Learning Materials For Accounting, Management , Finance And Economics.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Responsibility Centers For Responsibility Accounting

1. Cost Center

A cost center is an organizational sub-unit such as department or division, whose manager is held accountable for the costs incurred in that division. For example, a Power and Airco Department can can be defined as a cost center within the Operation and Maintenance Department in United Telecommunication Company. Manager of a cost center is responsible for controllable costs incurred in the department, but is not responsible for revenue, profit or investment in that center. A cost center is a responsibility center in which inputs, but not outputs are measured in monetary value.

2. Revenue Center

A manager of a revenue center is held accountable for the revenue attributed to the sub-unit. Revenue centers are responsibility centers where managers are accountable only for financial outputs in the form of generating sales revenue. A revenue center's manger may also be held accountable for selling expenses such as sales persons' salaries, commissions, and order receiving costs.

3. Profit Center

Profits are the excess of revenue over the total expenses. Therefore, the manager of a profit center is held accountable for the revenues, costs, and profits of the center. A profit center is a responsibility center in which inputs are measured in terms of expenses and outputs are measured in terms of revenues.

4. Investment Center

The manger of investment center is held accountable for the division's profit and the invested capital used by the center to generate its profits. Investment centers consider not only costs and revenues but also the assets used in the division. Performance of an investment center are measured in terms of assets turnover and return on the capital employed.