1.5 CPE This course explains the concepts of standard costing and manufacturing variances in simple terms that individuals with and without financial background can understand and more importantly leverage for improved performance.
Finance may be the language of business, but not everyone speaks it. That's why it is often challenging to develop a common understanding of financial concepts across the organization. Financial leaders should share this course with non-financial team members to establish a common approach and leverage the organization's understanding of these concepts and drive performance.
Learning Objectives
- Explore the concept of Standard Costs and recognize how they are developed and used.
- Explore the concept of Variances.
- Identify Material, Labor and Overhead variances and how they are calculated.
- Identify Material, Labor and Overhead variances are handled from both a performance and accounting perspective
Last updated/reviewed: March 28, 2024
60 Reviews (229 ratings)
Reviews
Anonymous
(Inventory Accounting Manager)
This course though basic did a great job of explaining standard costs and variances. It was easy to grasp and then be able to tell the story about why inventory variances are occurring as well as providing a framework for telling the story about the variances and what they mean.
David Tahan
(Controller at Kuehne Chemical Company, Inc.)
As an accountant, this was a great refresher course. For non-accountants, it provides the basic knowledge to better understand the financial needs for this information as well as gaining valuable insight into the downstream business decisions.
Anonymous
(Finance)
Great course, highly recommended for all. Even though I have been in the field, it never hurts to brush up the basic stuff. Instructor clearly demonstrated passion and love for cost accounting. One of the best courses here!
Anonymous
(Head)
A great yet simple course for understanding manufacturing variances plus mix variance. Good for strengthening your variance concepts and calcs, and great for helping you prepare the CMA exam on variances.
Anonymous
(Engineering Administrative Assistant)
I liked the flow of the course.
It would be helpful to have a written dialogue or presentation in addition for the slides.
Something to help those who are hearing impaired and to use as a course book.
Anonymous
(Consultant)
This course is very easy to follow and a good refresher for anyone who has been away from the manufacturing environment. The speaker presents well, keeping you interested throughout the course.
Arlene Nelson
(TBD at TBD)
Would like to have seen examples calculations incorporated into the slide PDF supporting materials
Also, beneficial to have Excel template of Recap of Sales Mix Calculation made available
Anonymous
(Consultant)
Great primer for all employees to inform them how they impact the product costs and profitablity. How various factors impact costs. Some controllable and some not such as mix and efficiency
Anonymous
(Controller)
I like that the course broke down standard cost into the basics. I felt it was a good introduction to the concepts that will then allow me to explore more detailed course options.
Edward Thill
(Consultant at None)
Well presented refresher - material was easy to understand and instructor moved well through the topic without getting bogged down in details (or worse, reading numerical slides).
Anonymous
(Analyst)
Good course length given the wide variety of topics discussed and considered. The supplementary PDF information was incredibly helpful in preparing for the final exam.
Anonymous
(Owner)
i haven't done cost accountings in over 20 years. Great refresher course with VERY practical examples and illustrations. One of the better courses I have taken.
Anonymous
(Not Provided)
Explanations are simple and clear. Examples and calculations help understand the subject better. Both finance and non-finance can benefit from this course.
Anonymous
(Associate Manager Treasury)
Overall all course was very good and easy to understand the concept of standard costing , adding alive case studies will more beneficial
Anonymous
(SENIOR EXECUTIVE)
This course has provided a limited detail about the course and It should be more in details with more examples for taking other items
Jennifer O'Neill
(Financial Analyst at N/A)
Good basic review of standard costs, variance analysis, and how these calculations are beneficial to drive business operations.
rashaad clavon
(Director of FP&A at Ronin Equity Partners)
great course, that Im sure ill be coming back to as a refresher. I the examples of with the brewing company really helped.
Anonymous
(CFO)
This course was presented well, after all who doesn't like BEER. A very good breakdown of price vs volume analysis.
Lawrence Hirsch
(Controller at Builders design)
Another GREAT course. Bud lays out the basics and is my favorite presenter. Bud PLEASE make more classes for us.
Lilian Dendrinos
(consultant at DLC Group)
Great presentation. Really liked the use of examples. Wish I had taken this course before I switched to fiancé.
Anonymous
(Corporate Controller)
Bud does a great job presenting this topic. It is engaging and very fluent in the presentation. I learned a lot.
Douglas Ronald
(---- at ------------)
Very well-designed presentation that breaks down and discusses the key concepts, in easy to understand steps.
Mark Quinn
(CFO at AlkemyX)
Excellent refresher to standard costing for someone who has been out of the manufacturing world for some time
Torin Campbell, CMA
(Controller at Form-A-Fab)
I love standard cost accounting and Mr. Kulesza does a great job explaining the foundations of the concepts!
Yoshihiro Nishimura
(Director of Finance, Coporate Business F.. at WACOM Co., Ltd.)
good to have overview, but real world is more complex. hope another course which handles more complex cases
Jeffrey Hales
(Director of Accounting at Suez - Utility Service Co.)
Bud is simply an excellent teacher. Terrific content and he leads with a passion for what he is teaching.
Anonymous
(Consultant)
This is a good overview of standard costs and variance calculation. The examples are easy to understand.
Anonymous
(Consultant)
Great examples to reinforce understanding. However, the examples are missing from the pdf slide deck.
Anonymous
(Financial Analyst)
The descriptive explanations on the different variances. Cost or accountants in private industry
Thomas Hayes
(Clinical Associate Professor at University of Arkansas)
Well-organized and clear. Anyone teaching managerial accounting would benefit from this course.
Anonymous
(Finance executive)
Overall good experience and helped in enhancing knowledge about standard costing and variances
Debra Lindquist
(controller at SafeRide Health)
A lot of good information. Instructor was easy to listen to and provided great examples.
Ashish Dimri
(Accountant at Amway India Enterprises pvt. ltd.)
It is simple and easier.. Though, calculation should have been there for variances......
Anonymous
(Manager)
good refresher course for auditors who may not have manufacturing clients regularly
Daniel McElhaney
(Financial Reporting Analyst at Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Communit..)
Very well done. Great examples. Helped solidify variances in my mind.
Anonymous
(Controller)
Really liked the course. I would suggest add a few more calculations.
Jim Ahern
(Principal at AFM)
very good overview of standard costs and variances - clearly explained
Anonymous
(Managing Director)
Decent recap of fundamental topics. A good coverage of topic scope.
Anonymous
(Sr. Accountant)
Materials were detailed and made the subject easier to comprehend
Ram Meenakshi Jeyasankar
(Accountant at AMWAY INDIA ENTERPRISE PVT LTD.)
Through this course i can learn the basic of standard costing..
Taylor Aschliman
(Plant Controller at Pretzels, Inc.)
It was a very thorough course for the amount of time allotted.
Anonymous
(senior accountant)
Good course for a beginners understanding of cost accounting
SURESH BABU
( at AMWAY INDIA ENTERPRISES PVT LTD)
All the points has be explained clearly and understandable
Scott Thompson
(Accounting/IT Director at Mercer)
This course definitely simplified standard cost analysis.
Robert Werner
(CAO at Invitae)
Good basic course to refresh cost accounting knowledge.
Anonymous
(Sole Practitioner)
well thought out and acceptable for cpe review purposes
Craig Ward, CPA
(Chief Financial Officer at Geigerrig)
Good review, examples were helpful to show concept.
Geoff Bosley
(Corp Controller at Aperture Credentialing, LLC)
Excellent high level overview of standard costs.
Marina Bisker
(Manager at Self Employed)
Very good course, liked the example and coverage
Sujay Sarkar
(Vice President, CFO, West Africa at Olam International)
Gives good understanding of standard costs.
Matt Osmundsen
(Category Finance Director at Energizer Holdings, Inc.)
Great course! Very informative and helpful.
Kevin Barnes
(- at Next Level Solar)
Concepts were broken down effectively.
Anonymous
(CFO)
Well presented -practical concepts
Anonymous
(Associate with Two Degrees)
Thorough and clear presentation!
Sheryl Perry
(Not Provided at Somaschini North America)
Good examples and content
Charles Elwis
(Insurance Broker at Health Guys)
Good review of concepts
Anonymous
()
nicely summarized.
Anonymous
(Director of Finance and Accounting)
helpful overview
Anonymous
(Fiscal Officer)
valued course
Greg Vaughn
(Director of Accounting and Finance at Pinelake Church)
Informative!
Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Foundational
No advanced preparation or prerequisites are required for this course.
Education Provider Information
Company:
Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA
95113
Contact:
For more information regarding this course, including complaint and
cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to
.
Course Questions and Answers(2 Questions)
C S Bud Kulesza"The Man of Many Hats"
About Illumeo
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Resources
Contact Us
- Email: info@illumeo.com
- Phone: 408-400-3993
- Adress: 1608 W Campbell
- Av #221, Campbell, CA 95008
© 2024 Illumeo, Inc.
I have liked an overall presentation on the standar costs and variance analysis. I have one questions that who is responsible for overhead variances in terms of variable or fixed overhead costs?
Thank you,
Chirag
Thanks Chirag for such a good question. I embrace the concept of responsibility accounting. Simply stated the individuals (departments) that caused the variances are those who control the variances and should accept responsibility for the costs. In the case of overhead, normally, variable costs are the costs that that we have control of and therefore are responsible for and fixed costs are often cost assigned to our departments by others for which they are in control. The key factor od responsibility is who authorized and approved the expenditure. A good example of overhead fixed costs that can vary from budget and cause variances is depreciation. While department managers bear the burden of these costs they are not responsible for things they cannot control such as unbudgeted changes in depreciation methods that they have no control over (Decision made by the Finance / Accounting Department) . However the unbudgeted increase in depreciation cause by an unbudgeted purchase of equipment would be the responsibility of the manager the individual who authorized the purchase. It doesn’t matter why the purchase was made it is that fact that the costs were not budgeted and following a responsibility accounting approach, the person making the decision is responsible for the variance. Hope this brief explanation of responsibility accounting as it relates to overhead variances answers your question.