The Scenario
A company's IT department costs R3.6M/year to run. Four business units use IT services (Sales, Operations, Finance, HR). The CFO wants to allocate IT costs fairly so each unit sees its "true" operating cost. Currently costs are split equally (25% each), which Sales thinks is unfair because they use far less IT than Operations.
The Brief
Design an activity-based cost allocation model. Identify the cost drivers (helpdesk tickets, server usage, headcount, etc.), gather hypothetical data, and allocate costs. Compare your allocation to the current 25/25/25/25 split.
Deliverables
- The cost drivers you chose and why each is appropriate
- A hypothetical data table: Business Unit × Cost Driver quantities
- The ABC allocation vs the current equal split, showing the difference for each unit
- A recommendation on which allocation method the company should adopt
Submission Guidance
Equal allocation is easy but wrong. Activity-based allocation is accurate but complex. Show that you understand the trade-off.
Submit Your Work
Your submission is graded against the rubric on the right. If you pass, you get a public Badge URL you can share on LinkedIn. There is no draft save, so work offline first and paste your finished response here.