After comparison with the pay-roll record, the total labor costs are entered daily on this form. At the end of the month, the sheets are footed and originals sent to the general accounting office.
44. Job Costs. When they have served their purpose in compiling total material and labor costs, the material requisitions and time-cards are sorted by job numbers, direct and indirect, repair and construction cards being kept separate. Where operation costs are desired, the time-cards for direct labor on each order or job number are re-sorted by operation numbers. Totals of material costs for each job, and totals of direct labor costs for each operation and job are obtained, these amounts being the basis on which charges to jobs for the day are made.
Fig. 12. Departmental Labor Distribution Sheet
The totals of each class, obtained from requisitions and time-cards, must agree with the totals of corresponding classifications on the monthly tabulation of material and labor costs, as in Figs. 9 and 12. Totals of material and direct labor for jobs and operations are next entered on job or operation records, or both. As a rule, it is best to arrange job records so that material and labor costs can be entered daily, no matter how much time is required to finish the job.
Fig. 13 shows a form designed for the assembling of material and labor costs for a single shop or department. For the labor distribution, as many columns as necessary are provided for the record of costs by operations. In the material column, the kind of material is entered and the amount extended. When the manufacture requires operations in several shops, one of these forms is used for each shop on each production order—that is, a form for each separate shop order. When the job is finished, the costs for all shops are assembled on one form to obtain the total cost of the job.
Fig. 13. Recapitulation of Departmental Labor and Material Costs
The total material and direct labor costs are brought down on this form, but indirect labor and shop expense are added as a percentage, as has been described in the discussion of expense distribution. General indirect labor and general expense is added to the combined total of all shop costs. In this connection it may be well to emphasize the importance of distributing every expense possible to individual shops, leaving only those items that cannot be so distributed to be added as general expense. For the ostensible purpose of reducing labor, it is the practice of some accountants to throw all expense items into one class, adding the whole as general expense. This is not to be commended, as it results in an unequal distribution. In one shop, the ratio of indirect labor, or of the cost of supplies, to direct labor, may be much higher than in another; the expense for oil, belt lace, waste, etc., is heavy in the machine shop—nothing in the assembling shop. Adding all expense under one head, means that the same per cent is added to direct labor costs in all shops to cover these items; plainly, an unfair charge.