Purposes of cost allocation
It has been argued (Andersen 1995; Cooper and Kaplan 1998; Drury 2004) that cost
allocations are needed to value inventory for external reporting purposes, for planning
and monitoring the cost of activities and processes, and for various short term and long
term strategic decisions. Some examples include decisions to "make or buy" subcomponents
and services, how to price products and services, when to add or discontinue
various products and services and when to expand or contract the size of a segment of the
company. Horngren et al. (2003) argue that cost allocations are also needed to support a
price when "cost-plus" pricing is used, as in government contracting, and in situations
where costs must be justified before reimbursement can be obtained