storage costs

Storage costs are included in the accounting associated with the storage of raw materials , consumables and supplies , intermediate products , semi-finished products , finished products and spare parts associated costs .

species

They are divided into:

• Personnel costs
  • Warehouse staff wages and salaries
  • Social benefits for warehouse staff ( health insurance , pension insurance , employers' liability insurance association )
  • Special benefits (e.g. Christmas bonus , vacation bonus )

• Costs for the storage rooms
  • Depreciation for the depreciation of the storage facility
  • rental fee
  • Return on capital employed
  • Maintenance effort
  • Heating , light , water
  • cleaning
  • Insurance premiums ( fire insurance )

• Cost of the stored goods
  • Interest on the capital invested in stocks ( capital commitment )
  • Spoilage , wear and tear , shrinkage
  • Costs as a result of improper handling (breakage, damage, theft)
  • Insurance premiums (fire, theft insurance)
  • Cost of storage risk

• Costs for the funds used and other resources
  • Depreciation for the depreciation of the subsidies
  • Repair costs
  • Operating costs (electricity, oil)
  • Insurance premiums

• Material costs of stock management
  • packing material
  • Office supplies (writing materials, files, receipts)

In addition, one can distinguish:

• Storage costs for finished products
• Storage costs for intermediate products in a multi-level production (see production planning and control )

• Storage costs can also be broken down into fixed and variable costs . Fixed costs arise from the provision and modernization of the warehouse infrastructure and include e.g. B. the costs of setting up the storage rooms and the storage infrastructure. Variable storage costs arise during warehouse operation and include, for example, energy costs .

Business issues

As , stock-intensive enterprises, those companies are called, in which the proportion of storage costs in total costs or the proportion of stocks to total assets ( warehouse intensity ) is substantial and constitutes more than 25% of assets. This particularly includes wholesale and retail . The storage intensity is calculated as follows:

${\displaystyle {\text{Lagerintensität}}={\frac {\text{Wert der Lagerbestände}}{\text{Gesamtvermögen (Aktiva)}}}}$

The higher the storage intensity, the greater the inventory turnover rate must be so that the storage costs can be earned as quickly as possible in the sales process.

According to Section 255 of the German Commercial Code, storage costs are only included in production costs if storage is part of the production process (e.g. storage for fermentation of alcoholic beverages); Here the pro rata storage costs represent manufacturing costs. Otherwise storage costs are part of the distribution costs , even if they are only indirectly related to the distribution of the stored products. According to Section 275 (2) HGB, storage costs are to be taken into account in the profit and loss account in the total cost method under No. 8 as "other operating expenses", while in the cost of sales method according to Section 275 (3) No. 4 HGB they are to be added to the sales costs.

Excessive inventory leads to avoidably high storage costs and thus to higher sales prices via the price calculation . The costs or risks summarized above as costs for stored goods also increase with the stored quantity. If the inventory is too small, machines and workers are often underutilized. Disruptions in production or customer losses can occur. Quick, expensive shopping becomes necessary. Volume discounts cannot be used. This leads to shortage costs . There is an optimum between stocks that are too small and too large (see also trade-off ).

meaning

The logistics costs of German industrial and trading companies were between 13% and 22% of the total costs in 2004 and 50% are caused by storage costs. This results in a share of storage costs in the total costs between 6.5% and 11%. This proportion is much higher in wholesaling and retailing and is between 60% and 80% of the balance sheet total .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lorenz Wolkersdorf, Essence and Significance of Plant Intensity in Industrial Operations , 1956, p. 32
2. ↑ Hartmut Bieg / Heinz Kußmaul / Gerd Waschbusch, External Accounting in Exercises , 2012, p. 82
3. ↑ Stefan Tillenburg, The Concept of Balanced Production in Supply Chains , 2008, p. 89