In recent twenty years, advanced manufacturing enterprises with high automation have emerged on the basis of electronic technology revolution, which has brought about great changes in management concepts and technologies. JIT procurement and manufacturing system, as well as zero inventory, unit manufacturing, total quality management and other brand-new management concepts and technologies closely related to it came into being. Highly automated advanced manufacturing enterprises can meet customers' diversified and small-batch commodity needs in time, and produce multi-variety and small-batch products quickly and with high quality. In this brand-new manufacturing environment, the traditional purchasing and manufacturing processes of enterprises will undergo profound changes. Accordingly, the accounting theories and methods, such as product cost measurement and control, accounting decision-making, performance evaluation and so on, which used to serve traditional procurement manufacturing and even enterprise decision-making, will also change accordingly. For example, in the advanced manufacturing environment, a lot of labor has been replaced by machines, so the proportion of direct labor costs is greatly reduced, and the fixed manufacturing costs are greatly increased. 70 years ago, indirect costs only accounted for 50% ~ 60% of direct labor costs, but today the indirect costs of most companies are 400 ~ 500% of direct labor costs; In the past, direct labor cost accounted for 40 ~ 50% of product cost, but today it is less than 10%, or even only 3 ~ 5% of product cost. In the case of such great changes in the product cost structure, the traditional "quantity-based cost calculation" (such as the cost allocation method based on working hours and machine hours) can not correctly reflect the product consumption, so it is impossible to correctly account for the benefits brought by enterprise automation and provide correct and useful accounting information for enterprise decision-making and control. The final result is that the overall profit level of the enterprise declines. ;
Activity-based costing is a management information system based on activity. It is activity-centered, and the division of activities is the whole process from product design to material supply, from production process (workshops), quality inspection, assembly to delivery and sales. Through the confirmation and measurement of activity and activity cost, the relatively real product cost is finally calculated. At the same time, by tracking and analyzing all product-related activities, we can eliminate "non-value-added activities" as much as possible, improve "value-added activities", optimize "activity chain" and "value chain", increase "customer value", provide useful information, minimize losses and waste, improve the scientificity and effectiveness of decision-making, planning and control, and finally improve the market competitiveness and profitability of enterprises.
It is the general trend of cost accounting science to develop from traditional quantitative costing to modern activity-based costing. Because of the increasing proportion of indirect costs in the total product cost, the increasing variety of products and the market demand for small batch production, as well as the increasingly fierce global competition and the new market conditions of eliminating trade barriers, we continue to use the early cost accounting method to control the product cost under the condition of mass production, and use direct labor, which accounts for a smaller and smaller proportion in the product cost, to allocate the manufacturing costs. Allocate more and more operating expenses unrelated to working hours (such as quality inspection, testing, material handling, adjustment and preparation, etc.). ), and ignore the differences in actual consumption of different product batches. , will inevitably lead to serious distortion of product cost information, which will lead to enterprise decision-making mistakes and product cost out of control. Traditional cost accounting seems calm on the surface, but in fact there are reefs and unprofitable products everywhere. The difference between activity-based costing and traditional costing is that the distribution basis (cost driver) has not only changed quantitatively, but also changed qualitatively. It is no longer limited to the single quantity distribution basis used in traditional cost calculation, but adopts multiple distribution basis. It is not limited to multiple delivery benchmarks, but also integrates financial variables and non-financial variables, with special emphasis on non-financial variables (product parts quantity, adjustment preparation quantity, transportation distance, quality inspection time, etc.). ). This distribution basis of quantitative change and qualitative change, as well as the combination of financial variables and non-financial variables, can make activity-based costing provide "relatively accurate" product cost information, because it improves its correlation with the actual consumption cost of products.
Xi 'an Agricultural Machinery Factory is the first activity-based costing pilot enterprise we chose. Although this enterprise is not an advanced manufacturing enterprise, because the number of products it produces is very different (the product with the largest number-four-wheeled tractor is more than 50 times that of the product with the least number-sprinkler), the ratio of manufacturing cost to direct labor cost is as high as 200%, and it has certain conditions suitable for using ABC. Therefore, in this enterprise, we take the following research and analysis steps: (1) Choose the main business; (2) Collecting the cost of resources into a homogeneous cost library; (3) Select cost drivers and calculate the allocation rate of each cost pool; (4) according to the allocation rate of the cost library, the manufacturing expenses collected in each cost library are allocated to the products; (5) Calculate the product cost. Through the research and analysis of the pilot enterprises, we draw the following conclusions: the unit product cost of a high-yield product-four-wheeled tractor accounts for 55.97% of the sales cost and 64.39% of the output of the pilot enterprises, which is 4% more than the traditional cost calculation method; On the contrary, it represents the low-yield product-65438-with the sales cost 10.95% and the output of 2.97% of the pilot enterprises. The difference is more obvious after deducting the direct material cost directly included in the product cost. The unit product cost of four-wheel tractor is overestimated by 46.5% under the traditional cost calculation method, and the unit product cost of 12 row seeder is underestimated by 42.5% under the traditional cost calculation method. This well verifies that the traditional cost calculation mentioned in activity-based accounting theory overestimates the cost of high-output and low-complexity products; The conclusion that the cost of low-yield and high-complexity products is underestimated. This distortion of product cost seriously distorts product gross profit and product profit. The gross profit of four-wheeled tractor under the traditional cost method is lower than its actual manufacturing profit, and the gross profit per unit product is underestimated by 292 yuan. 19971-the gross profit of the four-wheel tractor produced in May was underestimated by 3 16236 yuan. This kind of wrong gross profit information seriously affects managers' decision-making: first, because the cost of four-wheeled tractors is overestimated, enterprises dare not reduce prices when it is necessary to reduce the selling price and increase the market share of products, thus reducing the market competitiveness of products and losing the opportunity to expand the product market, thus affecting the current and future income of enterprises; Secondly, because of underestimating the gross profit of the four-wheel tractor and overestimating the gross profit of the 12 row seeder, in the case that the limited production resources of the enterprise need to choose the investment direction, the manager is likely to make the wrong decision to reduce the output of the four-wheel tractor and increase the output of the 12 row seeder (in fact, the correct decision should be just the opposite), and the result may lead to double losses of the enterprise and a decline in the overall profit level.
Second, job management and its practical application
It should be noted that the significance of activity-based costing is not simple accounting calculation. ABC's "activity-based" management idea has now shifted from cost confirmation and measurement to many aspects of enterprise management, and a new modern enterprise management idea-activity-based management (ABM) is taking shape. Activity-based management is a new management concept, which deepens the focus of management to the activity level. It eliminates "non-value-added activities" as much as possible, improves "value-added activities", optimizes "activity chain" and "value chain", and finally increases "customer value" and "enterprise value". When using activity-based costing in western countries, the key consideration is how to implement activity management through activity-based costing. At present, the management methods and means of Chinese enterprises are relatively backward, and the theoretical circle talks more about how to apply activity-based costing to improve the scientific decision-making, but not enough about how to enter activity-based management from activity-based costing to improve the overall management level of enterprises. In fact, the most lasting benefit of activity-based costing is to let managers know which activities are value-added and which are not; What are the key operations and what are the general operations; So as to reduce non-value-added activities as much as possible, seize key activities, and make the management measures taken more effectively control costs and increase enterprise value. For example, through activity analysis, managers can identify and eliminate those "non-value-added activities" and wastes, and can better understand the production process.
From the essence of activity management, there are two main objectives of activity management: one is to try to provide customers with more value through activities from the perspective of external customers (value refers to the amount that customers are willing to pay for products or services provided by enterprises), and the other is to try to obtain more profits from the value provided by customers from the perspective of enterprises themselves. In order to achieve the above two goals, enterprise management must go deep into the operational level and conduct operational analysis. Job analysis specifically includes the following steps: (1) Analyze which jobs have added value and which jobs have not. All operations in the production process are generally value-added operations, such as molding, casting, blanking, stamping, molding, assembly and debugging in the production process of Xi 'an Agricultural Machinery Factory. Non-value-added operations refer to operations that do not contribute to increasing customer value, or operations that are eliminated without reducing product value, such as warehousing, handling, waiting and testing. Managers should minimize this part of the homework. (2) Analyze the importance of homework. There are usually dozens, even hundreds, and thousands of operations in enterprises. It is not necessary to analyze these operations one by one, because it is not in line with the principle of cost-effectiveness. According to the principle of importance, only those operations that are more important than customer value and enterprise value can be analyzed. (3) Compare the operation of this enterprise with similar operations of other enterprises. Because value-added operation does not mean effective and optimal, we can judge whether an operation or the whole value chain of an enterprise is effective by comparing with the advanced operation of other enterprises, and seek opportunities for improvement. Like product design? Grateful? Restore desire? Hey? Do you want to stop pouring lemons? Are you tired? Do you want to wait until the bed is beautiful? What is your wish? Tired? What about shooting? Can you twist a plastic ostrich? What's the matter with you? Eyebrows? ㄖ? Shopping? どどどどどどどどどど? Copy #? ) analyzing the relationship between activities, the activities under activity-based costing are interrelated and form an activity chain. The ideal activity chain should be to minimize the time and repetition of completing activities. From this, we know that activity management is not only a management work, but also a dynamic process of continuous improvement of enterprise activity. On the basis of activity-based costing, we put forward the following management suggestions for Xi 'an Agricultural Machinery Factory.
2. 1 Reduce costs through activity chain and value chain analysis.
(1) In the value chain analysis, we found that production coordination, inspection, repair and transportation cannot be eliminated without increasing customer value, but their consumption can be reduced. For example, there are many redundant workers in the three operations of production coordination and inspection and maintenance. In the past, it was divided into various branches, and the personnel were scattered in various positions. Although there are redundant workers, I don't know where there are many people. According to the operation situation, I immediately realized this problem. Half of the staff can be laid off for each operation, and the cost will be reduced by about 1/3.
(2) Through the analysis of activity chain, it is found that the production and operation arrangement of Xi 'an Agricultural Machinery Factory is rather chaotic. In view of the above situation, there are the following suggestions in operation management: generally, the production quantity is determined according to the sales volume, and the inventory is determined according to the production progress. In practical work, PERT can be used for production scheduling. First of all, the production schedule of a product is reversed, and the delivery time is determined by the delivery date. According to the delivery date, the delivery and assembly time of each component is determined, and then the feeding and production time of each workshop is determined by combining the parallel production or serial production of each process. After determining the production time of various products, optimize and find out the critical path, and strictly control the working procedures on the critical path in actual production to ensure customer demand. The scheme selection here should be judged by high efficiency and low cost. High efficiency means that all processes are well connected before and after, so as to minimize idle time and realize collaborative production; Low cost mainly refers to reducing the number of equipment adjustments that are difficult to produce different products and reducing inventory costs.
2.2 Eliminate or reduce non-value-added activities and reduce costs.
The transportation operation is mainly in-plant transportation, and the main means of transportation is forklift. After the forklifts scattered in each branch factory are centralized as operation management, there are 3 or 4 forklifts that are redundant. This is mainly because the centralized management of forklifts improves the utilization rate and enhances the flexibility. For example, in the past, there were two forklifts in the foundry branch, but in fact, it was only from 4 pm to 6 pm every day, and the parts were used after the sand was dropped, and they were rarely used in the rest of the time, resulting in a waste of resources. Now we can not only cancel the original plan to buy new forklifts, but also sell redundant forklifts, thus saving the investment and operating costs of new forklifts and reducing the operating costs of existing forklifts, which embodies the idea of resource integration.
2.3 Go deep into the operational level to strengthen management and enhance enterprise value.
(1) Improve the universality of part design and reduce the cost of related operations. For example, there is a direct causal relationship between the resource consumption of molding operation and the number of parts, so the resource consumption of molding operation can be reduced by reducing the number of parts. The specific method is to pay attention to the universality of parts in design to reduce the types of parts, which is most obvious in large seeders 24C and 24A. The design of the two products does not pay enough attention to the universality of parts, which leads to great differences between them. The designer also thought that the versatility of the two products could have been improved, but at that time, the cost was not considered too much, only from the technical point of view. At present, enterprises are considering redesigning the 24C seeder. At the same time, the company is going to develop 14 row seeder and 6 row film laying machine, and integrate cost considerations into the design.
(2) Based on the division of operation centers, the general factory will control 14 operation centers instead of 5 branch factories, which will be beneficial to the management of raw materials. When the general factory can directly monitor the consumption of 14 operation center, the speed of information feedback will be obviously accelerated, and the production management of the general factory will be strengthened. The strong supervision of the general factory will effectively urge all operation centers to strengthen material management, and waste and damage will be effectively controlled.
2.4 Analyze the operation relationship, arrange production reasonably and reduce the operation cost.
For example, for machine preparation, preparation time is a resource driver, and the main way to reduce its cost is to reduce preparation time. The premise of reducing the number of adjustment preparations is to ensure the smooth progress of production, so it is necessary to arrange the production of various products reasonably and minimize the number of repeated replacement of tooling to achieve the purpose of improving efficiency and reducing costs.
2.5 Analyze and determine key operations, and strengthen material procurement.
The benefit of material procurement involves factors such as material quality and purchase price. These factors are important to both customers and enterprises. When purchasing materials, try to shop around and try to reduce the purchase price. Purchased materials, accessories, purchased parts, etc. , strict inspection when entering the factory, and established a perfect return system. If the cost rises due to quality problems, the person in charge of procurement shall be investigated. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen the warehouse management of materials. If the loss and waste are caused by subjective reasons, the warehouse manager should bear the responsibility.
Third, the development prospects of ABC and ABM
Activity-based costing (ABC) is produced in advanced manufacturing enterprises, and its effect is remarkable. However, it is not only suitable for advanced manufacturing enterprises, such as Xi 'an Agricultural Machinery Factory, which is a non-advanced manufacturing enterprise. Because of the large difference in the number of products produced and the high ratio of manufacturing costs to direct labor costs, it is also suitable for ABC operations. Different from advanced manufacturing enterprises, its application effect is slightly worse. Some foreign non-manufacturing industries, such as finance and insurance, commerce, health care and other industries, have successfully applied activity-based costing. At present, many enterprises in China implement diversified business strategy and adopt multi-variety and small batch production. Promoting the application of activity-based costing in these enterprises can not only provide them with relatively accurate cost information, but also help them make scientific and effective business decisions and related capital expenditure decisions, improve their competitiveness, and also improve their management level, promote management modernization and increase enterprise value through the implementation of activity-based management.
Activity-based management focuses on the activity level and takes "activity" as the starting point and core of enterprise management, which is much more profound than the traditional "product" as the starting point and core of enterprise management. Just as biology goes deep into the molecular level, forming molecular biology and major changes in biological science, activity management formed by enterprise management going deep into the activity level can be regarded as another major revolutionary change in enterprise management since Taylor founded the "scientific management theory" at the beginning of this century, which will have a far-reaching impact on the theory and practice of enterprise management.
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