Why Doing IT- Chargeback?

Reasons for IT- Chargeback

The accounting of in-house produced services becomes more and more in enterprises generally accepted. In former times it was a side path of the cost calculation, today it becomes the strategic instrument of the enterprise control.  Decentralizations, formation of profit or Cost centers, separating the IT into purely legally independent enterprises, etc. make frequently an operational Costing & Charging necessary.  In particular for the central data processing with an immensely grown cost block, an Costing & Charging seems nearly indispensable, since it must maintain ground today against outsourcing offerer and also in-plant departments.  But not only an accounting of the IT services is at present in the enterprises desired.  Rather the requested service is to become altogether flat and controllable.

Goals of the IT Costing & Charging:

• Cost transparency
• Reference to the cost saving supplies
• Increased cost consciousness
• Zero position of the Cost center cost center  
• Account creation and/or accounts profit center/system house  
• Note for the optimization of business processes supplies
• Puts the consumer into the position the cost structure and the services to optimize/improve
• basis for the Benchmarking  
• basis for an active cost management  
• Affects the structure and height of the IT costs by the IT user

Cost transparency

Transparency/visibility of the IT costs and IT achievements to manufacture is a very important goal, since it serves as basis for a higher efficiency.  Further it represents a solid basis for an accurate calculation basis for price formation.  A possible criterion is the cost correlation, i.e. the used service type correlate strongly with the cost-generating factor or it corresponds to it. A second criterion is the possibility of allocation, i.e. the service type can be assigned to the enterprise product and/or the posting object.

References for cost serving

The IT Costing & Charging supplies with to the user references, in which places costs can be saved.  On the basis of the charged data, it can be pointed out, which posting objects or which projects more or less large portions of the total budget to use.  Then must be weighed, where costs can be reduced.

Increased cost consciousness

Now if the arisen costs are distributed causer-fairly on the users, each responsible person will analyze himself with future investments whether these are really necessary.  Does the newest version of the operating system have to be absolutely installed or is the software update of the previous year sufficient?  In times of the cost reduction each project or department manager must have responsibility himself for investments.  So, he will try to drive the costs not unnecessarily up and/or deal wastefully with the budget.

Zero position of cost centers

The goal of a Cost of center is the fulfilment of all tasks without many costs. This fulfilment happens in accordance with the economic principle.  This is supported by the exact transparent account by costs.

Accounting of profit centers

In which relationship do product/services the costs and the creation of value stand with the IT?  The understanding from where the IT costs come, is an important requirement for the IT Controlling.  Tools determine these costs accurately, pursue them back and assign the services causer-fairly to the appropriate posting objects/customers.  Thus the costs can be assigned and charged to the causers/consumers/clients.

Optimizing of business processes

The accounted data serve as basis.  With them, you can determine, where much time and personnel shall be used.  It must be examined then whether the processes can be operated not with less expenditure or new processes are meaningful.

Optimizing of cost structures and services

Costs are regarded in particular to cost categories and referred at cost expense. The basis for this is the cost transparency.  As subordinate targets, the motivation of the customers and the final user can be pointed out to the thriftiness. Criteria for the fulfilment are e.g. comprehensibility, comprehensibleness, influenceableness and cost relevance. Comprehensibility is called, the terms comes from the experience world of the customer;  Comprehensibleness, the customer can bring its actions and the height of the calculations in connection;  Influenceableness, the customer can affect the calculation height by its behavior or its demands;  Cost relevance, a saving of the quantity of the service types leads to a at least medium-term saving of the being certain costs.

Benchmarking

Benchmarking is the comparison of an enterprise with the best rival businesses, in addition, with industry-strange enterprises, in order to learn, where improvements are possible (here:  service type).  As criterion the market reference of the service type is to be called here, thus like frequently the service type at the target market arises.  Philosophy is it to determine which differences exist, why these differences exist and which possibilities for improvements exist.

Cost management

The cost management aims at the influence of the costs and covers all methods and procedures, which make possible and support an influencing control at the expense.  On the other hand stand in the cost calculation the demarcation, determination and addition of costs on reference objects such as cost centers, cost objectives or processes in the foreground.  The cost management usually goes around the cost reduction.  Cost calculation and cost management supplement each other in as much as cost management can be successfully only accomplished, if an expressive collection and illustration of the costs effected and the cost calculation can point the effects out of the cost management.  The largest effect of the cost management can be obtained, if this takes place actively and not reactively, i.e., if already a crisis situation for the enterprise arose and only short term action periods remains.

All targets of the IT Costing & Charging specified before have a superordinate target, the influence of the structure and the height of the costs, i.e. lowering of the costs and simplification of the structure.