Application of time-driven ABC in a retailer company

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a qualitative and exploratory research that aimed at developing a time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) model for a retailer company. This company sells electrical material and it is located in Belo Horizonte/MG. The researchers used three techniques for collecting data: semi-structure interviews and non-structured, documental analysis and direct observation. The research was developed between 2008 and 2009. It was verified the development of only few time equations for representing the main activities of each companys department. It is important to enhance the fact of some very complex activities could be modeled without problems, and the relevant contribution of electronic spread-sheet of Microsoft® Excel (MS-Excel) to develop the purposed model. It was observed that the TDABC really presents some advantages over the conventional activity-based costing (ABC), such as the ease of modeling the time equations and the low time of development of the model. However, some limitations of TDABC also were identified. Firstly, the researchers verified a degree of subjectivism inherent to methodology. Further, the non-standardization of some activities what blocked their modeling through the time equations. Future researches could develop the study in other companies and expand it for other industries in order to ratify or not the results presented in this paper.