Skip to content

Cost Allocation and Overhead Recovery Methods

Deciding how shared costs and overheads are spread across products, departments and cost centres shapes pricing, performance measurement and internal accountability. This course gives finance staff practical methods for allocating indirect costs fairly and recovering overheads accurately. Participants work through allocation bases, service department charging and the political challenges of dividing shared costs across a business.

What you will be able to do

  • Distinguish direct costs from indirect and shared overhead costs.
  • Select appropriate allocation bases for different cost pools.
  • Apply step down and reciprocal methods for service department costs.
  • Calculate overhead recovery rates for products and services.
  • Assess how allocation choices affect pricing and profitability reporting.
  • Communicate and defend allocation decisions to affected departments.

Course outline

  1. 01Direct, Indirect and Shared Costs
  2. 02Choosing Fair Allocation Bases
  3. 03Service Department Cost Allocation
  4. 04Overhead Absorption and Recovery Rates
  5. 05Under and Over Recovery of Overheads
  6. 06Impact of Allocation on Pricing and Profit
  7. 07Managing the Politics of Cost Sharing
  8. 08Documenting an Allocation Policy

Who should attend

Management accountants, cost accountants, finance analysts and departmental managers who allocate or are charged shared costs and overheads.

Dates, venues and fees

DatesVenueDaysFeeCalendar
24 to 25 Aug 2026Online2US$900
31 Aug to 1 Sep 2026Mozambique2US$1,100
7 to 8 Sep 2026Cairo2US$1,100
14 to 15 Sep 2026Accra2US$1,100
21 to 22 Sep 2026Lusaka2US$1,100
28 to 29 Sep 2026Kigali2US$1,100
5 to 6 Oct 2026Nairobi2US$1,100
12 to 13 Oct 2026Durban2R10,000
19 to 20 Oct 2026Johannesburg2R10,000
2 to 3 Nov 2026Mauritius2US$1,100
9 to 10 Nov 2026Dubai2US$1,100
16 to 17 Nov 2026Lagos2US$1,100
23 to 24 Nov 2026Harare2US$1,100
30 Nov to 1 Dec 2026Kampala2US$1,100
7 to 8 Dec 2026Dar es Salaam2US$1,100
14 to 15 Dec 2026Pretoria2R10,000
21 to 22 Dec 2026Cape Town2R10,000

Fees are per delegate. South African venues are priced in rand; other locations and online in US dollars. Fees exclude 15% VAT where applicable. Group bookings of three or more delegates from the same organisation qualify for a reduced rate; contact us for a quotation.

Related courses in Finance and Budgeting

Finance and Budgeting

Budgeting, Forecasting and Cost Control

Build budgets that survive contact with reality. Zero based principles, rolling forecasts and variance investigation are worked through...

Next session
31 Aug to 4 Sep 2026
Venue
Dubai
5 day programme
FromUS$900
Finance and Budgeting

Financial Statement Analysis and Reporting

Read a set of annual financial statements the way an analyst does. Delegates dissect real style statements prepared under IFRS, trace the...

Next session
31 Aug to 4 Sep 2026
Venue
Johannesburg
5 day programme
FromUS$900
Finance and Budgeting

Cash Flow and Working Capital Management

Profitable businesses still fail when cash runs out. Forecasting cash with confidence, shortening the cash conversion cycle and releasing...

Next session
31 Aug to 2 Sep 2026
Venue
Kigali
3 day programme
FromUS$900
See all Finance and Budgeting courses