The treatment of the costs of the subactivity in the present countable norm: considerations around the idle capacity

Abstract

Accounting norms, both Spanish and European one, on the consideration of the costs to be included in the inventories valorization, and more specially the last International Accounting Standard (IAS 2) “Inventories”, refer to the subactivity costs and productive capacity costs, indispensable for the costs establishing, in a simple and rather unclear way. Knowledge of subactivity cost and their correct determination are controversial subjects for Management Accounting, especially due to substantial relativity of the nature of those costs. In the present work, after discussing the notion of subactivity, as well as defining and describing the main alternatives for the consideration of the technical capacity of production, we speculate which could be, in this case, the reference on the basis of which the idle capacity and the subactivity costs associated with it should be measured.

Key words: international accounting standards, IAS 2 - Inventories, subactivity costs, idle capacity.