The Nature of Business Costs, General Concepts.

Abstract It has been the purpose of this presentation to indicate the thinking of the Cost Committee in developing a statement of concepts of business costs. Possibly the most significant contribution of the study is that it recognizes the various measurements of costs and provides a framework so that all business cost may be grouped under the three headings of planning, control, and income determination. Implementation of the basic concepts of cost for planning and control rests upon various approximations of these basic concepts. Historical cost is well established as one method useful in approximating the basic concepts. An examination of the nature of the historical cost recording process indicates that it is possible, with complete consistency, to develop more pertinent information for planning and control than that now provided within the framework of recording which supplies information for the published reports on income and financial position.