ABC Box
 Welcome to ABC-Box !

Check to see if your organization needs ABC( Activity Based Costing ).

With ABC-Box you can have:

. Activity Based Costing,

. Capacity planning,

. Constraint checking,

. Process analysis in a graphical enviromment, easy to use.

See the features of ABC-Box.

Hardware requirements.

In the working place everything happens.

Follow the creation of the first example.

Are you in doubt ? Look at the Frequently Asked Questions.

With ABC-Box you are not alone. Get technic support.

More about ABC ( Activity Based Costing ) methodology.

Informations in Portuguese, soon in others languages too.

Stay updated: Visit our site: http://www.abc-box.com

Thank you for chosing ABC-Box !

This help file was created with HelpScribble.


Features

The ABC-Box implements the ABC ( Activity Based Costing ) methodogy with some extensions from others accounting systens.

As the organization's costs are represented in a diagram, the enviroment of the ABC-Box gives a direct vision of the whole situation.

The ABC-Box presents you with a easy to use interface that is described in the working place. The whole software is small, fast and very useful. If you follow the the creation of the first example you will be a master in ABC-Box in a few minutes. Try it !

This software is a FreeWare, what means that you can use it free from any payment.

It is powered by Delphi (tm) to Windows 95, 98 and NT (tm) and superiors.

Standard disclaimer

This software is provided AS IS without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. The risk concerning the quality and the performance of the software is entirely yours. If the software proves defective, you will have to assume the cost of all necessary servicing, repair, or correction. In no event shall the author, copyright holder, or any other party who may redistribute the software be liable to you for damages, including any general, special, incidental, or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use the software (including, but not limited to, loss of data, data being endered inaccurate, loss of business profits, loss of business information, business interruptions, loss sustained by you or third parties, or a failure of the software to operate with any other software) even if the author, copyright holder, or other party has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

This help file was created with HelpScribble.


Working place
Knowing the working place

The basic structure of the ABC-Box is the DIAGRAM where the organization's flow of the costs is represented. All the work is done in this diagram.

The main menu

The operations available at the File option of main menu are:

New, start a new diagram.

Open, start one of the existing diagram saved in an ABX file.

Reopen, start one of the latest ABX file worked with.

Save, write to the ABX file the current diagram.

Save As, write to another ABX file the current diagram.

Save to Bmp File, write the current diagram to one BMP file.

Print, print the current diagram to the printer after the pages have been selected.

Print Setup, set the current printer proprieties.

Exit, ends the ABC-Box program.

The operations available at the Edit option of the main menu are:

Clear, clear the clipboard area.

Copy, copy the selected item to the clipboard area.

Paste, insert the item in the clipboard in the diagram.

The operations available at the View option of the main menu are:

Speedbar, shows the SpeedBar with the buttoms or not.

Controls, shows the Controls with the buttoms or not.

Flow text, shows the text at the flows of the diagram or not.

Break page, shows the break page of the print in the diagram or not.

Overview, shows the overview form of the diagram or not.

Notes, shows the form notes of the diagram.

Zoom in, increases the scale the diagram.

Zoom out, decreases the scale the diagram.

The operations available at the Tools option of the main menu are:

Update, updates the calculated values of the diagram.

Report, print the report of the diagram. Before printing the report, the selection form is shown. In it, you can select if you want to print: products/services, activities, resources, drivers, idleness activities and products, exhausted resources, the complete results and if you want the details of the activities that are refined.

Horizontal alignment, aligns the selected items of the diagram. To select items, hold the Shift key and click in the desired items.

Vertical alignment, aligns the selected items of the diagram. To select items, hold the Shift key and click in the desired items.

Options, shows the option form that contains your organization's name and the color used to emphasize items of the diagram.

The operations available at the Help option of main menu are:

Help topics, shows this help.

About, show software informations.

The operation bar

The Operator bar has shortcuts to the Main menu options in order to make the use of them quicker.

There is a combo box to emphasize items of the diagram. The values are:

Diagram, shows the whole diagram.

Products/Services, emphasizes all the products/services of the diagram.

Activities, emphasizes all the activities of the diagram.

Resources, emphasizes all the resources of the diagram.

Sources, emphasizes all the source of cost of the selected item in the diagram.

Targets, emphasizes all the target of cost of the selected item in the diagram.

Description, emphasizes all the items that the description matches the inputed text. It is useful to find specifics items in the diagram.

Driver, emphasizes all the items that the driver description matches the inputed text. It is useful to find specifics items in the diagram.

The control bar

The Operator bar has buttons to interact with the items in the diagram. They are:

Unselect any control

Select a box to represent a product or service

Select a rounded box to represent an activity

Select an elipse to represent a resource

Select an arrow to represent a flow of cost

Lock the selected item. Usefull to insert many times the same item

Click a write icon to describe the model implemented

Click the icon to increase the size of the diagram

Click the icon to decrease the size of the diagram

How to work with ABC-Box ?

It is very easy !  You just have to include the itens and the flows.

An item can represent:

- a product/service,

- an activity or

- a resource of your organization.

A flow represents a resource or acitivity being consumed by a product/service or an activity, a flow of cost.

Including the items

To include an item, you have to do:

1. select the item (product/service or activity or resource) in Control Bar

2. click the diagram in the desire position

3. describe the item in the property form (automaticly displayed)

Including the flows

To include a flow, you have to do:

1. select the flow in Control Bar

2. drag and drop from the source to the target item

3. describe the amount of the flow in the property form (automaticly displayed)

We can have just this kind of flows:

Source	Taget 	Meaming

Resource	Activity	The activity uses the resource

Resource	Product/Service	The product/service uses the resource

Activity	Activity	One activity uses the other activity

Activity	Product/Service	One product/service uses the activity

Changing item value

To change any inputed value, just right click the item (if is a flow, right click the "head" of the arrow) and the property form will be shown.

Some value area calculated ones, then, they can not be changed.

Changing item position

To move an item in the diagram, just drag and drop the item from its source to target position ( without a control select from the control bar).

Generaly, a flow is represented by a direct line between two items. If you want the determine a different path, just click the line in the desired point and drag and drog to another place.

Deleting items

To delete an item do:

1. click the item to select it,

2. press DELETE key.

This help file was created with HelpScribble.


First example

All the situation and data used in this example are not real.

You can load this example from the file abcbox.abx in the directory where the ABC-BOX is installed, but I don't recommend that. If you construct this simple example, you will be able to construct your own diagram without any problems.

If you are not familiar with the ABC (Activity Based Costing) concepts, you shoud go first to the topic ABC ( Activity Based Costing ). Don't worry, the subject is not complex, it is simple and logic.

This is the situation:

The company

The hypothetic company deal with computers, printers and cables. Lately the liquid profit has gone down because the competition has increased and the marked has imposed lower prices.

The numbers

These are the numbers of the company:

Result          2 years ago  1 year ago   current year

Revenue	67.000      58.000        54,500

Expenses	52.300      48.500        49,200

Liquid profit	14.700       9.500         5,300

How to improve the situation ?

The Controller goes to the finance system of the company and gets the following data:

Personal	10,000

Computer kits	30,000

Printer kits	 8,000

Cable kits	 1,200	49,200

Looking through these data we are not able to see how the result can be improved. The data doesn't show the source of these values neither the application of them. So, they must be more clear in order to make right decisions !

Then, the Controller decides to make an analysis of the company using ABC ( Activity Based Costing ).

These are the steps:

Step 1: Identifing the products

The products,revenue and quantities that the company deals with are:

Description Driver	Revenue	Quantity

Computers	Number of computer sold	48.000	   30

Printers	Number of computer sold	 6.000	   20

Cables	Meters of cables sold	   500	   10

Step 2: Identifying the activities

The activities performed by the company for each product are:

Description       	Driver

Make selling	Number of selling

    Computer               	30

    Printer	20

    Cable	10

Assemble	Number of assembly

    Computer	30

    Cable   	10

Cut	Number of cutting

    Cable   	10

Step 3: Identifying the resources with the total cost

The resources consumed by the company in each activity and product are:

Description       Driver	   Total cost  Fixed(%)  Capacity

Personal	Working hours    10,000	     100	    300

  Sales	     200

  Assemble	      40

  Cut	      10

Computer kits	Number of kits   30,000	      0	     0

  Computer             	30

Printer kits	Number of kits    8,000	      0	     0

  Printer	20

Cable kits	Number of kits    1,200	      0	     0

  Cable	10

Where:

* Fixed(%) means the amount of the resource's cost that is fixed.

** Capacity means the installed capacity of the resource.

Step 4: Now, What will we do with the data ?

Now, let's create the related diagram.

So, the Controller gets in the Internet, a copy of ABC-BOX, installs it and starts putting the data in this way:

1.  Including the products

Select the product/service button, click at any part of the diagram to include one product, type the product's name, product's drive, product's revenue and the quantity produced.

Do these procedures 3 time to include the 3 products as it was appointed at the step 1 above.

* When you want to insert more than one item of the same type (like a lot of products), you can:

- select the product button and

- click at the lock button to "hold" the selection.

In this way you can insert one product after other without having to select the product button each time, making the insertion easier and fast.

2.  Including the activities

Select the actitivy button, click at any part of the diagram to include one activity item and type the activity's name and activity's drive.

Do these procedures 3 time to include the 3 activities as it was appointed at the step 2 above.

3.  Including the resources

Select the resource button, click at any part of the diagram to include one resource item and type the resource's name, resource's drive, resource's cost, the amount of the cost that is fixed (from 0 to 100 % ) and the installed capacity of the resource.

Do these procedures 4 time to include the 4 resource as it was appointed at the step 3 above.

Now the basic itens are included in the diagram. It is missing just the flows of resources and activities.

4.  Including the flows

Select the flow button, drag and drop from the source item to the target item and informe the amount that flows.

In the step 2 above there are the flows from the activities to products.

In the step 3 above there are the flows from the resources to products and activities.

Ok ! The cost model is implemented in the diagram in ABC-Box. Click in the update button to get the result.

Result

These are the value after calculated:

Products          Cost    	Revenue    Profit

Computer        35,200         48,000    12,800

Printer         10,667          6,000    -4,667

Cable            3,333            500    -2,833

-----------------------------------------------

                49,200         54,500     5,300

The situation is clear. The working conditions of printers and cables must be replanned.

And now, Congratulations ! You and the ABC-BOX are working nicely.

This help file was created with HelpScribble.


FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is ABC-Box ?

It is a software to trace costs of products and services using the ABC ( Activity Based Costing ) with some extensions.

2. Is the ABC-Box expensive ?

No. it is free.

3. Can I copy, transmit, lend the ABC-Box ?

Yes.

4. The source of ABC-Box is public ?

No, just the utilization.

5. In which operation systems is ABC-Box available ?

Windows 95 / 98, NT 4.0 and superiors.

6. The software ABC-Box has any limit ?

Not in the software.

7. How to install ABC-Box ?

The installation procedure is compatible with any Windows software throught SETUP.EXE program.

8. Where can I get techinic support ?

By e-mail: info@abc-box.com

9. Where can I get new versions ?

In the Web: http://www.abc-box.com

10. What do I need to know to work with ABC-Box ?

Knowledge of costs and operation of Windows software.

11. Do ABC-Box implement all the ABC's methodology ?

Yes, and there are other informations available.

12. What are the steps to implement a system of cost using the ABC-Box ?

After gathering the data of the organizations:

a) insert the resource itens

b) insert the activity itens

c) insert the product/service itens

d) assign the flow from resources to products and services

e) assign the flow from activities to activities and products

f) update the calculated value

These steps are detailed in the topic creation of the first diagram.

This help file was created with HelpScribble.


Support

Support is provided by Internet in this e-mail: support@abc-box.com

In the home-page http://www.abc-box.com you will find information about:

a) ABC (Activity Based Costing), how it works,

b) software ABC-Box, how to get quick results,

c) links to other related sites, there are a lot of information available in the Internet,

d) down-load, new versions are always available,

This help file was created with HelpScribble.


ABC - Metodology
ABC - Activities Based Costing

The ideia of ABC is quite simple:

Products/Service consume Activities and activities consume resources.

So, Products/Service have to "pay" for the Activities that it consumed and activities  have to "pay" for the resources that it consumed.

How much the product or activity has to pay ?

Just the unit price by the amout the activities or resource consumed.

For example:

The cost of the resource PERSONAL is measured by NUMBER OF HOURS and it is consumed in a computer shop by the activities: ASSEMBLER COMPUTERS, SELLER COMPUTERS and DELIVERER COMPUTERS in this amout:

Activity	Quantity of hour

ASSEMBLER COMPUTERS 	100

SELLER COMPUTERS 	 50

DELIVERER COMPUTERS 	 50

The total cost of PERSONAL was 10,000.

So, the cost of each activity will be:

ASSEMBLER COMPUTERS,	( 10,000 / 200 ) * 100 = 	5,000

SELLER COMPUTERS, 	( 10,000 / 200 ) * 50 = 	2,500

DELIVERER COMPUTERS, 	( 10,000 / 200 ) * 50 = 	2,500

The prof. Robert S. Kaplan e Robin Cooper of Harvard Business School realized that great amount of indirect activities are consumed by product in very different proportions and suggested a way to reflect correctly this situation.

References

Activity based information: a blue-print for world-class management accounting.

Johnson, H. Thomas.

Management Accounting, June, 1988

How Activity-Based Costing helps reduce costs.

Turney, P. B. B.

Journal of cost management, Winter, pp 29-35

Measure cost right: Making right decisions.

Cooper, Robin & Kaplan, Robert S.

Harvard Business School Review, Setember-October 1988

With ABC, the mistake is to start late !

This help file was created with HelpScribble.


Do you need ABC ?

Think about it: Unaccurate information about costs of products/services will lead to a mistakem competitive strategy.

Many companies say that they have survived for many years without ABC and why need it now ?

In the past, the companies were, in general, simple compared to those today, with less variety of products,services and clients.

Consequently, costs were low and not so difficult to trace.

With the increase of competition, errors determinating costs could have serious consequences, like market loss, incorrect investiment decisions, etc. Business excelence is essential for a modern company to prosper.

Why not the tradicional way ? Because with the automation of productive process the costs with labour and direct material is going down compared with other costs. Nowadays the indirect cost in countries with high technology is estimated to be greater than 60 %.

To help you analyse today's necessities, go through the following questions and check the result in the end of this topic.

1. The total indirect costs are:

a) very significant

b) significant

c) insignificant

2. The total of indirect costs are:

a) not consistently related to final products

b) a little consistently related to final products

c) consistently related to the final products

3. The total fixed costs are:

a) very significant

b) significant

c) insignificant

4. People in general:

a) don't believe in the cost of the final products

b) doubt the cost of the final products

c) believe in the cost of the final product

5. The products are:

a) diversified

b) a little diversified

c) very uniform

6. The services are:

a) diversified

b) a little diversified

c) very uniform

Analysis result:

If the greater majority of your answers was the letter:

A, then ABC system of cost is indispensable !

B, then your situation requires ABC system of costs

C, then in these conditions ABC system is not a priority.

This help file was created with HelpScribble.


Portugues
Português

Um arquivo com documentação em português está disponível para download no site http://www.abc-box.com na área da língua portuguesa.

Este arquivo está no formato MS Word e pode ser utilizado pelo o programa MS Word ou WordPad do próprio Windows.

This help file was created with HelpScribble.


Hardware

As the basic structure of the ABC-Box is the DIAGRAM, an enviroment totally visual, a screen with a high resolution can improve your productivity a lot.

A printer of good quality can be useful.

At least 16 MBytes, more than that will be better.

This help file was created with HelpScribble.


HelpScribble

HelpScribble is a help authoring tool written by Jan Goyvaerts. This help file was created with the unregistered version of HelpScribble, which is why you can read this ad. Once the author of this help file is so honest to register the shareware he uses, you will not see this ad again in his help files.

Recompiling the help project with the registered version is all it takes to get rid of this ad.

HelpScribble is a stand-alone help authoring tool. It does not require an expensive word processor. (Only a help compiler as Microsoft likes keeping the .hlp format secret. Not my fault.)

Here are some of HelpScribble's features:

•	The Setup program will properly install and uninstall HelpScribble and all of its components, including registry keys.

•	Create, edit and navigate through topics right in the main window. No need to mess with heaps of dialog boxes.

•	All topics are listed in a grid in the main window so you won't lose track in big help projects. You can even set bookmarks.

•	Use the built-in Browse Sequence Editor to easily create browse sequences.

•	Use the built-in Window Editor to change the look of your help window and create secondary windows.

•	Use the built-in Contents Editor to create Windows 95-style contents files. Works a lot better than Microsoft's HCW.

•	No need to mess with Microsoft's SHED: use the built-in SHG Editor to create hotspot bitmaps. Draw your hotspots on the bitmap and pick the topic to link to from the list.

•	With the built-in Macro Editor you can easily compose WinHelp macros whenever needed. It will tell you what the correct parameters are and provide information on them.

•	If you have a problem, just consult the online help. The help file was completely created with HelpScribble, of course.

•	HelpScribble is shareware. However, the unregistered version is not crippled in any way. It will only add a small note to your help topics to encourage you to be honest and to register the shareware you use.

These options are very interesting for Delphi and C++Builder developers:

•	If you are a component writer, use the Delphi Parser to build an outline help file for your component. Just fill in the spaces and you are done. HelpScribble can also extract the comments from your source file and use them as the default descriptions.

•	If you are an application writer, HelpScribble provides you with a property editor for the HelpContext property. You can select the topic you need from a list of topic titles or simply instruct to create a new topic. No need to remember obscure numbers.

•	The property editor also provides a tree view of all the components on your form and their HelpContext properties. This works very intuitively. (Much nicer than those help tools that simply mess with your .dfm files.)

•	HelpScribble can perform syntax highlighting on any Delphi source code in your help file.

HelpScribble is shareware, so feel free to grab your copy today from my web site at http://www.tornado.be/~johnfg/