Imputed risk

In accounting, the imputed risk is a part of the imputed costs , which should reflect the feared or expected losses resulting from the entrepreneurial risk in cost accounting .

General

There are types of costs in the company that do not appear as expenses ( pagatorial costs ) in the profit and loss account , but still have to be taken into account when calculating the costs. These fees or other charges are used in the internal company pricing, so that the cost of the cost carrier strain with the effective values of consumption. These imputed costs include, in detail, depreciation , interest , rent , entrepreneur wages and risks .

General business venture

Entrepreneurial activity is always associated with risks (= ventures) that can lead to unforeseeable losses. With these risks, a distinction is made between general entrepreneurial risk and individual risks. The general entrepreneurial risk includes, in particular, risks that arise from macroeconomic developments (such as economic downturns , sudden shifts in demand , shifts in supply , devaluation of money or technical progress ). These general business risks are not included in the imputed costs and are not taken into account in the cost and performance accounting. They are compensated by the profit surcharge on top of the cost .

Business ventures are to be considered as follows:

• General entrepreneurial risk : in the profit margin ,
• insured ventures : premium payment to insurance companies,
• Risk losses : costs for risk losses incurred and
• imputed risk costs .

Special entrepreneurial individual ventures

Rather, it is about business-related individual risks associated with a specific economic activity. The special risks include, above all, the risk of fire , theft , accidents , personnel selection , loss of receivables or warranty risks . In addition, the peculiarities of the branch of industry give rise to special risks such as ship losses, mountain damage, exhaust gas and sewage damage or costs for unsuccessful research and construction work. However, if these individual risks are insured , they are not taken into account in the imputed risk. Insofar as they are covered by taking out insurance, they represent expenses , expenses and costs . If they are not covered, imputed risk surcharges are included in the overhead costs as self-insurance, so to speak.

Around 50% of German industrial companies do not apply any imputed risk costs. The other companies take into account 62% the warranty risk, 46% the receivables risk, and 39% the currency risk. The warranty risk is the risk that the company has to replace or repair a defective product within the warranty period or for reasons of goodwill at its own expense. The frequency of warranty cases results from the following formula:

${\displaystyle {\mbox{Gewährleistungshäufigkeit}}={\frac {\mbox{Gewährleistungsfälle der letzten 5 Jahre}}{\mbox{Umsatzerlöse der letzten 5 Jahre}}}}$

By extending it to 5 years, any random results from the recent past are smoothed out. Since the damage events occur randomly and irregularly, offsetting them in the overhead costs of the period in which they occurred would lead to random fluctuations in the calculation . For this reason, the expenses caused by the damage actually occurring are recorded as neutral expenses in the income statement for the period in which they were incurred . In cost accounting, on the other hand, the depreciation is taken into account by means of even imputed risk surcharges.

Business aspects

Imputed costs are offset in the cost accounting and are also included in the operating result , but have no effect in the external annual financial statements under commercial law and are therefore not recognizable there. The internal price calculation is not based on the commercial result, but on the result of the cost calculation, where the imputed costs are recorded. The lower price limit would be calculated too low if the calculated risks were not included. The internal price calculation provides the price that a company would ideally have to charge on the market for its products or services . If this price cannot be achieved for reasons of competition, the competitive price must be selected. Imputed costs should generate a fair, comparable cost structure within the framework of a profit center calculation .

See also

• imputed entrepreneur's wage
• imputed interest
• calculative rent
• Imputed depreciation
• imputed profit

literature

• Lothar Haberstock : cost accounting I, introduction with questions, tasks and solutions . 4th edition. Business publisher Dr. Th. Gabler, Wiesbaden 1980, ISBN 3-470-70408-2 .
• Klaus Olfert: cost accounting . 8th, revised and expanded edition. Kiehl, Ludwigshafen (Rhein) 1991, ISBN 3-470-70408-2 .
• Wolfgang Kilger: Introduction to cost accounting . 3rd, revised edition. Business publisher Dr. Th. Gabler, Wiesbaden 1987, ISBN 3-409-21069-5 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Clemens Kaesler: Cost and performance accounting of the accountants. 2011, p. 30 ff.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Lutz Völker, Jörg Herold: Fundamentals of cost and performance accounting. 2014, p. 39.
3. ↑ Rainer Bramsemann: systems of cost accounting. 1995, p. 51.
4. ^ Harry Zingel: Textbook of cost and performance accounting. 2004, p. 22.
5. ^ Jürgen Horsch: cost accounting. 2010, p. 78.