Period Costs vs Product Costs: What’s the Difference?

This can be particularly important for small business owners, who have less room for error. If product and period costs are overstated or understated, or not recorded at all, your financial statements will be wrong as well. Managing your costs is doubly important if you own a manufacturing business, since you’ll need to manage both product and period costs. Product costs, also known as direct costs or inventoriable costs, are directly related to production output and are used to calculate the cost of goods sold.

• Their administrative costs are from executive salaries and professional costs.
• By analogy, a manufacturer pours money into direct materials, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead.
• Product costs are initially attached to product inventory and do not appear on income statement as expense until the product for which they have been incurred is sold and generates revenue for the business.
• Product cost comprises of direct materials, direct labour and direct overheads.
• There are types of period costs that may not be included in the financial statements but are still monitored by the management.

These costs include the costs of direct materials, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead. They will not be expensed until the finished good are sold and appear on the income statement as cost of goods sold. Period costs are closely related to periods of time rather than units of products. For this reason, businesses expense period costs in the period in which they are incurred. Accountants treat all selling and administrative expenses as period costs for external financial reporting.

What is the difference between product costs and period costs?

Manufacturing overhead costs are manufacturing costs that must be incurred but that cannot or will not be traced directly to specific units produced. In addition to indirect materials and indirect labor, manufacturing overhead includes depreciation and maintenance on machines and factory utility costs. Product costs are all the costs that are related to producing a good or service.

A product cost is incurred during the manufacture of a product, while a period cost is usually incurred over a period of time, irrespective of any manufacturing activity. A product cost is initially recorded as inventory, which is stated on the balance sheet. Once the inventory is sold or otherwise disposed of, it is charged to the cost of goods sold on the income statement. A period cost is charged to expense on the income statement as soon as it is incurred. Product costs (also known as inventoriable costs) are those costs that are incurred to acquire, manufacture or construct a product. In manufacturing companies, theses costs usually consist of direct materials, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead cost.

Module 1: Nature of Managerial Accounting

Direct materials are those materials used only in making the product and there is a clear, easily traceable connection between the material and the product. For example, iron ore is a direct material to a steel company because the iron ore is clearly traceable to the finished product, steel. In turn, steel becomes a direct material to an automobile manufacturer.

In a manufacturing company, overhead is generally called manufacturing overhead. (You may also see other names for manufacturing overhead, such as factory overhead, factory indirect costs, or factory burden). Service companies use service overhead, and construction companies use construction overhead. Any of these types of companies may just use the term overhead rather than specifying it as manufacturing bookkeeping for startups overhead, service overhead, or construction overhead. Overhead is part of making the good or providing the service, whereas selling costs result from sales activity, and administrative costs result from running the business. In other words manufacturing overheads is like a reserve where production cost are “binned” if they escape direct material, direct labour costs or direct expenses.

Definition of Period Costs

But you won’t be able to deduct them if you don’t know what they are. Because product and period costs directly impact your financial statements, you need to properly categorize and record these costs in order to ensure https://www.apzomedia.com/bookkeeping-startups-perfect-way-boost-financial-planning/ accurate financial statements. Period costs are costs that are not incurred in the manufacturing of a product. The formula for period costs is simply adding up all costs that are classified as period costs.

• Instead, period costs will be referred to as period expenses since they will be reported on the income statement as selling, general and administrative (SG&A) or interest expenses.
• They are identified with measured time intervals and not with goods or services.
• Product and period costs are incurred in the production and selling of a product.
• Since the expense covers a two year period, it should be recognized over both years.
• Over the past decade, she has turned her passion for marketing and writing into a successful business with an international audience.

Her goal is to help businesses understand and reach their target audience in new, creative ways. However, you’ll still have to pay the rent on the building, pay your insurance and property taxes, and pay salespeople that sell the products currently in inventory. Accurately calculating product costs also assists with more in-depth analysis, such as per-unit cost. Per-unit cost is calculated by dividing your costs by the number of units produced. It is an important metric, particularly when determining product pricing.

So if you sell a widget for $20 that had $10 worth of raw materials, you would record the sale as a credit (increasing) to sales and a debit (increasing) either cash or accounts receivable. The  $10 direct materials would be a debit to cost of goods sold (increasing) and a credit to inventory (decreasing). Product costs (direct materials, direct labor and overhead) are not expensed until the item is sold when the product costs are recorded as cost of goods sold. Period costs are selling and administrative expenses, not related to creating a product, that are shown in the income statement in the period in which they are incurred. In general, overhead refers to all costs of making the product or providing the service except those classified as direct materials or direct labor. (Some service organizations have direct labor but not direct materials.) In manufacturing companies, manufacturing overhead includes all manufacturing costs except those accounted for as direct materials and direct labor.

• Administrative expenses are required to provide support services not directly related to manufacturing or selling activities.
• The wages and benefits paid to workers who are directly involved in production fall into this category, too.
• In manufacturing companies, theses costs usually consist of direct materials, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead cost.
• Salary paid for the production floor manager is classified as a product cost since the cost is incurred for actual production of the product.
• These costs include the costs of direct materials, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead.