Abnormal spoilage costs are treated the same as normal spoilage for process costing.

Abnormal spoilage costs are treated the same as normal spoilage for process costing.

A company that sells a product that is subject to spoilage or expiration must determine whether the spoilage occurred in the normal course of business or if the spoilage was considered unusual (abnormal).

Normal spoilage should be capitalized into inventory since it is an inventoriable cost and is incurred in the normal course of business. Abnormal spoilage is considered unusual and should not be capitalized into inventory. Abnormal spoilage should be expensed in the period incurred.

Abnormal spoilage costs are treated the same as normal spoilage for process costing.

As a rule of thumb, to determine if the spoilage is abnormal, ask yourself how likely it is to occur again within the current year. If its high unlikely and there is little history of the a similar scenario, then the spoilage can be considered abnormal.


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  • What Is Normal Spoilage?

    Normal spoilage refers to the inherent worsening of products during the production or inventory processes of the sales cycle. This is the deterioration of a firm's product line that is generally considered to be unavoidable and expected. For commodity producers, this is the natural resource that is lost or destroyed during extraction, transportation, or inventory. Companies typically set a normal spoilage rate for lines of products which they produce and assign the costs of such spoilage to cost of goods sold (COGS).

    How Normal Spoilage Works

    Normal spoilage occurs for companies operating in any sort of manufacturing or production environment. They will inevitably see at least part of their production line wasted or destroyed during extraction, manufacturing, transporting, or while in inventory. Consequently, firms will use historical data along with some forecasting methods to produce a number or rate of normal spoilage to account for such losses. The expenses incurred due to normal spoilage are often included as a portion of the COGS.

    Example of Normal Spoilage

    The normal spoilage rate is calculated by dividing the units of normal spoilage by the total units produced. For example, assume a firm produces 100 widgets per month. Historically, two of those widgets have not been up to standards. The normal spoilage rate is calculated at 2% (two units of normal spoilage / 100 units produced).

    The firm will include this 2% spoilage rate in with its cost of goods sold (COGS), although the widgets were not actually sold. That is because this amount is the normal and expected rate of spoilage in this firm's typical course of business. The COGS is deducted from net sales revenue to arrive at the gross margin, so normal spoilage is accounted for in a product line's gross margin.

    Normal Spoilage vs. Abnormal Spoilage

    Abnormal spoilage, which is considered avoidable and controllable, is charged to a separate expense account that will show up on a line item further down the income statement. It, therefore, has no impact on gross margin. It is important for investors and other financial statement users to be able to quickly identify the expenses incurred due to abnormal spoilage, since is not expected as part of a normal course of business.

    What is the difference between normal spoilage and abnormal spoilage?

    Normal spoilage is just that—normal—and is expected in the ordinary course of manufacturing or business operations, especially for companies that make or handle perishable products (i.e. food and beverage). Spoilage beyond what is historically standard or expected is considered abnormal spoilage.

    How are normal and abnormal spoilage accounted for differently in a process based cost system?

    In accounting, normal spoilage is included in the standard cost of goods, while abnormal spoilage is charged to expense as incurred. This means that the cost of normal spoilage may initially be recorded as an asset and then charged to expense in a later period.

    What is normal spoilage in process costing?

    Normal spoilage is the expected amount of materials that are rendered unusable as part of the production process. This expected amount is included in the standard cost of goods for units produced.

    Which of the following is true regarding normal and abnormal spoilage?

    C) Normal spoilage is usually regarded as avoidable and controllable, whereas abnormal spoilage is unavoidable and uncontrollable.