Explicating the design of overhead absorption procedures in UK organisations

This paper reports the findings of a postal questionnaire survey that examines the extent to which potential explanatory factors influence the level of complexity of product costing system design choices in UK companies. It is argued that because previous surveys have sought to classify costing systems by two discrete alternatives, either traditional or ABC systems, they do not adequately capture the diversity of practices that exist. The distinguishing feature of this paper is that it adopts a broader perspective and examines cost system design choices that vary along a continuum ranging from very simplistic to highly complex costing systems.