Skip to main content
Article
Implementing Activity-based Costing and its Implications for a Service Firm in the Tme Share Exchange Industry
Advances in Management Accounting
  • Sakthi Mahenthiran, Butler University
  • Bruce D. Marshall
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-1998
Disciplines
Abstract

This study reports on how an activity-based cost accounting (ABC) system was implemented in a service firm in the timeshare exchange industry. In addition, the study highlights the similarities of implementing ABC in a service firm and a manufacturing firm. An important contribution of this field study is to illustrate the separation of labor activities into those that are productive versus those that are not. Further, the study shows the importance of separately allocating the non-productive activities, which are traceable to the primary service lines from those that are not traceable to them. This is analogous to separating the product sustaining activities from the facility sustaining activities when implementing ABC in a manufacturing firm. The Results and Discussion section illustrates the implications of using the ABC information for making decisions about service mix in operating departments, for assessing the implication of employee productivity on service cost, and for service pricing.

Rights
This article is © Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here. Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Citation Information
Sakthi Mahenthiran and Bruce D. Marshall. "Implementing Activity-based Costing and its Implications for a Service Firm in the Tme Share Exchange Industry" Advances in Management Accounting Vol. 7 (1998) p. 65 - 87
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/sakthi_mahenthiran/12/