cost

Dictionary: cost (kôst) pronunciation

An amount paid or required in payment for a purchase; a price.
The expenditure of something, such as time or labor, necessary for the attainment of a goal: "Freedom to advocate unpopular causes does not require that such advocacy be without cost" (Milton Friedman).
costs Law. The charges fixed for litigation, often payable by the losing party.

v., cost, cost·ing, costs.

v.intr.
To require a specified payment, expenditure, effort, or loss: It costs more to live in the city.

v.tr.

To have as a price.
To cause to lose, suffer, or sacrifice: Participating in the strike cost me my job.
past tense and past participle, costed. To estimate or determine the cost of: The accountants costed out our expenses.

idiom:

at all costs

Regardless of the expense or effort involved; by any means.

[Middle English, from Old French, from coster, to cost, from Latin cōnstāre, to be fixed, cost. See constant.]

costless cost'less adj.

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: cost

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Monetary value of goods and services that producers and consumers purchase. In a basic economic sense, cost is the measure of the alternative opportunities forgone in the choice of one good or activity over others (see opportunity cost). For consumers, cost describes the price paid for goods and services. For producers, cost has to do with the relationship between the value of production inputs and the level of output. Total cost refers to all the expenses incurred in reaching a particular level of output; if total cost is divided by the quantity produced, average or unit cost is obtained. A portion of the total cost known as fixed cost (e.g., the costs of building rental or of heavy machinery) does not vary with the quantity produced and, in the short run, cannot be altered by increasing or decreasing production. Variable costs, like the costs of labour or raw materials, change with the level of output. Economic decisions are based on marginal cost, the additional cost of an incremental unit of production or consumption.

For more information on cost, visit Britannica.com.

Accounting Dictionary: Cost

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1. Sacrifice, measured by the price paid, to acquire, produce, or maintain goods or services. Prices paid for materials, labor, and factory overhead in the manufacture of goods are costs.

2. An asset. The term cost is often used when referring to the valuation of a good or service acquired. When it is used in this sense, a cost is an Asset.

The concepts of cost and expense are often used interchangeably. When the benefits of the acquisition of the goods or services expire, the cost becomes an expense or loss. An Expense is a cost with expired benefits. A Loss is an expense (expired cost) with no related benefit.

Thesaurus: cost

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noun

An amount paid or to be paid for a purchase: charge, price. Informal tab. See transactions.
Something expended to obtain a benefit or desired result: disbursement, expenditure, expense, outlay. See transactions.
A loss sustained in the accomplishment of or as the result of something: expense, price, sacrifice, toll. See transactions.

verb

See

transactions

Antonyms: cost

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Definition: penalty, sacrifice
Antonyms: repayment, retribution

Law Encyclopedia: Costs

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This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

Fees and charges required by law to be paid to the courts or theirofficers, the amount of which is specified by court rule or statute. A monetary allowance, granted by the court to a prevailing party and recoverable from the unsuccessful party, for expenses incurred in instituting or defending an action or a separate proceeding within an action.

A bill of costs is a certified, itemized statement of the amount of the expenses incurred in bringing or defending a lawsuit.

A cost bond, or bond for costs, is a promise to pay litigation expenses; it is provided by a party to an action as a guarantee of payment of any costs awarded against him or her. A cost bond also might be required of an appealing party in a civil case, in order to cover the appellee's expenses if the judgment is affirmed.

Final costs are paid at the conclusion of an action, the liability for which depends upon its final outcome.

Interlocutory costs accrue during the intermediate stages of a proceeding, as distinguished from final costs.

Security for costs refers to an assurance of payment that a defendant may demand of a plaintiff who does not reside within the jurisdiction of the court, for the payment of such costs as might be awarded to the defendant.

Statutory costs are amounts specified by law to be awarded for various phases of litigation.

The award of costs is not a penalty but is a method used to reimburse an innocent party for the expenses of litigation. Costs include the payment of court fees for the commencement of the litigation; the submission of pleadings or other documents; or the service of process or other papers by a public officer. The appointment by a court of a referee to hear extremely technical testimony, or a receiver to retain and preserve the defendant's funds or property during litigation, is included in costs. Costs entail expenditures made in interviewing parties or witnesses prior to trial and the fees that are properly paid to witnesses who testify. Printing expenses for maps or necessary documents are also included.

Costs do not include the compensation of an attorney. Expenditures in terms of the adversary nature of the proceedings, however, are included. Only when specifically authorized by law may attorney's fees be awarded in addition to costs.

Prevailing Party

A party must request the court to award costs. The court generally defers its decision until judgment is rendered, then determines whether the prevailing party is entitled to costs. The successful party is not required to prevail on every issue or to obtain the entire amount of damages sought. Costs are also awarded to a party prevailing on appeal, even though the case was lost in the trial court.

Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, after which most states have patterned their own procedural rules, "costs shall be allowed as of course to the prevailing party unless the court otherwise directs." Since state laws vary on this subject, however, the applicable state law must be consulted to determine the exact rules.

Costs cannot be assessed against a party merely because of tenacity in pursuing the claim. In Delta Air Lines, Inc. v. August, 450 U.S. 346, 101 S. Ct. 1146, 67 L. Ed. 2d 287 (1981), the justices held that plaintiffs who lose their lawsuits in federal court after rejecting a settlement offer (a proposal to avoid litigation by compromising a disputed claim that does not admit liability) are not required to pay the defendant's costs and attorney fees.

Parties may determine the imposition of costs pursuant to an agreement. The court will enforce a contractual provision or a stipulation provided neither is unconscionable or the result of fraud.

When cases involve multiple parties — more than one plaintiff or more than one defendant — a court may allocate costs among the losing parties.

If one party is a stakeholder — a person who is or might be exposed to multiple liability from adverse claims — the stakeholder's costs are generally obtained from all the other parties to an interpleader action or from the stake: funds or property deposited by two persons with a third person, the stakeholder, for delivery to the person entitled to it upon the occurrence of a particular event.

Amount

In some instances, the amount of costs is specified by law, which restricts a party who is awarded costs to the figure permitted by law for each component of the total costs.

Security

A court may order a party to post a bond to guarantee that costs will be paid if he or she is unsuccessful. Three other alternatives provide sufficient security: a signed statement by the party that he or she will pay determined costs; the deposit of sufficient funds with the court; or the promise of a person who accepts the obligation to pay in full if the party who would normally be responsible fails to do so.

Denial of Costs

A court may deny costs, although they are ordinarily awarded to the prevailing party. Misconduct, such as the concealment of a party's actual financial circumstances, when relevant to the action, justifies the denial of costs. A court that incurs additional, unnecessary expenses as a result of inadequate preparation of the case by the counsel of the prevailing party is entitled to reject a request for costs. In such an instance, the court has the discretion to order the attorney to pay a client's costs, particularly where his or her actions were grossly negligent.

Criminal Proceedings

Costs in criminal proceedings are those expenses specified by law that have been necessarily incurred in a criminal prosecution. The concept of costs was unknown at common law. The allowance of costs, therefore, is based on the applicable statutory provisions.

Word Tutor: cost

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IN BRIEF: The amount or price paid for something.

Forgiveness is a gift of high value. Yet its cost is nothing. — Betty Smith, author.

Quotes About: Cost

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Quotes:

"What you get free costs too much." - Jean Anouilh

"The gods sell to us all the goods which they give us." - Epicharmus

"Expenditures rise to meet income." - C. Northcote Parkinson

"The gods sell all things at a fair price." - Proverb

"Something you don't want is dear at any price." - Proverb

"A thing is worth what it can do for you, not what you choose to pay for it." - John Ruskin

See more famous quotes about Cost

Wikipedia: Cost

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This article is about the economic concept. For the scientific organization, see COST. For other uses, see The Cost (disambiguation).

"Expenditure" redirects here. For personal consumption expenditure, see Consumption (economics).

A price tag for a product on sale.

In business, retail, and accounting, a cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something, and hence is not available for use anymore. In economics, a cost is an alternative that is given up as a result of a decision.^[1] In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in which case the amount of money expended to acquire it is counted as cost. In this case, money is the input that is gone in order to acquire the thing. This acquisition cost may be the sum of the cost of production as incurred by the original producer, and further costs of transaction as incurred by the acquirer over and above the price paid to the producer. Usually, the price also includes a mark-up for profit over the cost of production.

Costs are often further described based on their timing or their applicability.

1 Accounting vs opportunity costs
2 Comparing private, external, social, and psychic costs
3 Cost estimates and cost overrun
4 Path cost
5 Biological cost
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links

Accounting vs opportunity costs

In accounting, costs are the monetary value of expenditures for supplies, services, labour, products, equipment and other items purchased for use by a business or other accounting entity. It is the amount denoted on invoices as the price and recorded in bookkeeping records as an expense or asset cost basis.

Opportunity cost, also referred to as economic cost is the value of the best alternative that was not chosen in order to pursue the current endeavour—i.e, what could have been accomplished with the resources expended in the undertaking. It represents opportunities forgone.

In theoretical economics, cost used without qualification often means opportunity cost.^{[citation needed]}

Comparing private, external, social, and psychic costs

When a transaction takes place, it typically involves both private costs and external costs.

Private costs are the costs that the buyer of a good or service pays the seller. This can also be described as the costs internal to the firm's production function.

External costs (also called externalities), in contrast, are the costs that people other than the buyer are forced to pay as a result of the transaction. The bearers of such costs can be either particular individuals or society at large. Note that external costs are often both non-monetary and problematic to quantify for comparison with monetary values. They include things like pollution, things that society will likely have to pay for in some way or at some time in the future, but that are not included in transaction prices.

Social costs are the sum of private costs and external costs.

For example, the manufacturing cost of a car (i.e., the costs of buying inputs, land tax rates for the car plant, overhead costs of running the plant and labour costs) reflects the private cost for the manufacturer (in some ways, normal profit can also be seen as a cost of production; see, e.g., Ison and Wall, 2007, p. 181). The polluted waters or polluted air also created as part of the process of producing the car is an external cost borne by those who are affected by the pollution or who value unpolluted air or water. Because the manufacturer does not pay for this external cost (the cost of emitting undesirable waste into the commons), and does not include this cost in the price of the car (a Kaldor-Hicks compensation), they are said to be external to the market pricing mechanism. The air pollution from driving the car is also an externality produced by the car user in the process of using his good. The driver does not compensate for the environmental damage caused by using the car.

A psychic cost is a subset of social costs that specifically represent the costs of added stress or losses to quality of life.

Cost estimates and cost overrun

When developing a business plan for a new company, product, or project, planners typically make cost estimates in order to assess whether revenues/benefits will cover costs (see cost-benefit analysis). This is done in both business and government. Costs are often underestimated resulting in cost overrun during implementation. Main causes of cost underestimation and overrun are optimism bias and strategic misrepresentation (Flyvbjerg et al. 2002). Reference class forecasting was developed to curb optimism bias and strategic misrepresentation and arrive at more accurate cost estimates.

Cost Plus, is where the Price = Cost plus or minus X%, where x is the percentage of built in overhead or profit margin.

Path cost

Also seen as a term in networking to define the worthiness of a path, see Routing.

Biological cost

In biology, the biological cost or metabolic price is a measure of the increased energy metabolism that is required to achieve a function. Drug resistance in microbiology, for instance, has a very high metabolic price^[2], especially for antibiotic resistance ^[3]

References

^ Sullivan, arthur; Steven M. Sheffrin (2003). Economics: Principles in action. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458: Pearson Prentice Hall. pp. 16. ISBN 0-13-063085-3. http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PSZ3R9&PMDbSiteId=2781&PMDbSolutionId=6724&PMDbCategoryId=&PMDbProgramId=12881&level=4.
^ The biological cost of antimicrobial resistance Stephen H. Gillespie*, and Timothy D. McHugh
^ Wichelhaus TA, Böddinghaus B, Besier S, Schäfer V, Brade V, Ludwig A (2002). "Biological cost of rifampin resistance from the perspective of Staphylococcus aureus". Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 46 (11): 3381–5. doi:10.1128/AAC.46.11.3381-3385.2002. PMID 12384339.

External links

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Translations: Cost

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Dansk (Danish)
v. intr. - koste dyrt
v. tr. - koste, prisberegne, komme dyrt at stå
n. - pris, udgift, tab, omkostning

idioms:

at all costs for enhver pris
at any cost for enhver pris
cost a bomb koste det hvide ud af øjnene
cost a bundle koste en masse
cost accounting omkostningsberegning
cost of living leveomkostninger
cost out prisberegne
cost price fremstillingspris
cost-push inflation inflation pga. stigende omkostninger
to cost an arm and a leg koste det hvide ud af øjnene
to one's cost af bitter erfaring

Nederlands (Dutch)
prijs, verlies, (mv) kosten, kosten, begroten, kostbaar zijn

Français (French)
v. intr. - coûter, chiffrer
v. tr. - coûter, chiffrer
n. - coût, frais, prix, (fig) prix, (Jur) frais de l'instance (npl), (Comm, Fin) frais (npl)

idioms:

at all costs à tout prix
at any cost à n'importe quel prix, coûte que coûte
at cost au prix coûtant
cost a bomb coûter les yeux de la tête
cost a bundle coûter un tas (d'argent)
cost accounting comptabilité de prix de revient
cost an arm and a leg coûter les yeux de la tête
cost of living (Écon) coût de la vie
cost out coût de revient, calculer le coût de revient, évaluer le coût de (projet)
cost price (Comm) prix de revient, prix coûtant
to one's cost à ses dépens

Deutsch (German)
v. - kosten, Preis veranschlagen
n. - Kosten, Preis

idioms:

at all costs um jeden Preis
at any cost um jeden Preis
at cost zum Selbstkostenpreis [verkaufen]
cost a bomb ein Vermögen kosten
cost a bundle (ugs.) ein Vermögen kosten
cost accounting betriebliches Rechnungswesen
cost an arm and a leg (ugs.) eine Stange Geld kosten
cost of living Lebenshaltungskosten
cost out Kosten eines Produktes im voraus kalkulieren
cost price Selbstkostenpreis
to one's cost zu jmnds. Nachteil

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - κοστίζω, στοιχίζω, (οικον.) κοστολογώ
n. - κόστος, τίμημα, αντίτιμο, (μτφ.) θυσία, (βαρύ) αντάλλαγμα ή τίμημα, (πληθ.) (νομ.) δικαστικές δαπάνες

idioms:

at all costs με κάθε θυσία
at any cost με οποιοδήποτε κόστος, ανεξάρτητα από τη δαπάνη ή τη θυσία
cost a bomb στοιχίζω μια περιουσία
cost a bundle στοιχίζω ένα σκασμό λεφτά
cost accounting (οικον.) κοστολόγηση
cost of living (οικον.) κόστος διαβίωσης/ζωής
cost out κοστολογώ
cost price (οικον.) τιμή αγοράς/κτήσης
cost push (για πληθωρισμό) κόστους
to cost an arm and a leg στοιχίζω ένα σκασμό λεφτά
to one's cost προς ζημίαν μου

Italiano (Italian)
costare, calcolare, costo

idioms:

at all costs a tutti i costi
at any cost ad ogni costo
cost accounting ragioneria
cost of living carovita
cost out preventivare
cost price prezzo di costo
cost push fattori di aumento
to someone's cost alle spese di

Português (Portuguese)
v. - custar, avaliar
n. - custo (m), despesa (f)

idioms:

at all costs custe o que custar
at any cost custe o que custar
cost accounting sistema (m) de computação de custos
cost of living custo (m) de vida
cost out calcular gastos futuros
cost price preço (m) de custo
cost push pressão (m) nos custos
count the cost considerar os riscos
to one's cost às custas de alguém

Русский (Russian)
стоить, оценивать, стоимость

idioms:

at all costs любой ценой
at any cost любой ценой
cost accounting расчет себестоимости
cost of living прожиточный минимум
cost out подсчитывать стоимость
cost price себестоимость
cost push инфляция
count the cost взвешивать возможные последствия
to one's cost в ущерб себе

Español (Spanish)
v. intr. - valerse, estimarse, sumarse, presupuestarse
v. tr. - costar, valer, presupuestar, estimar, ascender a, sumar
n. - costo, gastos, coste

idioms:

at all costs cueste lo que cueste, a toda costa
at any cost a cualquier precio
at cost al costo
cost a bomb costar un ojo de la cara
cost a bundle cuesta mucho dinero
cost accounting contabilidad analítica de costos
cost an arm and a leg costar un ojo de la cara, costar caro
cost of living carestía o coste de vida
cost out presupuestar
cost price precio de coste/costo
to one's cost a las expensas de uno, al costo de uno mismo, correr con los gastos, hacerse cargo de los gastos

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - kosta, kostnadsberäkna
n. - kostnader, bekostnad, omkostnader

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
花费, 价值为, 使失去, 代价, 费用, 价值

idioms:

at all costs 不惜任何代价, 无论如何
at any cost 无论如何, 不惜代价
cost a bomb 非常贵
cost a bundle 非常昂贵
cost accounting 成本会计
cost of living 生活费
cost out 询价
cost price 成本价, 原价
cost-push inflation 成本提高型通货膨胀
to cost an arm and a leg 非常昂贵
to one's cost 付出代价

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. intr. - 花費
v. tr. - 價值為, 使失去, 花費
n. - 代價, 費用, 價值

idioms:

at all costs 不惜任何代價, 無論如何
at any cost 無論如何, 不惜代價
cost a bomb 非常貴
cost a bundle 非常昂貴
cost accounting 成本會計
cost of living 生活費
cost out 詢價
cost price 成本價, 原價
cost-push inflation 成本提高型通貨膨脹
to cost an arm and a leg 非常昂貴
to one's cost 付出代價

한국어 (Korean)
v. intr. - 원가 계산을 하다
v. tr. - 금액이 들다, 희생을 치르게 하다, 원가를 계산하다, 비싸게 치다
n. - 값, 희생, 지출

idioms:

at all costs 어떤 희생을 치르더라도
at any cost 어떤 희생을 치르더라도
cost out 제품의 원가를 계산하다
to cost an arm and a leg 엄청난 대가를 지불하다
to one's cost 자신의 부담으로, 피해를 입고

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 代価, 値段, 費用, 原価, 犠牲, 訴訟費用, 損害
v. - がかかる, 要する, 犠牲にさせる, 原価計算をする, 費やさせる, 失わせる

idioms:

at all costs 万難を排して
at any cost 万難を排して
cost a bomb 大金がかかる
cost a bundle 大金を費やす
cost accounting 原価計算
cost of living 生計費
cost out 経費見積もりをする
cost price 原価
cost push コストインフレ(経済)
cost the earth 途方もなく金がかかる
to cost an arm and a leg 高くつく
to one's cost 損をして

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) كلف, تكلف, سعر, ثمن, قرر سعره (الاسم) كلفه, ثمن, قيمه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. intr. - ‮עלה, עלה ביוקר (מדוברת)‬
v. tr. - ‮קבע מחיר המוצר‬
n. - ‮מחיר, עלות, יציאות‬

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Copyrights:

		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Accounting Dictionary. Dictionary of Accounting Terms. Copyright © 2005 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Antonyms. © 1999-2009 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved. Read more
		Law Encyclopedia. West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Copyright © 1998 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
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		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Cost". Read more
		Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more

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	Fixed cost are irrelevant cost variable cost are relevent cost?
	What was its cost?
	How do they cost?

cost

Contents

Accounting vs opportunity costs

Comparing private, external, social, and psychic costs

Cost estimates and cost overrun

Path cost

Biological cost

See also

References

Further reading

External links