Backflush Costing

What is ‘Backflush Costing’

Backflush costing is a product costing system generally used in a just-in-time inventory environment. Backflush costing delays the costing process until the production of goods is completed. Costs are then “flushed” back at the end of the production run and assigned to the goods. This eliminates the detailed tracking of costs throughout the production process, which is a feature of traditional costing systems.

Explaining ‘Backflush Costing’

By eliminating work-in-process accounts, backflush costing simplifies the accounting process. However, this simplification and other deviations from traditional costing systems mean that backflush costing may not always conform to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Another drawback of this system is the lack of a sequential audit trail.

Further Reading

  • Effect of backflush accounting on financial performance of quoted food and beverage firms in Nigeria – papers.ssrn.com [PDF]
  • Migration, debt and resource backwash: how sustainable is Bangladesh-Gulf circular migration? – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
  • When are cities engines of growth in China? Spread and backwash effects across the urban hierarchy – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
  • Financial Provision of Contract by Limiting Price of Products – www.atlantis-press.com [PDF]
  • Agglomeration and Backwash Effects of Central Plain City Group – en.cnki.com.cn [PDF]
  • Determinants of economic growth and spread–backwash effects in western and eastern China – onlinelibrary.wiley.com [PDF]
  • Economic aspects of mastitis: new developments – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]