in job order costing, costs are accumulated for each batch, lot, or customer order. This method, discussed in detail in Chapter 5, is used when the products manufactured within a department or cost center are heterogeneous. Job costing requires a practical way to identify each job produced and to charge each job with at least some element(s) of its own cost. The detailed records showing the costs of each job constitute a subsidiary ledger supporting the general ledger's work in process account.