CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In Nigeria today West Africa and indeed all over the world cost accounting has become the bane of which many organization exist. This means that there is virtually no organization that does have accounting in its operation.

In most business organization the role of cost accounting cannot be over emphasized because of it’s important in the day to day running of every business.

In socialist and capitalist nation cost accounting becomes fundamental because in it, we look at the past, present and attempt to protect the future of any organization.

Cost accounting has been define by the Chartered Institute of Management Accounting (CIMA) in its publish terminology defined cost accounting as the application of costing principles, methods and techniques of the science, art and practice of information derived there from for the purpose of managerial decision making.

Costing accounting can also be viewed as the collection, classification, conducting, analyzing and reporting of cost information for the establishment f the total cost of performing and activity or operation and for the purpose of management planning decision making and controlling an enterprise.

Cost accounting attempts to give a rough estimate regard the work to be carried out in a small and medium scale business input with determine the fixed price of the finished goods. Without cost accounting, it is difficult, if not impossible, to quantify and qualify any item in order to attain a price to it.

In auditing; cost accounting has also become very essential, this is because, we have to identify the input of employees in order to enable us fix salaries and wages for them. This in itself is cost accounting.