Q. What is
contract costing? What are its features? Explain how profit is determined in
case of an incomplete contract.
Q. Write short notes on: Cost plus contract, Escalation clause, contract costing vs job costing, Unit Costing
Q. Preparation of contract account (Question bank given in Mobile application)
Contract Costing Meaning
Contract costing is a special form of job costing used for ascertaining cost and profit on contracts undertaken for big jobs like constructing a building, a road, a bridge or a ship. Such jobs mainly comprise activities outside the contractor’s premises and involve huge amount. They take long time to complete so much so that the work may extend over more than one accounting year. This means that the cost and profit may have to be worked out even on incomplete work as at the end of an accounting year. Hence, a special method of accounting known as ‘contract costing’ or ‘terminal costing’ has been developed for ascertaining cost and profit on such jobs.
The distinguishing features
of contract are as follows:
Features regarding
Production
i) The work is undertaken
to customer’s specific requirements.
ii) The work will be of a relatively
long duration and involves large amount.
iii) The work is usually
site based.
iv) The work is frequently
of a constructional nature.
v) Plant and equipment may
be purchased or hired for the duration of the contract.
vi) The completion date is
fixed in advance, and penalties follow delays
vii) Certain aspects of the
work are assigned to sub-contractors.
Features regarding Cost
i) The cost unit in
contract costing is a contract.
ii) A separate account is
prepared for each contract to ascertain the profit or loss on each contract.
iii) Most of the items of
cost can be classified as direct since they can be easily identified with a
specific contract.
iv) Indirect costs are
normally restricted to Head Office expenses and storage costs. These are
allocated to various contracts on which work is carried out during the year.
v) The contract price is
often fixed in advance and payment is received at various stages of completion
based on architect’s certificate.
vi) A separate contract
ledger is maintained for recording costs when the number of contracts is
large.
Difference between Contract costing and Job Costing
The principals involved in
contract costing are the same as those involved in job costing. Certain
modifications are to be made in the principles, in some cases, to suit the
requirements of particular contracts. In spite of same principles, contract
costing differs from job costing on same points mentioned below:
1.
Number of jobs in hand at a
time may be much greater than the number of contracts in hand at a time.
2.
Most of the items of expenses
are capable of being directly charged to contract accounts; but direct charging
to that extent is not possible in case of jobs.
3.
Collection, analysis,
apportionment or allocation of cost is simpler in contract costing than in job
costing.
4.
In case of contracts taking a
number of years to complete the question of assessment of profit at the end of
each financial year crops up. This question does not arise in case of job
costing.
5.
Normally, contracts are
executed outside the factory, i.e., at customer’s site; but jobs are executed
within the factory.
Cost
plus Contracts
Where the contractee agrees
to pay the contractor, as contract price, the exact cost plus certain
percentage thereof to cover overhead expenses and profit, the contract is
called cost plus contract.
In case of new type of work
where the contractor cannot estimate the cost due to lack of experience in the
line, cost plus contract is generally entered into. Government contracts are
often on cost plus contract basis.
Since in these contracts
the contractor is assured of reimbursement of actual cost, there is no
initiative on the part of the contractor to economize. Higher cost means higher
profit. So, the contractor is interested in higher cost. On the part of the
contractee, therefore, higher supervision cost is involved. The fixed
percentage of margin allowed sometimes becomes inadequate and sometimes it
becomes excessive.
Main features of cost-plus-contracts:
1.
This method is
adopted in the case of those contracts where the probable cost of contract
cannot be ascertained in advance with a reasonable accuracy.
2.
These contracts
are preferred when the cost of material and labour is not steady and contract
completion may take number of years.
3.
The different
costs to be included in the execution of the contract are mutually agreed so
that no dispute may arise in future in this respect. Under such type of
contract contractee is allowed to check or scrutinize the concerned books,
documents accounts.
4.
Such a contract
offers a fair price to the contractee and also a reasonable profit to
contractor.
5.
The contract price
here is ascertained by adding a fixed and mutually pre-decided component of
profit to the total cost of the work.
Costs plus contracts have the
following advantages:
a)
The contractor is assured of a fixed
percentage of profit. There is no risk of incurring any loss on the contract.
b)
It is useful especially when the work
to be done is not definitely fixed at the time of making the estimate.
c)
Contractee can ensure himself about
“the cost of the contract”, as he is empowered to examine the books and
document of the contractor to ascertain the veracity of the cost of the
contract.
Process of estimating profit / loss on incomplete contracts
If the work on a contract is started and finished during the same accounting year, its profit or loss can be easily calculated and transferred to Profit and loss Account. But, in case of contracts which extend to more than one accounting year, the question arises whether any profit or loss should be accounted for during the accounting year or years when they are still in progress and, if so, how? It is agreed that if profit is computed only on the competition of the contract, there will be heavy fluctuation in the amount of profit from year to year. This will result not only in distorted profit pattern but also higher tax liability during the year of completion of the contract because the tax will have to be paid at higher rates. At the same time, if profit is computed on the uncompleted contracts and taken to Profit and Loss Account, there is a possibility of other unforeseen contingencies. Hence, it is an accepted principle that profit on uncompleted contracts must be taken into account in respect of the work certified only after providing adequate reserve for future contingencies.
Short Note on Escalation Clause
This
clause is usually provided in the contracts as a safeguard against any likely
changes in the price or utilization of material and labour. If during the
period of execution of a contract, the prices of materials or labour rise
beyond a certain limit, the contract price will be increased by an agreed
amount. Inclusion of such a term in a contract deed is known as an 'escalation
clause'
An escalation clause usually relates to change in price of inputs, it may also be extended to increased consumption or utilization of quantities of materials, labour etc. In such a situation the contractor has to satisfy the contractee that the increased utilization is not due to his inefficiency.
Also Read: Important Questions for Upcoming Exams
Unit – 4: job, Contract and Process Costing
(These Questions are subject to modification, if necesary. Download DTS Application for complete notes)
Q. Explain the features, advantages and disadvantages of job costing.
Q. What is process costing? What are the fundamental principles of Process Costing? Point out the advantages and limitations of Process costing. 2019
- Preparation of process accounts together with normal, abnormal loss and abnormal gain account, preparation of profit and loss account and costing profit and loss account, treatment of process finished stock and stock of raw material in process accounts. Follow examples of BASU AND DAS COST ACCOUNTING BOOK. 2013, 2016, 2018
- Preparation of contract account (Question bank given in Mobile application)
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