Option 1

Your team has been assigned to design and launch of a new product or service. This could be an external product for sale or an internal service to support other departments. As you prepare for your first team meeting, you know that identifying and classifying costs will be an essential part of the project.

• Briefly explain what the new offering is (NOTE: this can be hypothetical or based on your current role at your company; you should not share any proprietary information)
• Identify and describe one fixed cost and one variable cost in your department, and explain whether they are controllable or non-controllable.
• Identify whether these costs are traceable to direct materials, direct labor, or overhead.

– OR –

Option 2

Consider your current organization, describe how costing is used or could be used to better understand the financial breakdown of products and/or services delivered. Would this information support you in your current role and/or aspired-to role? Have you seen instances where costing is not used effectively or could be better leveraged?