage cheese cake, then the price of each component will be included in the calculation.

This category also includes wage costs for personnel directly responsible for production and depreciation of production equipment.

Indirect costs

The opposite of direct costs is indirect. They are also included in the cost of production, but not completely, but only in certain parts. In fact, the final price also depends on them, but the company does not spend money on them when producing one unit of goods.

Indirect costs, in turn, can be fixed or variable. Constant ones practically do not depend on the quantity of products sold, shipped or stored. For example, these are the costs of paying administrative staff or renting production premises. Variables may change. For example, if you need to ship more products, you will need additional transport, gasoline, etc.

Analysis of direct costs of raw materials and materials

As a rule, indirect costs occupy an insignificant share in the cost of production, while the purchase of raw materials and materials for further processing is estimated at approximately 70% of the price of future finished products. It is very important in this matter to evaluate total amount costs, which directly depends on output volumes.

To substitute into the above formula, you will need the following data:

VVP - volume of output;
Ud i - specific gravity in the total volume of a particular material;
UR i - mass of materials consumed per unit of production;
C i is the cost of this material.

Indirect Cost Analysis

Calculation of various indicators related to indirect costs is very important for analyzing the performance of an organization. As a rule, data is taken for five, six or even ten years and compared with current indicators. This approach allows you to assess in which direction the enterprise is moving - development or decline.

Indirect costs are those that fall into one of the following groups:

Costs associated with the operation and use of equipment not involved in the main technological process.
General business expenses.
Costs associated with commercial activities or improving labor productivity.

Indirect costs for maintenance and operation of equipment

In this category, indirect costs are those that include depreciation, repair costs and upgrades of all machines and technological equipment that in one way or another affect the creation of the final product.

Some units during their operation are designed for long-term use, regardless of the amount of work on them. Costs of this type are called semi-fixed. Other equipment wears out depending on how many parts are made on it. Costs for such machines will be classified as semi-variable.

Determination of indirect costs for equipment maintenance will be included in the cost of production. To do this, use the formula given below.

where Z ck - adjusted costs;
Z 0 - planned amount of costs;
VP - change in production volume;
Kz is a coefficient that is calculated by a correlation method, indicating the dependence of costs on the volume of output.

Other parameters to analyze

If you need to find out which items are overspending or saving too much, use the following parameters.

First of all, they look at depreciation costs. They increase in several cases:

too frequent equipment repairs;
recent machine updates;
revaluation due to inflationary processes.

As practice shows, depreciation rarely decreases.

Another parameter is specific depreciation, calculated per unit of production. This indicator directly depends on the volume of goods produced. The more of them, the lower the amount of depreciation costs attributable to the price of a unit of production.

The amount of expenses for internal movement of goods increases when new batches are released, fuel prices rise, or machines become worn out.

The amount of wear and tear on inventory involved in the production process is calculated as the product of the number of products produced and the level of consumption per product.

General expenses analysis

In the process of analyzing various general business expenses, data is used accounting report for different periods. Let’s say you need to find out how the salary of a personnel officer has changed for Last year. To do this, subtract from the last amount the one that falls at the beginning of the period under study. The difference in numbers is analyzed and the reasons for the increase or decrease are determined.