Conclusion
The implementation of a new cost system involves investment in time and money. A cost system based on ABC requires organizational changes, employee acceptance, investment in software and hardware, equipment for data collection, and so on. Although, ABC has been successfully used in many large companies it does not guarantee a payback in a short period of time. By using the proposed method for implementing an ABC costing system, the risk of switching from a traditional costing system to an extensive ABC system can be reduced significantly. The proposed method is more suitable for smaller companies because it provides a smooth transition from a traditional costing system to ABC, it does not require a high investment in sophisticated data collection systems, and it does not require a serious organizational restructuring. Therefore, the proposed method can be used as an intermediate step for gradually implementing a full ABC system where the estimated data is replaced by actual data. In addition, the EAD and APD matrices assist in the comprehension of how overhead costs are generated. These matrices can also be used for recognizing improvement opportunities. As a future step a software package based on this methodology can be developed that would trace overhead cost to products accurately, at low cost, and in short time.