ISSN: 0976-2876 (Print) ISSN: 2250-0138(Online) INFRASTRUCTURE OF COSTING MODERN SYSTEMS (ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING) IN THE OIL INDUSTRY AKRAM MOBARAKI 1a AND SAEIDEH SARKAMARYAN b a Department of Accounting, Collage of Polymer, Mahshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mahshahr, Iran b Department of Accounting, Baghmalek Branch, Islamic Azad University, Baghmalek, Iran ABSTRACT Today, if management intends to manufacture products that are competitive worldwide, they must first consider what is required for manufacture of the product and what costs will be incurred. This is done by identifying the steps of manufacturing and the cost allocated to them. This process has led to new techniques for costing, including activity-based costing (ABC). The present study examined the infrastructure necessary for ABC in the oil industry. The oil industry, by nature, consumes capital, which results in high overhead (indirect) costs. Different models exist to prepare the groundwork for adoption of ABC. Managers in oil-related companies tend to favor implementation of an administrative model to improve corporate performance. Implementation of ABC can measure the final cost of a product more accurately and identify and eliminate activities with no value-added. To test this hypothesis, data was collected by sending questionnaires using a Likert scale to directors of oil companies in Iran. The data was initially analyzed by means of descriptive statistics and then examined using the one sample t-test at a confidence level of 95%. The results suggest that there are infrastructures in place for costing modern systems in oil industries. KEYWORDS: Costing, Activity-based costing, Cost subject, Cost driver, Cost center In the 21 st century, the demand formodern management tools and approaches,including process management, quality management, output and product costing systems, and budgeting-based outputs and performance has increased. These outputoriented, citizen-centered, and market-oriented attitudes are commonly employed in the private sector in place of the process-centered,bureaucracyorientedonopolies that form the structure of modern public administration. The private and public sector management and managerial tools have entered other sectors and adopted for link-free management.the computation of the final cost, or costing, of a product, which is the basis for industrial accounting, has drawn the attention of government administrations (Hassanabadi, &NajarSarraf, 2008). Article 144 of the Fourth Development Plan of Iran addresses product costing and operational budgeting explicitly. The perspective of this regulation is not toward final costs in accounting, but toward management of final costs, since it provides the possibility of improving productivity by assigning financial powers and human resources to the managers. This is not possible without correction or reengineering of goods and services in the production process. The ABC management approach focuses on processes and management of the final cost of outputs, which is an effective tool for execution of this article. ABC is a modern product costing system. This system is not an alternative for work-order costing or multistage techniques, but it can be employed alongside them to provide more accurate information about costs and to facilitate economic decisionmaking by management (Namazi, 2008). Research Objective Iranian oil companies use traditional costing techniques to determine the final cost of their products; however, because this industry consumes capital, a traditional system is not efficient. The present study was designed to determine the feasibility of employing a modern system (ABC) to provide useful information that will increase the efficiency of an oil company. Activity-based budgeting (ABB) is derived from activity-based costing and is very effective for execution of Article 138 of the Fourth Development Plan. The establishment of an operational budgeting system for this article should be based on Article 144 (Hassanabadi, & NajarSarraf,2008). The objective of this study is to examine the infrastructures of modern costing systems in oil companies by: 1. Reviewing the inclination of managers and personnel to change from the current methods to final-cost-related techniques. 1 Corresponding author
2. Examine possible preparation of correct, 4. R Research History relevant, and timely information about final costs. 3. Feasibility for preparation of a platform to adopting ABB for more accurate final costs. Theoretical Framework The relationship between the cost of resources and the acquired benefits from the given resources is separate from an accurate costing system. As a result, an organization may be unaware of the relationship between these important factors and act only in one dimension to attain goals. Despite the organization s efficient and appropriate performance, it may produce an ambiguous image of the future because it lacks the ability to track and control costs. This prevents the organization from achieving its goals and may make this important goal impossible (Kaplan & Notron,2004) If ABC is properly implemented, it can be a strong tool for costing of products and services, evaluation of performance, and formulation of pricing strategies. ABC information can be employed for decisionmaking by extraorganizational creditors, elimination of unnecessary steps, and improvement of efficienc (Lee, &Ulinski 1994). Implementation of ABC Primary allocation phase 1. Determination of cost subject (cycle, product, service, customer, etc.) 2. Identification of main activity relating to cost subject 3. Collection of the related costs for cost subject 4. Allocation of the related costs to ant activity Secondary allocation phase 5. Selection of driver of related costs for an activity 6. Computation of cost rate for an activity 7. Allocation of cost to an activity for cost subject 8. Determining the final cost for cost subject This system derives from the belief that products consume the activities and the activities consume the resources. ABC provides more detailed analysis on of the origin of the costs than a traditional costing system(ahmadi, 2008). Ahmadi (2008) investigated adopting ABC for the Karoon Oil and Gas Co. and concluded that: It was possible to identify the centers of activity in Karoon Co. The cost-consuming driver could be identified. Use of the traditional costing system estimated costs that were lower or higher than the normal rate and inaccurately estimated the final cost of products. Hosseinpoor (2004)found that the motives for not employing ABC in companies in Khuzestan province, Iran, were related to the following factors: The lack of familiarity with costing techniques. The company did not determine the price for products. The lack of consideration of ABC by manager (Hosseinpoor, 2004) Hashemi-Nik (2002) investigated the feasibility of using ABC for a Teflon strip manufacturer and concluded: Managers throughout the country are not familiar with the benefits of ABC because most of them lack post-secondary education. Most directors at higher organizational levels attach little importance to information from accounting data systems. Underlying conditions for establishment of ABC in the Teflon strip manufacturer did not exist (Hashemi- Nik2002). Adamou and Olvoto (2009) studied five hotels in Nigeria for the feasibility of adoption of ABC. They collected questionnaires from the managers and accountants of these hotels and concluded that most employed traditional costing methods and were satisfied with their existing systems. These respondents were relatively familiar with ABC, and were interested in implementing ABC in their hotels (Adamu&Olotu2009). Arnaboldi and Lap-Esly (2005) studied a hospital clinic in the UK that utilized ABC to calculate final costs for different hospital services. They concluded that the final costs of services were calculated more effectively for ABC than traditional methods. ABC indicated in which sectors the organizational sources were used. He concluded that
ABC may provide the manager with useful information to improve performance and increase efficiency (Arnaboldi&Lapsley2005). Viera (2000) studied ABC in the financial service sector and at BancoAlpa in Portugal. He showed that ABC provided a more accurate image of profitability for customers and services and the efficiency of personnel in the bank branches and staff offices (Vieira 2000). Research Hypotheses The hypotheses of the present study were: 1. Corporate managers are aware of the advantages of ABC. 2. More knowledge is required to implement ABC in a company. 3. It is possible to identify cost centers in a company. 4. Activities related to cost centers can be recognized at the levels of costs per product unit, products, supporting costs, and costs for support facilities. 5. It is possible to identify cost drivers in a company. METHODOLOGY This investigation conducted library and field studies. The present study was cross-sectional, since all aspects were carried out in a defined time period. The investigation was concurrently conducted in several oil industry companies. The current research used questionnaires based on theories, principles, and techniques formulated in basic studies to solve executive and real problems. This type of research focuses mostly on the most efficient measures to use and less on motivation (Gay, 1992). The statistical population in this study comprised all managers at different levels in the Imam Khomeini Port Petrochemical Company and division personnel that determine final cost. There were about 45 respondents to the questionnaires. It was not necessary to apply statistical sampling to the population because the size was small. Data collection method Two general classes of information were needed in the present investigation: data from a literature review and theoretical research and data used test the research hypotheses. 1. The librarymethodwas used to gather the information, topics, and theoretical bases of the research. This included a review of texts and specialized journals for accounting and auditing, graduate theses, financial research, Tadbir and the Imam Port Petrochemical Company website. 2. A questionnaire and interviews were used to collect data to examine the possibility of using an ABC system. The questionnaire contained 24 close-ended questions designed for this study. The first 4 questions are general. The responses for the questions were codified based on the Likert 5-point spectrum as very high, high, average, low, and very low. Only one response was selected per question by respondents. Questionnaire reliability and validity To determine validity of the questionnaire, it was initially distributed on a limited basis and a pretest was done by interview on a small sample. Academic and industrial experts were polled for their opinions and some of questions were omitted, adjusted, and or added to the questionnaire in response to their comments. The test-retest method was utilized to determine the reliability of the questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed twice to members in the primary sample at different intervals. The results showed no remarkable deviations. The Cronbach alpha coefficient of the primary sample was also calculated using SPSS software; the result was 0.84, which confirms the high reliability of the questionnaire. Testing hypotheses and statistical methods The questionnaires were sent to the 45 respondents, and 41 were returned and characterized as appropriate for analysis. The statistical sample was the same as the statistical population and descriptive statistics were employed to examine the hypotheses. Similarly, inferential statistics were used to study the feasibility of expanding the results to a larger population. The one-sample t-test was utilized because the standard deviation of the population was unknown, but the population was normal. Objectives for descriptive study and inferential testing of the research hypotheses were taken into consideration assuming that the number of managers may greater than the selected sample; thus, both descriptive and inferential statistics were used
simultaneously. For descriptive statistics, measures of central tendency were employed (mean and standard deviation). The t-test is an inferential test in which the mean value of a sample is compared with a given number (mean rate of population). The results of the questionnaire were given based on the Likert 5-point spectrum and the participants can acquire a maximum score of 3 by responding to a question. This figure is assumed to be the given number and is compared with the calculated mean derived from the given responses to each question; it is considered to be the basis for rejection or approval of the hypotheses. Although there was no sampling in this research, it can be assumed that the 41 responding managers were a sample of the total population of managers. It is possible to generalize using the t-test from the mean given answers to the inventory to all members of the population of managers, which is greater than 45 participants. Experts argue that, regardless of the distribution of the statistical population, a sample size Table 1: T-test results in study of research hypotheses of at least 30 participants is required to express a normal distribution. Samples with more than 30 participants produce similar results using t-test and normal z-value results. If the standard deviation of a population is unknown, the t-test can be employed. Thus, the t-test was utilized in this survey by computation of a one-sample t-test. The statistical assumption of a null hypothesis (H 0 ) and the opposite hypothesis (H 1 ) were formulated and the t-test was run at 95% confidence level (5% error level) to acquire inferential statistics. This stage describes the data to be analyzed in future steps for each hypothesis. Test hypothesis The null hypothesis or incorrect assumption is H 0 : µ 3 The research hypothesis or claim (opposite assumption) is H 1 : µ > 3 Hypothesis Number of questions Title of hypothesis First 1-5 Corporate managers are aware of ABC. Number of reviews Mean Standard deviation Mean standard deviation t-statistic p-value 41 3.64 0.501 0.07825 8.229 0.000 approved H1 Hypothesis Second 6-10 There is sufficient knowledge to employ ABC. 41 3.13 0.568 0.08879 1.983 0.002 approved Third 11-13 It is possible to identify cost centers in the company. Fourth 14-18 Activities relevant to cost centers (cost level per product unit, cost of product group, support costs, and cost of support facilities). Fifth 19-20 The cost drivers can be identified. Table 1 shows that the mean value for all 5 hypotheses are higher than 3. This means that the null hypothesis is rejected for all 5 hypotheses and the opposite hypothesis is approved. Given that the t- value is higher than the critical value (1.96) and the null hypothesis significance level is at p < 0.05 for all hypotheses, the null hypothesis is rejected and the 41 3.65 0.627 0.09805 6.633 0.000 approved 41 3.62 0.628 0.09804 6.282 0.001 approved 41 3.61 0.607 0.09486 6.428 0.000 approved opposite hypothesis is accepted. The results of the t- test show that the given enterprise possesses the Necessary and requisite conditions to adopt the ABC system at the 95% confidence level.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION The general conclusion is that it is possible to utilize the ABC system in oil industry companies because there is sufficient knowledge and awareness among managers to support existing internal production systems to establish ABC. Hashemi-Nik found that the lower knowledge among managers in a Teflon strips manufacturer and the lack of different products meant it was not possible to use ABC in these companies. Managers and personnel do not always react negatively to change, but they worry that their knowledge will be challenged by adopting a new system. Personnel in the cost unit of the organizationmaybe dissatisfied with a new costing system; this may serve as a barrier tot establishment of this system that could be removed by training. The results did not correspond with the findings of research in some Teflon strip and paint manufacturers listed on the Tehran Security and Exchange Organization. This is probably a result of the passage of time and managerial knowledge about modern techniques of management accounting. Most managers in the Teflon strip manufacturer had did not have post-secondary education, but all directors in the oil companies had BS degrees or higher and had attended high level training courses. The manufacture of different products in the oil companies are a prerequisite of use of ABC that did not exist in the Teflon companies. It is necessary to use the ABC system in oil companies because the system allows transparent corporate performance and discontinues activities with no value-added. This prepares the company to enter the capital market and the stock exchange. The ABC system serves as a default for implementation of operational budgeting, which is a requisite for execution of Article 144 from the Iranian Fourth Development Plan Law. SUGGESTIONS 1. It is suggested that a company design and implement an ABC system using the results of the present study. They should measure the final cost of their products more accurately and eliminate activities that do not produce value-added. Implementation of ABC requires collective and active cooperation at all operational and managerial levels. It is not possible to identify cost drivers, cost centers, and preparation of operational process without the collective cooperation of technical and engineering divisions of the company; information should be also be provided to personnel in the technical unit. 2. If a request for establishing an ABC system is made by high-ranking managers, it will be accompanied by the support and commitment of personnel and other administrative levels. It is important to educate managers about the advantages of this system. In the present investigation, there is awareness of and inclination by managers in oil companies. 3. Conditions should be revised for implementation of time-driven activity-based costing system. 4. Review the ABB and its relationship with ABC. REFERENCES Hassanabadi, M. and NajarSarraf, A. 2008. Operational Budgeting System Comprehensive model (Diamond Model). Iranian Industrial Training and Studies Center Namazi, M. 2008. Introducing second generation time-driven activity-based costing.hesabdar, vol. 192. Ahmadi, M. 2008. Investigating use of the ABC system in Karoon Oil and Gas Exploitation Company.MA thesis, Islamic Azad University, Ahwaz Science & Research Branch. Hosseinpoor, M. 2004. Reasons for not using the ABC system in companies in Khuzestan province.ma thesis, Islamic Azad University, Ahwaz Science & Research Branch. Hashemi-Nik, Y. 2002.The feasibility of establishing ABC system in Teflon strip manufacturers.ma thesis, Al-Zahra University, Tehran, Iran. Adamu,A,andOlotu,A 2009.The Practicability Of Activity Based Costing Systemin Hospitality Indusry,Department of Business Administration journal of the Department of Accounting, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nasarawa State Nigeria. Pg 36 49. Arnaboldi,M. and Lapsley,I,2005, Activity Based Costing in Healthcare: A UK Case Study
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