Cost management: always up to date. Strategic cost management Thermal power cost management program

Cost management

The Performance Management Program (PMP) is a key tool for improving the internal operational efficiency of the Company's activities by implementing a cost management process aimed at minimizing the resources consumed while maximizing the return on them.

Reduction target operating expenses by 15% by 2017, taking into account inflation relative to the level of 2012, per unit of service electrical equipment(approved by the Strategy for the Development of the Electric Grid Complex Russian Federation in accordance with the order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 03, 2013 No. 511r). The economic effect from the implementation of the EMP in JSC IDGC of the North-West provides for a decrease in the level of the Company's operating expenses by 2017 (in 2012 prices) by 16.5% of the level of expenses in 2012.

Performance Management Program

The effect from the implementation of the Performance Management Program in IDGC of the North-West, JSC at the end of 2014 amounted to 13.11%, which improved the effect provided for by the Company's business plan by 1.9%, and the target indicator was exceeded by 8.1 %. Thus, the implementation of the EMP in the Company is carried out at a faster pace, as evidenced by the dynamics of the decrease in the share of controlled costs in the cost price.

This effect was achieved through the implementation of measures aimed at reducing the cost of servicing a piece of equipment, namely:

• minimization of controllable operating costs, including by optimizing labor costs and expenses for the repair program and maintenance, by reducing prices for contractors' work and optimizing own personnel;
• conducting competitive procurement procedures that optimize procurement activities;
• implementation of the Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency Improvement Program.

The concept of production costs

Any economic activity involves the production of a product (material or spiritual) or the provision of any services. In commodity production, the goal economic activity is to make a profit. And the greater this profit is, the more profitable it is for the entrepreneur (manufacturer).

The concept of profit is also easy to define. To do this, it is necessary to take into account not only the proceeds from the sale of goods and services, but also all the costs associated with production.

Costs are formed during the purchase and consumption of raw materials, energy, components and semi-finished products. In addition, it is imperative to take into account the costs of acquiring means of production, their depreciation, and the wages of workers.

Definition 2

The amount of costs for the production of a unit of output is called the cost of goods.

The ratio of revenue and cost is an indicator of production efficiency. After all, the lower the cost, the higher the profit. But not all profits remain with the enterprise. Part of the profit as taxes goes to the disposal of state budgets of different levels (local, regional, federal).

The essence of entrepreneurship and the market economy is to determine and compare the costs and outcomes of production.

Definition 3

The cost of production and sale of products is the valuation of the resources used in the production process (raw materials, energy, labor resources etc.), as well as other costs associated with the production and sale of products.

Costs must be taken into account when planning production. This will help you avoid financial risk. Production costs underlie the formation of the lower price limit.

Types of production costs

Manufacturing today is a complex economic mechanism. Therefore, there are many types of costs. Today in the economy there are such varieties of them:

• external; ;
• internal;
• general;
• permanent;
• variables;
• medium;
• specific, etc.

The classification of types of costs depends on certain criteria. After all, the costs are very complex in their structure. It is she who determines the nature and conditions of production.

Definition 4

External costs call the costs associated with payments for resources that do not belong to the firm (enterprise).

Definition 5

Internal costs are the costs of own (unpaid) resources.

Internal costs include depreciation of fixed assets, wages of business owners, etc.

Definition 6

The total cost of production is called the totality of external and internal costs that ensure the operation of the enterprise.

Production cost management

To optimize the cost of production, cost management methods are used. In economics, there are such cost management methods as:

• direct account;
• normative;
• settlement and analytical;
• parametric.

Remark 1

Each of these methods has its own advantages. Therefore, their complex (systemic) application is expected.

The direct counting method is the simplest, but at the same time the least accurate. It is advisable to use it in the production of homogeneous products. The essence of the method is to divide the total cost by the number of units of manufactured products.

The most accurate is the calculation-analytical method. It consists in a comprehensive analysis of production and possible changes in manufacturing process taking into account the technical, economic and organizational conditions of work in the expected period of production.

Production cost management systems

At industrial enterprises, the following basic methods of planning production costs are used:

direct account;

normative;

settlement and analytical;

parametric.

The simplest and least accurate method is the direct counting method. With this method of planning, the cost of producing a unit of output is determined by dividing the total cost by the quantity of manufactured products. The application of this method is possible only at enterprises producing homogeneous products, and therefore the method is used very limitedly. In addition, it does not give an idea of ​​the costs of individual costing items.

The normative method for calculating production costs is used at enterprises where accounting for changes in the actual costs of each type of resource per unit of a particular type of mass production product is clearly organized. It is based on the norms and standards for the use of labor, material and financial resources. At the same time, the norms and standards for the use of these resources must be progressive and scientifically substantiated. Their values ​​need to be systematically reviewed.

The most accurate and perfect method for calculating production costs is the calculation and analytical method. With this method, first of all, a comprehensive analysis of the state of production, possible changes in it is carried out. It is studied what factors and how they affect the cost of production. The technical, economic and organizational conditions of work in the projected period are laid in the basis of standards and norms.

When calculating products of the same type, but different in quality, the parametric method is used. It consists in establishing patterns of change in production costs depending on the quality characteristics of products. Thus, the cost of a product is determined based on the cost of one kilogram, one ton of structural weight of similar machines and equipment. Other indicators that are most characteristic of this product may also be used. By the same method, it is possible to determine additional costs for improving the quality characteristics of products.

Construction production, like other branches of material production, is a process of production consumption of funds, objects of labor and living labor. The consumption of these material factors leads to the formation of costs or production costs that form the cost of production.

Cost planning for the production of construction works is an integral part of the plan for production and financial activities, developed by it independently on the basis of construction contracts with customers, as well as contracts concluded with suppliers of material and technical resources.

The planned cost of construction work production costs is determined using a system of economically justified norms and standards approved in the prescribed manner, as well as engineering and economic calculations that reflect an increase in the organizational and technical level construction industry as a result of the introduction of measures for new equipment and technology, the improvement of its organization and management, and other technical and economic factors.

To calculate the planned cost of production costs, planned estimates are compiled, in which costs are formed for the amount of work performed on the facility in the planned year, taking into account cost reduction due to measures to improve the technical and organizational level of construction production.

Thus, the planned cost of construction work on objects is determined as the difference between the cost of the planned scope of work, established in the design and estimate documentation and the amount of cost reduction as a result of the implementation of measures and the amount of estimated profit.

The planned cost of the construction work production costs for the organization as a whole is determined by summing up the planned cost of the work production costs for the facilities.

At foreign enterprises, planning and accounting for production costs in terms of variable costs is widely practiced using the Direct Costing method.

The essence of any concept should be reflected in its name. The name "direct costing", introduced in 1936 by the American D. Harrison in his work, means accounting for direct costs. It does not fully reflect the essence of the system; The main thing in the direct costing system is the organization of the marginal accounting of variable and fixed costs and the use of its advantages in order to improve management efficiency.

Currently, direct costing provides for the accounting of production costs not only in terms of direct variable costs, but also in terms of variable indirect costs. Therefore, there is some conventionality of the name here.

Having defined the essence of direct costing as a system management accounting, based on the division of costs into fixed and variable depending on the change in production volumes, we formulate the main features inherent in it.

The main feature of direct costing is that the cost of industrial products is taken into account and planned only in terms of variable costs. Fixed costs are collected on a separate account and, with a given frequency, are written off directly to the debit of the financial results account, for example, “Profit and Loss”.

Fixed costs are not included in the calculation of the costs of production of products, but as expenses of a given period they are written off from the profit received during the period in which they were produced. Work in progress is also valued at variable costs.

However, according to international standards accounting this one is not used for external reporting and tax calculation. It is used in internal accounting for technical and economic analysis and for making operational management decisions.

Under the direct-costing system, the scheme for constructing income reports is multi-stage (Table 1.1). They contain at least 2 financial indicators: marginal income and profit.

Table 1.1

Direct Costing Income Statement Scheme

The income statement does not have to be two-step. If variable costs are divided into production and non-production, then this income statement will be three-step. In this case, at the first stage, it determines the production marginal income as the difference between the volume of products sold and variable production costs. At the second stage, as the difference between the production marginal and non-manufacturing variable costs, the marginal income for the whole company is determined. At the third stage - the profit of the company by subtracting from the total amount marginal income amount of fixed costs.

Of great importance here is the establishment of links and proportions between costs and production volume. Using the methods of correlation and regression analysis, mathematical statistics, graphical methods, it is possible to determine the forms of dependence of costs on the volume of production or capacity utilization; build cost equations, obtain information about the profitability or unprofitability of production, depending on its volume; calculate the critical point of production volume; predict the behavior of production costs or certain types of expenses depending on volume or capacity factors, i.e. decide strategic objectives enterprise management.

Direct costing allows management to focus on changes in marginal income both for the enterprise as a whole and for various products; identify products with greater profitability in order to switch mainly to their production, tk. the difference between the selling price and the amount variable costs is not obscured as a result of writing off fixed costs to the cost of specific products. The system provides the ability to quickly reorient production in response to changing market conditions.

In the statement of financial results, compiled under the direct costing system, you can see the change in profit due to changes in variable costs, selling prices and the structure of products.

The information received in the system makes it possible to find the most advantageous combinations of price and volume, and to pursue an effective pricing policy. In a market economy, direct costing also provides information about the possibility of using dumping in the competition. This technique is used during periods of temporary reduction in demand for products to conquer the market.

All of the above indicates that direct costing is an important element of marketing - an enterprise management system in a market and free competition.

Recently, there has been a steady upward trend in the share of fixed costs. Therefore, the requirements for the validity of planning and rationing of these costs are increasing. Direct costing allows you to focus on resolving these issues, since the amount of fixed costs for a given specific period is shown in the income statement as a separate line, and thus their impact on the profit of the enterprise is especially clearly visible.

In addition, direct costing makes it possible to more quickly control fixed costs, since standard costs or flexible estimates are often used in the process of cost control.

Thanks to direct costing, the analytical capabilities of accounting are expanding, and there is a process of close integration of accounting and analysis.

However, the organization of management accounting according to the direct costing system is associated with a number of problems that arise from the features inherent in this system.

1. Difficulties arise when dividing costs into fixed and variable, since there are not so many purely fixed or purely variable costs. Basically, the costs are semi-variable, which means that there are difficulties in their classification. In addition, in different conditions, the same costs may behave differently.

2. Opponents of direct costing believe that fixed costs are also involved in production. this product and therefore should be included in its cost. Direct costing does not answer the question of how much the manufactured product costs, what is its full cost. Therefore, an additional allocation of conditionally fixed costs is required when it is necessary to know full cost finished goods or work in progress.

3. Keeping records of production costs according to a reduced nomenclature of items does not meet the requirements of domestic accounting, one of the main tasks of which until recently was the preparation of accurate estimates.

4. It is necessary to cover all the costs of the enterprise in the prices set for the enterprise's products.

To compile a consolidated budget, companies use data from a comprehensive regulatory accounting method (standard direct costing) - this is such a system for keeping records of the operations of an enterprise, in which at all stages of the financial cycle and in the context of all the main types of activities (types of products) allocated to an independent object of budget planning, the following are recorded:

a) planned (budget) indicators,

b) actual indicators,

c) deviations of actual indicators from planned ones.

The second feature of the complex regulatory method of accounting is a clear distinction between conditionally variable and conditionally constant for the purposes of management planning and, first of all, for information support of the “cost-volume-profit” analysis when compiling and analyzing the implementation of the sales budget, which, we recall, is starting point for modeling the consolidated budget. The anglicized name of the complex regulatory accounting method “standard direct costing” just emphasizes two key aspects on which this accounting system is based.

Standard costing (standard- costing) - normative method of accounting for costs and financial results. This method is based on the fact that cost and revenue accounting is carried out according to standard (planned) indicators, and deviations from planned norms are taken into account separately and written off at the end budget period at the appropriate stage of the financial cycle, as a result of which the actual costs and financial results of the enterprise are established.

It should be noted that the targets in the “standard-costing” system are fixed twice:

First time before the start of the budget period in the planning documentation of management services (planning and economic management, financial and economic management, UKS);

Second time during and after the end of the budget period in fact business transactions in the accounting of the enterprise.

This approach is not accidental, because it allows you to isolate deviations from the plan and the effect of deviations on the financial results of the enterprise in the context of individual stages of the financial cycle and individual business transactions. The fact is that various types of deviations from planned indicators have a different effect on the activities of the enterprise, depending on the time of the business transaction and the stage of the financial cycle to which it relates. Thus, deviations in the procurement budget simultaneously affect:

Increase in the book value of material circulating resources;

- an increase in the actual budget for production costs compared to the plan;

increase in production costs;

increase in production costs;

Depending on what part of the raw materials and materials purchased in this budget period, as of the end of the budget period, remained in stock, was written off to production, “materialized” as part of the production costs of manufactured and sold products. A qualitative plan-fact analysis of costs and their effect on the final financial results is possible only if there is regulatory accounting as an integral element of accounting during the budget period .

Perhaps the most effective method of solving interrelated tasks for the purpose of operational and strategic planning is operational analysis, called “Costs-Volum-Profit-CVP”, which tracks the dependence of the financial results of a business on costs and volumes of production, sales. Key elements operational analysis are: operating leverage, the threshold of profitability and the margin of financial strength of the enterprise. Unlike external financial analysis, the results of operational (internal) analysis may constitute a trade secret.

The action of the operating (production, economic) leverage is manifested in the fact that any change in sales proceeds always generates a stronger change in profit.

In practical calculations, to determine the strength of the impact of operating leverage, the ratio of the so-called gross margin (the result of sales after recovering variable costs) to profit is used. Gross margin is the difference between sales revenue and variable costs. This indicator in the economic literature is also referred to as the amount of coverage. It is desirable that the gross margin is enough not only to cover fixed costs, but also to generate profits.

Operating Leverage = Gross Margin / Profit

The force of operating leverage is always calculated for a certain volume of sales, for a given sales proceeds. Changes in revenue from sales - changes and the strength of the impact of operating leverage. The strength of the impact of operating leverage depends on the industry average level of capital intensity: the higher the cost of fixed assets, the more fixed costs- this, as they say, is an objective factor.

At the same time, the effect of the operating lever can be controlled precisely on the basis of taking into account the dependence of the force of the lever on the value of fixed costs: the higher the fixed costs and the lower the profit, the stronger the operating lever.

When sales revenue declines, operating leverage increases. Each percentage reduction in revenue then results in a larger and larger percentage reduction in profits. This is how the formidable power of operating leverage manifests itself.

With an increase in revenue from sales, if the profitability threshold (the cost recovery point) has already been passed, the impact of the operating lever decreases: each percentage of revenue growth gives a smaller and smaller percentage of profit growth (at the same time, the share of fixed costs in their total amount decreases. But with a jump in fixed costs dictated by the interests of further increasing revenue or other circumstances, the company has to pass a new threshold of profitability.At a small distance from the threshold of profitability, the force of the impact of the operating lever will be maximum, and then begin to decrease again ... and so on until a new jump in fixed costs with overcoming a new profitability threshold.

With a decrease in the income of the enterprise, fixed costs are very difficult to reduce. Essentially, this means that high specific gravity fixed costs in their total amount indicates a weakening of the flexibility of the enterprise. If it is necessary to leave your business and move to another area of ​​activity, it will be very difficult for an enterprise to diversify abruptly, both organizationally and especially financially. The higher the cost of tangible fixed assets, the more the enterprise "gets stuck" in its current market niche.

Moreover, the increased share of fixed costs increases the operating leverage, and the decrease in the business activity of the enterprise results in multiplied profit losses. It remains to be consoled by the fact that if the revenue is still growing at a sufficient pace, then with a strong operating leverage, the enterprise, although it pays the maximum amount of income tax, is able to pay solid dividends and provide financing for development.

Thus, in the current market system of managing the production costs of products (works, services) is one of the main qualitative indicators of the activities of economic entities. The level of production costs determines financial results (profit or loss), the rate of expansion of production, financial condition business entities. As a result, it is important for an enterprise to choose an effective method of planning and cost accounting in order to find out the trends in this indicator and determine the factors influencing it when analyzing production costs. Therefore, the management of production costs is directly related to the implementation of the enterprise's functions of planning, control and management decision-making.

Office costs production at the enterprise in order to reduce them ...

Domestic enterprises not so long ago survived the financial crisis - someone survived, someone had a hard time. It is in the unfavorable market conditions the quality of managerial decisions becomes more noticeable, and all imperfections and flaws come out. In this article, we will look at the experience Russian companies on strategic cost management. Today, it is important for us to understand that measures in the above direction should not be limited to the notorious staff cuts, lower production volumes and the search for cheaper raw materials.

In order to purposefully reduce costs in the enterprise, it is necessary to take them into account correctly. Solve the problems of cost management, namely: to determine the lower limit of the price of products or orders and the optimal program for the production and sale of products; conduct comparative analysis profitability various kinds products; calculate the break-even point, determine the margin of financial strength of the enterprise, etc. - all this allows you to do accounting according to the method direct costing. The main advantage of this type of accounting can be considered the division of costs into fixed and variable. At the same time, accounting absorption costing can provide the top management of the company with important information for making management decisions (the second type of accounting is more typical for international companies).

Strategically correct cost management at the enterprise allows you to bring it to a qualitatively new level, cut off all unnecessary, set priorities, redistribute financial flows. Let us turn to the experience of a domestic enterprise acquired in a difficult time for our country - from 1992 to 2004. This period is of particular interest, since it was then that the foundations of new economic relations were laid, the painful transition from a planned economy to a market economy was carried out. Later, similar anti-crisis developments were used during the financial crisis of 2008.

The top management of Ryazanskaya GRES developed and implemented a strategic cost management program. The development of this program was preceded by a detailed analysis of the causes of the financial crisis in the industry in general and Ryazanskaya GRES in particular.

Note. The main activity of OAO Ryazanskaya GRES is the production of electrical and thermal energy. In terms of installed capacity (2640 MW per year), the station is one of the largest in Russia. The GRES operates on three types of fuel: coal, gas and fuel oil. In 2002, the cost management program developed by the power plant managers was recognized by RAO "UES of Russia" as the best among all power plants in the country and recommended as a model to other enterprises in the industry.

The management of Ryazanskaya GRES believed that the transition to building an effective cost management system was impossible without the introduction of strict financial and organizational discipline at the enterprise. The company's financial experts noted that the lack of a long-term energy strategy both at the state and at the level of individual companies has led to serious problems in the energy industry. In their opinion, tariffs for electricity and heat have been artificially lowered for a decade, which provoked a chronic shortage of financial resources at the enterprises of the industry. In addition, for eight years (from 1992 to 2000) only about 10% of payments were made directly at the Ryazanskaya GRES itself in cash, and the rest were made through barter and mutual offsets. Consumers of electricity provided fuel, equipment, spare parts, repairs and services to the GRES as payment. The company did not have a management accounting system. Accounts receivable were accumulating - by 2000, the level of uncollectible accounts receivable from GRES reached 1,112 million rubles. At the same time, significant tax payables, including penalties, arose.

Note. Only thanks to the establishment of the budgeting system, the restructuring of the management apparatus and the restructuring of debts, the management managed to significantly reduce production, management and operating costs. As a result, the profit increased by 2.3 times.

Reducing energy consumption due to recession Russian production in the 1990s and the increase in the cost of spare parts and equipment of the power plant led to a rapid increase in costs. In addition, due to the crisis in the coal industry, the production and supply of project fuel (lignite) to the station dropped sharply. Since 1997, the GRES had to use imported coal from the Kansko-Achinsk deposit, the price of which increased significantly due to logistics costs. In 2000, the share of this raw material in the total fuel consumption of the station was 40%, and in the total fuel reserves it reached 90%. The use of unplanned fuel in the project led to technical problems (for example, more frequent equipment breakdowns), which also required additional resources to solve.

All together - low tariffs, non-monetary forms of payment, incomplete payment for products, rising costs - led to the fact that the company lost a significant part of its own working capital. As a result, the financing of investment and repair programs has sharply decreased, debts to suppliers for fuel have grown, wage arrears have reached five months. Taxes and other obligatory payments amounted to no more than 50% of the accrued amounts.

The turning point came only after the development of a program for the financial rehabilitation of the State District Power Plant, which included a number of economic, economic and organizational changes. This program has become a priority in the implementation of the three-year anti-crisis strategy of Ryazanskaya GRES. As part of the budgeting activities, financial responsibility centers were identified, reporting forms and budget execution regulations for all functional units were approved.

To implement budgetary control, a automated system"Treasury" (based on terms of reference financial department of the State District Power Plant), which allowed to control not only the daily execution of the budget, but also the movement of funds through the accounts of the management chart of accounts, as well as to make a short-term forecast and generate management reports for operational management - a flow report Money and balance. Now the company's specialists could quickly respond to changes in expenses and income and track the cause of these deviations.

The possibility, in agreement with the top management of the company, to redistribute funds both within the division itself (according to items of expenditure) and between divisions by mutual agreement of their heads was hallmark budgeting system of the Ryazanskaya GRES.

The restoration of payment discipline allowed Ryazanskaya GRES to begin work to reduce accounts receivable and payable, as well as to attract credit resources. In addition, the lawyers of Ryazanskaya GRES succeeded in proving the legality of using a property tax concession in the amount of 32 million rubles, a tax penalty of Pension Fund were reduced by 80 million rubles, and cases for the recovery of another 170 million rubles. on contributions to the territorial road fund and 70 million rubles. to the federal road fund are in arbitration court.

As part of the optimization organizational structure at the Ryazanskaya GRES a comprehensive personnel audit, as a result of which the departments of fuel and logistics were transferred to the jurisdiction of the deputy CEO on finance. This decision was explained by the fact that fuel is the main cost item of the enterprise, therefore, the Deputy General Director for Finance must constantly control the volume and prices of its purchase. The following departments were allocated for operational and tactical planning of the company's activities: strategic planning; commercial dispatching (responsible for work in the competitive sector wholesale market electricity); legal protection (responsible for the return of old debts, as well as for the legal protection of the enterprise and the current work on the preparation and analysis of contractual agreements). On a competitive basis, highly qualified employees with extensive experience in related enterprises of the industry were recruited to the staff of the enterprise for the positions of legal adviser, deputy for energy sales activities, and chief accountant.

Note. Strict financial discipline and improved financial performance of the State District Power Plant became the basis for further improvement of the station's efficiency: reduction of production costs and increase in profitability.

Active actions

Transformations at the plant began with measures that could have a quick and tangible effect: improving production technology and increasing the efficiency of working with suppliers.

Based on the fact that up to 70% of the power plant's costs are fuel costs, the priority direction at Ryazanskaya GRES has become the reduction of costs for this most important component of the cost. Were considered various ways improvement of production, calculated their economic efficiency. In the end, we decided to switch to new technology coal combustion, the so-called VIR-technology, developed by Polytechenergo LLC (St. Petersburg), which allows you to burn almost any type of coal on existing equipment brown coal. This method has already been tested at foreign power plants and gave a positive result. As a result of the reconstruction of only two of the four coal-fired power units, it was possible to increase the equipment efficiency by 3-4%, reduce the level of waste, and improve environmental performance. But the main advantage was that the state district power station got the opportunity to work not only on the Moscow region and Kansko-Achinsk coal, but also on other types of brown coal, so the company's dependence on suppliers has significantly decreased.

Tenders for raw material suppliers

Improving the material and technical supply of the station has become another way to reduce costs. As part of an industry-wide cost management program, it was decided to purchase fuel, materials and technical resources, equipment, as well as conclude contracts for scheduled repairs and reconstruction through tenders. For the effective implementation of this procedure, four tender commissions were created at the enterprise, each of which is responsible for a certain part of the procurement. Through successive tendering only in 2002. economic effect from a decrease in the cost of supplied fuel amounted to 70.6 million rubles. Tenders were held for repair services in the amount of 120 million rubles. Thanks to competition between the company's participants, it was possible to save 15 million rubles. The holding of tenders allowed not only to reduce the cost of repair work, but also to improve their quality.

Asset structure optimization

Earlier in Property Complex GRES included non-core facilities: housing stock, facilities social sphere(kindergartens, cultural center, sports complex), subsidiary farming (pig farm, greenhouses), as well as a number of service units (motor transport and repair). Currently, housing and communal services facilities and a number of social facilities have been transferred to municipal ownership. In 2002, these transformations produced an economic effect of 56 million rubles.

Motivation management and personnel policy

Optimizing the number of personnel and increasing the productivity of each employee - this rather traditional option for reducing costs was achieved at Ryazanskaya GRES in ways that were not quite familiar for that time (early 2000s). Namely, the monitoring of executive discipline (MFA) was introduced - the appointment and control of the execution of tasks is now carried out using a computer information system.

Note. The overall economic effect of the cost management program in 2002 amounted to 374 million rubles, which is 45% higher than planned. With the planned net profit at 76 million rubles. the station received a profit of 176 million rubles.

Let's turn to theory

Over the period of recent economic history, foreign and domestic analysts have accumulated, systematized and theoretically substantiated the richest material on the strategic management of the company in various market conditions, both favorable and rather tense. Within the framework of this article, strategic cost management is of particular interest to us, in which the main methods can be distinguished:

• method of cost factors;
• value added method;
• value chain method;
• cost alternative method;
• method transaction costs;
• ABC method;
• strategic positioning method.

Let's dwell on them in a little more detail.

For most species entrepreneurial activity is traditional cost factor method. This method is based on operational and structural cost drivers. Operational factors contribute to the successful existence and development of the company. These include all types of intra-company resources (capacities) and the efficiency of their use, improvement personnel policy, integrated quality management, planning rationality, project (calculation) configuration, use of relationships with suppliers and / or customers in the context of the company's cost chain.

Structural factors include: scale of operations and volume of investment; horizontal and vertical integration; technologies used at each stage of the cost chain; complexity due to the breadth of the range of products and services. Each of these factors implies the choice of a cost manager. Under certain assumptions, it is possible to determine the impact on the costs of each such factor. Structural factors are not proportional to the performance of the company, i.e. for each of the structural factors, “more” does not always mean “better”. For example, the scale of activity along with economy can, under certain circumstances, turn into its own opposite. Structural cost-forming factors affect the overall level of costs not so much in the accounting, but in the economic sense. Optimization effect in this case is achieved not as a result of a change in the composition of costs, but by rationalizing the use of on-farm resources, increasing their turnover.

As part of value added method cost components are considered at all stages of value addition, from the purchase of raw materials and materials to the implementation own products, works and services. The main quality of this approach to cost management is to achieve the maximum difference between purchases and implementation. At the same time, most of the material costs fall out of the field of view of analysts, and this is essential for material-intensive industries. When we are talking about non-material-intensive works and services, then the approach to the analysis of cost behavior from the standpoint of the value-added method may be quite justified.

When choosing value chain method company management shifts the focus in cost analysis (for effective management them) to processes occurring outside the company. In other words, this method has an expansive approach to the formation and management of costs. Here it is proposed to take into account cost drivers along the entire value chain within the framework of an agreed set of activities, starting from the initial sources of raw materials and ending with finished products or services received by end users.

Cost alternative method It is also called the opportunity cost method. It is based on the fact that any financial decision is made as a result of comparison opportunity cost and practical implementation of any management decision in this case, it is associated with the rejection of some alternative option. Its action extends to current operating costs - for example, to carry out delivery by own transport or use the services of specialized structures; making financial decisions of an ongoing nature - for example, in relation to the management of receivables. In addition, it is used in the organization of intra-company management, in particular, to create a management control system; in the adoption and implementation investment decisions- for example, when evaluating options for a possible investment of capital.

The opportunity cost (sometimes called the opportunity cost or opportunity cost) is the amount of savings that a company could realize if it chose to the best way resource usage.

Let's turn to transaction cost method. Transactions are usually understood as the exchange of goods, legal obligations, short-term and long-term transactions that require detailed documentation and involve a simple mutual understanding of the parties. The costs and losses that may accompany such interaction are called transaction costs. These include the costs of seeking information, negotiating, measuring, specifying, and protecting property rights; opportunistic behavior (unscrupulous behavior that violates the terms of the deal or aimed at obtaining unilateral benefits to the detriment of the partner) and "politicization" (decision making within the company). Accounting for transaction costs is of most interest to companies oriented to international markets.

To formalize the accounting and analysis of costs by type of activity in terms of the distribution of overhead costs for specific goods, works and services allows method ABC (Activity Based Costing) . Traditional overhead allocation options are implemented in accounting and are based on volume indicators (natural or cost), direct labor costs or machine hours (with a high degree of automation). The ABC method is most effectively implemented when strategic costs (research and development, marketing and distribution) are separated from overhead costs, and the costs themselves are considered in full and in the broadest sense of the word, regardless of how accurately they are estimated in the production segment current (today's) value chain. The key idea of ​​the method is to include in the field of management accounting and cost analysis detailed information about the strategic development of the company, industry and the economy as a whole.

The company proves its competitiveness by maintaining low costs or offering products (services) that outperform quality characteristics competitors. These two divergent strategies offer different perspectives for cost analysis and management. Cost information is important to all companies in one form or another, but different strategies require different perspectives.

In this article, it is no coincidence that we dwell in more detail on the experience of energy companies, because in the end, the activity of each enterprise that receives energy for its production capacity.

At the federal level

In February 2011, IDGC of Siberia JSC made proposals to improve the legislation in the United working group on reforming the housing and communal services and energy sectors. Recently, the State Duma of the Russian Federation hosted an expanded interdepartmental expert meeting on the issues of legislative regulation of energy-saving technologies. It was attended by representatives of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Regional Development, scientific and business communities. One of the issues of the meeting was the discussion of the need to amend certain articles of federal laws dated November 23, 2009 No. 261-FZ “On energy saving and legislative acts Russian Federation” (as amended on July 27, 2010) and on July 27, 2010 No. 190-FZ “On Heat Supply”.

IDGC of Siberia submitted 14 proposals for discussion to be included in the data federal laws. According to experts referred to by the press service, the implementation of these provisions will achieve the desired reduction in the energy intensity of the Russian economy by 40%.

In particular, IDGC proposed a transition from the current tariff setting model based on the use of the "boiler method" to the Western economic model based on the analysis margin cost. The end result of such a step, according to the network company, “will be the creation economic conditions for the introduction of energy-saving technologies that reduce the energy intensity of GDP (primary fuel costs) in the production, transport and consumption of heat and electrical energy and, consequently, lower tariffs for consumers.

Also, IDGC of Siberia proposed to organize the rationing of energy losses in tons of reference fuel (tons of reference fuel). So, at present, the calculation is carried out in kilowatts (kW) and gigacalories (Gcal). According to industry analysts, if you make calculations in t. That is, it will be acceptable to compare the fuel-saving effect of using different energy-efficient technologies. And thus clearly control the process of reducing the energy intensity of GDP.

Note."Interregional Distribution network company Siberia (JSC IDGC of Siberia), a subsidiary of JSC IDGC Holding, carries out the transmission and distribution of electricity in the territories of the Altai, Buryatia, Tyva and Khakassia Republics, Altai, Zabaikalsky, Krasnoyarsk Territories, Kemerovo, Omsk and Tomsk region. JSC IDGC of Siberia includes the branches Altayenergo, Buryatenergo, Gorno-Altai Electric Networks, Krasnoyarskenergo, Kuzbassenergo-RES, Omskenergo, Khakasenergo, Chitaenergo. OAO Tomsk Distribution Company, OAO Ulan-Ude Energo and OAO Tyvaenergo (subsidiary) are managed by OAO IDGC of Siberia. The integrated management system of IDGC of Siberia complies with ISO standards 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, GOST R ISO 9001-2007, GOST R ISO 14001-2007, GOST 12.0.230-2007. There are 244 districts in the branches electrical networks(RES), 39 technical centers(TC). Service area - 2.173 million square kilometers. The total length of power lines is 271.770 thousand km, transformer substations 6-10-35/0.4 kV - 55,445 units, substations 35-110 kV - 1,921 units. The number of personnel is 21.5 thousand people.

Implementation of innovations

It is generally accepted that automation, helping to establish accounting, also helps to reduce costs in the enterprise. Current level of development information technologies allows you to automate most processes. But innovation doesn't stop there.

So, for example, the management of the Steklotara plant decided to introduce a glass melting technology that uses a large percentage of cullet, which was previously attributed to production costs. This made it possible to reduce the cost of production due to the use of waste from the main production in the manufacture of products. Special equipment was installed to enrich the battle (up to 50%), the cost of which quickly pays off.

And the top management of the Tkatskaya factory reorganized the spinning section. As a result, a greater percentage of weaving waste that was previously recycled is used in the manufacture of yarn. This made it possible to reduce the cost of yarn produced at this site by almost two times. Now the volume of yarn produced on our own spinning equipment allows us to load a significant part of the weaving production capacity on our own, even at high prices for the supplied cotton raw materials.

It is important. The introduction of new technologies into production at many enterprises helps to improve the quality of goods and increase production volumes through the development of new types of products; allows to ensure compliance with environmental standards of production and improvement of working conditions, competently approach the issues of resource saving, energy, water, raw materials saving, loss reduction.

In some cases, in order to reduce the cost of production with an increase in the cost of electricity, enterprises managed to switch to alternative energy sources, in particular to gas fuel, or to produce cheaper electricity at their own enterprise from their own steam (for example, the Tkatskaya factory). At the Suit Fabrics plant, for example, its own boiler house was built to generate steam.

If, in order to reduce production costs, an enterprise is forced to switch to cheaper raw materials, then in order to maintain the quality of its products at a high level, special technologies are introduced to optimize the quality of new supplied raw materials. In particular, at the Tekstilshchik plant, when replacing a supplier of wool for cleaning raw materials clogged with plant impurities, a technology for cleaning wool using a cryogenic method was introduced. At the same time, the energy intensity and material consumption of the process of its processing were significantly reduced.

In addition, in order to save water, energy, fuel, etc., enterprises install meters that allow regulating resource consumption. And in order to reduce the cost of using water for technical purposes, it is planned to drill its own wells (for example, the Suit Fabrics plant).

Technologies are being developed to reduce labor costs in production. For example, at the Ugolnaya mine, a technology has been introduced that makes it possible to simultaneously lay a rail track when laying a conveyor. Moreover, the developers of this project were the mine workers themselves. In the same company, organizational innovations are aimed at increasing the centralization of company management, reducing the number of its links, and moving from a multi-level management system to a two-level one.

Note. The centralization of the management of the supply of raw materials and materials made it possible to reduce the cost of supplying the enterprise by increasing the size of the batches of purchased materials and components.

The centralization of sales has reduced the cost of selling finished products. Improved management efficiency financial flows, accumulated financial resources began to be directed to the development of enterprises that are part of the company, a unified technical policy began to be pursued.

In order to reduce production costs, OAO SLPK also restructured the main production, made the transition from a multi-level management system to a two-level one, and based on the main production shops, subsidiaries. The restructuring of enterprises, as a rule, involves the reduction of the administrative apparatus, if the number staff units included in it was unreasonably high. This inevitably leads to savings in the wage fund.

At the plant "Sibkhleb" introduced new system wages to stimulate the sale of products, in which wage directors of company stores is made dependent on sales volumes, which should affect the financial results of the enterprise.

Organizational innovations also include the allocation of auxiliary industries to subsidiaries. large enterprises, which allows to reduce costs in the main production, and these newly formed firms - to conduct their own production activities. Innovations of this kind are supported by employees of enterprises (Kostyumnye Tkanki plant).

Conclusion

As we can see, when choosing cost management methods among all their diversity, company management should proceed from industry specifics, market conditions, take into account infrastructure factors (whether this enterprise city-forming, etc.). All this allows you to develop an optimal cost management strategy.

A. I. Kruglov, Economist, Salyut LLC

Enterprise cost management consists in rationalizing the cost structure and determining ways to reduce it in order to maximize profits, as well as increase production efficiency.

As a rule, reducing the costs of production and sales of products is possible under the condition rational use resources (raw materials, materials, equipment, finance) and maximizing the return on them.

As part of the goals of enterprise cost management, it becomes necessary to solve the following tasks:

1. Analysis of the structure and dynamics of the cost of production:

A) by cost elements;

B) by cost items;

C) depending on the volume of production.

2. Evaluation of the possibility of cost reduction.

3. Conducting operational analysis.

4. Development of measures to reduce costs.

5. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the developed measures.

AT general view enterprise cost management process important place occupied by cost structure analysis and operational analysis can be presented in the form of a diagram (Fig. 7).

Methodology of enterprise cost management.

All costs of the enterprise are divided into two categories:

1. Costs, which, as a rule, are of a current nature and are fully transferred to the profit of the current period (Fig. 8).

2. Capital investments that are one-time in nature and affect the profits of several subsequent periods. In turn, costs are divided into fixed and variable, as well as direct and indirect.

Direct costs can be attributed to the cost of a unit of production (for example, material costs) and are variable.

Fixed costs change little with changes in the volume of production and are indirect.

Cost accounting is the performance of many functions, including cost measurement, decision making, reporting. The basis of cost accounting is the methodology for determining the cost of production.

In practice, 3 main methods of cost accounting are used:

1) accounting for absorbed costs (accounting at full cost);

2) accounting at a truncated (marginal) cost;

3) accounting by type of activity.

Operational analysis in a crisis is used to assess the dependence of the financial results of a business on the volume and production costs and allows you to solve the problem of maximizing the mass and increase in profits by reducing certain costs and judge the degree of cost recovery.

The preliminary stage in the implementation of operational analysis is the division of the total costs of the enterprise - both production and non-production, regardless of whether they relate to cost or to financial results, - into constants and variables.

Key terms and indicators used in operational analysis:

Break-even is the state in which a firm makes neither profit nor loss.

Break-even is the revenue required for a firm to start making a profit, or the number of units that a firm needs to sell in order for the firm to start making a profit.

The basis of the break-even analysis is the truncated cost accounting method.

Break-even analysis assumes that variable costs change in direct proportion to changes in the volume of production and sales of products. Fixed costs do not change with changes in the volume of production and sales.

One of the tasks of operational analysis is to assess the margin of financial strength, showing the maximum decrease in sales, which allows you to maintain break-even production. Thus, there is a need to determine the break-even point (TB), i.e., such a volume of production at which the profit of the enterprise is zero (see formula 1).

The break-even point is calculated both in rubles and in pieces:

Where Zpost - fixed costs;

VM - gross margin;

If Q is the volume of production.

If Q > TB, then the company has a profit;

If Q
Consider an example of calculating the break-even point.

The price is 10 rubles / piece. variable costs 8 rubles / piece Fixed costs 100 rubles.

Graphs of the dependence functions of revenue, costs and profit on the volume of production are presented in fig. nine.

If x is the number of products sold, then with the desired sales volume, the revenue will be equal to the total costs, i.e. 10x \u003d 8x + 100. Hence x = 50 pieces, and the formula for calculating the break-even point looks like x = fixed costs / (price - unit variable costs).

To determine the amount of revenue at which the break-even production is ensured, that is, all costs are covered, the profitability threshold is calculated.

The threshold of profitability (PR) is such a proceeds from the sale at which the enterprise no longer has losses, but still does not have a profit. It is determined by formula (2):

PR = TBxR, (2)

Where P is the price per unit of production.

The difference between the achieved actual sales proceeds (B) and the profitability threshold (PR) is the financial safety margin (FFS) of the enterprise (3):

ZFP = V-PR. (3)

If the sales proceeds fall below the profitability threshold, then the financial condition of the enterprise worsens and a shortage of liquid funds is formed. In addition, the financial safety margin can also be estimated as a percentage of sales proceeds (4). In this case, the FFI shows how much the company is able to withstand the percentage change in sales proceeds without a serious threat to its financial position.

Measures to increase the profitability of a crisis enterprise.

If the diagnosed enterprise is unprofitable or marginally profitable, then an analysis should be made of the achievability of break-even conditions (at least zero profitability on current operations) or how firmly they have already been achieved by a small-profit enterprise.

The reachability analysis conditions are analyzed taking into account (in the complex):

The price formed on the market for the profile products of the enterprise;

Demand for these products;

The cost structure of the enterprise and the share in them, as well as the total amount of fixed costs;

The enterprise has a reserve of production capacities and investment opportunities for their expansion;

The creditworthiness of the enterprise in terms of attracting additional borrowed working capital;

Solvency and reliability of the company's customers.

When the reserves for saving on fixed costs and reducing the threshold of profitability are exhausted, an analysis of the factors that most limit the increase in sales and / or output by the enterprise should be carried out:

A) demand for products (taking into account competition);

B) the production (trade) capacity of the enterprise.

Four situations are possible:

1) insufficient demand with insufficient production (trading) capacity;

2) insufficient demand in the presence of an unused reserve of production (trading) capacity;

3) sufficient demand with insufficient production (trading) capacity;

4) sufficient demand in the presence of an unused reserve of production (trading) capacity.

In addition to reducing fixed operating costs, an enterprise's operating risks and operating leverage can be reduced through product diversification ( economic activity) firms.

Diversification of products (economic activities) can be conglomerate and horizontal.

Conglomerate diversification is only fully consistent with the above goals.

Horizontal diversification differs in that the so-called complementary types of products are chosen as parallel mastered types of goods and services that complement the main (core) products in consumption, so that without them the consumption of the main product becomes less efficient or impossible (for example, the main product is computers, the complementary product - additional software).

Horizontal diversification of products is good because it can also stabilize sales of the main product if it is sold “in a package” with complementary products.