Distribution costs
Distribution costs ( English distribution cost ) are a cost by the preparation, promotion, implementation and monitoring of the sales of the products or services of a company caused.
General
Each of the basic operational functions of procurement , production , financing and sales incurs costs . Distribution costs do not increase the value of the products and are therefore not part of the production costs , but only arise when the products are sold. The scope of the types of costs that belong to the distribution costs is relatively large if, by definition, the distribution preparation is already included in the distribution costs.
species
Selling expenses include material and personnel expenses in the following subsegments:
- Sales preparation : sales methodology , product design , training and presentations , customer care ;
- Sales promotion : marketing , advertising , trade fairs and exhibitions ;
- Sales execution : distribution warehouse , packaging costs , customs and freight costs , sales agents' commissions , vans , transport costs , transport insurance ;
- Sales Monitoring : Market Research ; Accounts receivable , dunning , complaint management .
Mostly these are sales overheads that cannot be directly allocated to the individual products . The amount of the variable distribution costs is directly related to the sales volume, such as sales-dependent agent and sales commissions, packaging or shipping costs. Special forms of dispatch, for example with unusual providers, run as special direct sales costs.
The distribution costs also include most of the storage costs , even if they result only indirectly from the distribution function. Sales costs do not include sales deductions such as discounts or discounts granted to customers . They are to be deducted from the sales revenue.
Key figures
The lower the proportion of variable selling costs, the more cost remanence there are that can lead to lost profits or losses in the event of a sales crisis. The sales expense ratio is a business figure that shows the share of sales costs in total sales:
It indicates how high the proportion of total sales costs is in relation to the sales revenue that the sales costs were used to achieve. If the sales cost ratio increases significantly with falling sales, this is an indication of an existing cost retentivity with predominantly fixed sales costs .
Accounting
After § 255 para. 2 sentence 4 HGB is for research and distribution costs in the balance sheet , a prohibition on capitalization . This corresponds to IAS 2.14, according to which sales costs and general administrative costs may not be capitalized . Section 275, Paragraph 3, No. 4 of the German Commercial Code (HGB) only requires the cost of sales to be shown separately in the profit and loss account . In the total cost method , the distribution costs form part of the "other operating expenses" according to Section 275 (2) No. 8 HGB.