A Small Business Guide to Direct vs Indirect Costs

When recording direct costs, in most instances, these costs will be variable, meaning that they can change according to production levels. If your production ramps up in the summer, it’s likely that your materials costs and labor costs will increase as well. While most direct costs are variable, there can be instances when direct costs are fixed costs, such as rent or property taxes specifically for a manufacturing plant. Electricity or fuel consumption is an example of a cost that could go in either the direct or indirect cost bucket. On one hand, the entire business (including the indirect functions of the business) consume power, so unless you’re splitting how much goes to direct production vs. indirect functions, it’s best left as an indirect cost.

To get an idea of how your overall expenses compare to your overall sales during a period, you find your overhead rate. Direct expenses are any expenses incurred to manufacture or purchase goods and to bring them into saleable condition. Direct expenses become part of the cost of the goods manufactured or purchased. Additionally, the business loses control over the production processes, which might affect the quality. A business exposes itself to external issues, such as market shocks or disruptions, that may affect its operational efficiency. Making a make-or-buy decision has significant ramifications for an organization.

List of Direct Expenses

At Finance Strategists, we partner with financial experts to ensure the accuracy of our financial content. In project management one such technique is the Estimate to Complete (ETC), which is another forecasting technique used along with the estimate at completion. To date, thousands of professionals have passed the PMP exam using my resources. Therefore, you can outsource tasks to an entity that can make the product at a lower cost, when possible, rather than making it in-house.

Direct cost variances indicate how well the project, process, or product is controlled and executed in terms of input prices and efficiency. They can be used to evaluate the performance of managers, suppliers, and workers who are directly involved in the output or activity. Indirect cost variances indicate how well the project, process, or product is planned and budgeted in terms of overhead costs and output or activity levels. They can be used to evaluate the performance of managers, accountants, and analysts who are responsible for setting and monitoring the budget and allocation of indirect costs.

Financial and Other Expenses

These fringe benefits are applied to direct salaries charged to projects either through a fringe benefit rate or as part of an overhead/indirect cost rate. Therefore, fringe benefits treated as indirect costs should not be included as a direct cost in the “Personnel” category of the budget form of the grant application or on a contract proposal. Unlike direct costs, indirect costs cannot be tied back to a specific product or productions. For example, when you pay administrative costs, such as support staff salaries or insurance, that expense cannot be tied directly back to a specific product or activity, which makes it an indirect or overhead cost. Understanding the difference between direct costs and indirect costs is a critical aspect of proper accounting. Tracking each type of cost separately can help small businesses understand their cash flow, price their items properly and attain the maximum allowable tax deductions.

Indirect costs do not tie to a specific product or project but are essential for business operations. An understanding of these costs helps you understand your business model, pricing your product competitively, and you can separate tax-deductible expenses. The direct expenses required to manufacture a product or offer a service can be categorized as direct costs. The overhead expenses that aren’t Direct vs. Indirect Costs directly related to the product being manufactured but remain necessary to keep the business running are categorized as indirect costs. The cost principles as defined in Uniform Guidance provide the basis for determining the procedures used to identify direct costs. Rent, utilities, office supplies, legal fees, and insurance are all indirect expenses because they benefit the entire company.

Planned Value (PV), Earned Value (EV) & Actual Cost (AC) in Project Cost Management

There must be a correlation between the direct benefit received and the portion of the cost that is charged to each project/account. For example, Troy’s spends the same amount for employee wages each week. Troy’s repaired twice as many cars this week than it did last week; as a result, this week’s auto parts expense was higher than last’s. Every time a salesperson sells a unit of your product, he/she is paid commission.

Today’s blog post will discuss and differentiate direct and indirect costs in project management. Indirect costs should be included each time the recipient or subrecipient bills for direct costs. Please see the CoC and ESG Indirect Cost Toolkit for more information. Most indirect costs are considered fixed costs, as they remain the same from month to month regardless of production levels. The easiest way to tell the difference between direct and indirect costs is by determining whether the cost is specific to a product. Indirect costs are fixed expenses a business incurs to keep the company running no matter the activity level.

Using Direct Costs and Indirect Costs in Pricing

This is different than salary and is usually specific to salespeople, which often work partially on commission. Get instant access to video lessons taught by experienced investment bankers. Learn financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel shortcuts.

Lumping your expenses together is a recipe for inaccurate recordkeeping, reporting, and decision-making. Understand the difference between direct and indirect expenses to avoid these issues. Direct costs do not need to be fixed in nature, as their unit cost may change over time or depending on the quantity being utilized.

For purposes of forecasting, indirect costs like insurance, rent, and employee compensation tend to be more predictable compared to direct costs. Moreover, the company likely had to pay expenses related to rental payments and the maintenance of the manufacturing facility, but these costs are not considered direct costs. Often, funding for a specific project will largely support direct costs. Certain government agencies might allow you to explain why indirect costs should be funded, too, but the decision to grant funding is at their discretion.

Note, the term facilities and administrative costs and the term indirect costs may be used interchangeably to determine applicable policies. A direct cost is a price that can be directly tied to the production of specific goods or services. A direct cost can be traced to the cost object, which can be a service, product, or department. Direct and indirect costs are the two major types of expenses or costs that companies can incur.

Smartphone hardware, for example, is a direct, variable cost because its production depends on the number of units ordered. A notable exception is direct labor costs, which usually remain constant throughout the year. Typically, an employee’s wages do not increase or decrease in direct relation to the number of products produced. To facilitate preparation of an indirect cost proposal, shown below are (1) some definitions of the term “indirect costs,” (2) a brief discussion of indirect cost rate structures and (3) a simple example of an indirect cost rate computation. Small businesses rely on accurate financial statements to make informed decisions. If direct and indirect expenses are not properly accounted for, the information contained in the statements will be wrong.

• For example, to create a product, an appliance-maker requires steel, electronic components and other raw materials.
• Unlike direct costs, indirect costs cannot be tied back to a specific product or productions.
• It includes direct costs (things that will be charged on the bill) and indirect costs (estimated out of pocket expenses that will not be charged to your bill).
• An indirect cost shall not be allocated to a final cost objective if other costs incurred for the same purpose in like circumstances have been included as a direct cost of that or any other final cost objective.
• For example, utilities provide electricity to all of the departments in Troy’s.

While indirect costs contribute significant value to a company as a whole, these costs cannot be assigned to the creation of a single product. You had $4,000 in indirect costs and $16,000 in sales during the period. This means that you spend 25 cents on indirect costs for every dollar you earn. If your direct costs are also high, you won’t be turning much of a profit.