Accounting for Scrap
Scrap is residual material that results from manufacturing a product; it has low total sales
value compared with the total sales value of the product. No distinction is made between
normal and abnormal scrap because no cost is assigned to scrap. The only distinction
made is between scrap attributable to a specific job and scrap common to all jobs.
There are two aspects of accounting for scrap:
1. Planning and control, including physical tracking
2. Inventory costing, including when and how scrap affects operating income
Initial entries to scrap records are commonly expressed in physical terms. In various
industries, companies quantify items such as stamped-out metal sheets or edges of molded
plastic parts by weighing, counting, or some other measure. Scrap records not only help
measure efficiency, but also help keep track of scrap, and so reduce the chances of theft.
Companies use scrap records to prepare periodic summaries of the amounts of actual
scrap compared with budgeted or standard amounts. Scrap is either sold or disposed of
quickly or it is stored for later sale, disposal, or reuse.
Careful tracking of scrap often extends into the accounting records. Many companies
maintain a distinct account for scrap costs somewhere in their accounting system. The
issues here are similar to the issues in Chapter 16 regarding the accounting for byproducts:
When should the value of scrap be recognized in the accounting records—at the time
scrap is produced or at the time scrap is sold?
How should revenues from scrap be accounted for?
To illustrate, we extend our Hull example. Assume the manufacture of aircraft parts generates
scrap and that the scrap from a job has a net sales value of $900.