Factors that influence the recurrent use of activity-based costing

The costmodel based on activities or activity-based costing has been accepted andwidely studied in the literature, both from a theoretical as well as from a practical viewpoint. Nevertheless, in practice, many enterprises that develop this model do not utilize it in a regular manner. This study centers on determining and analyzing the factors that influence positive or negatively the recurrent or routine utilization of the model. To accomplish this, the existing literature about the process of implementing activity-based costing has been reviewed, specifically, for the step of accepting activity-based costing for routine use.Six key factors are described (strategic, individual, organizational, technological, operative and external) that have a specific effect on the normalization phase of activity-based costing as a tool for operative and strategicmanagement. Using case study methodology, the experience of four companies (two industrial and two service companies) is analyzed, illustrating two cases of success and two of failure. Among the conclusions highlighted, strategic factors influence utilization of the system in a recurrent manner, while individual, operative and external factors do not have the same influence.