What is Absorption Variance?

The absorption variance represents the amount of labor and overhead costs that were not absorbed or charged to the products; they represent production costs that will never be recovered through the sale of the product. Typically an absorption variance is generated when there is difference between actual and budgeted production volumes or a significant changes in the product mix manufactured during the period. If the actual volume and mix track to the budget, the absorption variance will be minimal. Typically the absorption variance is calculated using labor and overhead costs only. Because materials are a variable cost, they are generally not affected by volume or mix fluctuations.

How is Absorption Variance Used?

If the indirect costs are not fully absorbed, this means that the actual indirect costs have occurred more than expected and the actual difference is included in the price. This usually means that the confirmation of expenses is accelerated to the current period, reducing the amount of the confirmed service. If overheads are overly absorbed, the actual costs are lower than expected. Consequently, the cost of the cost object is higher than the actual cost. This means that the expense confirmation is reduced in the current fiscal year and the profit increases. For example, even if the indirect costs are set at $ 20 per effort and the actual amount of money is $ 18 per hour of direct labor time, the difference between the consumed indirect costs and $ 2 is considered equal.

• There are several reasons for indirect costs, e.g., B. insufficient absorption or excessive absorption.
• The overheads received differ from the expected amount.

The application overhead standard is different than expected. For example, the usual overhead charges are $ 100,000. If 2000 hours is directly expected during this time, the overhead rate will be set at $ 50 per hour. However, if the actual number of hours spent is only 1,900 hours, the cost of $ 5,000 is $ 10,000, which means a disappearance within 100 hours.

• The actual amount of overhead or overhead depends on the application. This is possible by a long-term average normal rate with a seasonal difference.
• The basis of the mapping may be incorrect, possibly due to data entry errors or calculations.

If it is not absorbed sufficiently or too strongly, it is usually treated in one of the following ways:

• The difference (positive and negative) refers to the cost of goods sold.
• The difference (positive or negative) applies to the corresponding cost object.

The first method is easier to implement but less accurate. Therefore, immediate depreciation is usually limited to minor differences, but the latter method is used for large differences. By using the system promptly and reducing inventories by the end of the reporting period, we can fully solve the problem of the indirect takeover. In this way, you can distribute the cost of all expenses.

Related Topics

• Job Costing vs Process Costing
• Assign Direct Material and Direct Labor to Job
• Assign Manufacturing Overhead Costs to Job
• Assign Overhead Costs to Products
• Plantwide Cost Allocation
• Department Cost Allocation
• Activity-Based Costing
• Weighted-Average Cost of Products
• Production Cost Report
• Fixed, Variable, and Mixed Cost Estimations
• Contribution Margin Income Statement
• Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis
• Margin of Safety
• Contribution Margin per Unit of Constraint
• Absorption Costing vs Variable Costing
• Differential Analysis and Decisions
• Cost Decisions for Joint Products
• Capital Budgeting
• Life Cycle Costing
• The Master Budget
• Activity-Based Budgeting
• Standard Costs
• Imputed Value
• Variance Analysis for Product Costs
• Absorption Pricing
• Price Variance
• Absorption Variance 
• Responsibility Centers
• Comparing Segmented Income
• Using ROI to Evaluate Performance
• Using Residual Income to Evaluate Performance
• Use Economic Value Added to Evaluate Performance
• Transfer Pricing