After identifying and describing activities, the next task is determining how much it
costs to perform each activity. The cost of an activity is simply the cost of the resources
consumed by each activity. Activities consume resources such as labor, materials, energy,
and capital. The cost of these resources is found in the general ledger, but how
much is spent on each activity is not revealed. Resource costs must be assigned to activities
using direct and driver tracing. For labor resources, a work distribution matrix
is often used. A work distribution matrix simply identifies the amount of labor consumed
by each activity and is derived from the interview process (or a written survey).
For example, the nursing supervisor of the cardiology unit disclosed the following information
about labor usage by the individual activities (see Question 5):