Features of calculating cost of services in educational institutions based on the ABC method

Abstract

Heads of higher educational institutions seek to optimize costs and increase the effectiveness of the educational institution. In this regard, they need to know how resources are allocated and used by type of activity. Due to its simplicity, direct costing methods are used. Overhead is distributed in proportion to the number of students. Traditional methods of costing the cost of providing services do not allow taking into account all the features of the activities of educational institutions and the business processes that occur in them, which determines the relevance of the research topic. It is necessary to apply methods that allow you to compare management accounting data with the types of activities and determine at what stage the provision of educational services requires improvement. This method is Activity-based costing. The volumes of consumed resources are calculated depending on the types of activities. The purpose of the study is to justify the use of the Activity-based Costing (hereinafter - ABC) parameter when using the cost of training programs for students in higher education. The theoretical and methodological base of the research lies in the works of leading Russian and foreign scientists concerning the substantiation of methods for calculating the cost of products (works, services), accounting regulations. The research methodology is based on the systems approach used to study various calculation systems with general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, comparison, synthesis, grouping and classification. The use of a modern method of cost accounting and production costing ABC will allow higher education institution to form the cost of training students for each course more objectively, which will objectively form the price for paid services and generate more reliable performance indicators of individual departments and chairs. The results of the study can be used in state and commercial institutions of higher education in determining the cost of services for training students in various programs. The scientific novelty of the study consists in developing a model of the distribution of indirect costs by function using the ABC method to determine the cost of training programs for students in higher education institutions.