成本核算现状与经济计量动态外文翻译.docxVIP

CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ACCOUNTINGAND THE DYNAMICS OF ECONOMICCALCULATION—THOMASC. TAYLORBACKGROUNDThe role of accounting as articulated in Austrian economic theory is securely fastened to the task of economic calculation. Ludwig vonMises distinguishes between prospective or anticipative calculation involving the precalculation of expected costs and expected proceeds relating to a planned course of action and retrospective calculation that establishes the results of past action, the accounting of profit or loss . And his devastating argument that the inability of the socialist planners to calculate the costs of alternative courses of action renders socialism impossible and establishes the critical role of cost accounting in business decisions under capitalism.One of the long-standing difficulties in cost accounting has been the allocation of indirect costs to various objects such as products, departments, divisions, etc. For example, traditional cost accounting has long depended on predetermined overhead rates in order to apply the indirect cost of manufacuring to different products by means of some base such as direct labor cost or direct labor hours. Mises was well aware of the problem of assigning indirect costs for purposes of departmental profitability analysis.The elaborate methods of modern bookkeeping, accountancy, and business statistics provide the enterpriser with a faithful image of all his operations. He is in a position to learn how successful or unsuccessful every one of his transactions was. With the aid of these statements he can check the activities of all departments of his concern no matter how large it may be. There is, to be sure, some amount of discretion in determining the distribution of overhead costs. But apart from this, the figures provide a faithful reflection of all that is going on in every branch or department.The remainder of this article will discuss more fully the problem of traditional cost allocation as widely practiced today,