What is Cost Accounting

To answer what is cost accounting, we need to answer these questions:
Who works with Cost Accounting?
What does the Cost Accountant do?
What is Costing for?

Who works with cost accounting?

The Cost Accountant primarily. He or she usually is required to have a Bachelor's degree in Accounting.


What does the Cost Accountant do?
Maintains costs of products or services for a company.
Produces various cost reports for Management.
Establishes burden rates for parts.
Often creates forecasts, budgets and business plans
May be on teams to reduce costs and price new work.

What is costing for?
Primarily for reporting costs to Management for decision making.
Also costs are used to budget and plan for the future.
Costs are used to determine pricing of new work.