The first steps in assigning cost is determining the number of equivalent units for each cost element and the cost of each equivalent unit. Because Deco Pottery Company uses average costing, the cost of each equivalent unit contains a portion of the cost in beginning inventory and a portion of the cost added during the current period. As explained in Chapter 6, the average equivalent unit cost for each cost element is determined by dividing the total cost for each cost element (the amount in beginning inventory plus the amount added during the current period) by the number of equivalent units required to allocate that cost between units transferred out and units in ending inventory; to assign cost also to the spoiled units, the equivalent units for each cost element in the spoiled units must be added to the denominator before the cost per equivalent unit is computed.