Regardless of the approach taken to allocating common costs, is cost allocation really necessary? Argues that such an exercise may not make any difference to the final outcome ‐ the company’s final profit or loss figure. Takes as an example the University of Clemson, USA’s system of...

Activity‐based costing (ABC) has received considerable attention in recent years. In fact, some have portrayed it as a cure‐all for all kinds of problems. Presents a father‐son debate on this issue (the father as the consultant and the son as the entrepreneur). Argues that ABC may not...