Introduction
Managers at Stoke plc have been using various teams to collect activity-based data since
2000. Each team has consisted of one or more management accountants working closely
with department managers. The teams typically work for 3-6 months on data collection
and developing spreadsheets. To date the teams have mainly focused on product costing.
Recently two teams have been set up to collect data to improve the company’s
understanding of customer-related costs and profitability. One team has looked at
distribution costs and the second at order related costs.