Expenses - Costs

Contents:

• What are expenses?


• What are costs?


• Difference expenses and costs examples


• Difference Expenses - Costs - Definition & Explanation – Summary

Expenses are all activities that reduce a company's equity in a given accounting period. It does not matter whether these expenses were incurred for non-operational and operational purposes.

Costs are all expenses incurred during the operational performance process. Expenses of wages and salaries are, for example, also costs. (Logical that the employees who work in a company are integrated into the company performance process).

What are expenses?

Expenditure is always to be considered when the expenses of a company are periodized. Expenses are incurred (usually) within the scope of the company's service provision and are compared to the income.

Examples:

• A company pays its employees 150,000 euros in salary in January.


• For materials that are consumed directly in production, supplier bills 250,000 euros.


• Repairing a machine costs the company 1,000 euros.

However, a distinction must be made between operating and non-operating expenses. The former is always incurred when the expenses are related to the company's main business activities. For example, a furniture manufacturer could buy wood which is then used to produce chairs. On the other hand, non-operating expenses are incurred if the business transactions have nothing to do with the actual core business. For example, the company could rent apartments above office buildings and install a new heating system here.

What are costs?

Usually, the costs are derived directly from the expenses. Basically, it is the valued consumption of economic goods, which in turn serve the creation of other goods or services. Based on the expenses, the costs are calculated as follows:

Expenditure

- Neutral expenses

+ Additional costs (e.g. imputed company wage, imputed interest or similar)

+/- Conversion of imputed expenses into other costs (a form of imputed costs)

Thus, the costs related to the actual core business of a company, the aforementioned expenses such as rented apartments would not be included. The reason: In practice, the operational business of companies is crucial to their continued existence.

Difference expenses and costs examples

Example 1: A furniture producer decides to donate 100,000 euros to a charitable organization. This is undoubtedly an effort that cannot be recorded as a cost, however. Although the effort is related to the period, albeit external. After all, the donation is not directly related to the actual service provision of the furniture manufacturer.

Example 2: In the first quarter, a furniture producer buys raw materials worth 1 million euros. These raw materials are needed to subsequently produce chairs and cabinets. Because this effort is related to the period, not extraordinary and related to operational purposes, it also involves costs.

Example 3: In the factory of the furniture producer, a fire breaks out, causing a great deal of damage. There is a need to buy new production facilities worth 10 million euros, of which only 9 million euros are covered by insurance. Although the expenses are directly related to the provision of services, they are not costs. Because this effort is to be described as extraordinary and not on a per-period basis.

Summary

1. Expenses are incurred as part of the provision of services for goods or services


2. This is also the case with costs, but they are always period-related, operationally-related and not extraordinary